Included with every HD DVD player sold 300 is no doubt viewed by everyone with an HD DVD player. Deservedly so … 300 is one of the coolest movies ever made. To start, the hot Lena Headley stars as Queen Gorgo and Dominic West from The Wire (one of the BEST shows ever) as Theron. Ultimately those names mean nothing. This movie is about visual style and HD DVD is a great format for this production. The movie is a grainy feature with stylized tint and shadows – 1080 really brings out the contrasts, colors, brightness, etc. For heavy CGI effects movies, King Kong is the bar for me. King Kong looked great in the theatre, bit its effects were exposed in HD DVD format. 300 passes the “Kong” test. The effects were not stymied by the format and actually looked good

In addition to the visual elements the audio is huge – the Dolby Digital mix is spot on. As always with movies that fail to inclue a TrueHD mix, I missed it here. Ultimately, that’s what keeps this a 4/5. Regardless, the production relies heavily upon audio to tell the story. When Xerxes army marches to the gates, the bass, and marching is clear, powerful and impresses upon the viewer how big his army really was – even on a home theatre.

The PIP bonus features are very cool. 300 was filmed on a shoestring in front of a blue screen (not to be confused with a Blu-ray). Watching the film a second, third time while simultaneously viewing the blue screen shots was very very cool.

Despite not having a TrueHD mix this is easily one of the coolest movies in HD and deserves a place as one of the movies included with a HD DVD player.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (Where is TrueHD)
Video/Image: 5/5 (A beautiful movies)
Audio: 3/5 (Needs a TrueHD track)
recommended

Did you see this HD DVD? Rankit: (5 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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Unforgiven is Clint Eastwood’s depiction of what a western should be. Until we can compare it to There Will be Blood it will stand as one of, if not the, best western ever made. Uncluttered by an obtrusive soundtrack, the expansive open range scenes and ambient audio provides a wonderful canvas for this film. What does this mean for HD DVD? It means that the HD DVD transfer expands the impact of this film.

Unforgiven is the story of a retired outlaw who returns to his drinking and lawless ways to defend the honor of a young prostitute who is cut on the face by a ranch hand. You can easily see the spaghetti western influence on Eastwood. Shots of Eastwood and his right hand man played by Morgan Freeman riding north are gorgeous. Adding to the visual elements are subtle ambient sounds from each channel. The visual with the audio expands the environments. This experience is contradicted by indoor scenes. The audio sounds closer, beautifull mimicking the echos and creaks of a wooden floor. This is a great movie in the HD format.

As you watch this movie, keep an ear out for the subtle sounds in the open grasslands, the crickets, rustling grass and wind from your surround speakers. They are so convincing that my wife thought there was a fly in our house.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (A great movie that looks awesome in HD)
Video/Image: 4/5 (beautiful beautiful beautiful)
Audio: 4/5 (Its the subtle sounds that mke this audio track)
recommended

Reader Ratings: (3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Probably the best Batman in the series. Christian Bale gives a convincing and likable performance as the Dark Knight. This movie is filled with environments and imagery that come across perfectly in the HD DVD format. I first saw this movine in SD and really liked it – the character of Batman was believable – he could exist in any city. The training scenes were very interesting to the story line of Batman we all have grow accustomed to. Hey, the League of Shadows *could* exist on a mountain range in Mongolia!

This HD DVD movie passes the wife test: She liked it the HD aspect of the movie. we watched the movie in TrueHD and it paid off as the wifey liked the sound editing. Well, she did not say “I like the sound editing” she would say at various points when applicable: “that sounded pretty cool”; or “wait, go back, listen”. For instance in the scene where Raz and Bruce are sword fighting on a frozen lake both warriors take swooping stokes at each other with their blades. Wonderfully the sound of the blades slicing the air swoop from channel to channel around the entire listening area. The Batmobile gives off a glorious rumble and the various bat scenes will have you believing that there are bats in the room.

The preceding, of course, says nothing about the stunning scenery and effects. in a word: believable. Although I recognized Gotham as being filmed in Chicago, the additions to the skyline are 100% belivable – no pixelation. The colors were bold. Most of the movie is dark – it is Batman – but not so dark that you could not see necessary details.

