HD DVD / Blu-ray Reviews and Recommendations

[Big Worms]

Originally Posted by digitalfreaknyc

Any word on what Charlie looks like?

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/charl...tefactory.html

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' never looked that great on standard DVD. It was quite soft, fuzzy and spotty, so this HD DVD didn't have to do much to exceed it. Thankfully, this 1.85:1 widescreen, 1080p/VC-1 transfer doesn't even break a sweat trying, with a very attractive presentation that, though not perfect, is sure to tickle the fancy of Wonka fans everywhere.

Though the quality of the source material is the same -- indeed, I would be surprised if both the DVD and the HD DVD were not minted from the same master -- the upgrade to high-def is still noticeable. Most impressive is that colors are less noisy and plugged up. The film's many reds, purples and browns looked muddy and undefined on the standard-def release, but here hues are both more vibrant yet smoother. Though I still think they could have been toned down a tad to keep the transfer sharper a bit more natural in appearance, the improvement is most appreciated.

Though black levels and contrast are about on par with the previous DVD, detail is superior. There is far more depth to most scenes, especially the heavy CGI exteriors, which in standard def looked quite flat. The film's many expansive sets benefit from a far better apparent depth to the image, which helps to deliver the kind of three-dimensional image expected for such a recent film. However, I still was disappointed with the relatively weak shadow delineation. The fall-off to black is quite steep, and not helping matters are the ever-so-slightly oversaturated colors. Fleshtones also look fake and pasty -- most of the actors look like they are made of plastic, not flesh. I know the film's visual sensibilities are obviously skewed towards the artificial, but I still found it somewhat distracting. Otherwise, compression artifacts and posterization are not really a problem, though there is some noticeable (if not excessive) film grain throughout, which causes some solid areas of color to look rather jumpy.

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by digitalfreaknyc

Any word on what Charlie looks like?

The disc is on my slate, but hasn't been shipped to me yet. I don't expect to receive it until late next week.

[MrChaos]

I was able to grab BB and PE like so many others early today from Target. Here's my take on BB:

Video - Batman Begins arrives courtesy of Warner Brothers in a 1080p 2:40:1 VC-1 encoded video,
The first obvious example here is the usage of colors. The film’s most dominant color, naturally, is black. Mr. Wayne’s suit looks flawless with such intense detail (take a look at the scene where he is painting his suit. Simply amazing). The film’s other colors, like the earlier yellows and blues, the fire sequence’s reds and oranges, look equally as good breathing new life into this transfer. Speaking of the film’s transfer, the film’s very recent life really shows here. The sharpness of the print is truly great with many sequences of extreme detail (One of my favorite scenes in the film has always been where Scarecrow, well, scares his victims showing them their true fears. Do as I did here. Pause the film and walk up to your screen and look at the intense detail in the look of the picture. Trust me, you don’t be disappointed.

With such a dark looking film, I wondered if the used VC1 encoding would allow the film to look this good. Despite a few sequences of minor grain, everything looks fine. No real evidence of pixilation, distortion in the print. I simply must congratulate Warner Brothers here. Not only have they brought this film up to the level we expect out of HD-DVD, but have delivered a film that regardless of what format you spend your money on, must be seen to be believed. Truly great stuff here and certainly one of the best HD discs out there.

Audio - Wow. I don’t even know where on earth I should begin here. Well, I suppose I should tell you what is included here. Presented using the standard Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 in English, Francais or Espanol, Batman Begins also includes one of the best, if not the best, uses of the Dolby TrueHD audio track I’ve ever heard. Due to my high impressions of this, I’m going to speak about three particular scenes (chapter 7, chapter 17, and chapter 28).

