Blu-ray, in General

[pro-bassoonist]

My opinion is slightly different: GO Blu-Ray.

Here are some of the exclusive titles currently available and upcoming:

1. Almodovar's Volver
2. The Lives of Others
3. Black Book
4. Old Boy
5. Immortal Beloved
6. Run Lola Run (upcoming, February)
7. DAS BOOT (upcoming, March)
8. Days of Glory (Algerian Oscar entry, UK disc region-free)
9. Bergman's The Seventh Seal (upcoming, UK disc region-free)
10. Infernal Affairs (HK disc region-free)
11. Cinema Paradiso (Japanese disc region A, same as US)
12. Trainspotting (Japanese disc region A, same as US, upcoming)

....etc.....

The majority of BR titles are region free and boast a protective coating.

Pro-B

[barrym71]

I'm going to offer up a short list of some HD DVD exclusives for anyone interested in going that route. At the moment, all HD-DVDs are region free. I'm not anti-Blu-ray, but I'd like anyone who's buying into HD DVD to feel comfortable that there's quality exclusive software available to the format. I've had my player since Jun-06 and I've had no regrets about the purchase whatsoever.

The Deer Hunter
Casino
Dazed and Confused
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Zodiac
The Elephant Man
Dune
Mulholland Drive
The Thing
Triplets of Belleville
Casablanca
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Being John Malkovich
Hot Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead

No matter what, I would love to see more international titles for both formats...

[Antoine Doinel]

From IMDB:

Sales of HD DVD Players Surge

Thanks largely to Wal-Mart's Black Friday sale of HD DVD players for $99, there are now more than 750,000 of the high-definition DVD players in U.S. households, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced Tuesday. The total number includes add-ons to Microsoft's Xbox 360 game players. In a statement, Ken Graffeo, head of strategic market for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group, said, "With more than four weeks left for holiday shopping, HD DVD is turning out to be the perfect consumer electronics gift."

[Luke M]

I'm going to offer up a short list of some HD DVD exclusives for anyone interested in going that route. At the moment, all HD-DVDs are region free. I'm not anti-Blu-ray, but I'd like anyone who's buying into HD DVD to feel comfortable that there's quality exclusive software available to the format. I've had my player since Jun-06 and I've had no regrets about the purchase whatsoever.

The Deer Hunter
Casino
Dazed and Confused
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Zodiac
The Elephant Man
Dune
Mulholland Drive
The Thing
Triplets of Belleville
Casablanca
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Being John Malkovich
Hot Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead

No matter what, I would love to see more international titles for both formats...

Don't forget La Haine! My favorite HD-DVD.

[porquenegar]

For Euro, Oz and other owners of the Toshiba E and XE series HD DVD players there are now "unofficial" Firmware updates to make the following players SD Region free:

EX1

E10 and (in a couple of days)

E1

So far no fixes for the British E30 or E35 but these are undoubtedly coming.

All the firmware updates are numbered 2.501 buit are NOT the same as the Official Toshiba Firmware on the UK TOshiba Site. The Region Free hacks are available through an Australian poster at:

www.dtvforum.info under the HD DVD subsection.

They all need to be effected BEFORE running the latest oficial firmware fixup version 2.7.

That is amazingly good news. Hopefully we'll have similar hacks here in the States soon.

[pro-bassoonist]

I'm going to offer up a short list of some HD DVD exclusives for anyone interested in going that route. At the moment, all HD-DVDs are region free. I'm not anti-Blu-ray, but I'd like anyone who's buying into HD DVD to feel comfortable that there's quality exclusive software available to the format. I've had my player since Jun-06 and I've had no regrets about the purchase whatsoever.

The Deer Hunter
Casino
Dazed and Confused
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Zodiac
The Elephant Man
Dune
Mulholland Drive
The Thing
Triplets of Belleville
Casablanca
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Being John Malkovich
Hot Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead

No matter what, I would love to see more international titles for both formats...

I would just like to point out that some of the titles above are incorrectly labeled as HDDVD exclusive:

Casablanca is available on BR in Italy.
Zodiac is planned for Scandinavian release

And in addition all Studio Canal titles are very likely to appear through Optimum UK, who release on BR, next year.

La Mome is also English-friendly, and region-free, confirmed.

As of last night I can also confirm that the Danish Children of Men is region-free as well.

[patrick]

I have a question about both formats that's been nagging me ever since we started buying them for the store - why do studios release things on multiple discs that could presumably all fit on one disc? I've seen plenty of two-disc releases that don't have any HD content (or have one token HD featurette) aside from the movie, and according to Amazon the Blade Runner sets are going to come on 5 discs. Is this just because the studios think people are too stupid to figure out that more content can fit on a high-def disc (like when London Calling was put on CD with a label saying "2 RECORDS ON ONE CD")?

[Arn777]

Wow! Just hooked up my HD-DVD player and it looks very good, even more so when going back to a SD dvd after, the difference is stunning. I did notice quite a bit of grain though, I hope I have set it up properly.

[patrick]

A little off topic, but why was La Vie En Rose titled La Mome elsewhere? To avoid confusion with Ma Vie En Rose?