The extra features are solid as well if you want to travel deeper into the Batman story. Batman Begins does a great job of using HDi to implement the extra features. Specifically the in-movie commentary cut scenes are pretty cool.

This HD DVD is definitely worth it. I eagerly await the sequel “The Dark Knight”. But I will wait untill it hits HD DVD – why waste the experience in the theatre?

ILHDDVD Rating 5/5 (Should be in every HD DVD collection)
Video/Image: 4/5 (Gotham/Chicago never looked better)
Audio: 5/5 (a Perfect true HD mix)
recommended

Reader Ratings: (1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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When I saw this movie in the theatre I was really let down. Jan Hammer was replace with Linkin Park, Tubbs was not the likable silent partner he was in the series. There was a Ferrari and go-fast boats, but they were of no consolation. What we did get was a Michael Mann classic that resembled Heat more than the classic 1980’s Miami Vice series. Regardless, I purchased the HD DVD hoping to see the movie anew.

Ultimately Miami Vice was a about glitz and glamour, fast cars and boats – the exact things HD DVD was designed to make look and sound perfect. Yes, this HD DVD performs. the opening scene must be turned up LOUD. Michael Mann works some close shots that look perfect in HD DVD. I would have like to see some more details, shells flying, bullets whizzing past the camera. Furthermore, Michael Mann has directed some awesome gun fight scenes, most notably, the gun fight in Heat (can’t wait for that in HD DVD!). Here, Mann does not disappoint. sitting through the Cuban bar scene is worth the gun fight. You hear shells bounce around the room and bullets whiz past your head. This is an action/drama movie on HD DVD done right.

Update: I recently watched this movie again and ventured further into the extra features. The UControl fetaures in this movie are very cool. You can access the UControl features during the movie. At certain points the “U” icon appears and provides more additional information about the feature. In Miami Vice, for instnace you can see a Google maps GPS view of Sonny Crockett travelling to Havana, or the tech specs on his go fast boat. Importantly UControl provided vital infomation for mixing a mojito.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5
Video/Image: 4/5 (great shots its the lack of attention to the small things that keep this from a 5)
Audio: 3/5 (Ultimately it could have made better use of the HD DVD audio, acceptable)
 recommended

Reader Ratings: (2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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This is why the HD DVD was made. Transformers is a great show from the 80’s that I would watch everyday after school. I could not wait for this movie to be released in theatres and I was ecstatic when I saw that it would be released in HD DVD. When you get your Transformers HD DVD you get 2 discs, not much internal packaging just the discs.

From the moment the movie begins the benfits of HD DVD are clea: an Osprey in helicoptor form makes its way from rear right to front in an impressive manner. When the first Decepticon transforms, all aspects of HD DVD audio are clear and you will feel glad about your investment in this format. Music is important to this movie as the Autobot Bumblebee speaks through pop music – everytime it sounds great. The best part of the movie is the transformations. There is a big battle between Autobots and Decepticons about 2/3 of the way through the movie that takes place on a freeway -as the transformes drive in their car fomrs, then transform at 60 miles an hour the camera pans under the robots. The shots are amazing, and the audio is convincing in putting the listener in the center of the action. unlike the King Kong HD DVD, the CGI in Transformers is seamless. The shots of Megan Fox are truly amazing. If you are new to HD DVD this is a great first movie to experience the benefits of the HD DVD format.

I was not impressed with the extra features. Each time you insert the main movie disc it tries to update some featres from the internet. This is a tedious process and must be immediately cancelled if you want to get to the movie. There is a good vignette about the making of the movie that is worth watching if you are a fan of Transformers, but adds nothing to the HD DVD experience. Similarly the extra features are truly not even worth mentioning.

ILHDDVD Rating 5/5
Video/Image: 5/5 (The special effects are convincing, the co-star is hot. what else do they need to do?)
Audio: 5/5 (Like the movie was recorded with HD DVD in mind)
recommended

Specs:

• Audio Format: AC-3, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (US and Canada only)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• DVD Release Date: October 16, 2007
• Rating: PG-13
• Run Time: 143 minutes

Any thoughts on this movie or this review, add it to the comments.