Derb's take on HD DVD + film ratings, mini reviews.

[Derb]

I consider myself more of a Videophile than an Audiophile.

My set-up for picture;

HDMI - 60" SXRD set, native rez - 1920x1080p

My set-up for audio;

DD+ & DTHD is HDMI 5.1 with Dialog enhancement off & Dynamic Range set off.

I'll rate these transfers on a 10 scale. Some 10's I might rate as Reference. This does not mean one is better than the other, it is just my personal preference with the picture & or audio quality.

Edit,

From The Last Samurai to Field of Dreams, I have been using the Toshiba HD-A1 player.
From Jet Li's Fearless to Children of Men, I have been using the Toshiba HD-A2 player.
From The Good Shepherd on, I have been using the Toshiba HD-XA2 player.

The Last Samurai (2003)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - Reference

Training Day (2001)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - Reference

Cinderella Man (2005)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

Jarhead (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Just watched Jarhead on HD DVD & this is by far the best video presentation of the format. Every single frame is detailed, sharp & never out of focus. This is the first of 6 films I've seen so far that earns a solid 10/10 video presentation.

The Audio is just about equally matched. My beef with the earlier HD releases was that the center channel level was roughly 10-15db below reference.. yet all other speakers were well balanced. I am happy to say that Jarhead makes up for the reference level output & goes even further.. Instead of having a sonic soundstage typical on dvd transfers where the center channel is good but when any music or loud action scenes occur the surrounds usually overwhelm the center channel. With this transfer, the mains & surrounds are actually outputed at a lower sound to equal the output of the center throughout the entire film. Much like Training Day on HD DVD, this disc gets a well deserved 9/10.

Serenity (2005)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

GoodFellas (1990)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Had to know how this film looks high-def. Its the first I got on the new format that is presented in the 1.78:1 aspect, meaning no black bars. Unfortunately, this film isn't the best looking HD film I got. Lots of grain, dust, digital noise, in the transfer, but the blacks are real nice. The video quality just isn't balanced throughout the film & can be distracting. The audio is crystal clear & gives a nice dts type sound. The surrounds in the Prision scene, (I guess more specific, the one where De Niro & wife & children are having a heated moment) add a nice echo effect in dialog that I don't remember hearing on the dvd version. After watching this disc, I did put in the 2-Disc DVD version to compare video.. I dunno, you guys who own this on dvd want to take a shot at some trivia?

1:51:34 pause the dvd.

Here you see Robert De Niro talkin on the phone. To the right of this frame there is an intersection. Above the stop sign, what street # is show on the green sign?

Swordfish (2001)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

Doom (2005)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Apollo 13 (1995)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

[Derb]

Rumor has it... (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Alrighty, first.. none of the preview trailers are included on the HD side of the disc. The familiar 2 minute Warner HD promo is, followed by the rating & than straight to the film. I first watched the 1.85:1 SD side on a standard 480i Panasonic dvd player on a 36" 4:3 CRT tv. The dvd transfer looked real good throughout & the Dolby soundtrack was equally impressive. I was obviously curious to see how the disc looked on my 60" LCD tv & in 1.78:1 HD. I have to say that this HD DVD disc is the most well balanced (video) transfer throughout that I've seen so far from WHV. While the film itself isn't a huge blockbuster with tons of CGI filled effects that make your jaw drop, it is a pretty decent romantic comedy & I would recommend it as a rental. I gave this transfer a perfect video rating because I could not find a single flaw. Most of the entire film is shot in daylight & even all the nighttime shots looked just as impressive. The audio is good & most of it is showcased through the center channel. The surrounds could have been a little more aggressive in my opinion, especially during scenes with music tracks. Not that big of a deal sinse the movie is dialog driven but I felt the audio left some room for improvement hence the rating. After watching the HD side, I flipped the disc to do a quick comparision. This is a real bonus because if you sell away your SD versions after buying the HD ones, you really have nothing to compare. The SD side showed a lot of artifacts, (Keeping in mind I watched this movie first in SD & it looked flawless on the CRT) even though the Toshiba does a remarkable job with the upconversion. You really can't be fooled, 1920x1080 rez SD compared to 1920x1080 rez HD, practically every frame has a noticeable flaw. I first noticed how much more HD looks better than SD on a big screen when I compared Million Dollar Baby on a standard dvd player 720x480 rez to 1920x1080 rez. Now even with upscaling dvd players on the market that match HD rez... the flaws on SD transfers really show. Rumor has it... is obviously not the best movie on HD, but the video certainly is & it shows.

