This was probably the best Harry Potter of the first three movies. Harry is older, less childlike, the direction was darker and the image quality is at its best. Additionally, the format was different; the first two were too formulaic. Too bad that I have to watch that stupid Warner Brothers logo when the movie starts … All in all this was a decent movie to watch and was great in my beloved HD. The picture was gorgeous and TrueHD is awesome.

The extras once again did not let down.  as they were full of information and behind the scenes features.

Good job you crappy Warner HD DVD team … Even though Warner abandoned us, do not stop buying thier HD DVDs. Maybe they will see that there are users out there who like this format!

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (Just not loving the Harry Potter Series)
Video/Image: 4/5 (Am I numb to the great picture quality?)
Audio: 4/5 (truly environmental!)
recommended

Reader Ratings: (2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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I REALLY Love HD DVDs, especially when the HD DVD version improves the story. This is *exactly* what Richard Donner did with his release of Superman II. As stated in our review of Superman: The Movie both Superman: The Movie and Superman II were filmed at the same time. Donner, however, was kicked off production before Superman II could be completed. So when presented with the opportunity to recut Superman: The Movie and Superman II Donner jumped in with both feet. The majory benficiary is the viewing audience as Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is, in a word, awesome.

Unlike the HD DVD of Superman: The Movie there is little age shown in this picture - it is crisp, bright and beautiful. Special effects have been given more attention and it pays off. There are some things that are a bit low budg, like when Zod walks on the pond, its easy to see the glass gangway. I did question how it is that Zod and his band speak English, not Russian, and can talk in space to a human in a space suit … odd … but it helps tell the story.

The big deal with this HD DVD is that Donner added alot of scenes that he shot before being kicked off the project and ultimately hit the cutting room floor. This includes many more scene with Kal_El (Superman) and Jor-El (Supe’s dad). The beauty is that these are all in HD and look great. Clearly these scenes, at some point, had been put through post-production. There is one scene that Donner wanted included that was never filmed, so Donner took the screen test footage and added it to the movie. When I watched that scene on my XBOX 360 HD DVD player it looked like crap; on the A30, it looked gorgeous. I do not know why and will have to rewatch it on the 360. (Was the A30 somehow upconverting or improving the image?) Additionally, Donner changed the beginning - it looks good, sounds good and works well.

Speaking of audio, Dolby Digital Plus is all you get. the surround sound is great and with as much action as any movie, the audio is up there with Batman Begins. The only thing this movie lacks is a TrueHD setting.

The extras could have added some more bits. There are the obligatory deleted scenes - ones even Donner did not want to use. There is a very cool nice vignette about the restoration of the movie. I would have liked to see some HDi stuff or have this take advantage of the PIP elements of HD DVD

Now, kneel before Zod, son of Jor-El.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (Only a lack of TrueHD keeps this out of the top 5)
Video/Image: 4/5 (gorgeous)
Audio: 4/5 (Where is TrueHD - not on the original cut!)
recommended

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

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One of my all time favorites movies from my childhood remastered to my all time favorite video format … what could go wrong? Not much. what could be improved? The image - looks dated. I sure love watching this movie though.

The film looks great. There is some retention of a grainy 1970s movie but all in all it is acceptable looking. Additionally a Dolby Digital 5.1 to the mix is awesome. I am beginning to think that HD DVD movies generally sound better than in a theatre.

Richard Donner filmed Superman and Superman II at the same time. If you take time to watch the extra fetures you will learn that the Superman movie was originally conceived as one script including the plot of Superman I and II as one long feature. Despite his great efforts on Superman I, Richard Donner was canned before Superman II could finish being shot. Accordingly the plot and tempo of Superman II changed, resulting in necessary changes to Superman.

In the HD DVD remaster, Richard Donner extends the initial trial scene on Krypton and Clark Kent’s training at the fortress of solitude. Great additions

The visual details of the HD DVD release are acceptable. The movie was produced in the 70’s and in some instances it shows. For instance, when Krypton explodes, the color and lighting brilliance of high resolution HD DVD exposes the soundstage and mounting bracket used to stage the miniature explosion. Also, some of the blue screen effects are undeniable. The audio, on the other hand, was awesome.

Specifically, the Dobly Digital Plus provided a great aural experience to this movie. As with the soon to be reviewed “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut” the sci-fi aspects were awesome. The flights of Superman were heightened by the audio track and made the special effect miscues’s acceptable. Being that this movie was probably originally recorded in analog, its no surprise that there is no TureHD mix. I wish there were.

