HD DVD

Spooks and spectres in high definition

Source: AV Science Forum

The cover art for the upcoming German HD DVD releases of Silent Hill, Underworld: Extended Cut, 12 Monkeys and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider has been unveiled… and I don’t know about you, but personally I think that this Silent Hill artwork is streets ahead of what was used for the American Blu-ray and DVD releases. Of course, better cover art is not, for me, an adequate reason for double-dipping, but I’ve pre-ordered a copy of it (and Underworld) all the same, given that I’m hoping for a superior encode to the Blu-ray release, which crammed an MPEG2 copy of the film on to a single-layer 25 GB disc. The new release date, by the way, is September 3rd, a few days later than the originally announced August 31st.

Update, July 1st, 2007 04:23 PM: As Jayson pointed out in the comments selection, this release of Underworld is to be the extended cut.

DVDs I bought or received in the month of June

• Black Book (R0 UK, DVD)
• Brotherhood of the Wolf (R0 France, HD DVD)
• Lost in Translation (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• Mulholland Drive (R0 France, HD DVD)
• The Odessa File (R2 UK, DVD)
• Problem Child Triple (R2 UK, DVD)
• The Rock (R0 France, Blu-ray)
• The Skeleton Key (R0 USA, HD DVD)

Not a bad month as far as the quantity of HD content is concerned, although the quality has been rather mixed, to say the least.

HD DVD review: The Skeleton Key

Universal’s HD DVD for The Skeleton Key constitutes a definite improvement on the standard definition release in terms of audio-visual quality, although it’s still far from the upper echelons of the format’s capability. Unless you enjoyed the film a great deal, or habitually rebuy all your standard definition titles in standard definition, there’s not a great deal here to justify shelling out for the same film twice, but if you don’t already own the DVD, this HD DVD is a fine place to start.

The Bayou goes high definition in The Skeleton Key, released on HD DVD by Universal with all of the content from the standard definition release intact. Descend into the swamps at DVD Times…

Beauteous Blu-ray

High-Def Digest is reporting that Sleeping Beauty is to see the light of day on Blu-ray in 2008, according to a press release from Disney. No specific release date of specifications have been given as of yet, but this is excellent news indeed, because there has been a complete dearth of 2D animation in high definition so far (the three Looney Tunes titles included with The Adventures of Robin Hood HD DVD being the only high-def cartoons I own). Sleeping Beauty isn’t my favourite Disney feature by a long shot, but I’m going to take what I can get at this stage. Let’s just hope that the likes of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp and Lilo & Stitch (my personal preferences) aren’t too far off.

High definition is rockin’!

I was really looking forward to the release of The Rock on Blu-ray - not because it’s one of my favourite films (I certainly like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no classic), but because Criterion’s standard definition DVD was one of the best ever released, so I was eager to see how it would stack up in high definition. Unfortunately, Disney’s US wing recently indefinitely postponed both it and Pixar’s Cars, which were, let’s face it, two of my main reasons for ending my HD DVD exclusivity. Luckily, France has come to the rescue once again: both The Rock and Crimson Tide, another Jerry Bruckheimer explosionfest culled by Disney in the US, are currently available in the land of baguettes and fine wine, and I’ve ordered my copy of the former from Fnac. It’s also coming out in the UK on July 2nd, but, as you probably know by now, I’m not the sort of person who likes to wait. In any event, I want to be sure it arrives before my birthday (July 4th).

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the French release has been confirmed as region-free and with removable subtitles. Apparently it’s also “a little grainy”, which, in conjunction with a BD50 and an AVC encode, would seem to bode well as far as image quality is concerned. It also seems to have all of the extras from the European special edition, which, by my reckoning, means everything that was included on the Criterion - unless the poster is referring to a different continental special edition that I’m not aware of.

Oh yeah, and I’ve also pre-ordered the French HD DVD release of Hannibal, due out from Universal on August 1st, from Amazon.

Anchor Bay goes Blu

Source: High-Def Digest

Well, colour me surprised, excited and disappointed in equal measure? Starz Home Entertainment, the DVD company formerly known as Anchor Bay, have added their name to the still-small list of independents producing high definition content. The good news? We may soon get to see Dawn of the Dead (the original, not the remake), Halloween, The Evil Dead et al in HD. The bad news? They have tossed their hat exclusively into the Blu-ray ring (I was sure they would go with HD DVD, if anything), and their only announced release so far is the first season of Masters of Horror. Oh, and MGM is handling the distribution, which, given their track record with their own titles so far, is slightly worrying.

