My copy of Ganja & Hess arrived yesterday.

I haven't checked the region coding yet, but I'll try and remember to let you know when I get home tonight.

Out of the ones I've seen, my favourite noir is probably Kiss Me Deadly, although as a starting point the Criterion Blu is pricey (DVDs are readily available, however!). It's also quite uncoventional for a noir.

The Asphalt Jungle, Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, and The Third Man are also excellent and fairly easy to pick-up.

The most main-stream (and widely available noir) is probably Chinatown (I'm guessing you've probably seen this one, though?): An excellent film, although the noir 'golden age' was definitely in the 1940s and 1950s, imo.

Wonderful film

However, the 'making of' docu on the 2nd disc of the special edition is incredibly boring, and (due to the visual effects used in its editing) very hard to watch

Wasn't 28 Days Later shot on SD Video?

No mate never seen Chinatown , ill try pick up one of them today on bd, cheers for the sugestions

Yes, which is why the only reason to get the BD is for the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which, itself, is excellent.

Aah, I see!

It's difficult to pinpoint a 'good starting point' as you have the classic films noir and then neo-noir. The first category would include the likes of The Maltese Falcon, Kiss Me Deadly, Gilda, Double Indemnity, The Lady from Shanghai, Touch of Evil and Out Of the Past. Non-US titles will include Rififi, Brighton Rock and They Made Me a Fugitive.

Neo-noir films include Chinatown, Taxi Driver, Basic Instinct The Man Who Wasn't There and even The Big Lebowski. Quite a few of the Coen brothers' films are noir-inflected, so Blood Simple, Fargo and Miller's Crossing easily qualify.

Sadly, not all these are available on BD but, if you want to get a 'feel' for noir, picking up some of the classics either on BD or DVD will give you a good grounding.

Watched my 1st ever bd two nights ago, I watched I saw the devil and was blown away at the difference compared to dvd , think I'm sold on Bd now

Great post Nos, that's a really nice overview of the genre. Neo-noir was a very popular genre in the US in the 80s and early 90s. Films like Body Heat, Basic Instinct, China Moon, Disclosure, Revenge, Jagged Edge, Fatal Attraction, House of Games, Mortal Thoughts, Against All Odds, Best Seller, Bad Influence, etc are all very much neo noir and all excellent films in their own right. Particularly recommend China Moon and House of Games (Mamet's directorial debut) as very atmospheric examples of neo-noir. Bad Influence also is an overlooked gem.

All available on DVD and some on BD :)

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