Usually, its name looks like: Adventureland.2009.iTALiAN.MD.DVDSCR.XviD-SiLENT.avi. In this article, I want to explain exactly what each abbreviation that appears in the name of such file means, so you don’t have to refer to forums or other ways of information. This code the movie has also been recorded on, determines also its quality, so it is maybe the most important of all characteristics that are shown in the file name.

CAM

Usually, this code appears in movies that have just been released. If CAM appears on the file name, this means the movie has been recorded with a video camera right at the cinema. It has the lowest quality you can see on a movie. Colors are pale, contrast almost doesn’t exist, and the audio quality is also very low. You can actually hear the echo, way worse than you could hear with your own ears at the cinema.

From time to time you’ll even be surprised to see the image moving or a silhouette passing right in front of the screen, probably a person who had an emergency or got bored and leaves the cinema. The recording also depends on the type of the video camera, but that doesn’t change much.

TS

TS or Telesync is actually a copy, a bit more decent, because it uses the sound directly from the cinema source. The recording is made with a professional video camera, directly from the projection booth. It is an “elevated” way of piracy, but no way it will even give you the satisfaction you can see at the cinema or even on a DVD movie on your PC.

SCR

SCR or screener is an unprocessed copy of the original movie that’s made for cinema-goers, film critics, the jury of a film festival, so they can have an opinion on the producer’s creation. Usually, the SCR version contains all kinds of marking messages (such as watermarks for pictures) and a timer on the lower side, so those persons that the movie was addressed to can criticize using these marks. Video quality is usually good, but contains a few “surprises”, not being processed to the final version. At some point you can be left with no sound or with a black and white image etc.

WP

WP or Workprint represents the first stage in the existence of a movie. It is the stage where all scenes/ frames of the movie has been welded and are being previewed by a hole team of producers and directors of the movie so they can give their “B.T.” or to extract/add frames. It’s a rough copy, that can miss special effects, failed scenes etc. Such versions aren’t frequently found very often, but if they show up before the release date of the movie, it means that the security to production servers was zero. Sometimes, studios also release these versions (a little bit more processed regarding graphics, as a bonus to cinema-goers).

R5

R5 Line is the final version of the movie, sold in region 5, meaning East Europe, part of India, Africa, North Korea and Mongolia. The only difference from the original DVD after which this copy has been made, is that the sound isn’t probably the same.

TC

TC or Telecine is a copy of the movie from its analogical form (the movie roll) to a digital one using a special equipment. The quality of the copy is good. Actually, the same technology is used in making DVD movies. The only problem is that the piracy version is usually made after a worse copy of the original movie roll.

DVD-Rip

This is the final version of the movie, a copy from an original DVD. DVD-Rips are made because a DVD movie isn’t always released in all regions. This way, pirates take care of simultaneous circulation of the movie, in all areas.

BD-Rip

It’s exactly the same thing as a DVD-Rip, just that it refers to Blu-ray disc.

TV-Rip, STV and DSR

Unlike direct copies, TV-Rip, STV and DSR are copies made after an analogical TV signal or after a satellite signal. The TV-Rip is a copy made after an analogical device using a capturing board with coaxial outputs, composite or S-Video. STV (subscription TV) refers to a copy made after the signal from a paid cable television, and the DSR (digital stream rip) is a copy made after a digital source like the satellite one.

HDTV and PDTV

The HDTV and PDTV copies come from televisions that transmit through waves, but with digital signal. These copies can often excel DVD quality, considering the high definition resolutions.

Besides the afore-mentioned codes, if the file name contains the acronym WS, you must know this is the image format widescreen. Widescreen image can be 16:9 and even 16:10, format used by new plasma or led LCD TVs.

*My blog does not encourage in any way piracy or any other forms of breach of copyright law. This is just an informative post which tries to explain the types of movie files found on Internet.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• Upcoming science fiction movies I wish to see
• My personal best science fiction movies of all times
• Gattaca – the best inspirational movie I’ve ever seen
• How to backup and synchronize files online
• W. – a masterpiece movie by Oliver Stone

1 – Avatar – IMDB link

Directed by James Cameron, the ‘father’ of Terminator 2, my favorite SF movie of all times, Avatar is set to appear this winter and treats the following subject: In future, a war veteran, is brought to another planet, which is inhabited by a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.

2 – Surrogates – IMDB link

This one, set to appear in 2009,  has my favorite action man, Bruce Willis as main character which, in a world where humans live in isolation and interact with each other through surrogate robots, is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.

3 – Inception – IMDB link

Set for 2010 summer launch, this title looks very promising as it is directed by Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight) and features Leonardo diCaprio in main role. The trailer is very intriguing and lets very few details trespass, but maybe that’s why it makes me believe this is the best of the upcoming science fiction movies in 2009 and 2019.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• My personal best science fiction movies of all times
• You don’t need snow to make winter
• What does CAM, TS, R5, DVD Rip and other abbreviations like these means?
• Gattaca – the best inspirational movie I’ve ever seen
• W. – a masterpiece movie by Oliver Stone

Terminator is the best SF character

But let’s not loose time with the present and get to the point of this point, which is presenting you the list of the best science fiction movies that changed my life and allowed me to dream, develop my imagination and become the man I am today, as I think movies had something to do with the culture of past 30-40 years in my country. So, here’s the list of my personal best science fiction movies:

1 – Terminator 2 Judgment Day – IMDB link

What’s not to like about robots coming from future to kill John Connor, a little kid who’s only fault was to be born… oh, and that it was destined to be the leader of the human resistance in the future, the resistance to total annihilation by the aforementioned robots.

