PornoStar

The In Movie Experience is touted as one of the big improvments, special features wise, in the new HD-DVD format as most of us are well aware of. I have read quite a few of the reviews on the net regarding this new feature especially on the more popular films like Batman Begins and its with titles like these and Batman Begins in particular where I have really come to disagree with most of the reviewers out there. While most of the reviewers agree that this is a very cool feature with alot of potential, most feel that some of the first entries into IME have been sub par and this is where I have to totally disagree.

In alot of the Batman Begins reviews I have read where the IME wasnt very good in regards to the fact that it didnt have enough material and there just wasnt enough of the IME with too long of waits in between actual IME Scenes. I recieved my copy of Batman begins a few days early at Target last week and just got around to watching the IME tonite and I really was blown away at how expertly this thing was put together and have to 100% disagree with anyone who felt there was a lack of material and I think its because I am expecting something different than most other people are.

The way I look at it and by the title its given. IME is an In Movie Experience. After viewing Batman I see that this title couldnt be more fitting. In Batman Begins IME, yes you have gaps where the IME isnt playing, but isnt that the point? I surely think it is. If the IME was playing 100% of the time you wouldnt be focusing at all on the movie and would be listening to everything and looking at everything that was taking place on that little IME screen or at least most of the time. With the way they set up the Batman IME, I was able to basically watch important parts of the movie uninterupted and have commentary on specific areas of the movie at the same time.

I especially love the beginning of the movie when they allowed certain scenes such as the fight in the prison with Bruce Wayne to occur without interuption and then come in with the IME when characters you havent seen before are introduced such as Henri Ducard. This is beutifully done and I am positive after watching it a 2nd time that alot of thought went into when they should and should not have the IME on screen. When done correctly it flows beautifully, allowing you to enjoy some of the better scenes of the movie uninterupted and at the same time giving you insight into the movie with the IME screen.

So to sum this up, at least IMO, Batman begins was a perfect example of what I do want out of IME and not a case where there was too little information. Again If you had the IME screen active for too much of the movie it would actually take you out of the movie and then it would basically besome an on screen commentary track. If done properly you get drawn in to the movie and at the same time get the IME experience. Batmans IME was by far the best one I have seen so far in terms of the balance of how much info vs how much movie time uninterupted. It will be very interesting to see how future tracks are handled. For me this idea has really bloomed with the Batman title and my interest in IME has just shot through the roof.

If the IME tracks purpose was to fit in as much info as they could during the movie then it failed horribly. If it was meant to let you watch the movie and at the same time give you insight into important aspects of the movie the it succedded brilliantly. I am with the 2nd opinion.

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Doughboy

I think there are 2 reasons why the Batman Begins IME(as well as the one for T3) were disappointing to some, including myself:

1) The IME feature is like an audio commentary combined with a behind-the-scenes documentary. And gaps in audio commentaries have always been frowned upon.

2) One of the earliest HD-DVD releases with IME was The Bourne Supremacy. And no offense, but it wipes the floor with Batman Begins. It runs for the entire length of the movie uninterrupted. It's screen-specific. It features interviews with every participant imaginable(even a psychologist chimes in a few times). And it even throws in an alternate ending at the end which I'm not sure was even included on the SD-DVD.

That being said, the IME feature is something the studios are still getting the hang of. What I'm interested to see is if they're able to include it on older titles or if it'll be exclusive to newer films.

PornoStar

Your statement just goes with everything I was trying to say in my original post. As I was saying I think IME is trying to be something a little bit more than simply being an in screen commentary by actually letting you watch certain parts of the movie without interuption combined with commentary during less important scenes.

Your point about Bourne Supremacy is a perfect example of what I think IME shouldnt do and completly disagree that its better than Batmans. The Bourne Suprmacy IME gave you no chance to watch the movie and actually get involved with the movie as it played non stop. When I was finished watching that IME I felt that I had just basically watched an on screen commentary track yeat wasnt able to actually enjoy the movie at the same time. It was handled completly 100% differently than the Batman IME and at least IMO I prefer the Batman approach way more as it allows you to actually get involved with watching the movie itself instead of focusing on the little screen 100% of the time.

If you feel that the Bourne Supremacy IME Was better than we fundamentally feel that IME's purpose is a very different one. I feel Batman did it perfectly again by actually letting you enjoy important parts of the movie uninterupted by commentary combined with commentary during other parts. It was a perfect balance that allowed you to actually get involved with the movie as if you were actually just watching the movie and not just watching a commentary track. The IME for BS did not allow for the same involvment with the actual movie as it never gave you a chance to just sit back and watch the thing and instead focused 100% of you attention to the small IME box on the corner of the screen.

Batman Begins and Bourne Supremacy are 2 very different ways in which to implement the IME experience and the fact that we each feel that a different one is much better than the other one shows that we have very different ideas on what IME is and what its trying to accomplish.

As I said in my first post. If you feel that IME's goal is to get in as much information as possible than by all means B. Supremcy would be the way to do it and Batmans IME track failed in that regard. If however you feel, like I do, that IME should be a balance between actually letting you watch the movie uniterupted & times when actual commentary takes place than Batmans IME is clearly the better one.

I am hoping that in future IME's that they take the Batman Begins approach as it was a much more enjoyable approach n my opinion. Obviously alot of people disagree with my views on this which is why the Batman Begins IME has had such bad reviews thus far on the net.

