Batman Begins BLU-RAY - 7/8/08!
 

UPDATE:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh..._Blu-rays/1630

Disc extras mirror the HD DVD, including the PiP feature. Also, TrueHD audio, same as the HD DVD.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1116

Warner Home Video has revealed that they will release blockbuster film 'Batman Begins' for Blu-ray on July 8th, day-and-date with the DVD re-release. No specs or extra features have been announced at this time, but we do know that the film will be offered either as a single disc release, or as part of a limited-edition box set.

Both the single disc and box set editions will include an exclusive comic book prologue to the upcoming sequel 'The Dark Knight', which is set to hit theaters July 18th. The box set will also include a Batman Begins motion art lenticular, script pages, exclusive photos, storyboards, five collectible Batman Begins postcards, and $7.50 in movie cash toward a Dark Knight ticket.

SINGLE DISC ARTWORK:
http://www.loaded247.com/reg1full/39483.jpg

LIMITED EDITION:
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...sgiftset3d.jpg

The Limited Edition set is very attractive to a collector, so it will be mine! :)

I've been looking forward to this announcement, so thanks for the heads up.

Might pick up the LE...might. I've already had this on HD for 2 years now and only watched it once so I'm on the fence.

Can't wait for the box set!

I returned my unopened HD DVD copy of Batman Begins when the Warner news dropped in January, in anticipation of the Blu-ray release (just so I could have all the Batman HDM releases on the same format). Looking forward to the box set as well!

Looks like this is going to be released the same day as Gotham Knight?

Phew! I was this close to picking up BB on HD-DVD yesterday, but just new a Blu-Ray must be coming. I'll gladly hold off a couple of months.

Box set sounds sweet...sold!

No video based extras on the LE it sounds like, so just the single disc for me.

i'll be curious to get the full specs. there will have to be some pretty compelling, brand new extras on the disc or noticeable PQ/AQ improvement (doubtful) for me to consider supplementing the HD DVD i already own.

however, as a big batman fan and movie collector, that limited edition is a little bit tempting even if the disc is identical to the HD DVD.

I will buy Begins only.

Great news! I'll be picking up the BD for sure.

LE will be mine on release day! Hopefully the price will be reasonable.

I have a feeling they'll dip again when Dark Knight comes out on disc. After all this time it better have the PiP from the HD-DVD.

Here's to an upgrade with a nice Blu encode! Don't half-ass this one, Warner!

Yeah, I'll probably get it...

Ill get the LE and trade in my hd-dvd or give to a friend. I hope the packaging is cool.

Yeah, not like that sub-par HD DVD encode. Sheesh. -rolleyes-

Batman Begins (HD DVD)is considered to be very soft. They've done tests on AVS with the HD DVD, transcoding it to 720p, then back up to 1080p, and there was no loss in quality. That tells you that its a subpar transfer. They've done the tests with other discs and the results were drastic.

Also, the movie aired in the Euro Sat HD Channels, and the PQ was better then the HD DVD.

I still don't think the encode is directly responsible for any apparent softness. A lower bitrate would cause compression artifacts, not softness. I suspect it's DNR or something that was done before encoding, perhaps to make it easier to compress.

I have a sickening feeling Warner is going to just release the HD DVD encode on Blu-ray. I will not be buying it if that is the case. I have not waited over a year to see this on Blu-ray just to get the current HD DVD encode ported over. If Warner thinks they can get away with this by adding some postcards they are wrong.

I'd consider re-buying this on Blu. Probably the only title in my collection I would.

Don't let logic and sensibility stop the BR fanboys from trying to take a stab at the corpse of HD DVD though!

I'll double dip and pick up the LE probably even though I've got it on SD and HD DVD already. xD

Yeah, WB can have my money for the BD Limited Edition. :up:

No sale here. I'll buy the The Dark Knight though.

I'll stick with my HD DVD unless the video and audio is noticeably better. No matter what some people say...the HD DVD looks great to my eyes. I just watched this again on Tuesday.

Interesting. I'll have to watch Batman Begins again. I thought the transfer looked pretty good. But I did notice a few areas in it where the black levels were questionable, but I wonder if this was the film characteristics more than the quality of the transfer on HD media.

I guess I'll know for certain when I get this later this year with my Sony BDP-S550. :D

Interesting -- especially considering that the HD DVD scored such high PQ marks in every review I've read.

Sorry, but I just don't buy it.

QFT

I'm a Batman nut, so I'll triple dip (DVD - HD DVD and now Blu Ray).

I will say however, that I think the HD DVD is way too soft.

Hey now, I'm going to run out and rebuy it as soon as someone posts one of those 100x zooms on a still frame showing the slightest bit of dif... :lol: Dangit, I tried to get through that with a straight face!

Is the HD DVD really that bad? Adam here on DVDTalk rated it 5 stars (as did MANY other websites), and I would give it a 4.5 easy. It would be great if Warner re-did all the encodes on the HD DVD exclusive titles, and this title would be the best one to do so with, but I doubt they will go through and redo all of them. Some of you are forgetting that many of the HD DVD exclusive Warner titles sold less then 2-3k each....to date. Why spend the money to redo them?

(From Adam's review)
I'll probably sell my HD DVD version for the LE, just to have match with the Blu-ray version of the new movie.

I don't either, especially with all the 4.5/5 star reviews this title received for PQ. Ive looked through AVS for the apparent thread regarding this to no avail.

Guys. You are clearly missing QuePaso's point. It was released on HD-DVD, so it has to be an inferior product. :rolleyes:

According to a poster on AVS....

If that is true Warner will do that on every single HD DVD release I imagine that they have already done. If any title could support a new encode it would be Batman Begins which will sell hundreds of thousands of copies over the course of its BD life. If they won't re-encode that title Warner is planning to do nothing but port over the existing HD DVD encodes for all its HD DVD exclusives. Fuck you Warner...

Nearly all of Warner encodes have been great. Including older titles like Robin Hood (1938) and Forbidden Planet (1956). I'll :lol: if Batman Begins gets stuck on a BD25 disc.

Fixed

:D

rotfl

Since this was one the early releases, there wasn't much of a bar set. Now that we have Transformers, Bourne Supremacy, and others that when compared to those it looks inferior. I think it could definitely look a little better now since the tools to encode have improved exponentially.