I must say I never thought the first Dario Argento title to get an HD release would be Jenifer. That’s just… wrong. Still, looking on the bright side, I’m now hopeful that those HD-mastered special editions of Tenebre and Phenomena will eventually emerge, on both DVD and Blu-ray. That’s what I’m hoping at any rate. Those, coupled with an HD DVD of Suspiria from The Weinstein Company, would put me in HD heaven. It’s just too bad so many of the other Argento films are owned by the HD-phobic Blue Underground.

HD DVD review: Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive arrives on HD DVD in a predictably no-frills package from Studio Canal, who seem to view high definition content and bonus features as an either-or situation. While the transfer is in many respects very strong, it is let down by overzealous noise reduction, and the audio pitch problem is yet another silly error that could easily have been avoided. A US release has been rumoured at some point in the next year, so it may be worth waiting to see if Universal is able to provide a better package.

The UK release may have been delayed indefinitely, but those on the mainland are already enjoying Mulholland Drive in high definition! I’ve reviewed the French HD DVD release of David Lynch’s quintessential fever dream.

Have some cake

My birthday is looming on the horizon - just over three weeks away, in fact, and I’ve set about deciding what sort of goodies I want. It’s been quite hard this year: somewhat unusually for me, there were no major purchases that I wanted to make (having already bought my new computer only recently). Eventually, I decided that DVDs never let me down when it comes to birthday fun, so I decided to order Seasons 6 and 7 of The Simpsons from DVD Pacific. Personally, I think that the last truly great season of that show was Season 5, but I was watching some episodes from Seasons 6 through 8 (or thereabouts) on Channel 4 recently, and came to the conclusion that there was still much to enjoy, even if the slide into mediocrity had already started. You may remember that, in 2005, I ended up with a review copy of the viciously mangled UK release of Season 6, which I promptly passed on to the first person that would take it off my hands, but I’m fairly confident that the US version won’t be affected by such heinous vandalism… and if it is, well, at least it won’t be a nasty NTSC to PAL standards conversion.

My only regret is that the Region 1 release of Season 6 is only available in that hideous plastic Homer head variant, with the mail-in replacement scheme for a standard cardboard version not being open to those outside North America (schadenfreudes).

Not letting the high definition side down, I also ordered Crank on Blu-ray and Black Snake Moan on HD DVD. I know next to nothing about either of these films, but surprises can be fun, if they turn out to be pleasant ones, and in any event, Crank sounds like it could be the new Shitty Movie™. If nothing else it should, as a digital-to-digital transfer, serve as useful demo material (we’re getting a bit sick of dragging out Corpse Bride every time).

Oh, and because I like a challenge while I’m whiling away the days (I’ve booked a week’s holiday from work to coincide with my birthday), I decided to also order my first new Lego set since Christmas 2005: the recently released Café Corner. With 2,056 pieces and a recommended age bracket of 16 and over, this should hopefully occupy me for a good few hours while offering something slightly different from my collection of medieval castles and pirate ships. If nothing else, it should offer a bit of fun.

Germany to the rescue

Source: Area-HD

This time last year, I was planning on being Blu-ray exclusive. Less than a month later, I was HD DVD exclusive. As someone who is now format neutral, I don’t have to worry about whether a title is released on HD DVD, Blu-ray or both, because, unless a Blu-ray title comes out with region coding in a non-Region A territory only, I’m guaranteed to be able to play it. If you’re currently HD DVD only, though, you’ll be pleased to know that some films that are Blu-ray exclusives in the US - Underworld (extended cut), Silent Hill, Fantastic Four, Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse - are coming to HD DVD in Germany courtesy of Concorde.

The Blu-ray release of Resident Evil: Apocalypse is basically good enough for it not to be worth double-dipping, but the Blu-ray Silent Hill could use some improvement in the compression department (it’s a stellar disc in every other respect, though), and Fantastic Four on Blu-ray is not only a weak film but one saddled with an equally weak transfer. This is good news from a diversity standpoint if nothing else, and I will more than likely be picking up Underworld (due out on August 31st) and Resident Evil (which currently has no release date) when they become available. Lyris is making rumblings about double-dipping on Silent Hill, although we’re both suspicious that we may end up trading compression artefacts for filtering and/or noise reduction. Watch this space.

You win some, you lose some

I got home today today to find that the HD DVDs of Mulholland Drive and Brotherhood of the Wolf had both arrived from Amazon.fr, and I’m happy to report that Mulholland Drive looks really nice. It’s not the most amazing transfer you’ll ever see, but it seems to basically be faithful to the look of the film, which is slightly diffuse. I did notice some signs of noise reduction in some of the later scenes, which is odd, because the earlier scenes that I looked at appeared to be unaffected. I’ll give the transfer a more thorough appraisal when I actually sit down to watch it from beginning to end, which I’ll be doing prior to putting together a review for DVD Times. For now, I’m just glad to have one of my five favourite films in high definition, with a transfer that isn’t a complete embarrassment.

