Phoenix DVD Blog

In the early to mid-1980s, television in Ireland was a very different thing. We had two channels , no remote control wars, no on-demand, and absolutely no expectation that TV would bend to us. You watched what was on, or you watched nothing. Saturday mornings were special though. RTÉ’s Anything Goes became a kind of unofficial ritual, a block of colourful, slightly chaotic programming that felt designed to wake you up gently after the school week. What mattered wasn’t whether the shows were new, or even from the same decade. What mattered was that they were entertaining, familiar, and fun. Most of what aired were repeats of American shows from the 1960s, although I don’t think I was even aware of that at the time. Nor would I have noticed if episodes were shown out of order, or if there was meant to be a longer narrative running through the series. That simply wasn’t how television worked for us then, and it didn’t matter. Why Classic TV Was Built to Stand Alone A lot of classic ...

There are great TV shows. There are cultural moments. And then there are series that redefine what television can be. Over the past two decades, long-form storytelling has reached cinematic levels of ambition, production quality and emotional impact. While streaming makes everything instantly accessible, there is still something different about owning the complete series of a truly exceptional show on Blu-ray. The three series below are not ranked. I wouldn’t even attempt to rank them. Each represents the peak of its genre. Each is complete. And each is absolutely worth owning in physical form. In truth, I could have added a few more show box sets to this post but I'll leave it at these three for now. Game of Thrones Original Run: 2011–2019 Seasons: 8 Genre: Fantasy / Political Drama Based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Game of Thrones became one of the most ambitious television productions ever made. What began as a grounded political struggle between...

I was born just two years before Star Wars landed in cinemas and quietly changed everything. I didn’t see it in a theatre at the time for obvious reasons, but its impact filtered down fast, onto television, into toy shops, and straight into school playgrounds. Suddenly, space wasn’t just a backdrop for low-budget sci-fi anymore. It was epic, serious, and full of possibility. Toys, lunchboxes, annuals, and posters started appearing everywhere. Spaceships weren’t just something you watched on TV, they were something you played with, talked about in school, and carried around in your head long after the episode ended. Even if you hadn’t seen the films properly yet, you knew this world mattered.

Some of my earliest memories of going to the cinema aren’t really about the films at all. They’re about the anticipation . As a child, getting to the cinema in Killorglin or Tralee with my cousins felt like a proper event. It wasn’t something you did casually. It was a treat. We queued for junk food at the front counter, impatiently watching the person ahead of us debate popcorn sizes, all the while worrying we might miss the start, even though we were nearly always 30 minutes too early. Once we had our snacks, modest for the time, a drink, popcorn, and a small packet of chocolate sweets, there was the scramble for decent seats (at the back, of course). Then came that familiar ten-minute wait as the auditorium slowly filled.  Then the lights dimmed, the cigarette burn edit marks crackled and fizzled on screen, the cartoon started, and you knew you were locked in for the next couple of hours. There was no pause button. No kettle-boiling tea breaks. No exit. You were there to wat...

It’s a question I see asked again and again, usually phrased some version of this: Will there ever be another Band of Brothers , The Pacific , or Masters of the Air ? Short answer? At the moment, there are no confirmed plans . Long answer?  will-there-be-another-band-of-brothers-series There are plenty of stories still waiting to be told, but each one comes with enormous creative, logistical, and financial hurdles. See if you agree with my suggestions below.

I vaguely remember buying Black Hawk Down on DVD not long after it was released. I was interested in it, I watched it all the way through, but I wasn’t blown away by it, pardon the pun. It felt intense, sure, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. At the time, I couldn’t quite understand why, given how highly regarded the film already was. I’ve had this experience with a few war films over the years, where the format quietly undermined the impact rather than the film itself , something I touched on in my post  5 Modern War Films You Must See for Intense, Gritty Viewing has some fine examples. Looking back now, the reason for my original view is obvious. I was watching it on a 32-inch TV , using built-in speakers , on a  DVD . Why It Fell Flat the First Time This is not a subtle film. It’s built on scale, chaos, overlapping sound, confusion, and sustained tension. That kind of experience depends heavily on presentation, and my setup simply couldn’t deliver it. On DVD...

If you’ve ever upgraded from DVD to Blu-ray and thought, “That’s nice, but is it really worth it?” , these films answer that question immediately. Blu-ray isn’t just about higher resolution. When it’s done properly, it’s about restoration, colour depth, film grain, shadow detail, and sound design that DVD simply cannot reproduce. Some films benefit more than others, and a handful feel like completely new experiences. These three titles are the ones I always come back to when someone asks me why I still buy physical media.  I’ve written more broadly about this before in my post on why physical media is still worth fighting for , but these three films are the clearest, most practical examples I can point to. This Post contains Affiliate links – I may earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Kingdom of Heaven (Director’s Cut) Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven is one of the most dramatic examples of how a film can be transformed by both a proper edit and a pr...