Announced HD-DVD and Blu-Ray titles

[hearthesilence]

Anyone hear about these? They've been posted in other forums, but here's a compiled list of announced titles:

Paramount HD-DVD
New Titles - The Manchurian Candidate (the remake), Spongebob Squarepants, Elizabethtown, Coach Carter, The Italian Job, School of Rock, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Catalog Titles - Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Ghost, Grease, Mission Impossible 2, Black Rain, Save the Last Dance, Sleepy Hollow, U2: Rattle and Hum, Vanilla Sky, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Star Trek: First Contact, We Were Soldiers

Universal HD-DVD
New Titles - The Bourne Supremacy, The Chronicles of Riddick, Van Helsing
Catalog Titles - Apollo 13, U-571, 12 Monkeys, Dune, The Thing, End of Days, Backdraft, Waterworld, The Bone Collector, Spy Game, Pitch Black, Conan the Barbarian, Dante's Peak

Warner Bros/HBO/New Line HD-DVD
New & Catalog Titles - Above the Law, Alexander, Angels in America (HBO), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (New Line), Batman Begins, Blade (New Line), Catwoman, Contact, Constantine, Charley and the Chocolate Factory, Dark City (New Line), The Dukes of Hazzard, Eraser, Executive Decision, Final Destination (New Line), Friday (New Line), From the Earth to the Moon (HBO), The Fugitive, Gothika, Hard to Kill, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, House of Wax (2005), The Last Samurai, The Mask (New Line), The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Maverick, Million Dollar Baby, The Music Man, Mystic River, Next of Kin, North by Northwest, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Passenger 57, The Perfect Storm, The Phantom of the Opera (2004), The Player (New Line), The Polar Express, Red Planet, Rush Hour (New Line), Se7en (New Line), Soldier, The Sopranos (HBO), Spawn (New Line), Swordfish, Troy, Under Siege, U.S. Marshals, Wild Wild West

Paramount HD-DVD
10 titles are expected for launch under the "Paramount High Definition" banner, including Sahara, Aeon Flux, The Italian Job, Four Brothers, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, U2: Rattle and Hum, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate. It's also been revealed that Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible 3 will all be released by the end of the year. You can bet Star Trek titles are on deck for 2006 as well.

20th Century Fox Blu-Ray
20 titles are expected to be ready for format launch, including Fantastic Four, Behind Enemy Lines, Kiss of the Dragon, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Ice Age and some 15 others. Fox also is preparing "two sci-fi titles to be announced later" for release on 50GB dual-layer discs (I'll bet one of the Alien films, and maybe ID4). Fox is exclusively supporting Blu-ray Disc.

Sony (MGM) Blu-Ray
20+ titles are expected for launch including xXx, Hitch, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Fifth Element, Legends of the Fall, House of Flying Daggers, The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species and SWAT. All will be 25GB single-layer releases. Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai will be available later in the year (by summer) as 50GB dual-layer releases. It's also been revealed that Underworld Evolution will be released day-and-date with regular DVD later in 2006. Sony is exclusively supporting Blu-ray Disc.

Paramount Blu-Ray
Revealed that it will release the same titles on BOTH HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2006. 10 titles are expected for launch under the "Paramount High Definition" banner, including Sahara, Aeon Flux, The Italian Job, Four Brothers, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, U2: Rattle and Hum, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate. It's also been revealed that Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible 3 will all be released by the end of the year. You can bet Star Trek titles are on deck for 2006 as well.

Lion's Gate Blu-Ray
10 titles are expected for launch including Lord of War, The Punisher, The Devil's Rejects, Saw, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Frank Herbert's Dune and Rambo: First Blood. See No Evil will be the studio's first day-and-date title later in 2006. Lionsgate is exclusively supporting Blu-ray Disc.

[godardslave]

god help us all.

[Barmy]

no Naruse?

[oldsheperd]

Does this mean I have to buy a new dvd player?

[godardslave]

OMG when is Naruse and Ozu coming out on HD-DVD/blu-ray..LOL...!!???
OMG HOW MUCH LONGER must we wait!!??
Also when is the passenger coming out on HD-DVD/blu-ray... WTF LOL!???



Wait...i know i'll save myself some typing:

when is (insert film name here) coming out on HD-DVD/blu-ray?

there...that should cover about the next 10 years.

god help us all.

[Barmy]

I can wait a year or two for the Ozu and the Robbe-Grillet. After all, Conan and Catwoman are in the initial batch!

[hearthesilence]

Yes, God help us all. With a few exceptions, I wouldn't even take these titles if they were giving them away.

Of course, if the future of these formats is dependant on initial sales, then they're basically looking for rich people with crappy taste.

[ben d banana]

Can someone correct me if I'm wrong but will Hd/BluRay be region free? Will the players also be universal?

