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?

Also, the review states that both are 640kbps....can anyone else confirm this?

Son of a bitch, it is barebones except for the trailer. The BD50 sure is put to great use, eh? What a letdown compared to their wonderful releases of World Trade Center and MI3 with HD extras.

Interesting that the HD DVD is encoded with AVC, not VC-1. (The BD is MPEG-2 as is usual for Paramount.) Also, as RockStrongo said, he claims the audio on both releases is 640kbps (less than their typical HD DVD bitrate).

After doing some searching, I can't find any information about a 2-disc DVD version. The thread in DVD Talk has a link that no longer works, and I can't find any separate listings anywhere. The 2-disc version must have been cancelled and/or they're holding back for a later SE. Somebody made a comment in that thread about the director apparently not caring much for in-depth features.

I guess I feel better knowing they didn't hold anything back from the initial release, but I still don't understand why they used a lower bitrate for the audio on the HD DVD version. Maybe they wanted to "neutralize" the releases.

Paramount has always been garbage. Remember their early dvds?

Actually, their HD releases have been good to great so far. There aren't as many of them as I would like at this point, but the quality of each one has been pretty high.

I think Warners uses 640kbps for both HD DVD and BD. I would say the same goes for Paramount, even though the perception was they were using 1.5mbps for HD DVD. I also noticed the HD DVD is using AVC as opposed to VC1. This may be a first for them.

Regarding extras, DVD Empire has the dvd back cover available. I don't see any extras listed on the back, even though I thought this was going to be part of their "Special Collector's Edition" line.

Remember Warners early dvds? Remember Fox's early dvds? All the early dvds were mostly crap. Paramount's titles usually offer a solid audio/video presentation.

U2 Rattle & Hum was also an AVC encode.

If it's bare bones and not 2 discs, what's with the $40 list price for both formats?

It's standard new release pricing for most major studios, regardless of features.

Only Disney (who charges $35 for all titles) and Warner ($35 for new BDs) charge less.

No extras? No sale.

som-a-ma bitch no extras??? LOL!!! well i still am going to get it just to see the movie .....I didnt even see the 2 disc available on Amazon though.......

Hey...it's matching the SD-DVD at least.

This isn't too surprising. Aside from Amores Perros, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu doesn't seem to be into extras as much as other directors. And Paramount doesn't double dip as often as other studios, so this may be the only version we see for awhile, unless Babel manages to steal Best Picture on Oscar night.

I'll let you in on a secret. Very few directors are into extras. Extras are a nuisance they participate in as a marketing necessity, like going on The Tonight Show and pretending that Jay Leno is funny.