The extras are very cool, but nothing that really takes advantage of HDi or the HD DVD format.

Ultimately, Superman: The Movie is a fun fun movie to watch.

ILHDDVD Rating 3/5 (Love the movie but aged master celluloid hurt the final score)
Video/Image: 3/5 (looks dated)
Audio: 5/5 (Love it)
recommended

Reader Ratings: (2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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The Harry Potter book series has become one of the most treasured book ever. The series turned its author J.K Rowling into a bagillionaire, and the five Harry Potter movies similarly made gobs and gobs of cash. The magical nature of the movie and its modern production make it a shoe-in for a quality HD DVD. Taking advantage of the legion of merchandise buying fans and the newly popular  HD DVD format, Warner Brothers put together one of the best HD DVD packages available (we have yet to review the The Ultimate Matrix Collection). The *seven* disc set arrives with each of the movies in HD DVD, a Bonus disc, Harry Potter trading cards and a Harry Potter bookmark collection. We will view each disc over the next five days and post a review each day for the next five days. On to The Sorcere’s Stone …

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

As stated above, the Harry Potter series is made for this video format. Although not as audio intense as Transformers or Star Wars, the aural impact of this movie was impressive nonetheless. Any Move with TrueHD that takes advantage of it gets points in my book!

I am not going to go into plot, because if you dont know what the Harry Potter series is about, you probably have been living in a cabin writing your manifesto in squirrel blood on toilet paper. Just understand that any movie where kids are casting spells, riding broomsticks and fighting three-headed dogs, the audio better be up to the task, like this HD DVD.

The Picture was more than aceptable. Like King Kong, however, some of the CGI special effects were apparent at the high HD DVD resolution. Unfortunately this HD DVD lacks the wow factor of a helicoptor tuning into a robot or Megan Fox bending over a Camaro.

The extra features on the first disc are astounding. You get about 7 deleted scenes in HD, background information into production - which is usually available on SD DVDs. The difference here is that it appears the studio tried to fill the disc with as much data as possible. If you like Harry Potter you will love how much deeper this HD DVD takes you.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (Good HD DVD, lacked the ‘wow’ factor)
Video/Image: 4/5 (HD DVD resolution exposes less convincing F/X)
Audio: 5/5 (low growns, ships creaking, great job)

Recommended

Reader Ratings: (2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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This is the first full length animation in HD DVD (not including King Kong) that we reviewed. I probably should have done this *before* Christmas but … the best laid plans of mice and men … It is also the first movie based on a Caldecott award winning book that we reviewed. So many firsts for this HD DVD.

The Polar Express is based on the book by Chris Van Allsberg of the same name. I have not read a Caldecott award book in about 30 years so I was unfamilair with this story. Ultimately, though I left this HD DVD impressed. Naturally CGI based movies are going to look good in HD DVD - at least thoseproduced by any reasonable studio. The Polar Express looks great in 1080. We really can’t nit pick much of the detail in this movie - it was gorgeous.

The Polar Express is a a book about a train - The Polar Express - with a dynamic engineer who picks up children who have a waning faith in Santa Claus. The engineer - who remains nameless - takes the hapless children to the North Pole to visit the jolly ol’ elf. The train ride to the North Pole is an adventure comprising about 3/4 of the movie. It is probably the worst movie to use to teach your kids to not take rides with strangers - even if the stranger is Tom Hanks. Regardless, the majority of the movie takes place on a train and in a train. When not on a train the ground is covered with snow. Accordingly, a strong audio track is important to support the environment. The DTS Dolby Digital mix provides the necessary ambient sounds to create a winter wonderland right in your TV room! The best scene in the movie is the “hot chocolate” scene. It is a treat for the eye and the ear. We “rewound” the scene a few times it so cool. I doubt that there were any organic sounds other than the voices and it works to the benefit of the movie. Your sub will get a workout on some of the train scenes.

The extras provide some great insight into the production of this movie. I would have liked to see some more interactive features, like a GPS read out of the travel to the north pole, or a feature where we could look into the north pole a bit more.

ILHDDVD Rating 4/5 (Cool flick, great images, great audio would have preferred more interactive features)
Video/Image: 5/5 (Cannot go wrong with CGI in HD)
Audio: 5/5 (Apart from the voices)
Recommended

Reader Ratings: (2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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