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Drexl

That's an interesting way to look at it. I've heard commentaries where the commentator will pause to just watch something.

Like Doughboy mentioned, this typically gets criticized in reviews, but I guess it all comes down to the kinds of footage we see and how it works with the film, as well as what kind of film it is. Action movies with big set pieces and calm dialogue scenes in between would work well with this approach. An even better candidate might be a musical, where the footage would pause during the songs.

MrChaos

I actually thought the Picture in Picture for FATF was pretty good as it maintained a constant on-screen video picture where as BB (haven't seen any others) tended to drift off.

The Bus

One of my favorite commentaries is the score commentary on the original Matrix DVD. The composer would talk about the score and what mood he wanted to set, then let the scene with the music play out. Once the music was over, he'd start talking again. I felt like I learned a lot more through that than being constantly barraged with factoids.

I'd rather have a commentary with natural pauses as opposed to forced candor or useless blather.

PornoStar

Absolutly 100% agree and I know the commentary your referring to in regards to the matrix and its a great example of how great a commentary can be by not talking 100% of the time and instead letting the viewer or listener in that case get more involved in the material being discussed.

As I said with the Batman Begins IME, they didnt just randomly insert factoids into this feature but carefully placed who would be speaking with what was being talked about into perfectly placed sections of the movie. I have not a single doubt that if they wanted too they could have filled the IME with facts and interviews from beginning to end like the Bourne Supremacy IME but instead tried something different by letting you watch the more exciting and more important scenes. It worked extremely well and I became aware of what they were trying to accomplish right off the bat by the way the beginning sequences were done.

I wasnt expecting this when I went into the Batman Begins IME but became aware of it almost immediatly by how well it was working. I really was getting drawn into actually watching the movie during the times of silence and this was one of the first times that I can remember watching any kind of commentary and at the same time was getting really drawn into watching the film itself. Again when done correctly it can flow beautifully and give you a different kind of experience of watching movies. The Batman IME was brilliant in my opinion and its brilliant because of what wasnt said as much as what was said.

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Shannon Nutt

I concur with Doughboy...it wasn't that the Batman Begins IME was bad, it just didn't live up to BETTER IMEs on already released HD DVDs. That's the main reason for many viewer's complaints.

Josh Z

I'm with Doughboy on this one. If I wanted to get involved in the movie, I'd watch the movie again. If I'm listening to a commentary or watching an IME, I'm doing it to hear/see that information. Long pauses where the movie just plays out as normal are tedious, IMO.

PornoStar

As I stated in the beginning of the thread, alot of people will disagree with me on this point and that is fine. the point of this thread wasnt to see who was right or wrong as its all subjective. The point was that there are people out there who absolutly prefer this style of IME and there is no arguing that fact. I was just giving my opinion on what IME shoould be and felt Batman Begins absolutly, 100% nailed it on the head.

As for statments like if I wanted to watch the movie again I would, well your just missing the point entirly on why they even developed IME. How many people actually listen to the directors commentary? Ill guarantee its probably much less than 1% off the people who buy the disc. IME is simply trying to make commentary tracks more accessable to people by making them more interesting. People are much more likly to watch something like an IME over listening to a commentary track and as this thread has already shown, there are different ways of doing IME and different people have different expectations on what that should be.

Again this post was never about right or wrong as there is no such thing in this case. There are very different types of IME already available and I prefer the Batman Stlye 100%. Either way it is a great improvmet over standard commentary tracks and thats good for everyone.

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Supermallet

IME has an advantage over commentaries in that you can always skip to the next block if there's a pause, which you can't do with a commentary.

bboisvert

I haven't sat through an entire IME yet, just played around a bit. However, I couldn't figure out how to skip past the pauses. What button is that? (Or are you talking about just FFing through until the next window pops up?)

Adam Tyner

Press the 'right' button as if you were on the menu screen.

kvrdave

I don't mind the silence. I would rather have that than them talking just for the sake of it. But then, I rarely ever watch extras. Almost never.

kvrdave

Just figured out why I enjoy this and the occasional silence doesn't bother me. It is like watching a movie with a friend. I don't need a school lesson on why, what, and how...I just like that it feels like someone is watching it with me and interjecting when it seems appropriate.

Supermallet

That's a good way of looking at it.

PornoStar

exactly and the silent parts are during the best parts of the movie. Again as I said above you could tell that alot of thought went into when and when not to have the IME active. All I know is that it was unlike any commentary I had ever watched before as I found myself really getting into watchung the movie and at the same time was getting commentary during the less important and less exciting scenes. I had never experienced something like this before and I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of commentary tracks. I was really blown away at how effective it really was and really sold me on this kind of IME.

The IME's that run non stop like the Bourne Supremacy just didnt have this same effect as you were never allowed to actually get into watching the movie. Your concentration was 100% on the IME presentation the entire time. While the Bourne Supremacy's IME was still enjoyable, it just didnt have the same effect that the Batman Begins IME track did. At the end of the Bourne Supremacy's IME I felt that I had just gotten done watching exactly that, the IME for BS. At the end of the Batman begins IME I felt that I had not only watched the IME track but also the movie itself.

Again in the end its all about personal preference and for me its without a doubt better the Batman way. Will be intersting to see which way the future IME's are done. Either way IME is on my radar more so than ever.

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