Welcome to round 1 of the 2007 DVDTalk HD DVD/Blu Ray draft voting. Please vote for which collection you think is the best for each matchup. Use whatever criteria you feel is the most appropriate; I loook for whichever HD disc I feel is the most "must-have." Your vote will not be counted if you don't vote in all 4 matchups or if you vote more than once. This round of voting will last 72 hours.

Matchup 1
wewantflair
The Sting HD DVD
The Prestige Blu Ray
Casablanca HD DVD
Slither HD DVD
Dune HD DVD
The Searchers Blu Ray
The Adventures of Robin Hood HD DVD
Fearless HD DVD

versus

cleaver
Batman Begins HD DVD
King Kong HD DVD
V for Vendetta HD DVD
Black Hawk Down Blu Ray
Corpse Bride Blu Ray
Crank Blu Ray
The Thing HD DVD
A Scanner Darkly HD DVD

Matchup 2
Bokasmo
The Fast & the Furious HD DVD
The Hulk HD DVD
Full Metal Jacket HD DVD
The Terminator Blu Ray
U-571 HD DVD
Unforgiven HD DVD
Lethal Weapon HD DVD
Meet the Parents HD DVD

versus

sayguh
Troy HD DVD
Terminator 2 Blu Ray
Rocky Balboa Blu Ray
Layer Cake Blu Ray
Mission: Impossible III Blu Ray
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Blu Ray
Training Day HD DVD
Enter the Dragon HD DVD

Matchup 3
speedyray
Casino Royale Blu Ray
Goodfellas HD DVD
The Departed HD DVD
The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift HD DVD
Jarhead HD DVD
Miami Vice HD DVD
The Rundown HD DVD
Superman Returns HD DVD

versus

mdc3000
Serenity HD DVD
Casino HD DVD
Kingdom of Heaven DC Blu Ray
Mission: Impossible III HD DVD
The Decent Blu Ray
Dog Day Afternoon HD DVD
Army of Darkness HD DVD
Stranger Than Fiction Blu Ray

Matchup 4
Kocheese99
Smokin Aces HD DVD
Seabiscuit HD DVD
Corpse Bride HD DVD
NIN: Beside You in Time HD DVD
The Searchers HD DVD
Good Night, and Good Luck. HD DVD
Phantom of the Opera HD DVD
Monster House Blu Ray

versus

arpeggi
Children of Men HD DVD
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind HD DVD
The Departed Blu Ray
Out of Sight HD DVD
Reservoir Dogs Blu Ray
12 Monkeys HD DVD
The Usual Suspects Blu Ray
Goodfellas Blu Ray

Matchup 1
cleaver in a landslide victory

Matchup 2
Much closer match-up, with the victor being sayguh

Matchup 3
Another close battle, my vote goes to speedyray

Matchup 4
Once again, these rosters are pretty even, with a slight advantage to arpeggi

Matchup 1
Matchup 2
Matchup 3
Matchup 4

Matchup 1

A tough one...on one hand, I like some of the classics that wewantflair has picked, as well as The Prestige and Slither...but I LOVE Batman, Kong, V, Thing, Scanner, so this one goes to Cleaver.

Matchup 2

I think all of these discs have some great 'demo material' potential, but the only flick I really LOVE on Bokasmo's list is Unforgiven. While sayguh's list features T2, M:I:III and Rocky which are pretty great movies IMO...so just barely I'll pick sayguh.

Matchup 3

I've got to tell you, this list is as close to my alternate picks list as I could imagine. I love Casino Royale, Goodfellas, Departed and The Rundown...but I'm obviously going to pick myself... if only because I LOVE all of the movies on my list... and I personally need a little variety in genre, which I tried for...so mdc3000.

Matchup 4

Really close matchup. Kocheese has some really great looking movies in that list: Smokin' Aces, Seabiscuit, Monster House and the NIN disc is awesome...but Children of Men, Eternal Sunshine and especially Out of Sight are probably in my top 50 movies of all time list, so I've got to pick arpeggi by a very slim margin.

Anyone new to the formats who were to buy any of these 'collections' would be off to a great start IMO.

1) cleaver

2) sayguh

3) speedyray

4) Kocheese99

Matchup 1 - Cleaver

Matchup 2 - sayguh

Matchup 3 - Speedyray

Matchup - Kocheese99

I either own or have rented all of these. I give each selection a Yay (2 pts.), Meh (1 pt.), or Nay (0 pts.) based on Movie Quality(most important), Picture Quality (not director's intent, but how it actually looks), and Audio Quality... with a 1/2 pt bonus to Adventures of Robin Hood for the HD Looney Tunes (far & away the best extra on any disc). A movie has to really suck to get a Nay from me. All JMO.