[Cosmic Bus]

La Mome is also English-friendly, and region-free, confirmed.

Might be an unnecessary question, but do you know if the HD-DVD is also English-friendly and doesn't have forced subs? I'll definitely keep an eye out for a good price if so.

[Nuno]

A little off topic, but why was La Vie En Rose titled La Mome elsewhere? To avoid confusion with Ma Vie En Rose?

"La Môme" is the original title.

[Donald Brown]

From IMDB:

Sales of HD DVD Players Surge

Thanks largely to Wal-Mart's Black Friday sale of HD DVD players for $99, there are now more than 750,000 of the high-definition DVD players in U.S. households, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced Tuesday. The total number includes add-ons to Microsoft's Xbox 360 game players. In a statement, Ken Graffeo, head of strategic market for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group, said, "With more than four weeks left for holiday shopping, HD DVD is turning out to be the perfect consumer electronics gift."

And now for the other numbers the HD DVD fanboys are always loathe to address:

The high-definition format war tilted even more heavily in favor of Blu-ray Disc despite a rash of inexpensive HD DVD players sold through Wal-Mart and other discount retailers in recent weeks. Nielsen VideoScan data for the week shows 72.6% of high-definition discs purchased by consumers were Blu-ray and just 27.4% were HD DVD. HD DVD players have been selling for as little as $98, one-fourth the lowest street price for a Blu-ray player.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 078ef4de4a

The difference in sales between the formats outside of the U.S. is even more extreme, with Blu-ray enjoying ratios of 4:1 in Europe, 9:1 in Japan.

With the anomalous disparity between HD DVD player and software sales, I'm starting to wonder if most people purchasing these players are buying any HD DVD discs, or are even aware of them. I suspect they are strictly using the machines for SD discs, thinking the HD in the name of the player means it makes their DVDs magically hi-def, which they kinda, sorta do through upscaling. Something tells me many, if not most, of these people are oblivious to actual HD software.

[Hai2u]

I work part time at Hollywood video, I'm 17, and we recently got HD-DVDs and Blue-Rays for the first time to put out to rent. 99% of the people who grab them and bring them up to the counter have no idea what HD-DVD and Blue Ray is, they think they're just pretty boxes. Or they'll argue that they have a High Definition TV and that it will surely work on their television.
Come to think of it, I've personally only encountered ONE person who actually knew what he was doing when he brought up a BR to rent. It was a kid who owned a PS3 so he was a bit more in the know.

[pro-bassoonist]

La Mome is also English-friendly, and region-free, confirmed.

Might be an unnecessary question, but do you know if the HD-DVD is also English-friendly and doesn't have forced subs? I'll definitely keep an eye out for a good price if so.

Hello Bus,

Yes, I can confirm that it is also English-friendly and there are no forced subs (why would there be any...)

Furthermore, in the UK Empire have put up an ad for some upcoming titles. Note that Fight Club, for those who like this film, is upcoming. US rumored date is early April.

This is the official info on Run Lola Run for the US/Canada

Run Lola Run
Release Date: February 19th
Studio: Sony
MSRP $28.95

Screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival Claude Lelouch's latest Roman de Gare, is set to be released on SDVD and Blu-Ray on January 23 in France.

Official site

Variety

By SCOTT FOUNDAS

A popular crime novelist whose works may have been ghost-written by a serial killer is one of the main characters passing through Claude Lelouch's fanciful "Crossed Tracks," so it seems only fitting that Lelouch should have conceived and executed his latest feature under a pseudonym (Herve Picard), only revealing himself as the pic's true author upon screening it at the Cannes Film Festival. That said, the pic's glossy melange of suspense and romance, sportscars and speedboats and stories within stories, all set to the indelible chansons francaises of Gilbert Becaud, couldn't be mistaken for the work of any other helmer.

Self-financed pic, which opens in Gaul on June 27, won't do much to win Lelouch any new fans at home or abroad. But it should amply please the old ones, and definitely marks a rebound for the helmer following the critical and commercial disappointment of his ambitious "Le Genre humain" trilogy (which Lelouch aborted following the second installment).

Opening scene introduces writer Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) as she is being interrogated by cops in Paris' famed Quai des Orfevres police headquarters about her possible connection to a serial killer known as the Magician, so named for his habit of performing magic tricks in front of his victims. Cut to radio reports that the Magician has escaped from a high-security prison, then to a highway service station where hairdresser Huguette (Audrey Dana), abandoned following a fight with her boyfriend, finds herself approached by a mysterious stranger (Dominique Pinon) who seems a bit too keen to strike up a conversation. Could it be the deadly magic man himself?

From there, true to its title, "Crossed Tracks" zigzags back and forth in time, playfully toying with our notions of just who exactly these characters are and how they relate to one another. The plotting is typically elaborate on the surface, though all the twists and turns ultimately boil down to one of Lelouch's favorite themes: that fate has a funny way of making friends and lovers out of the seemingly least likely of persons.

