Fantastic review, thanks! My HD copy is arriving in today's mail, apparently. Can't wait. :up:

As I said, it's coming from several different sources, so some of it looks worse, but most of it looks better. To me, the first film didn't look any better than the DVD upconverted.

As for the film itself, I presume you're talking about the decision to edit out as much of Lester's footage as possible. While I agree it would have filled in holes, on the commentary Donner talks about how different in tone Lester's footage was to his, and he didn't feel they matched at all. I'm sure someone will make their own ultimate cut with the best footage from both versions.

Thanks! Even though the movie isn't perfect, it's still a must-have for Superman fans.

Yes, it has problems, but I actually liked it better than the original. The original always seemed cheesier to me than Superman The Movie.

It had some holes and the scene in Niagra Falls where Clark's hair and glasses changes was hard to get past, but the scene was better than the Lester version IMO.

Definitely looks better than the 1st movie. When watching in particular some of the Daily Planet scenes in the 1st one, I thought it was the original SD release shown at 480P. :thmbsdwn: Like the review said, other scenes looked much better.

I haven't watched Supes 1 on HD DVD. But hearing these comments about it looking like upconverted dvd doesn't sound good. For these particular cases, I can see how someone who hasn't joined the HD crowd would be hesistant. It does make it a bit of a tough sell when there are HD DVD/BD titles out there that barely surpass the dvd in terms of video quality.

BTW - Continuity issue with Donner Cut...

And Rock, the reason Clark's hair and glasses kept changing is because they were cutting together two screen tests, which was the only footage they had of that scene.

I just talked to a good friend of mine who said that 1 looked a lot better than 2 on HD. He even pointed out the only scene in 2 that looked good to my eyes as well. Methinks I'm going to have the same opinion he does.

Yeah, I listened to the commentary about it and thats what they said. I liked the scene though and wished they had filmed it. Lester's version was a bit cheesy to me (less cheesy I guess).

Also, in the doc, they talked about the turning back time ending. They said that it was decided on before the ending for Superman The Movie and the alternate was the "magic" kiss ending that was in the Lester version.

Don't get me wrong, I still thought it was great... just those scenes weren't very good, but I still enjoyed the presentation overall. In fact, the only true disappointment I've had in 80+ HD-DVDs was End Of Days because the True-HD is messed up on my copy & I never bothered to exchange it DOH.

To be honest, having watched that ending recently, I actually loved the scene. It's the only serious scene that imho Lester directed.

I'll definitely be making my own edit of the two versions. I'm probably going to get rid of my Donner cut HD DVD.

Yeah, they mentioned they were considering the magic kiss, but Tom Mankiewicz was insistent that Clark should never kiss Lois, only Superman, so that went out the window at that point.

I disagree with him on that....doesnt he take his glasses off before he kisses her? I dont remember.

I think it would have been better than rehashing the ending to Superman The Movie....makes superman look lazy ;)

But, then, is superman so powerful that he can make someone forgot days from a kiss...oh well, comic book movie talk I guess! ;)

I canceled Excalibur for this reason and have scratched all of these off my list. I will just get the standard DVDs if the effort on the HD DVDs is mediocre.

Agreed, really nice review and I agree with all of it. Nice Job!

PS..

I know alot of people have been harsh on the Excaliber transfer but personally I feel it is still a big improvment over the original SD transfer. Sure it isnt reference quality but it is a noticable improvment.

I have come to accept that some movies will not look night and day difference between the SD and HD version. That is just something that can happen if the people shooting the film use techniques like soft focus filters and other tricks to alter the films appearance. I do not however feel that this in any way reflects poorly on the HD formats themselves. Its just the way things are period. Some movies will look absoltly stunning with absolutly no comparison between the HD version and the SD version, some will look great and still be a pretty big difference between HD and SD and then some will fall in between great and not so great in terms of the SD and HD comparison. I have come to accept this and will still purchase those movies that have only slight improvment over the SD if its a film i really enjoyed.

PS..

Sorry, i'm going to have to respectfully disagree.

I just skipped around Superman The Movie and it looked MUCH better than Superman 2, to my eyes.

Forgot to mention that I watched the Ant Bully last night and it looked amazing. My nephew was over playing me in some Gears of War and we decided to watch that as he loves animation movies. It was the first film he has seen in HD and he was so blown away that he couldnt shut up during the film. Afterwards all he said was how he absolutly had to convince his mother to buy an HDTV. I know my sister wont be very appreciative of that fact :-)

Anyways it really did look amazing and I highly recommend this one. I actually really enjoyed this film. I think it was just overshadowed by some of the other more popular animation films released this year. Definitly a top notch release!

PS..

I'm kinda hopin that one pops up in my Amazon Gold Box. :)

Just finished watching Superman Returns... great TrueHD track! The PQ... not as hot. Until I see Ant Bully, Universal takes best PQ this week for Dune & The Mummy, by a mile.

The PQ of Superman Returns faithfully recreates the look of the film in the theaters, it's a flawless transfer.