Matchup 1 wewantflair wins
wewantflair 15.5 pts
The Sting HD DVD yay
The Prestige Blu Ray yay
Casablanca HD DVD yay
Slither HD DVD meh for the PQ
Dune HD DVD yay
The Searchers Blu Ray yay
The Adventures of Robin Hood HD DVD yay+
Fearless HD DVD yay

versus

cleaver 14 pts
Batman Begins HD DVD yay
King Kong HD DVD yay
V for Vendetta HD DVD meh for the MQ
Black Hawk Down Blu Ray yay
Corpse Bride Blu Ray yay
Crank Blu Ray yay
The Thing HD DVD yay
A Scanner Darkly HD DVD meh (nay for MQ, but PQ rocks)

Matchup 2 sayguh wins
Bokasmo 9 pts.
The Fast & the Furious HD DVD meh for the MQ
The Hulk HD DVD meh (nay for MQ. but PQ rocks)
Full Metal Jacket HD DVD meh for the PQ
The Terminator Blu Ray meh for the PQ
U-571 HD DVD meh for the MQ
Unforgiven HD DVD yay
Lethal Weapon HD DVD meh for the PQ
Meet the Parents HD DVD meh for the PQ

versus

sayguh 11 pts.
Troy HD DVD meh for the MQ
Terminator 2 Blu Ray meh for the PQ
Rocky Balboa Blu Ray meh for the MQ
Layer Cake Blu Ray yay
Mission: Impossible III Blu Ray yay
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Blu Ray meh for the MQ
Training Day HD DVD meh for the MQ
Enter the Dragon HD DVD yay

Matchup 3 mdc3000 wins
speedyray 10 pts.
Casino Royale Blu Ray yay
Goodfellas HD DVD yay
The Departed HD DVD yay
The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift meh (nay for MQ. but PQ rocks)
Jarhead HD DVD meh for the MQ
Miami Vice HD DVD nay for the MQ + PQ
The Rundown HD DVD meh for the MQ
Superman Returns HD DVD meh for the PQ

versus

mdc3000 14 pts.
Serenity HD DVD meh for the MQ
Casino HD DVD yay
Kingdom of Heaven DC Blu Ray yay
Mission: Impossible III HD DVD yay
The Decent Blu Ray yay
Dog Day Afternoon HD DVD yay
Army of Darkness HD DVD yay
Stranger Than Fiction Blu Ray meh for the MQ

Matchup 4 arpeggi wins
Kocheese99 9 pts.
Smokin Aces HD DVD meh for the MQ
Seabiscuit HD DVD yay
Corpse Bride HD DVD yay
NIN: Beside You in Time HD DVD nay for the MQ
The Searchers HD DVD yay
Good Night, and Good Luck. HD DVD nay for the MQ
Phantom of the Opera HD DVD nay for the MQ
Monster House Blu Ray yay

versus

arpeggi 12 pts
Children of Men HD DVD meh for the MQ
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind HD DVD yay
The Departed Blu Ray yay
Out of Sight HD DVD yay
Reservoir Dogs Blu Ray meh for the PQ
12 Monkeys HD DVD meh for the PQ
The Usual Suspects Blu Ray meh for the PQ
Goodfellas Blu Ray yay

Matchup 1
wewantflair vs. cleaver
As others have pointed out, this is a tough call because you have classics against a plethora of HD demo goodness. In a tough decision I will take cleaver because I think this first draft has to be about both the movie and the WOW factor.

Matchup 2
Bokasmo vs. sayguh
Although I love movies on each list, I am going to go sayguh by a hair. It hurts me to vote against The Fast and the Furious, one of my absolute favorite popcorn movies, but sometimes hard choices are made.

Matchup 3
speedyray vs. mdc3000
I have to choose myself (speedyray), but much like mdc3000 said we must have similar taste and style. I love his list - I was quite irritated when he grabbed Casino - I was going to go for the Martin trifecta, but he snatched before I could.

Matchup 4
Kocheese99 vs. arpeggi
These two list more than others each feature movies I love and movies I despise. I will give the nod to arpeggi. You can never go wrong with Goodfellas. My buddy came over and despite all the HD goodness I had before him that was his first and only choice.

So to recap, I think all the list are good, some really tough decisions. I think all of the list, at least in some minor way, reveal that after the first 30-40 picks, the HD world is still very shallow as far as high quality releases go (both PQ/AQ and MQ).

Matchup 1 - cleaver
Matchup 2 - sayguh
Matchup 3 - speedyray
Matchup 4 - arpeggi

Matchup 1 - Cleaver

Matchup 2 - Bokasmo

Matchup 3 - Speedyray

Matchup 4 - Kocheese99

1) cleaver

2) sayguh - Bokasmo has too many discs where they mail in the PQ

3) mdc3000 - I would have probably taken Serenity in the 1st round and Kingdom of Heaven in the 3rd, and I can't say that about anyone else's pick in any round. These drafts both have good PQ and decent special features, making it a matter of taste.

4) Kocheese99 - I see Corpse Bride, Seabiscuit, and The Searchers 3 of the top 4 in this matchup (Children of Men being the other).

I'm confused. What is the point of this draft? This is the second thread I see here about it and I really don't get.

