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From the sci-fi epics that had cinema goers clamouring to fill seats to the quieter tales of human life and emotion, 2014 was a year of diverse movies, each with their own magic to share with the viewers. Before we start getting excited about the future Oscar winners and box office smashes that 2015 has to bring, it’s time to take a look at some of the best movies of the past year.

Interstellar

With past hits including the trilogy that put a dark twist on comic book legend Batman and the mind-bending dream exploration Inception, director Christopher Nolan is gaining a reputation for crowd pleasing films with thought-provoking hearts. His 2014 offering Interstellar was certainly no exception. By combining the irresistible adventure of space exploration with a warm, human story, Nolan created an epic that was sure to keep its audience discussing the finer points of its plot for days.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Much of the charm of cult favourite Wes Anderson’s latest movie was in its visual style: beautiful architecture and an unusual colour palette ensured that it made a strong impression when viewed on the big screen. With a charming tale of daring escapades and doomed love to back up these impressive visuals, there was no doubt that The Grand Budapest Hotel would find a place in many viewers’ hearts.

Boyhood

Scooping up several Golden Globes, including best film and best director, Boyhood is a soft, lyrical film that leaves a lasting impression. A coming-of-age story based on the life of writer-director Richard Linklater, it charts the story of boyhood to adulthood via first love, first heartbreak and first discovery of Star Wars. The film started shooting in 2002, and took 12 years to complete – allowing the story to grow as its actors did.

Unbroken

A hard-hitting latecomer, Unbroken tells of the true hardships faced by USA Olympian Louis Zamperini after he was imprisoned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Directed by Angelina Jolie and featuring Jack O’Connell in the starring role, this is a film that challenges its audience to face the horror of war; it also speaks of the strength of human tenacity in the face of experiences that push it right to its limit.

2014 may have been a fantastic year for big name and big budget films, but for many people it will still be their home movies that really take centre stage. Filled with the personal moment that no director can ever recreate, these are films to be kept safe and stored for many future viewings. At Video 2 DVD Transfers we specialise in helping you treasure and share these memories, so when you need to transfer video to DVD in order to keep your home movies safe or circulate them round friends and relatives we will always be happy to oblige. Contact us on 0800 592433 or email us at [email protected] to find out more.

Previously on our blog we looked at the tragic demise of Betamax – tragic to those who actually owned Betamax players, at least. This time we’re going to look at the history of the laserdisc, why it didn’t take off, and where it is today. Hint: Garages, car boot sales and eBay feature heavily.

Give a kid a laserdisc today and they might be forgiven for thinking you’d transported back to the Land of the Giants and offered them up an outsized DVD. The technology for laserdisc was first patented way back in 1958, but it’d be another twenty years before they hit the mainstream. Befitting its 1970’s inception, the laserdisc was first known as the MCA DiscoVision. Say what you will about the name, it’d certainly make video formats a lot more interesting if they were named after genres of music. FunkVideo or DVDrum’n’Bass anyone?

Pub quiz question – what was the first laserdisc ever produced and sold in America? Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. That’s a pretty strong start, and it certainly had tons of benefits over VHS. The picture was of superior quality, and much sharper. And they were even cheaper to make given they have fewer moving parts, with a far greater longevity than the now classic video. The trouble was partly due to the extraordinary cost of laserdisc players.

And there was another problem. And that problem was DVD. Yep, as soon as the ol’ Digital Versatile Disc hit the market it was game over for laserdisc. Sure, laserdisc might have allowed a greater amount of control when playback movies, and the fact is that, unlike DVD, it wouldn’t become unplayable when the disc was scratched – it would simply skip the damaged area – but the real issue was the image. The format might have had a better quality of analogue video, but it was no match for the mighty digital.

Storage was a problem for laserdisc too. Its size was comparable to an LP vinyl, and having your entire film collection on such a bulky format meant that not only was storing them at home no good. Then there’s the cold, hard fact that stores didn’t want to give up shelf space to so few products, preferring to cram shelves with the tinier DVD.

Videophiles still debate the relative merits of laserdisc – some reckon the quality of the audio is much better than anything else on offer. And the picture quality, it has been argued, is a lot more true to the cinematic feel of the big screen. But none of that could prevent the laserdisc going the way of the Betamax.

Here at Video 2 DVD Transfers we’re passionate about audio-visual technology. That’s why we specialise in video to DVD transfer. For all your conversion needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0800 592 433 or email [email protected] and our team of experts will be more than happy to help.