[Derb]

Unforgiven (1992)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

What no 10/10??? Yes because the altered cut actually hurts the video presentation. Many scenes jitter throughout, other than that, I would have gave it a perfect 10 because even the extended scenes look great... however I would easily give all 15 minutes of them up, to have the theatrical cut.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

[Derb]

U-571 (2000)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - Reference

Out of all titles I have seen on HD, this one looks & sounds PERFECT.

[bembol]

Originally Posted by Derb

U-571 (2000)

HD Video - 10/10 (Reference)
HD Audio - 10/10 (Reference)

Out of all titles I have seen on HD, this one looks & sounds PERFECT.

Reference...?!?!

I had this on DVD when it came out but I can't remember why I don't have it today...I forgot all about it...just finished watching the Trailer after seeing this thread

Now I really want to know why I don't have...anyways, U-571 will be my 4th HD-DVD...!!!

[Iguana Man]

Derb, what sub do you have if I may ask?

[Derb]

Klipsch Reference RB-25

[Derb]

The Fugitive (1993)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

I was a little disappointed by too much noise in the picture during a few select scenes in The Fugitive (probably only make up a few minutes in total) but the daylight scenes really do look just as good as the Unforgiven HD DVD. This was a tough one to rate video wise because even the worst looking scenes still make the SD look like someone ran a fine comb down the picture + there is a lot of film grain on the SD DVD which doesn't help. The HD still has a three dimenional look in certain scenes (The Ambulance chase & wide shots of Chicago) but some night time scenes are plagued by noise & reds seem to be a bit too red at times, but blacks as usual, with every HD DVD I've seen so far, are rock solid & other than digitial noise, there isn't any artifacts with the VC-1 compression. Should I give this video presentation a 8 or 9? Defintely isn't a 10.. maybe a 8.5. Don't do decimals, so a 8 will suffice.

[Derb]

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

HD Video - 6/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

Positive, this film is presented in widescreen & has a sharper image than the SD transfer. Negative, I've done A-B comparisons with both the HD & SD.. unless you do not own an Upscaling DvD Player, this HD DVD is an improvement over the SD. All my A-B comparisons are done with upconversion dvd players. The video is plagued by a lot of digital noise. The Audio on this release isn't that great, Surrounds are hardly used, Dialog in some scenes sound like mono.

JFYI,

If I find an HD DVD to be of 5/10 in me ratings for the video department, their is absolutely NO improvement over the SD release when using an upconversion dvd player.

[Pirate]

I don't want to push you off of your own thread, but you should post your reviews in the Buy, Rent or Trash section. That way we can compare and contrast.

[Derb]

Should I create an individual thread for each film?

I don't have detailed reviews for all. Mostly, film & rating.

[dugpa]

Originally Posted by Derb

Full Metal Jacket (1987)The Audio on this release isn't that great, Surrounds are hardly used, Dialog in some scenes sound like mono.

That's because the original soundtrack of the film is mono. So Kubrick's to blame if you have a problem with it. Personally I wish they'd just put the original mono track on the discs instead of a phony 5.1 version. Or given the option between the two.

[Derb]

Well, I put them all up in the buy, rent or trash individually & gave some stars for dvd comparitive.

Dugpa, the picture is sharp, more detailed & in widescreen. The phoney 5.1 audio is ok, nothing to shout out about. Overall, it isn't crap but definitely not reference either. One thing is clear, the film rocks.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I don't want to push you off of your own thread, but you should post your reviews in the Buy, Rent or Trash section. That way we can compare and contrast.

Too much work.. so.. catch up time.