Terminator 2 I think is the only sequel that’s better than the first title. What further confirms that is Terminator 3, not so worthy, and the 2009 atrocity: Terminator Salvation. What’s even worst is that the Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles Series last season ended a few months ago, leaving the Terminator story fans in the dust. Hope someone serious will resurrect the Terminator franchise in the future, but that’s a long shot. Buy T2 from Amazon: Blu-ray or DVD

2 – Twelve Monkeys – IMDB Link

This was not an easy to digest movie for me, as I was very young in 1995 and couldn’t understand completely the Twelve Monkeys story but I’ve seen it several times now and everything is clear for me. It’s the idea of sending someone back in time to find the what caused the worst infection that killed billions of people and try to understand how the disease had spread and how to cure it for the remaining people. I don’t want to spoil the ending for those of you who haven’t seen it but Twelve Monkeys really deserves a place in your best science fiction movies of all times. Buy from Amazon DVD or Blu-Ray

3 – Star Wars – IMDB ep 4, ep 5, ep 6

I loved the Star Wars trilogy, not the new episodes, which seem like they were conceived for children, not grownups. The old episodes were something truly fantastic, opening my eyes on a new universe, one that had meaning in every detail and clearly showed George Lucas had everything clear in his mind.

All three episodes were packed with space battles. What’s not to like about that, plus the twisted end where Luke finds out Dark Vader is his father: it can’t get better than that as an ending. Buy the trilogy from Amazon

4 – Gattaca – IMDB Link

Even if Gattaca is more of an inspirational movie, it’s a Science Fiction, so it has to get here. You cannon ignore Vincent’s determination to fly to the stars in a world where naturally conceived children were deemed for low skills jobs because their genetic material was not good enough for society’s standards. I hope we’ll never get to see a society with such rules in place. Buy from Amazon DVD or Blu-ray version

5 – The Matrix – IMDB Link

I’ve seen this movie in my first year of college and was amazed by the idea. It was in place with all the new things I’ve experienced that year (nothing illegal, I assure you) and made my philsophical side take a step forward and think of new ideas and even ways to detect if what was depicted in the movie wasn’t really happening in our reality, but no white rabbit for me to follow.

The sequels, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, were not even close to the first Matrix, even if the story was the same (or maybe because it was the same). Buy from Amazon DVD or the entire trilogy

6 – Aliens series – IMDB Link

This is one of the most scary SF movie series I’ve ever seen, but also one of the best as it manages to show that man’s worst enemy is himself, always willing to develop a new more powerful weapon to kill other men, but in the Aliens case the weapon is a beast that cannot be tamed or trained and it rebels against everyone. The series also features one of my favorite actresses: Sigourney Weaver. It’s definitely a must have in my best science fiction movies collection.  Buy Aliens quadrilogy from Amazon

Similar stories you might enjoy

• Upcoming science fiction movies I wish to see
• You don’t need snow to make winter
• What does CAM, TS, R5, DVD Rip and other abbreviations like these means?
• Gattaca – the best inspirational movie I’ve ever seen
• The best netbook computer: what should it look like?

Gattaca - the best inspirational movie

I’m not gonna tell you how the movie goes but I highly recommend you see Gattaca if you haven’t already done so. It makes you forget about how hard is life and concentrate on how to get what you want and where you want to be. Complaining has nothing in common with success. Stop searching excuses and to everything in your power to reach your goals. That’s what Gattaca inspires me to do.

Now, before I get back to other movies I leave you with 2 quotes that I will never forget from Gattaca:

1. When Vincent’s brother asked him how does it managed to beat him when swimming into the ocean – “You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.”
2. What Vincent was thinking during takeoff – “For someone who was never meant for this world, I must confess I’m suddenly having a hard time leaving it. Of course, they say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I’m not leaving… maybe I’m going home.”

Even if it was made in 1997, you can buy it now from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray version.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• The easy to digest story of success
• What does CAM, TS, R5, DVD Rip and other abbreviations like these means?
• Upcoming science fiction movies I wish to see
• My personal best science fiction movies of all times
• W. – a masterpiece movie by Oliver Stone

Josh Brolin, the actor that impersonates W. does a very good job at mimicking the President. The whole movie tries to unveil the history behind the worst President of USA (as a lot of people say), how he got the power and what he did with it. It’s a highly recommended movie.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• What does CAM, TS, R5, DVD Rip and other abbreviations like these means?
• Upcoming science fiction movies I wish to see
• My personal best science fiction movies of all times
• Gattaca – the best inspirational movie I’ve ever seen
• You don’t need snow to make winter

I’m a really big fan of SF movies and I always look for new ideas, that make my mind dream, but unfortunately the past years thing got nasty in Hollywood and movies become worse day by day (that or I’m getting too old for the same turnovers and happy endings you see in movies today).

That’s why I really appreciate movies by their ideas, not special effects or blockbuster characteristics (except Dark Knight this year, which was a really good movies). Time Crimes is one such extrordinary movie, that managed to pun on film a very interesting idea about time travel and its negative effects . I’m not gonna tell you more, but I highly recommend the movie. And if you’re passionate about low bugdet SF time travel movies I also recommend Primer.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• Upcoming science fiction movies I wish to see
• My personal best science fiction movies of all times
• The easy to digest story of success
• What does CAM, TS, R5, DVD Rip and other abbreviations like these means?
• Gattaca – the best inspirational movie I’ve ever seen