As for everyone complaining about the transfer on Superman: The Movie, as I mentioned in my review, the movie is shot soft, and the HD DVD is faithful to the look of the film. If you want to ding the disc for anything, ding it for leaving off special features, not for the transfer.

Are people complaining about the first movie? ;) I'm certainly not. All my gripes were with the 2nd.

The transfers may be good, but none of the 3 come close to what I consider to be reference, except for the AQ of Returns... that's all. If I want to impress someone with HD-DVD, I will not be showing any of these titles.
JMO :).

ETA: I did think the main title sequence of Returns was awesome.
Maybe I'd demo just that part & then put King Kong in. :p

Not every HD DVD is going to be a reference disc. I always go back to the example of Sleepy Hollow. It's got stunning picture, but it's not a movie you would demo.

I think the picture quality of Returns is great. No problems at all IMO. Flawless, very detailed and accurately displays the director's intentions for the color.

I still think King Kong is my reference disc for picture, but I wouldnt hesitate to show Superman Returns either. Its right up there with Batman Begins.

I hear ya... but I prefer Hollow to Returns, looks a whole lot more like film to me... maybe it's that it was shot on HD equipment. Opinions seem to be mixed around the various boards. Some love it, some hate it. I'm still happy to have a copy though, great flick, and maybe the best TrueHD yet!

Trust me once you see Ant Bully you will put it right at the top for not only releases this week but at the top of top transfers available period. Everything about this transfer is amazing. The picture quality is just simply stunning. I watched part of it again this morning just to give the picture a second look and it really is one of the best releases yet in terms of PQ, at least IMO.

PS..

I actually would demo Sleepy Hollow especialy if you were showing people what HD can do for films with a more stylistic approach. When you look at the SD and HD versions side by side the difference between the two is extremly noticable. After watching the HD version the SD version just looks extremly muddy to me now. The HD version really makes this film even more beautiful than it already was and this was always one of my favorite transfers even in SD.

I am a big fan of cross processing and the movies that use it like Traffic, Sleepy Hollow and Pitch Black. They have always been at the top for my favorite transfers even in SD. HD just takes Cross Processing to a whole new level as the contrast is so much more impressive compared to SD. The one scene that still sticks in my head as one of the most impressive I have ever seen in HD is the one from Pitch Black when they do a close up of Radha Mitchell when the blue sun rises. Its absolutly stunning as you can see every single pore & every little bead of sweat of her face. It was my very first wow moment in HD and it still remains as powerful now as it was then. There are 2 movies that are cross processed that I am waiting for that I expect to look just as impressive and those are Man On Fire and Domino. Both should look awsome in HD.

PS..

I watched The Ant Bully last week and the disc does indeed have terrific PQ. An entertaining movie as well.

I don't see what there is to debate--that's how Bryan Singer shot it, period. It looks exactly like it should. What are people expecting?

Wait, wait, maybe it's people who saw the IMAX 3-D version and are now complaining that this one is plain ol' 2-D. ;)

Obviously there's two ways of looking at things: one is does it match the director's intent... the other is how does it look compared to other HD-DVDs. Two different approaches, possibly two different results... both worthy of discussion IMO, at least at this stage of the game. I agree nailing the transfer is most important.

Cool..I'm passing by Walmart in a bit, may have to see if they have it. :)

I agree, that scene in Pitch Black with the blue sun is a jaw-dropper! Simply spectacular!

Yes, and I understand the mentality of all HD DVDs should look amazing, but Superman Returns doesn't have a bad transfer. It may have a transfer that is less stunning than Batman Begins or King Kong, but by no stretch of the imagination is it bad.

Agreed... it's still fun to compare though. I don't agree with all the rankings, but I enjoy reading this thread over at AVS. Looking at the large number of replies & views, it sure seems like a lot of other people enjoy reading it as well.... pretty useful for those just starting to get into HD-DVD.

That thread is a joke. The guy who started it thinks the grain on Sleepy Hollow is all artifacts.

It's definitely not perfect. Superman Returns is ranked above Sleepy Hollow. :p

:lol:

Speaking of Superman Returns, I just read Adam's review, and I have to say it's a shame he felt so unenthusiastic about it. Personally, I loved it.

Anybody get A Christmas Story yet? I'm very anxious to hear about the quality of this disc.

Yeah I recieved this a couple days early from Amazon. I havent watched the whole thing yet but I did pop it in a check a few scenes out and I was very impressed with what I saw. Its a very clean picture that had zero flaws from what I saw. Its definitly a massive improvment over the SD DVD and this just adds another notch into the older films catagory that look stunning. I am really happy this one turned out so well as it is one of my all time favorite holiday movies as I am sure it is with alot of other people as well. They just dont make movies like this anymore! This is actually one of the few films I would update again and again and again and never complain. Its just a must have for any collection.

PS..

HD DVD review:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/christmasstory.html

Blu-ray review:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/christmasstory.html