Spartacus HD-DVD - Is it worth the upgrade from DVD??
 

This is one of my favourite all time films and I have been thinkig about the HD-DVD for a while now but have been put off by some average reviews (including DVDTalk here .

I already own the Criterion Special Edition DVD which has a greatpic and loads of extras - my question is, does anybody agree I should stick with the CC DVD or upgrade to HD??

Thanks

No. This is one of the worst looking HD DVDs I have watched. Stick with the Criterion.

Stick with the Criterion.

Worst-looking HD-DVD I own, and I've got 63 of them. Virtually no noticable improvement over the Criterion SD-DVD.

As I noted in my review, there are some slight improvements over the Criterion, specifically in the realm of compression artifacts and mosquito noise. But not enough of an improvement to warrant a whole new purchase.

I bought it, watched it, puked and resold it.

How can The Searchers look so good and Spartacus so bad?

The Searchers was taken from a brand new 2005/2006 remaster. Spartacus was remastered in 1991, and the technology has improved greatly since it was done.

So far that is the reason I am upgrading to the new format (in my case Blu-ray): to replace my first generation DVDs. For example I upgraded to "The Searchers" because of the video and the extras; and ditto "Goodfellas" to get rid of my "flipper" version with no extras.

dont buy it

I have both and I don't suggest buying the HD-dvd if you have the Criterion. Just wait and see if this gets cleaned up in the future.

This makes me wonder how much better (if any) Brazil will look, when it's released in HD-DVD format, than the newer anamorphic Criterion release?

Thanks for the replies guys, although I feel a little stupid as I went to pick out a HD-DVD to watch from my unwatched pile (ever-growing!!) and I spotted I had Spartacus :eyebrow:

I actually bought it from the HD FS/FT thread here :). So I but it on and had a look myself and have to agree with everything thats been said - while its good, its not worth the upgrade, so I have now sold it on and will stick with my CC until theycome up with a new offering -pray-