Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

I just got an HD DVD player (seriously) and already looked through the list of not-yet-on-Blu-ray titles to figure out what to get, but I was wondering if there were any movies that for some reason were released on Blu-ray but the HD DVD was better?

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

A couple older Universal titles have more special features, I believe.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

"The Thing" on HDDVD is still the best release.
All special features easily accessible and much better image quality (less compression and less edge enhancement)

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

It's funny you mentioned just buying an HD-DVD player. I bought one as well on craigslist for $75 with 30 movies included.

There's some titles that were on HD-DVD that may never come out on Blu-ray like Streets of Fire, Mobsters, The Getaway (Uncut), American Me etc. due to lack of interest.

Although there were just under 500 titles released in HD-DVD, when you can find them they are usually dirt cheap. I've seen stores blowing them out for $.99 each. The quality is certainly comparable (sometimes arguably better) to their more expensive Blu-ray counterparts.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Yeah, The Thing is the only one that immediately comes to mind. It's the one disc that made me question whether or not to sell my HD DVD player. Ultimately, I decided one disc wasn't worth it and ended up selling my player for more than I paid, a few months after HD DVD officially died.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Phantom of the Opera has a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, while its Blu-ray counterpart has only DD 5.1.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

I love HD-DVDs with many of the movies costing between $1-3 who needs the blu-ray counterpart! :D

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Training Day HD-DVD is better than blu-ray

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

The German release of Terminator 2 Ultimate Edition is still by far the best release of Terminator 2.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

The Apollo 13 HD DVD has a better video transfer than the Blu-ray. However, the Blu-ray has lossless audio and more supplements.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

I keep hearing the raves for The Thing also though I never did a side by side. I do know the bonus material is set up differently which is one of the things people like about it. I've never seen the blu-ray version of Heroes season 1 to compare, but I was blown away by the HD-DVD one. It really made me say "wow," when I watched it. Streets of Fire is a favorite. The King Kong from the seventies was released in UK on HD and I was happy to pick that one up. That was the one nice thing about HD-DVD, you could buy a title from another country and know it would play. I miss that.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Casino doesn't chop up the bonus material into the stupid U-Control feature like it does on BD.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

King Kong ('76) was the main reason I invested in a second HD DVD player after Toshiba threw in the towel. I thought for sure there was no way that title would make it out on blu-ray anytime soon.
However it has, I now own it, and it's actually an big improvement on the HD DVD release for two reasons
-the Bd has extra features (PAL only unfortunately)
-it fixes the slight PAL pitch problem found on the HD DVD.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Good to know. Sucks about the bonus features.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

The Mission Impossible III disc has a visual commentary, which is pretty cool. Plus, at certain times, they'll pause the movie and discuss a specific topic for a few more minutes. Highly recommended.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

That is cool. I'll have to check that feature out.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Lots of give and takes with HD DVD 're-releases'. Some have better Picture Quality, more Special Features, better audio...others have BD discs that have better Picture Quality, more Special Features and better audio (not like TrueHD vs DTS MA but DD5.1 vs DTS MA). I've only upgraded HD DVDs that I watch a lot, or got at really low prices (in some cases I sold the HD DVD for more money then what I purchased the BD for). Some because I'm crazy and cam't stand having Part 2/3 on Blu and having the others in Red cases (i.e. Mummy films).

Still tons of Exclusive movies to the format (both in American and other places), and I can guarantee you that HD DVD will always have exclusive titles to the format. Universal is in no rush to release some of those titles when they've been Blu for 2.5 years (vs 1.75 years on HD DVD) and catalog is simply not selling well enough for them to release certain titles. I know this makes the Blu cheerleaders very upset to hear, but it's just the facts.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

I'm probably one of the few to truly care about this difference, but oh well: Lady in the Water has a Dolby TrueHD track on the HD DVD. The Blu-ray is Dolby Digital audio only. I will always hold on to my HD DVD release for this reason as not only am I a fan of the film, I love the score by James Newton Howard.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

The Matrix Revolutions Blu-ray has a glitch (image breaks up or jumps) at 1:45:46.
It supposed to be the same encode as the HD-DVD version.

The Matrix Revolutions HD-DVD doesn't have this problem.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

A lot of the early Warner releases were like that. I believe because no BD player could decode TrueHD at the time and the fact that there was no 50GB discs.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Is there a list anywhere of HD DVD titles not released in USA that aren't available on Blu-ray?

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

awwww...the BD does that? So...it's not a full on option to select and watch solo?

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

And I thought that only I enjoyed this picture. I found it entertaining and funny. Loved it when those monkey things showed up.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

From what I've read, that's the case. There's a marginal upgrade in audio to DTS-HD MA, but the hacked up bonus features are enough to hang onto my HD DVD. That, and I bought it for $0.01 two weeks ago on Amazon.

Re: Are there any HD DVDs that were better than their Blu-ray counterparts?
 

Are there still HD DVD's being sold on Amazon?

I still have two players going strong. Tho I'm about to replace the one in the living room for BD (I think. I might just hook them both up).