Chapter 7 is the film’s real more popular demo sequence (at least the demo scene Toshiba and Warner Brothers have been using). The sequence features Henri and Wayne battling on the ice. I was immediately brought to ears with this scene as these two men fought. As their swords clashed and clanged, I decided to view the sequence first in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and then with the Dolby TrueHD track. The provided Plus 5.1 was a lot quieter and more subdued resulting in one having to turn up the volume a bit to hear everything. The same sequence with TrueHD was a totally different experience. Everything, from the film’s surrounds to the bass, sounded completely different and much louder (not louder in a poor way but louder in a ‘WOW’ way).

The next scene at hand is where Lucius Fox is showing Bruce the new and improved ‘Tumbler’. While the scene is a lot shorter than say the first and the last scenes, I was still quite impressed here. As this machine revved and blasted away, my ears, it felt, went with the vehicle. Even when Lucius and Bruce are speaking the vehicle’s loud engine, and the accompanying TrueHD track, really showcase the power of the film’s audio.

Now this is my new demo sequence. From the first uttering of ‘I brought mine’, my brother immediately ran downstairs to view this sequence. Just to show him the power of TrueHD, I first played a bit of the scene with the Plus 5.1 track, which resulted in him commenting that this doesn’t sound all that good. I simply smiled and went back turning on the TrueHD track. There is just so much to comment on here, especially the well placed use of the sequence’s surrounds. Little subtle things like the officer’s speaking to each other, are not compromised here and are well balanced with the rather robust and well-defined audio. As The ‘Tumbler’ crashes and races throughout Gotham City, your complete audio system really keeps up with no evidence of muddled audio or lackluster performance. I particularly enjoyed the first of two sequences where ‘The Tumbler’ jumped over the rooftops. As the rockets flew, I wondered if the rocking (sorry) sound my sub was creating was outside (as did my family). Whoops, guess it was a bit too loud.

Warner has delivered on all fronts here with an incredibly impressive audio track here. Out of the two options here, I don’t really need to tell you what I enjoyed the most. What a breathtaking experience Warner.

[Suprmallet]

Originally Posted by Josh Z

The disc is on my slate, but hasn't been shipped to me yet. I don't expect to receive it until late next week.

Amazon already shipped it to me, so I should have it on Monday. I'll post some thoughts.

[darkside]

I am so behind on movies, because Amazon is taking forever to ship them to me. I finally got to watch Seabiscuit and it was jaw dropping. I had just watched Troy before it and was pretty impressed, but after seeing Seabiscuit I have to consider Troy just an above average release.

Dirty Dozen looked pretty decent, but those weird quality drops rights before scenes end are damn annoying. They really stand out like sore thumbs on HD DVD.

I still need to watch Robin Hood, but the cartoons looked nice and I checked out the beginning of the film and it looks to be in good shape and very detailed. I'm still a bit skeptical that old films from the 30's will be a big improvement in HD. Dracula and Frankenstein for instance have so much wear and tear on the film that I'm just not convinced the quality jump will be the great. However, Robin Hood really looks fantastic so I'm really looking forward to more 30s films in HD to prove me wrong.

Anyway, I think Seabiscuit is my new reference disc at least until Batman comes out on Tuesday.

[Suprmallet]

As long as a proper restoration is done, movies from the 30's should look just as good as more current films.

[Suprmallet]

Just finished watching Charlie & The Chocolate Factory:

Wow. This film looks amazing. Bright colors and detail galore. The DD+ soundtrack was excellent, especially during the nut sorting scene. The DolbyTrueHD music-only track was very underwhelming, I felt. But the audio was very strong anyway, so it's not that big of a deal.

Tons of extras, including IME. I haven't even started on them. But for PQ this one is an absolute winner. I only noticed one shot that seemed out of place. When Wonka is leading the group to the door that opens up to the chocolate river area, the picture suddenly went soft and a little out of focus. Don't know if it was just the way they shot it or a problem in the encoding, but it was the only fault I could find.

Buy this movie.

[bboisvert]

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/sho...w.php3?ID=8999

"I don't believe this film looked this good in the theater."

[darkside]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

Buy this movie.

