Not many HD DVDs are planned for release until the end of the month with American Gangster as the big release on Feb. 19 and Beowulf a week later. American Gangster and Beowulf are good titles, but HD DVD needs to get is shizzle together and release some more and bigger titles! Click the title to pre-order from Amazon and get your title the day of the release:

Week of Feb. 5:

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Naked Beneath the Water [HD DVD]

Week of Feb. 12:

The Amateurs
Girls Gone Wild: Baby Bash Live & Uncensored [HD DVD]

Week of Feb. 19:

American Gangster (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Galaxina [HD DVD]
The Invasion (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]

Week of Feb. 26,

Beowulf (Director’s Cut) [HD DVD]
The Brave One (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne: Arias & Duets [HD DVD] A must have!
Dragon Tiger Gate [HD DVD]
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection [HD DVD]
Rain in the Mountains [HD DVD]

This is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. The movie is presented in vector animation, which is very cool. Luckily the use of graphics did not detract from the film but added to its weirdness, if you can even figure out what its about and why it occurs in Anaheim. The script is great, with Neo, Woody Harrelson and that one chick from some slacker movies.

How does this play in HD DVD? Very well, but nothing special. Animation is a weird thing in HD, especially CGI. I never saw this in SD, but I think it would look okay - obviously not HD quality, but good. Nothing really special or “wowie” about the video quality though.

The audio is also middle of the road. There is a nice crisp environment, but like the video … nothing “wowie” about it.

Ultimately, this is a fun and weird movie to watch and great on a big TV. The extra features are informative, but forgettable.

ILHDDVD Rating: 3/5 (Lack of wowie)
Video/Image: 3/5 (Ok)
Audio: 3/5 (Ok)
Recommended

Did you see this HD DVD? Rankit: (4 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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Yes, Yes and Yes. This is a great movie to watch in HD. Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 is a great movie, probably one of his best known movies as well.

Visually, HD DVD is an awesome format for this picture. There is significant CGI work, but unlike some movies it is very well done here. There is not much more to say than that this movie looks great in HD.

Audio is the same … sounds awesome in HD. The rockets, explosions, all awesome and perfectly mixed. There is really not much more to say about this, but that this movie is great in HD and highly recommended. As good as it is, It jsut misses the wow factor, that is I would not use this movie to show friends how awesome the HD format is. Not that there is anything wrong, but that the movies on my favorite 5 movies are so much better to demonstrate the format. So this will now be added to the Honorable Mention list.

LHDDVD Rating: 4/5 (Added to Honorable Mention)
Video/Image: 4/5 (Awesome)
Audio: 4/5 (Awesome)
Recommended

Did you see this HD DVD? Rankit: (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)

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Clockwork Orange is one of the most appropriately violent films of all times, set to the music of Ludig von Beethoven. The book is marvelous and Kubrick’s version of the movie is a tour de force of psychology, witticism and violence. The story of an ultraviolent teenager, Alex, starts with a rape scene and a gang fight. Anthony Burgess, author of the book the movie is based on, created his own language for the dailouge in the book; a mix of British and Russian slang, Kubrick keeps it authentic in his interpretation. Ultimately, it is truly a visually stunning movie. A little piece of trivia, the actor who played Chewbacca has a small roll …

As far as the video transfer to HD, I have no complaints, but I have no great praise. Now, having historically watched the movie in SD on a shitty TV, it was refreshing to watch the movie in glorious HD. Again, another movie that proves my theory that some movies are unnecessarily redone in HD. I think this movie would probably look fine in SD upconversion and an all-out assault on SD is faulty. Being a fan of Kubrick, and the movie, however, I was pleased as punch to get it in HD. The movie is from the 70’s so the film quality is not the greatest, however, it makes a nice HD movie. This is a Kubrick movie based on a twisted interpretation of the not-to-distant future where violence regins supreme. HD is an effective format for Kubrick’s shots. All in all though, there is nothing that really stands out about this movie in HD. Don’t be fooled though, the “X” rating is for the violent scenes more than nudity or adult situations.

What makes this an effective HD DVD is the audio. Clcokwork is as much of a visual movie as it is an aural experience. Produced in the days before surround and multichannel audio was the norm, Kubrick weaves music in and out of each scene. Beethoven’s symphonies are a character in this movie and HD audio is a perfect format for experiencing that character.

The extras are nothing special. the menu is easy to navigate and not cumbersome, but not interesting. A great movie I am glad to see in HD.

ILHDDVD Rating: 3/5 (One of my favorite movies)
Video/Image: 3/5 (A good conversion, but generational limitation limit this image)
Audio: 4/5 (love it)
recommended

Did you see this HD DVD? Rankit: (4 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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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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