Van Helsing (2004)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

Blazing Saddles (1974)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Firewall (2006)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Constantine (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - Reference

[Derb]

The Perfect Storm (2000)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - Reference

I gotta say most reviewers out there who gave this a crap rating obviously didn't see this picture in theaters & trashed the PQ because of "softness" in the picture. It is true that there are a few scenes (I counted around 4-5 scenes where the PQ was soft) that seem out of focus or smuged. What I did expect to see, was lots of mosquito noise & film grain. NOPE. notta, throughout the entire run of the picture. I was in awe that not one frame had digital noise. Daylight scenes are sharp, but what is even more surprising to me while watching, was how good the PQ held up during the CGI fest nighttime scenes. I noticed 1 scene where the color was off by a few seconds, but that wasn't distracting & didn't hurt the overall transfer. As for sound. This is LOUD. Crystal clear vocals, extreme bass, & surrounds that never shut up during the action. I always get a kick reading a bad review & than seeing it for myself. This is one HD DVD that is not as bad as reviewers claim it to be folks.

16 Blocks (2006)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Happy Gilmore (1996)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

The Rundown (2003)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Lethal Weapon (1987)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Syriana (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

[Derb]

Got, watched, thoughts,

The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

The video transfer on this disc is near flawless, no compression artifacts can be found. Detail is sharp throughout & skin tones are more natural looking than the WB promo we've been seeing. Obviously where this disc shines are the car chase scenes. Some have a three dimensional look to them. Overall the look is free of noise & film grain which raises the bar from the SD transfer but still lacks that WoW factor from previous releases from Warner. The Audio is equally impressive. Dialog & surrounds are well balanced throughout.

Pitch Black (2000)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Unfortunately this is one of the most inconsistent transfers I've seen from Universal. It has a lot of grain in select scenes & while these are not too distracting from the movie itself, this is something that should have been looked at more closely from authors who encoded this disc. Other than film grain, I noticed simular artifacts that we see with SD transfers. I'd say 30% of the video transfer could have been extremely improved, ahh well. Aside from those scenes which make me cringe, everything else shouts out Top Quality HD. I mean there are lots of scenes which really show off the artistic style & color palate used + the CGI never looks phoney. Overall, I was disappointed while watching Pitch Black as the PQ quality isn't consistent throughout. The Audio is aggressive, surrounds & mains boom, but there is one channel missing this quality which just so happens to be the most important.. the center channel output is weak. Other than that flaw, the audio throughout is consistent.

Friday Night Lights (2004)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

Ahh, another WoW factor release. FNL has it all. I didn't have high expectations for this title but if I did, I would have been more than satisfied. Lets see: No grain, No noise, No artifacts, Blacks are rock solid & picture depth & detail + three dimensional PQ raises the bar on every release I've seen so far from the format period. Audio, not reference, but still a very impressive track. Dialog & surrounds are well balanced but never over the top even during those loud stadium filled crowds. All in all, this is one title to really show off what the format is capable of.

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by Derb

IMy set-up for picture is HDMI 1080 interlace. (Digital)
My set-up for audio is Digital Coaxial. (Analog)

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[DavidCantu]

About "Pitch Black", I found that by lowering the "Sharpness" on my TV set (42" Panasonic Plasma), it really improves the "black" scenes. The first time I watched it, I also thought that it looked pretty bad, but after some tweaking on my TV, it really improved the way it looks.

Originally Posted by Derb

Pitch Black (2000)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio - 8/10

Unfortunately this is one of the worst transfers I've seen from Universal. It has a lot of grain in select scenes & while these are not too distracting from the movie itself, this is something that should have been looked at more closely from authors who encoded this disc. Other than film grain, I noticed simular artifacts that we see with SD transfers. I'd say 30% of the video transfer could have been extremely improved, ahh well. Aside from those scenes which make me cringe, everything else shouts out Top Quality HD. I mean there are lots of scenes which really show off the artistic style & color palate used + the CGI never looks phoney. Overall, I was disappointed while watching Pitch Black as the PQ quality isn't consistent throughout. The Audio is aggressive, surrounds & mains boom, but there is one channel missing this quality which just so happens to be the most important.. the center channel output is weak. Other than that flaw, the audio throughout is consistent.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

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j

Fixed.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by DavidCantu

About "Pitch Black", I found that by lowering the "Sharpness" on my TV set (42" Panasonic Plasma), it really improves the "black" scenes. The first time I watched it, I also thought that it looked pretty bad, but after some tweaking on my TV, it really improved the way it looks.

This def ain't a sharp issue. I have my settings low as well.

