Rarely do video game consoles make good stand-alone movie players.

Sony The Blu-ray remote control for the PlayStation 3 should arrive in December. Until then, movie fans will have to use the awkward PS3 controller when using the game console to watch films presented in the latest high-def technology.

For example, the original Xbox played DVD movies, but you had to buy a separate remote control for them to work, and the PlayStation 2 developed a reputation for mediocre video quality when playing DVDs.

But Sony's new PlayStation 3 bucks the trend when it comes to high-definition Blu-ray movies, and even videophiles probably won't be disappointed with the image quality.

The first bit of good news, strangely enough, is the price.

While the $500 and $600 models seem outrageous if you plan to just play PS3 games, those price tags are much more reasonable if you want to watch movies as well.

Right now, stand-alone Blu-ray players cost $900 and up.

HD-DVD movie players — which also play high-def movies but are incompatible with Blu-ray discs — are a little cheaper, but you don't get the ability to play PS3 games, if that's something you're interested in.

You can buy an external HD-DVD drive for Microsoft's Xbox 360 for $199, but the cost of that console plus the bulky drive is the same as what you'd pay for the PS3 with the built-in player.

I haven't had the opportunity yet to test the HD-DVD add-on for the 360.

On the PS3, I hooked up the console to a 40-inch 1080p LCD television with HDMI cables and optical audio cables to get 5.1 surround sound.

The first time you connect your PS3, though, you'll need to use the bundled composite cables, go to the video settings menu on your PS3 and enable the HDMI output.

Then you have to restart the console and select your resolution level.

It's a clunky start-up process, and I scratched my head over a blank screen before I figured out the steps, but I was up and running before long.

You also need to enable the optical audio output in the sound menu, but that doesn't require a restart.

I watched some clips from the bundled Blu-ray movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and watched all of Mission: Impossible 3 on Blu-ray.

Sony "Talladega Nights" on Blu-ray is bundled with the first 500,000 PS3s sold.

Both movies were visually spectacular, at least to my untrained eye.

And while some reviewers have reported that it can take a long time for Blu-ray movies to start on regular players, start-up times on the PS3 didn't seem any worse than on a regular DVD player.

There were a few nonvisual quirks.

First, Sony includes neither HDMI cables nor a remote control with the PS3, which seems a little chintzy.

Although you can buy your own cables (it's a standard HDMI port on the back of the PS3), the remote is a bigger problem, at least for a little longer.

Sony will release a separate PS3 Blu-ray remote soon, but right now you have to use the PS3's controller as a remote.

You hit the triangle button to bring up a transparent menu with on-screen buttons for pause, play, fast forward and so forth.

Use the joystick to scroll through the options, and then hit the X button to select the function.

It works, but it's definitely not smooth.

It's also annoying that once you've launched a movie, the only way to get back to the PS3's desktop is to eject the movie.

If you're playing a PS3 game, however, you can just hit a button on the controller to exit to the desktop and leave the disc in.

Still, that's the sort of thing Sony can fix with a software update.

So if you are lucky enough to buy a PS3 and are interested in watching Blu-ray movies, this could be the only Blu-ray movie player you'll ever need.

Pros: Cheaper than a stand-alone Blu-ray player; excellent video quality.

Cons: A little difficult to set up; no bundled HDMI cables or remote control.

Bottom line: The PS3 is the first game console that movie fans won't be embarrassed to stack in their entertainment center.