VS. A few weeks ago, news agencies and entertainment sites were buzzing over the first-week success of Transformers on DVD. Not just DVD, but HD DVD. Paramount issued a press release citing that the HD DVD release sold over 190,000 copies in its first week. It moved quickly off the shelves as more and more people have started to live a high-def lifestyle. With improved video and audio quality, the presentation of Transformers is “more than meets the eye.” Because, with extras also seeing a boost in layout and design, movie studios are all about pleasing the consumer with its library of shiny discs.
While the holidays will see a boost in audio and video equipment sold — this includes Plamas and LCD sets — the format wars between Blu-ray and HD DVD will also heat up. At the moment, HD DVD is a cheaper commodity because of support from Toshiba and Microsoft; shoppers will be looking for more bang for their buck, so it would be easy to support HD DVD.
Something the average consumer may not be investigating though is software. The titles a particular high-definition format offer may be just as important as the equipment itself. And with Paramount dropping support for both Blu-ray and HD DVD a few months ago, going strictly HD DVD, it means shoppers should pay that much more attention to the opening credits and the studios that release a particular film.
Certain studios, namely Warner Bros., are format neutral, releasing titles on both next generation formats. But more often than not support amongst the studios is split. Big companies like Buena Vista (which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Miramax Films) and 20th Century Fox are siding with Sony Pictures with Blu-ray; Universal and Paramount Pictures are two of the big studios supporting HD DVD.
What does this mean?
Well, the abovementioned Transformers and the recent catalog special edition release of Face/Off are both exclusive to HD DVD, they also help to add to the high-octane action titles already available on the format. Joining the Decepticons, the Autobots, and John Woo’s facial makeover, is the Jason Bourne films (The Bourne Ultimatum arrives to HD in December) and the British action-comedy Hot Fuzz.
Blu-ray counters with exclusives that include the recently released Spider-Man 3, Casino Royale, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl — some of the prime examples as far as superb audio and video are concerned.
Taking a look at recent HD releases, we get a better sense of what HD can offer to the average consumer.
Comparing the original standard DVD release of Face/Off — the one with no extras whatsoever — to the new HD DVD release, the differences were staggering. Not looking at the special features and paying attention to only the video and audio, there is no real comparison: high definition is just better. Like going from cassette tapes to CDs, differences in sharpness and clarity are evident. Blacks are richer and facial colors are more defined. And the audio just overpowers you with sounds of explosions and gunshot blasts, in action scenes that only John Woo can do.
Not to be outdone is Transformers and its interactive experience. The second disc is sure to amaze those who can’t get enough extras. The biggest is a two-hour documentary comprised of separate featurettes. Executive producer Steven Spielberg contributes, as does director Michael Bay and the main stars of the summer blockbuster. But aside for the documentary, which is also available on the standard special edition release, Paramount gives us some good HD DVD exclusives and some web-enabled features. Included is “Transformers Heads Up Display” picture-in-picture commentary. Don’t expect footage or comments found in the above documentary. Instead, we get trivia pop-ups, voice cast recordings and other material culled from the production. As for web-enabled bonuses, there are features that will allow you to customize the disc menus based on your favorite characters; you can even inspect the different Autobots and Decepitcons from top to bottom in full 360-view.
Again, remember that to truly grasp high-def, you must have the right equipment. So while the price of HD DVD players is dropping, a new TV or home theater system may also be needed to fully immerse yourself in high definition.