Much the same could be said of "Le Genre humain," but those films' epic scale and cluttered casts sometimes seemed to overwhelm Lelouch, whereas the new pic's more intimate conception is a perfect fit for a director whose best-known film was, after all, the story of one man and one woman.

Pic gets an undeniable boost from the ace performance of the short, beady-eyed Pinon, whose unconventional leading-man looks and sly mixture of malevolence and heroic charisma are perfectly in keeping with Lelouch's conviction that nothing is quite as it appears to be. Ardant projects suitable glamour as the enigmatic, globetrotting authoress.

Production values are high, from the array of eye-catching locations along the French coast and countryside to the lustrous cinematography (HD video transferred to film) of Gerard De Battista.

Camera (color, HD-to-35mm, widescreen), Gerard De Battista; editors, Stephane Mazalaigue, Jean Gargonne; music, Gilbert Becaud, Alex Jaffray; production designer, Francois Chauvaud; costume designer, Marite Coutard; sound (Dolby Digital), Harald Maury, Jean-Charles Martel; assistant director, Do Combe. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (60th Anniversary Tributes), May 25, 2007. (Also in Moscow Film Festival -- closer.) Running time: 104 MIN.

[davebert]

Ghostbusters in hi-def, if proper, is going to be awesome. But that's Region B, no?

[Antoine Doinel]

From IMDB:

HD DVD Sells More Players; Blu-ray Sells More Discs

During a week in which $99.00 HD DVD high-definition video players verily flew off Wal-Mart shelves, it was Blu-ray, not HD DVD, discs that consumers took home. According to figures released by Nielsen VideoScan and reported on the High-Def Disc News website, 72.6 percent of all high-definition discs purchased during the week were Blu-ray. (The website pointed out that 10 of the 12 new releases issued last week were in the Blu-ray format and that Wal-Mart's disc sales are not covered by VideoScan.) Meanwhile, Wal-Mart on Thursday began offering an HD DVD player dubbed Venturer at a regular price of $199.00.

[pro-bassoonist]

Ghostbusters in hi-def, if proper, is going to be awesome. But that's Region B, no?

Yes, it is, however it should be region-free as all SONY catalog products are not coded. The title should be available the US as well since recently SONY's marketing department had a survey regarding upcoming BR releases and this was one of the titles polled.

This being said...

Antoine Doinel: the PS3 is the best selling BR player which the red camp is strangely avoiding in all sales data. And BR players are dramatically outselling HDDVD players (this week's released sales data from Black Friday confirms precisely this specific fact).

Pro-B

[porquenegar]

From IMDB:

HD DVD Sells More Players; Blu-ray Sells More Discs

During a week in which $99.00 HD DVD high-definition video players verily flew off Wal-Mart shelves, it was Blu-ray, not HD DVD, discs that consumers took home. According to figures released by Nielsen VideoScan and reported on the High-Def Disc News website, 72.6 percent of all high-definition discs purchased during the week were Blu-ray. (The website pointed out that 10 of the 12 new releases issued last week were in the Blu-ray format and that Wal-Mart's disc sales are not covered by VideoScan.) Meanwhile, Wal-Mart on Thursday began offering an HD DVD player dubbed Venturer at a regular price of $199.00.

There were lots of B1G1 free sales that week for BluRay if I recall correctly. It seems that people bought what's on sale. The news seems to be pretty good for HDDVD proponents since all those players will presumably turn into HDDVD buyers growing the base of users. Perhaps the BR sales are PS3 users that are finally getting into the HD format. Hard to tell.

[Antoine Doinel]

As far as I'm concerned, none of the stats coming from either side of war are accurate and amount to a lot of creative counting and PR spin.

[Luke M]

Ghostbusters!!!!

[Donald Brown]

As far as I'm concerned, none of the stats coming from either side of war are accurate and amount to a lot of creative counting and PR spin.

Which side does Nielsen VideoScan work for? Most of the sales stats reported come from independent sources.

Here are the latest figures, the first number in each ratio belonging to Blu-ray:

Week Ending 25th of November: 72:28

Year to Date: 65:35

Since Inception: 62:38

HD DVD hasn't come out on top in any single week this year, even ones in which blockbuster titles like Transformers were released.

[Luke M]

HD DVD hasn't come out on top in any single week this year, even ones in which blockbuster titles like Transformers were released.

The week Transformers came out I bought it and I also bought about 8 blu-rays due to B1G1 sales. It's gonna take a lot more than just 1 blockbuster to make a dent in sales.

[pro-bassoonist]

Updates for a few Italian discs:



1. My Name is Nobody
2. For A Few Dollars More
3. Tony Jaa's The Protector
Here's the first review for Bergman's The Seventh Seal Blu-Ray:



[quote]Tartan's 50th digitally re-mastered Anniversary release of Ingmar Bergman's immortal classic “The Seventh Sealâ€

[Luke M]

I'm still waiting on sendit.com to send The Seventh Seal out to me. I like to think with that review it means it didn't get delayed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

1. My Name is Nobody
2. For A Few Dollars More

You neglect to mention, or perhaps you didn't know, that both Leone films are being released in Italy on HD DVD as well, and that on neither format do they have English subtitles or English language audio tracks.