Babel HD DVD vs Blu-ray differences?
 

Any specs for Babel yet?

Both are the same price so I'm not sure which one I should buy.

The cheaper one.

Isn't that how you roll? ;)

Yes, that's how I roll. :)
List of criteria for purchase (in order)

1. Quality of video and audio
2. Price
3. No bullshit (aka no combos)

Combos rock.

As for price, Amazon currently has both listed for $27.95, and the artwork would indicate that the HD-DVD is not a combo . . .

Damn, tough decision. Might go with Blu ray because I have 22 HD DVDs to only 6 BDs and my BD collection needs some help... I don't know!

Please explain that logic?

There are more than enough BD-only titles coming out to "help" your BD collection.

It's a Paramount title, so the HD DVD will be VC-1 and the Blu-ray will be MPEG2.

Paramount hasn't released any combo discs so far.

HD DVD for me then!

To be fair, Paramount's MPEG-2 releases have looked pretty much the same as the VC1 releases.

Agreed.

is this worth a blind buy?

It has some big Oscar noms if that means anything to you. I've also read generally good reviews. I'm picking this up blind for Blanchett and I don't mind Pitt.

Is Paramount the one who does 640kbps DD on BD and 1.5mbps DD+ on hd-dvd?

Si.

Wow! Glad to help out any way I can, dude.:)

I believe Blu-ray's DD specs top out at 640kbs. They'd need to go to DD+ (and 7.1 channel encoding) to get a higher bit rate, and no Blu-ray players currently support that.

I may just rent this, but if I buy I'll make this one the HD-DVD for the VC-1 and better audio.

Just letting you know, Blanchett is not in the film that much. It's more of a glorified cameo. Pitt has a small role as well, but it's larger in comparison.

I don't know if I would recommend this as a blind buy, but FWIW, I've heard it's very similar to the director's previous films Amores Perros and 21 Grams.

Well I saw the film in theaters and thought it was pretty damn good. Like Iñárritu's other films, it deals with multiple storylines and characters that all have something in common despite their vast differences in ethnicity and geography. My only problem with the film was that some of the storylines were not as strong as the others. Aside from that, it is very well shot, directed and acted,(Rinko Kikuchi was fantastic as the deaf Japanese girl). However the print I saw in theaters was pretty muddy, so I don't know just how well this will look in High Def. Oh and Blanchett's role is pretty tiny and has few lines.

So I would say if you liked Iñárritu's other films, it's worth a blind buy for sure. But if you have never seen any of his previous stuff, I don't know what to recommend since I don't know your taste in movies. And even though I love it, I know many people who hated it.

Thanks Eric, I hated 21 Grams so maybe I'll rent this first

Yeah i don't think i even made it through 21 Grams...and I'm supposed to go see this this week.

Eeek.

Hmm...I couldn't make it through 21 Grams either. May have to rethink this one, after reading all this stuff.

I love 21 Grams, but haven't had a chance to see Babel yet.

The High Def Digest review is up for both. While the picture and sound quality seem good, it appears that all the features from the SD 2-disc set have been left off both versions. Am I mistaken?