That complete embarrassment would be Brotherhood of the Wolf, whose transfer is so weak that I don’t know why Studio Canal even bothered releasing it in HD (oh right, to make money - of course). Detail is weak, and heavy ringing is constantly in evidence: take a look at Lyris’ post for some shots of the mediocrity. If American Psycho is the worst-looking Blu-ray disc I own, then Brotherhood of the Wolf is definitely my worst-looking HD DVD. Then again, I don’t own Traffic, so perhaps I should be thankful for small mercies. Needless to say, if I’m not sufficiently impressed by the film itself, I’ll be offloading the HD DVD post-haste.

High definition navel-gazing

I’ve inherited a copy of the recently released HD DVD of Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola’s rather good if somewhat depressing film about incredibly self-absorbed people loitering in Tokyo. Lyris picked it up from DVD Pacific, but decided to sell it on when he saw that the transfer was nothing to write home about. I, however, while still discerning when it comes to image quality, am more likely to hang on to an HD title so long as it provides an improvement over its standard definition counterpart (and, to be fair, barring Traffic, it seems that they all do). For the not unreasonable sum of £10, I took it off my hands and now have something which, while hopelessly middle of the road as far as high definition transfers are concerned (think Brokeback Mountain or Enemy of the State rather than Serenity or Casino Royale), certainly means I can now punt my standard definition DVD.

Speaking of flogging, I sold my Shuttle SD37P2 on eBay for £247 - not really too bad, considering that I paid £317.84 for it now. At the very least, it could have been a lot worse - the money I’ve lost will hopefully serve as a reminder to be more careful with my purchases in future (note: I cannot live without a PCI slot). It’s getting picked up tomorrow by Parcel2Go, and the money is on its way to my bank account - which is good, because my last credit card bill made me come out in a cold sweat.

Oh yeah, and my HD DVD of The Skeleton Key arrived this morning from Amazon. Given the mediocre titles I’ve been receiving from Universal of late (Lost in Translation, The Game, Brokeback Mountain), I wasn’t expecting to be too impressed… and it’s true that this transfer isn’t going to win any awards. Detail levels are strong without being exemplary, and there are some obvious signs of temporal noise reduction, but it basically looks pleasing to the eye and finds itself in fairly good company, slotted between Red Dragon and Land of the Dead (also from Universal) in my HD image quality rankings list (which is long overdue for an update).

What I’m really looking forward to now is the arrival of the Studio Canal HD DVDs of Mulholland Dr. and Brotherhood of the Wolf, particularly the former, which is one of my all-time favourite films. Lyris also has the Blu-ray release of the first Pirates of the Caribbean on the way, and, while it’s not a film I’m particularly fond of (actually, I would happily burn everything but the Johnny Depp scenes), I’m certainly eager to see how it fares in high definition, particularly given how shite the standard definition DVD was.

HD DVD review: The Fountain

The Fountain gets a decidedly mediocre HD release that doesn’t do its lush visuals justice by any stretch of the imagine. Still, even if it had been graced with the most impressive transfer ever, I would still find it rather difficult to recommend this infuriatingly nonsensical ramble even as demo material. If you like the film, you may find some of the additional bonus materials interesting, but if, like me, you thought it was a pompous load of odd cobblers, there’s really nothing here worth bothering about.

I unsuccessfully try to work out what on earth is going on in my review of Warner’s HD DVD/DVD combo release of The Fountain.

A day in at the movies

The Problem Child 3-pack and Black Book both arrived today from Play. After checking the first two films and verifying that they were indeed in widescreen and that Problem Child 2 was uncut (they are, and it is - 1.85:1 nunchuk action ahoy!), me and Lyris steeled ourselves and popped in Problem Child 3, as prepared as was humanly possible for the horrors that this made for TV sequel, with the key roles recast, could inflict on us. And it was… surprisingly bearable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a load of crap (not that the first two Problem Child films were ever going to win anything, of course - not even a Razzie), but it made us laugh, and the shift in tone wasn’t as dramatic as in, say, a Disney cheapquel. It’s a hell of a lot more surreal, even going so far as to include a couple of physical gags that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Tex Avery cartoon, and the guy playing Ben Healy (William Katt - who was in Carrie, by some coincidence) is about as poor a match for John Ritter as you could ever hope to find, but the scenes with the three returning cast members - Jack Warden, Gilbert Gottfried and Eric Edwards - provide much merriment. There is also some rather sly humour, some of it surprisingly twisted by network TV standards. Am I suggesting that everybody rushes out to see it? No - like I said, the film (if you can even call it that) is garbage by anyone’s standards, but it was a painless enough way to kill an hour and a half.