I know I'm trying. God Damn Amazon! [shakes fist]

I want to check out Polar Express tonight, but I have to be up early and will have to wait. I really have a soft spot for this movie and can't wait. I've watched in in 3D twice so I'm not sure I will like it in 2D even though its hi-def.

BTW, I did finish Robin Hood and was very impressed with it. I'm really crossing my fingers for more 30s classics. I doubt many will top Robin Hood, but I'm betting Gone With the Wind will be the reference 30s disc.

I'm probably going to sell Dirty Dozen though. Very uneven transfer that will look great in one scene, look like a DVD in the next and then have moments where it looks like a VHS tape. I'm guessing that was just the way it was filmed or the condition of some of the elements, but it actually lends to the arguement that some old films won't be worth upgrading from DVD.

[PornoStar]

Originally Posted by darkside

I am so behind on movies, because Amazon is taking forever to ship them to me. I finally got to watch Seabiscuit and it was jaw dropping. I had just watched Troy before it and was pretty impressed, but after seeing Seabiscuit I have to consider Troy just an above average release.

Dirty Dozen looked pretty decent, but those weird quality drops rights before scenes end are damn annoying. They really stand out like sore thumbs on HD DVD.

I still need to watch Robin Hood, but the cartoons looked nice and I checked out the beginning of the film and it looks to be in good shape and very detailed. I'm still a bit skeptical that old films from the 30's will be a big improvement in HD. Dracula and Frankenstein for instance have so much wear and tear on the film that I'm just not convinced the quality jump will be the great. However, Robin Hood really looks fantastic so I'm really looking forward to more 30s films in HD to prove me wrong.

Anyway, I think Seabiscuit is my new reference disc at least until Batman comes out on Tuesday.

You have nothing to fear in regards to the 30's movies. They will look absolutly stunning and the amount of detioriation of the master print will have more effect on the amount of time needed to upgrade the print more than the end quality the print will have. The tools that are available today in regards to helping restore damaged prints are simply stunning. I use alot of them in my still photography work and in some cases you wouldnt believe the end result when looking at the terrible condition the print was in. Even with serious degradation of the original print there is still a ton of information on the emulsion.


PS..

[PornoStar]

Originally Posted by MrChaos

I was able to grab BB and PE like so many others early today from Target. Here's my take on BB:


The first obvious example here is the usage of colors. The film’s most dominant color, naturally, is black. Mr. Wayne’s suit looks flawless with such intense detail (take a look at the scene where he is painting his suit. Simply amazing). The film’s other colors, like the earlier yellows and blues, the fire sequence’s reds and oranges, look equally as good breathing new life into this transfer. Speaking of the film’s transfer, the film’s very recent life really shows here. The sharpness of the print is truly great with many sequences of extreme detail (One of my favorite scenes in the film has always been where Scarecrow, well, scares his victims showing them their true fears. Do as I did here. Pause the film and walk up to your screen and look at the intense detail in the look of the picture. Trust me, you don’t be disappointed.

I have to totally agree. The usage of the color black in this release is simply stunning and it really has no equal to date. Its a testament to not only the studio but to the VC1 format in itself. People viewing on a LCD might not get the same experience but on my Plasma, it was stunning. The scene you mentioned in particular, when he was spray painting his suit has to be seen to be believed. I watched this scene a few times and I have to say it is probably the single best scene I have seen on a home theatre in regards to its rendition of the color black.

This film is without a doubt my favorite print so far on HD-DVD. It is a perfect balance of filtration and clarity with a perfect amount of grain. While some prefer and will continue to prefer the Aeon Flux transfer in terms of a demo disc, I like a little more grittyness to my fim transfers than what Aeon Flux offered. While Aeon is great at showing just how much detail can be seen in HD, it just doesnt hold the weight that the Batman transfer does in the asthetic department. Its a stunning transfer and one where I can find not a single thing that I would do to improve on it. The Dark scenes as discussed above are the best I have seen on a home theatre and the brighter scenes are just as stunning. The city shots of Gotham are some of the best architecture shots I have ever seen on a home theatre. Pretty much this entire transfer is the best I have seen on a home theatre and amazingly it retains its gritty look on top of it.

