The so-called Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Matrix have joined my Blu-ray vs DVD comparisons. The former (which I compared to the PAL Superbit DVD version) is variable in the improvement; the latter is magnificent.
The Matrix was a very important movie in the advance of DVD, and it was an early leader in DVD sales, establishing the format as something here to stay. It also shows how much things have changed, and in particular standards have improved. Some reviews of the Australian DVD release of The Matrix are here, here, and here. It received for video quality at those sites, respectively, 4.5 out of 5 stars, 5 out of 5 stars and 5 out of 5 stars. The TVs used for those reviews were ‘Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode’, ‘Panasonic 51cm and 68cm televisions’ and ’48” Sony RPTV’. With today’s bigger screens and HDMI connections, it isn’t surprising that compared to the Blu-ray, I’d give the original DVD release of The Matrix about 2/5 for video quality.