This is not meant as a threadcrap. I honestly don't get it.

wewantflair
sayguh
speedyray
Arpeggi

Its just a fun exercise. 8 players pick 8 HD disc (done). Then anyone on the forum votes for who has the best set. This is the first round of the playoffs so there are 4 matches taking place (outlined in the first post). Everyone is posting the four list they think should win the head to head matchups in this round. After the votes are counted 4 lists will move on and the voting will be repeated. Then 2 will move on to the final competition. A winner will be crowned and garner DVDTalk bragging rights for winning the first HD disc draft. Its just a forum game.

1. wewantflair (gotta love the classics)

2. Bokasmo (because I hate Ice Age 2 THAT much)

3. mdc300 (because Casino IS better than Goodfellas)

4. arpeggi (because possesion of Seabiscuit should rule out anyone from winning)

At the moment
cleaver-8 wewantflair-3
sayguh-9 Bokasmo-2
speedyray-6 mdc3000-5
arpeggi-7 Kocheese99-4

We need some more votes coming in here!

I am genuinely curious about the criteria people are using to vote in this thing. To me, it is absolutely inconceivable for some of the votes to be going in the direction they are. Like Hammer99, I think some balance of movie quality and presentation (video/audio/extras) needs to be struck.

wewantflair vs. cleaver - wewantflair

I'll argue for my picks for a second - Every movie I chose is at the pinnacle of its genre out of currently released HD movies in both film quality and presentation quality (admittedly, Slither is not the greatest flick on earth, but its genre is pretty poorly represented out of all current releases). All but Slither have received the highest marks from just about every review source for audio and video quality, including HD extras (The Adventures of Robin Hood includes an exclusive HD version of a Looney Tunes cartoon)

Cleaver's list has 1 great film (The Thing), 1 very good film (Batman Begins), 3 average films (Corpse Bride, A Scanner Darkly and V for Vendetta), 2 below average films (Black Hawk Down and King Kong), and 1 awful film (Crank). Almost all of these movies are action movies, and half of them aren't even worth owning. How many technical demos does a person need?

Bokasmo vs. sayguh - Bokasmo

Bokasmo has 2 great films (Full Metal Jacket and Unforgiven, although FMJ has a relatively poor video presentation), 1 very good film (Terminator), 2 average films (Lethal Weapon and The Hulk, which gets a boost for its incredible video presentation), and 3 below average films (Meet the Parents, U-571, and The Fast and The Furious). Genre isn't very varied and presentation quality is spotty.

sayguh has 1 great film (Terminator 2, marred by a mediocre presentation), 3 very good films (Rocky Balboa, Training Day, and Enter the Dragon), 2 decent films (Layer Cake and MI:III), and 2 awful films (Troy, Ice Age II). Presentation quality is spotty and genres aren't very well represented. Bokasmo gets my vote for better films.

speedyray vs. mdc3000 - speedyray

This one was a tough call for me. The worst film on speedyray's list is Superman Returns, which is just painfully awful (yes, worse than Tokyo Drift), but mdc3000 has MI:III and Stranger than Fiction. Goodfellas is far superior to Casino. The Departed is superior to Kingdom of Heaven. Then again, Dog Day Afternoon and Army of Darkness are very strong picks. This vote gave me the most trouble.

Kocheese99 vs. Arpeggi - Arpeggi

Not even close for me. The Searchers is the only great film from Kocheese99's list, while Arpeggi has Goodfellas, Eternal Sunshine, Children of Men, The Departed, and 12 Monkeys. Monster House and Good Night and Good Luck are both very good movies (and far outclass the vastly overrated Usual Suspects and Reservoir Dogs), but this isn't enough to stop Arpeggi.

1. wewantflair - this was a nail biter of a battle.though timeless classics will triumph over modern classics. cleaver would've beaten most others but not here.


2. Bokasmo - we see alot of explosive popcorn action here and another tight matchup. I like T1 better than T2 and that sealed the deal.

3. speedyray - nice electic list from mdc3000 but speedy got the crime genre locked up!

4.arpeggi - just wasn't a fan of any of kocheese's films although i'm sure they were rock solid discs.

I was under the impression that this was to determine "must have" discs on the hd formats. You have pointed out some great films and I can't dispute that. However, all of these great films are currently available on sd dvd format. What I took into consideration in my vote was the entire package (i.e. video quality, audio quality, content, extras, etc.) My interpretation of this vote (and I could be interperting it wrong) was to pick the "must have" high definition disc currently available. The whole package. Unfortunately, what we have seen thusfar is that just being a great movie does not necessarily translate into a great hd/bd package.

Just a possible explaination. Beyond that, like any election, I'm sure party lines are a factor.

Final tally
cleaver-8 wewantflair-5
sayguh-9 Bokasmo-4
speedyray-8 mdc3000-5
arpeggi-9 Kocheese99-4

The thing for me is that a disc can't be "must-have" if the movie sucks no matter how many extras it has or how amazing the PQ/AQ are.