I also finally sat down and watched Pan’s Labyrinth, and I’m exceedingly glad I did, as it’s probably the best new horror movie I’ve seen since The Descent… although perhaps “horror” isn’t the best way to describe it as, contrary to what the marketing campaign would have you believe, only small portions of it take place in the world of make-believe. The rest of it is all unsettlingly real, taking place in Spain in 1944, with the country under the grip of General Franco’s fascists, and the military stopping at nothing to root out and destroy the resistance forces. The film is absolutely beautiful to behold, and the designs and effects work on the various creatures that the protagonist meets are astounding. In some ways, it reminded me of a twisted live action Spirited Away: a dark fairytale for adults.

Now I’m seriously considering picking up the French HD DVD, due for release on July 4th (my birthday!), even though it doesn’t have any English subtitles (I suspect the film can be enjoyed without the intrusion of translation anyway). Annoyingly, though, it will only be available in a 5-disc box set, packaged with the standard definition release and the score, rather than as a stand-alone HD DVD. It will also be the first HD DVD title to be THX-certified, which means… bugger all, of course.

PS. Black Book is my 600th DVD.

DVDs I bought or received in the month of May

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• The Fountain (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• HDScape: Antarctica Dreaming (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• HDScape: Visions of the Sea (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• Pan’s Labyrinth: Platinum Edition (R1 USA, DVD)
• The Ultimate Matrix Collection (R0 USA, HD DVD)

So, HDScape. Exciting, huh?

So it looks better, this high definition thing?

A few routine high definition updates for you, just to make you aware of what’s going on in the land of 1080p. I’ve pre-ordered the upcoming HD DVD of The Bourne Identity, due out on July 24th. As per DVD Times, the standard definition DVD being released at the same time will feature an extended cut, and, while the HD DVD will apparently replicate the bonus content from this release, it’s unclear whether or not it will also feature this longer cut. I’d hazard a guess that it will, although whether this is something to be celebrated or decried depends on whether or not director Doug Liman was involved. Simply put, I’m aware, after the likes of the Gladiator fiasco, many of these extended cuts are merely the result of studio executives demanding that a few minutes be added to the running time in order to justify selling a new copy of the same film.

Universal has also announced a bunch of titles, including the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, for August 28th, while Sony will be releasing Arlington Road on Blu-ray on August 7th (sans commentary, a move that High-Def Digest rather generously refers to as “streamlin[ing]”). Both of these titles are shoe-ins for me - Arlington Road is a cracking if far-fetched thriller, and the Dawn of the Dead remake, while a pale shadow of the original, has a number of things going for it, in particularly the ever-impressive Sarah Polley and an appropriate dose of black humour. It should also be good HD demo material, if that makes any difference… as will Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, making its debut on Blu-ray on the same day as Arlington Road. I won’t, however, be picking up this particular title - the BD could look like a million bucks and I still wouldn’t have any desire to subject myself to that tedious dry-heave of a movie again.

David Fincher’s Zodiac, meanwhile, is coming to both formats on September 18th, a couple of months after their standard definition counterpart’s street date of July 24th. Lyris, who saw it at the cinema last week, came back raving about it, and I’m certainly game for anything from David Fincher. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Fight Club yet. How about it, Fox? That’s if you eventually get off your asses and release anything in HD.

“Ya rotten kids, ya should be locked in cages!”

After many years of shoddy treatment at the hands of its distributor, Problem Child, one of my favourite bad movies ever, has finally been released properly!

This film, and its sequel, the imaginatively named Problem Child 2, have, for some time, only been available on DVD in 4x3 full frame format. Obviously, these aren’t the most prestigious titles Universal has ever released, and you won’t see them being added to the studio’s HD DVD line-up any time soon (then again, considering some of the junk they’ve released in high definition, you’d think they might be well at home there), but no movie, not even Voodoo Academy, deserved to be butchered in such a way. Thankfully, Universal’s European distribution wing have come to the rescue, releasing the two original “classics”, and an apparently embarrassing made-for-TV sequel, on April 3rd, in a 3-disc box set, named, like its two-film US counterpart, the Problem Child Tantrum Pack. Recognising the important place that these films hold in the history of cinema, the BBFC have also agreed to waive the cuts they originally demanded to Problem Child 2 (the film was unlucky enough to be released at the height of the board’s nunchuk obsession).

