DVDTalk's official Blu-ray coverage begins today:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/hd.php

A little late...just like the format.

The difference is...I expect the reviews to be fantastic.

Yeah, the review copies didn't show up until after the launch date.

These reviews don't sound too promising. Maybe I should be considering HD-DVD instead? All so damn confusing...

I think you should .

Damn, you guys are VERY biased....im gonna start calling this bluraytalk.com instead.

Hitch is a recommended title?? Hmm....

Yeah. You have to take the movie into account too, and it wasn't bad. The transfer was one of the least objectionable too.

I'm just razzin' ya, don't worry about it.

Glad to see these reviews up.

I thought the reviews were solid, and helped talk myself out of saving every dime I have to get both. I'm so happy and impressed with my HD-DVD player that I stagger to think I could have another player and 20 more HD-DVDs (theoretically) just for the price of a the Samsung BD player, and that's not including the great sales you can find for HD-DVD. Hopefully this stuff is fixed by the time PS3 is released, but I'm not counting on it.

Isn't that sad though? That the high-water mark for Blu-Ray is a transfer being "not objectionable" as opposed to people being blown away watching HD-DVD...

I spend a lot of time reading on various forums (fora?) and what's amazing to me is the complete and utter turnaround we've seen thus far.

Prior to the release of either format, the BR fans were completely stoked and high-fiving one another, proclaiming the iminent demise of HD-DVD. Then came the release of HD-DVD and the first "HOLY SHIT!" reports start coming in on the picture quality. BR fans were still quite vocal, firmly convinced that BR would trounce HD-DVD... then some grumblings about BR perpetually being pushed back.

Then BR v1.0 comes to market! It's here! Yay!

... and you can hear the collective bazookabarfing across the country when people finally see it in action.

Sony/Samsung got all thumb and no nail on BR's release.

Even reports from those who actually deem BR's PQ acceptable have been more along the lines of "well, it's ok" rather than being rave reviews. Contrast this with the number of reports from HD-DVD owners that are simply in hawg heaven. It's more than being advocate of one side or another. The proof is in the PQ, so to speak.

Sure, this all may change if BR starts using VC-1 instead of MPEG2 or if they ever get dual-layer discs out there, but they've fumbled the ball bigtime thus far.

The format war is far from over, but BR is reeling a bit at the moment.

The truly frightening thought is "Imagine if HD-DVD had not come out first?" We, as HD afficionados, may have been stuck with the quality of BR as it currently exists, with no incentive to Sony, Samsung, et al., to ever improve their product, because there wouldn't be anything to compare it to. No matter what ultimately happens in the format war, thank goodness Toshiba decided to blaze its own path...

...although to be fair, HD DVD would have been a very, very different product if not for the spectre of Blu-ray.

Actually you bring up a good point that I wanted to include in a review but didn't. I really wanted to like these Blu-Ray discs. I wasn't a fanatic by any means, but I dropped a grand (plus tax) on a player and was expecting to really like what I saw. I wanted to rave about all of the transfers and the audio presentation. Sony (and Samsung) had won me over based on the specs and the fact that this was new technology as where HD DVD is just teaking the old tech.

Then I saw the discs, and I wasn't impressed. My knocking of the releases isn't because I'm a closet HD DVD fan and want my side to win some points. It is because they aren't that great.

Sony really blew it with this launch. I remember only 7 months ago people in the game forum here were saying that the XBOX 360 release was the worst ever because they couldn't meet demand before Xmas. This launch is much, much worse and will probably cost Sony the format war. How many people that were on the fence have gone over to the HD DVD camp by now? It'll be near impossible to win them back too.

*Raises hand*

I will go back if Sony gets a clue, lowers prices, gets DL discs working, and starts using advanced codecs.

But at this point I will not buy a standalone player. I will wait for a dual-format player to come along before I take the BD plunge.

Man, those reviews are just depressing as hell. Very well done (and appreciated). But depressing.

Makes life very confusing for us fence sitters. Damn format war!

It's only depressing if you had that much faith in BD.

And one would think reviews like this and the glowing reviews of HD DVD would make it even easier...not more confusing. I fail to see the logic in any of that.

To be fair the big issue with supporting HD DVD is still the lack of support. Even with all of Blu-ray's current problems they still have a ton of supporters from a movie and hardware standpoint. If they get all those problems worked out by the end of the year and HD DVD doesn't get more people to switch sides its still going to be a tough road for HD DVD.

No one has become a bigger fan of HD DVD than I have, but I can still understand why many want to wait before deciding. The only thing I can't understand is anyone jumping on board with Blu-ray now.

I agree, the DVDTalk Blu-ray reviews are definately not a winning endorsement to the format

Man, if there was one thing that could have got me to be excited about Blue Ray, it was The Fifth Element. But not anymore.

Moved most of the discussion comparing HD DVD and Blu-ray support to the free-for-all thread.

Thanks for the good reviews - I found them to be very fair, in fact I think you could have been much harsher and still been fair.

Frankly, Sony has blown it. And I don't care if they get BD50 and VC1 working next year - since they have proven that they don't give a CR*P about image quality and value for money. They'll likely still mess up the titles even with the larger discs.

As far as studio support goes; I think that the studios are probably in shock at how badly BluRry has been received and how bad the releases are. Two of them are now preparing HD DVD masters from what I hear - so it won't be long before this "artificial" bluray advantage does not exist anymore.

As far as I'm concerned HD DVD deserves the win. This is a high-end format for high-end, discerning consumers. Those consumers deserve to be treated with at least a LITTLE respect for having some intelligence.

Bring on the HD DVD releases - fagetaboutbluray...

After reading the Ultraviolet review, I'm almost glad I don't have a Blu-ray player 'cause I'd probably have picked that up too. I'm a masochist.

Basic Instinct 2 is coming next. I watched it last night. Not only is the movie atrocious, this is probably the worst-looking Blu-ray I've seen yet.

The Ultraviolet review almost made me piss myself.

Thank you.

I guess I thought Equilibrium was much better than Josh Z did, but its a shame that Wimmer let this out of his buttocks.