No, that's one of the main security issues. They intend to make the players accessible for online monitoring like a digital cable box. If you are to attempt to hack the machine, or play a hacked or another region's disc your machine will be disabled.

[zedz]

No, that's one of the main security issues. They intend to make the players accessible for online monitoring like a digital cable box. If you are to attempt to hack the machine, or play a hacked or another region's disc your machine will be disabled.

Well, that's the end of that particular format. Those guys must be dumb as a bag of hair.

[Lino]

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are the Super Audio Disc of the CD. Too late in the game to make an impact on the now firmly established format. I could be wrong, though.

[ben d banana]

Well, that's the end of that particular format. Those guys must be dumb as a bag of hair.

Except they're keeping pretty mum about that part, hoping to get everyone on the bandwagon before they realize what's up. Of course, there are only maybe a couple TVs that can even properly accept a 1080p signal, but the hype machines for both are full speed ahead.

Does anyone actually know what the majors are going to charge for HD discs?

No idea on disc prices but Digital Bits reported the low end Toshiba HD player will be $499 so it seems they're making every effort to get folks to buy in asap and revive their zillion dollar market.

Abd ias streaming and Internet downloading per fee ultimately going to kill off the hard copy disc anyway?

That is the plan as soon as they figure out a way to sell the people, make it secure, and maximize profits.

[cdnchris]

Ooooooooo! Save the Last Dance! I'm on top of this new technology already!

The only ones that I'd even consider getting out of all of those would probably be The Fifth Element (that should look good) and maybe RoboCop.

I don't think I'm switching anytime soon.

[cdnchris]

Of course, if the future of these formats is dependant on initial sales, then they're basically looking for rich people with crappy taste.

Since I've moved I've noticed lots of those already

[ben d banana]

...they're basically looking for rich people with crappy taste.

As a Verhoeven fan, and the man has two titles in the initial batches, I'm going to pretend you mean all of the other crap.

[Narshty]

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are the Super Audio Disc of the CD. Too late in the game to make an impact on the now firmly established format.

Bang on.

I just can't see either format taking hold any time soon. Number one, there are two new simultaneous formats, which is just plain silly. Number two, the actual visible upgrade isn't enough for the average consumer. VHS to DVD is quite plainly obvious, but DVD to HD-DVD, especially when most will have to buy a very expensive new television to watch it, will have most people laughing in the face of the proverbial. Number three, people have already, by and large, spent quite a bit of time and money building up their DVD collections. They won't be arsed to start all over again after only a few years, especially when most are more than happy with the current format now it's really taking off and the titles being released are catering to virtually every need and taste out there.

[godardslave]

they wont make a significant impact on the mass market until around 2010, i would imagine.

Until that time, it will just be "early-adopters".

[Geoff]

Can someone correct me if I'm wrong but will Hd/BluRay be region free? Will the players also be universal?

According to Wikipedia the Blue-Ray discs will be based on three regions.

Regions
1 United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Japan and East Asia (excluding China)
2 Europe and Africa
3 China, Russia, and all other countries.

[ben d banana]

Ah, I hadn't realized they're both only aiming at 1080i. What's the point? Another collector's item for 8-Track, Videodisc, and Intellivision nerds (keep your cracks about my record collection to yourself, Invunche). Considering they've already begun working towards 4k discs/players the whole thing just reeks of a stopgap.

[ben d banana]

Well, I don't think we'll be seeing 4k players for awhile, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see them, or something greatly advanced from 1080i, before every Joe Lunchbucket gets around to buying a new system after they're finally coming around to DVD. HDTV looks nice, but as you say, hardly better than a nice DVD via the upscaling player. If now that DVD has completely taken hold of the market place it is not nearly the cash cow it was previously, then the studios, manufacturers, and stores really only need the early adopters to make their money. Then they can bring out a new system worthy of the rest of us forking over our hard earned cash.

David, are you considering (have you even had the chance to?) the new Sony 40" LCD Langlois was raving about to replace the plasma? They do look nice, but I'm plenty happy with my Panasonic plasma at this point.

[ben d banana]

Presumably this one. Reviewed here.

Yup, we're surrounded by crooks and scumbags.

[Andre Jurieu]

No, that's one of the main security issues. They intend to make the players accessible for online monitoring like a digital cable box. If you are to attempt to hack the machine, or play a hacked or another region's disc your machine will be disabled.

I was just going to rely on some computer geek to figure out how to hack the machine. It has to be possible, somehow. Come on Invunche! Don't let me down on this one.

[The Invunche]

keep your cracks about my record collection to yourself, Invunche

Hehe. I forgot you're one of those.

No, that's one of the main security issues. They intend to make the players accessible for online monitoring like a digital cable box. If you are to attempt to hack the machine, or play a hacked or another region's disc your machine will be disabled.

I was just going to rely on some computer geek to figure out how to hack the machine. It has to be possible, somehow. Come on Invunche! Don't let me down on this one.

