Why is Blu-Ray supposed to be so much better than DVD

The short answer is that more is better. Both DVD and Blu-ray discs are bit buckets, they hold data first and foremost. A Blu-ray disc is a bigger bucket; that's always true. When it comes to digital video formats, the bigger bucket allows Blu-ray discs to hold high quality, feature length HD video content at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels, compared to the 720 x 480 (interlaced, with two 720 x 240 fields per frame) of a NTSC video DVD. Again, there's more.

If you don't notice much difference, good for you. You can save some money by getting the DVD instead of the Blu-ray. Less is more, right? OTOH now that you know that there is a difference, and have that idea in the forefront of your mind, you might start to notice the difference more often, and prefer one over the other. It's true that a DVD that's well-made to begin with, and scaled up by your TV can look pretty good. But it's still...well, less. If the day comes that your eyes notice the difference a lot more than now, you might be glad that you chose the higher resolution.

All those movies have rather average transfers on Blu Ray (the original Ghostbusters is quite poor, although the 4K remastered reissue is much better). Anyway, those are old films. Try watching something like Lord of the Rings or 300 on Blu Ray compared to DVD and you'll actually notice the difference.

Also, if you don't have a 7.1 HD surround audio system, you're missing out on half the improvement. Dolby Digital DVD audio is weak and tinny, BD lossless audio is immensely superior.

More than double the resolution. Get a bigger TV. You'll see the difference on a 60+".

http://www.lenscrafters.com/lc-us/eye-exam

I have a 42" Plasma and I can definitely see the difference. It's more noticeable at times, but Blu-ray never fails to impress me.