This is without a doubt what HD is all about and hopefully we can look forward to more pictures in the future that retain this kind of quality.

PS..

[Suprmallet]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/sho...w.php3?ID=8999

"I don't believe this film looked this good in the theater."

Digitally Obsessed is doing HD DVD reviews now, huh? I used to review for them. I've still got quite a few reviews up on that site.

[Adam Tyner]

digitallyObsessed isn't one of the more prolific sites (35 reviews out of the seventy-something out now), but they've been reviewing HD DVDs since right around the format's launch in April.

[bboisvert]

With all of the releases and announcements over the past few days, this got a bit lost in the shuffle for me... but I just skipped through the Willy Wonka disc a bit (probably watched about 20 minutes total from various scenes).

Wow. This looks amazing. I've seen this movie dozens (hundreds? ) of times and new things just leap right out at me.

[DJ_Longfellow]

So, what do most consider the best HD-DVD movies thus far? I think I'm going to pick up the XBOX 360 one....and I may buy a couple movies with the BUY.com deal, but curious what is the MOST improved over the DVD counterpart.

[digitalfreaknyc]

I've heard Charlie, Polar and Batman are some of the best out there right now.

Kong will certainly be an improvement.

[Suprmallet]

Also Corpse Bride is amazing, as is Chronicles of Riddick, Blazing Saddles, Grand Prix.

[bboisvert]

Originally Posted by DJ_Longfellow

So, what do most consider the best HD-DVD movies thus far?

My personal list is:

Adventures of Robin Hood
Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Serenity
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Searchers
Corpse Bride

There's lots of other great titles out there as well but those are the ones that have really made me go "wow".

[Mr. Cinema]

Batman Begins
Training Day
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
2 Fast 2 Furious
Chronicles of Riddick

[DthRdrX]

Originally Posted by DJ_Longfellow

So, what do most consider the best HD-DVD movies thus far? I think I'm going to pick up the XBOX 360 one....and I may buy a couple movies with the BUY.com deal, but curious what is the MOST improved over the DVD counterpart.

Honestly, if you are judging by PQ, I think we'd be better off to compile a list of movies that we can't suggest.

From what I've seen, and I've seen most of them, I'd say my favorites are:

The Searchers
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Chronicles Riddick
Aeon Flux
SeaBiscuit
Batman Begins is my favorite.

[Suprmallet]

If you guys are interested, my first official DVDTalk review is up:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=24370

It's my first time, so be gentle.

Oh, and I'll try and add some pictures later. I don't have the original DVD, so I can't do screenshots. I'll have to try and pull some promotional pictures from the film.

[MrChaos]

I noticed it this morning. Nice job

[lizard]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

If you guys are interested, my first official DVDTalk review is up:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=24370

It's my first time, so be gentle.

Oh, and I'll try and add some pictures later. I don't have the original DVD, so I can't do screenshots. I'll have to try and pull some promotional pictures from the film.

A technical question: you say that the HD DVD is "enhanced for 16x9 TVs". Are HD DVDs anamorphically compressed? I was under the impression that this wasn't necessary in the high def formats since they are native 16:9. I could be wrong about that though.

And one quibble: the header The DVD really ought to be The HD DVD.

I have never gotten around to seeing the movie but find it interesting that you ended up liking it, because others have posted negative things about it. I'd say that was a pretty good first effort.

[Adam Tyner]

Originally Posted by lizard

Are HD DVDs anamorphically compressed?

Nope. They're always in a 1.78:1 frame, and any other aspect ratio requires letterboxing/pillarboxing on some part of the image. I know some projector owners (Josh Z being one of them) would've liked to have seen some sort of anamorphic enhancement to make use of every possible line of resolution, but things didn't work out that way.

[DthRdrX]

Good job Suprmallet!