I don't see this as a problem. They can't limit the number of people bying these to only those with Internet connections and that means it's possible to use the player without it being connected. The players will be hacked.

[Kristoffer4]

Whops!

[Kristoffer4]

Ok these a the titles that have been anounced thus far at CES:


Blu Ray;
Blu-Ray Movies Announced:
Sony Pictures Blu-ray titlea in 2006:

The Fifth Element (multichannel uncompressed audio)
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Desperado
For a Few Dollars More
The Guns of Navarone
Hitch
House of Flying Daggers
A Knight's Tale
Kung Fu Hustle
The Last Waltz
Legends of the Fall
Resident Evil Apocalypse
Robocop
Sense and Sensibility
Stealth
Species
SWAT
XXX
StarGate Atlantis
Crouching, Tiger Hidden Dragon
Memento
Spiderman 2
Into The Blue
Black Hawk Down
Bride Over the River Kwai
The Amityville Horror
Underworld Evolution

20th Century Fox Blu-ray titles in 2006:

Fantastic Four
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Behind Enemy Lines
Kiss Of The Dragon
Ice Age
+ 15 other

Lionsgate Blu-ray titler i løbet af 2006:

Lord of War
The Punisher
The Devil's Rejects
Saw
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Reservoir Dogs
Total Recall
Dune
Rambo: First Blood
See No Evil

Paramount Blu-ray og HD-DVD titler i løbet af 2006:

Four Brothers
Sahara
Aeon Flux
Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
The Italian Job
Tomb Raider
U2: Rattle and Hum
Sleepy Hollow
We Were Soldiers
Manchurian Candidate
Mission Impossible
Mission Impossible 2
Mission Impossible 3

Warner Blu ray for 2006

Batman Begins
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Constantine
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Last Samurai
Lethal Weapon
The Matrix
Million Dollar Baby
Oceans 12
Swordfish
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Training Day
Troy
Twister
Unforgiven

Buena Vista/Disney/Miramax titles confirmed for Blu-ray:

Hero
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Hero
Dark Water
Ladder 49
The Brothers Grimm
The Great Raid
Armageddon
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Walt Disney Pictures Dinosaur
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HD DVD Titles;

Warner HD-DVD titles for 2006:

Batman Begins
Million Dollar Baby
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Superman Returns
Poseidon
Twister
Deadwood
The Sopranos
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dukes of Hazzard
Rumor Has It
Syriana
Unforgiven
Goodfellas
The Matrix
Blazing Saddles
The Green Mile Special Edition

Universal HD-DVD titles for 2006:

Jarhead
Doom
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Cinderella Man
Serenity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Chronicles of Riddick
U-571
Van Helsing
Apollo 13


A HD DVD player has also been anonunced from Toshiba at 499$
And a Blu PLayer from Samsung for 999$
The HD DVD Player outputs / upconverts to 1080i, but the Blu ray player outputs/upconverst to 1080p! Yes.
Also read somewehere in one of the anouncments that all Blu ray titles was going to be 1080p=D>
Let's hope criterion goes for BD.
Do you guys think they will start at 1 again?

Some Pics;




players;


and a nice Sony player!;
No price:


And;
"In addition to 1920x1080p HD master quality, consumers will benefit from Blu-ray Disc's immense improvements over current DVD technology including enhanced menu navigation, increased added-value and new interactive capabilities."

"Commencing Summer 2006, SPHE will begin adding bonus BD Java games, and other anticipated features, to new release titles including Underworld Evolution that will street day-and-date with DVD. The studio announced it will also deliver four catalog titles per month beginning this Summer, accelerating to 10 titles per month by the fourth quarter 2006. Also being readied for Summer release is the complete television series of sci-fi favorite, Stargate Atlantis, in high-definition."

All BD titles WILL BE 1080p =D>

[HerrSchreck]

This is basically the criteria now, but the consumer will get even more demanding once the Blu-Ray volcanoe starts to erupt. Transfers will be scrutinized even more stringently by the eagle-eyed experts!

A lot of folks will be investing a lot of money in players, big monitors/projectors/screens and cables and they will be mightily pissed if they don't get blown away by the quality and don't get their money's worth with every title they buy. A lot of people are like that already. A lot of short cuts can be taken with DVD, but not with Blu-Ray on BIG screens and I hope that those in control are fully aware of that.

Areas which will be worthy of particular laughter, aside from simple flat out non-hd sourced stuff a la New Yorker, are strangely half-assed efforts like Kino's SCARLET STREET ("Lovingly restored to perfection..." a la David Kalat on his commentary)... a very nicely restored print... enhanced for 16 x 9 televisions... seemingly looking to command respect in the hi-def world... but the freaking thing is not progressive, causing horizontal movements to shimmer & flash across the screen on my hi res (900+p) screen.