Here is a time code that crys for help. 1 Hour 16 minutes. Watch from there for 1 minute & you'll see. This is unacceptable for high def, I don't care how great the rest of the film looks.

[Derb]

Enter the Dragon (1973)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

ATL (2006)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

I remember comments about a haze throughout the picture & to my surprise (been awhile sinse I seen this flick) that is not true at all. There are plenty of scenes which have opened windows with a "sunlight" haze & there are some others with mist & smoke that show up more clearly in HD than SD. Only faults I've found with the transfer is a few select scenes with specs of grain. Very minor though, if you blink, you'll miss it, thats how little grain is present. There is also minor digital noise. Minor indeed compared to Universal titles, but I did spot the noise throughout the film. Not even an issue really, but I thought I'd mention it sinse HD needs to be nit-picked. The audio is loud but what I noticed was that the db level was a tad lower than current Warner & Universal titles.. again no real biggie, the sound is equally impressive with the picture.

[Derb]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

This one was a tough one to rate given the style used in this film. I remember seeing the SD version not long ago upconverted & thought that looked near HD quality. Well this is definitely a step up for sure. Thank goodness there is text shown on books, maps etc. There you can easily see where detail & sharpness are more present & than see the actors & CGI which show the same increase in detail & three dimensional look. Not a flawless transfer, but damn near close. Audio, again I noticed the db level is lower than reference by 4 or 5 db. Not that big of an issue but hope that doesn't become the Paramount norm.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - Reference

I know the locations of where the film take place have a lot of (hollywood) mist, & unfortunately this is easily seen with digital noise. Also more film grain is present, though detail, sharpness & color are spot on. Blacks are always rock solid & there are no compression artifacts. I can't see the video transfer being any better unless it is taken to get re-mastered frame by frame. Then again, if it was I bet detail would be lost, so this is as good as it gets. The audio is no doubt reference material. (Only the 3rd title I've seen from Paramount & already a reference rating) A big leap from standard dolby digital. All 6 speakers get a nice workout throughout the entire flick. Dialog, surrounds, mains etc, are crystal clear & loud! Good stuff.

Sahara (2005)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

[Derb]

U2 - Rattle & Hum (1988)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

First let me say that this is by no means a high definition reference disc from sources such as HD cable/Satt, previous HD DVD & BD releases. The video on this disc is encoded using MPEG-4/AVC & while a lot of blame of the video presentation is based on the use of this codec, I have to disagree. Shot in Black & White during the first half & color nearing the end of the concert, the first & immediate reaction to the video quality was how much noise & grain is shown throughout while blacks are solid & as well as detail. I am reminded that documentary style shots are never appealing to the eye & this was a choice by the director. Hard to fault a transfer based on the original source I guess, but if you want to put blame where blame is due, I'd say 90% of the video seen is a source issue & 10% is a codec/transfer issue. As reference, (note) the Theatrical trailer is shown using VC-1 compression & guess what? Same deal. Noise & Grain are present throughout the VC-1 trailer, so you can almost rule out MPEG-4 for the not so eye poping look. Overall, this isn't the disc to show off how good high-def is, but also isn't a disc to show off the faults either because neither the source & codec are really to blame. Switching gears to Audio. I have listened to 35+ SD dvd concerts, Eagles dts, Led Zeppelin dts etc. etc. I was almost in shock at the level of clarity, dialog & use of surrounds with this concert/film. It easily puts ALL my SD DVDs to shame by comparison when listening to this Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track. I tell ya, if this disc was all music, this disc would be HD Audio reference material. For the record, I am not bias towards the audio because its "U2", in fact, I don't particularly find the group that great outside of their hit songs. You'll just have to hear this track for yourselves to believe me. WoW.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

We Were Soldiers (2002)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Four Brothers (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Aeon Flux (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

[Derb]

The Italian Job (2003)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10

Was really looking forward to seeing this title because as mentioned on various review sites, there is edge enhancement. True there are a few select scenes where you can spot it but it is never distracting from the film itself & it is very minor. Blacks are solid, but don't hold well during some night time scenes. Occasionally during darker shots the colors seem to look washed out or smeared. Not much digital noise in the picture & I didn't detect any motion artifacts. Aside from these nit-pics, the picture quality is definitely a step up over the standard definition & it shows with lots of detail & three dimension