Naturally, I’ve ordered myself a copy, from Play. I also took the opportunity to order a copy of Black Book (Zwartboek in its native Dutch), a film I originally intended to go to see at the cinema (yeah, yeah, how many times have I said that and not gone through with it?). It’s a Paul Verhoeven film, so chances are it’s laughably bad, shamelessly tasteless, or both, but it got some pretty good write-ups at the time of its theatrical release, so I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Oh yeah, and hope to get my reviews of both The Fountain (boo, hiss) and Pan’s Labyrinth (which I still haven’t got round to watching) before the end of the weekend.

Mulholland Dr. HD DVD confirmed as English-friendly

Delayed from its original release date of March 5th, Mulholland Dr. was finally released on HD DVD in France on May 21st. I originally cancelled my pre-order due to fears that French subtitles would be forced when English audio was selected, and opted instead to wait for the UK release from Optimum. With that release postponed indefinitely, however, I made up my mind to pick up the French release, forced subtitles or not. Luckily, AV Science Forum member tteich has picked up several of the recent Studio Canal HD DVD releases, and has provided a rundown of the language options available for each. The bad news is that French subtitles are forced when English audio is selected if it’s a copy of Three Days of the Condor you’re looking for, or the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 (the director’s cut is unaffected); additionally, Army of Shadows has no support at all for English speakers. Thankfully, however, many of this month’s releases, including Mulholland Dr., can be watched in English without subtitles (or, if applicable, in their native non-English language with English subtitles). Needless to say, I’ve placed an order at Amazon.fr.

I also ordered a copy of Christophe Gans’ Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf), released on the same day (and due for release in the UK at some point between now and doomsday). I’ve not seen the film, but I was really impressed by Gans’ most recent film, Silent Hill, so I figure it’s worth a look. The HD DVD features the original French audio track plus optional English subtitles. I also have a two-year-old email from a reader urging me to look into the Region 1 DVD as a contender for the DVD Transfer Hall of Fame (now acquisitioned by Lyris). After so long, I feel like a bit of a heel for not checking it out, so let’s hope the HD DVD looks decent!

Suspiria in HD?

Source: Mobius Home Video Forum

One film that I’d give my eye-teeth in order to see released in high definition is Suspiria… and now, it seems that this may be a distinct possibility. Earlier this month, I reported that a new, restored version of Suspiria was to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival along with a preview of The Third Mother. Now, according to Fangoria, The Weinstein Company has established a new sub-label, Dimension Extreme, which…

…will specialize in horror and other genre fare. The first title to go out under that brand will be a restored version of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA (which, as we told you here, also has a remake in the works); other movies coming under the Extreme banner are Greg (WOLF CREEK) McLean’s killer-crocodile pic ROGUE (pictured) and - ugh - PULSE 2.

Well, all I can say is that I never thought I’d see a film entitled Suspiria released under the Dimension label and actually consider it a good thing. As a pretty prestigious title, and the first in their line-up, my guess is that it will be a strong contender for release on HD DVD (The Weinstein Company is one of the few independent labels to have embraced high definition home entertainment). I’m definitely crossing my fingers that I’ll be seeing one of my favourite films in HD soon, particularly given that, if any film deserves to be appreciated in full 1080p, it’s Suspiria.

Get it right first time in future, Sony

Source: DVD Times

The Fifth Element, Blu-ray’s poster child disgrace, is to get a re-release this July, with the current substandard release going out of print come June 13th. Little information has been provided for the new edition, but the online buzz suggests that we’ll get an AVC encode on a dual-layer BD50 disc, as well as both PCM and Dolby TrueHD audio (either 20-bit or 24-bit). If Sony had any decency, they’d offer a free replacement to anyone who bought the initial pressing, but hey, since when did the words “Sony” and “decency” go together?

I may end up picking up this new release to replace my standard definition Superbit DVD, although part of me wants to hold out for the HD DVD release that Pathé seemingly intends to release in Europe at some point in the near future.

HD DVD review: HDScape: Antarctica Dreaming/Visions of the Sea

Of the two titles, Antarctica Dreaming is the most substantial, operating as a fully-fledged 83-minute documentary, whereas Visions of the Sea is essentially a series of undeniably visually arresting but ultimately unconnected images, which rapidly outstays its welcome if you attempt to engage with it for its full 60-minute duration. For those who find the subject matter interesting, these discs are likely to hold some appeal, but those considering buying them simply to act as demo material are advised that there are many better-looking titles on offer.

It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. I’ve taken a look at two nature documentary titles in the HDScape line, Antarctica Dreaming and Visions of the Sea, presented on two HD DVD/DVD combo discs.