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300 on Blu Ray / HD DVD Today
FatmanGames
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Didn't see a topic about this... and I only mention it because this is supposed to be the BIG SHOW OFF TITLE for the technology...
300 is in stores today, and I bought it at lunch. I watched about 1/2 of the flick.
I got the Blu Ray version, having had the PS3 for a whopping 3 days. I wanted Blu Ray because I don't have a Blu Ray disc yet, I have a nice stereo, and I have a 62" screen - the HDMI on the PS3 makes for an absolutely perfect picture in my short experience with the PS3.
I'm impressed, but mostly because I never saw the movie before. I expect that given the intentional "static-y-ness" of the movie that this isn't the title to show off with, as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly recommend both the movie (HOW did I miss it in theaters??) and the HD version, should you have the equipment for it.
Does the title turn my opinion around on the tech? Naaaaah. It's still just overblown DVD, but it's nice that I know I'm seeing as close to the theater experience as is commercially available. Too bad I can't rip it to my media server though.
Want:
Lord of the Rings
Matrix
Do Not Want:
Click
Quote from a review:
Link to original review.
300 is in stores today, and I bought it at lunch. I watched about 1/2 of the flick.
I got the Blu Ray version, having had the PS3 for a whopping 3 days. I wanted Blu Ray because I don't have a Blu Ray disc yet, I have a nice stereo, and I have a 62" screen - the HDMI on the PS3 makes for an absolutely perfect picture in my short experience with the PS3.
I'm impressed, but mostly because I never saw the movie before. I expect that given the intentional "static-y-ness" of the movie that this isn't the title to show off with, as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly recommend both the movie (HOW did I miss it in theaters??) and the HD version, should you have the equipment for it.
Does the title turn my opinion around on the tech? Naaaaah. It's still just overblown DVD, but it's nice that I know I'm seeing as close to the theater experience as is commercially available. Too bad I can't rip it to my media server though.
Want:
Lord of the Rings
Matrix
Do Not Want:
Click
Quote from a review:
"so expectations are understandably through-the-roof that this will be the demo disc for every self-respecting home theater enthusiast.
Well, I'm going to put on my flame-proof suit and say that because the film has been so intentionally processed and "degraded," its very nature just doesn't lend itself to the kind of truly eye-popping and ultra-realistic high-def that I've come to equate with the term reference quality. Yes, I know that this is the way the film is "supposed to look," but when you're dealing with a source that is so over-contrasted and "crushed down" -- not to mention intensely desaturated and laced with so much video noise that it seems like a swarm of mosquitoes has infested your television -- for me, the "wow!" factor is lessened considerably.
Warner presents both the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions with identical 1080p/VC-1 encodes in the film's original 2.40:1 projected aspect ratio, and if nothing else, this is a very accurate reproduction of the theatrical experience of '300' (at least the one I saw projected digitally at a flagship theater here in Los Angeles)."
Link to original review.
FatmanGames on
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This is not America! This is SPARTA!
And golly gosh this thread is pushing the bounds of G&T vs D&D.
猿も木から落ちる
You should be excited about Hot Fuzz.
Communist.
Nicely played indeed. I still wonder why europe gets assfucked
Yeah, I'm kinda leaning pretty heavily on the G&T here, but I did mention:
merits of HDMI
"reference titles"
PS3
and alluded to post-processing effects.
All very geeky.
So, thread=yes?
I have both in route to me from amazon.. what does that make me?
A filthy nuetral.
At least with enemies, you know where they stand.
Gay
I know of no legal way to do this (with mainstream movies, I'm sure there are some indie film people and lots of movie trailers in HD that you can download legally), and we don't discuss illegal things here, so I'm afraid you're SOL. Edit: You can use the marketplace to download movies, but it's for a finite time (basically a rental, for a few days). You cannot save these to your computer or permanently to your 360. If they have introduced any movies that you can permanently buy, someone correct me please. Either way, they would stay locked to your 360.
I'm skipping 300 for now (I'll probably get it from Netflix to see if it's worth the HD-DVDness), but I've got Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz on the way from Amazon right now. If that makes me gay like that, then I don't wanna be straight!
Edit2: The titles I have been most pleased about recently were Lost in Translation and Meet Joe Black. I love both of those movies, and I think they looked great on HD-DVD. Mind you, I'm no reviewer, but I can say unequivocally that they both look way better than their DVD versions.
Well, if you have a 360 and Media Center, there's a movie rental service in the Online Spotlight. I'm doubting that there are any HD titles.
Marketplace features only rentals of movies. Lame? CONFIRMED.
EDIT - removed even passing mention of "bad stuff".
The other hope is that you have TiVo 2 Go and a cable subscription which includes HBO-HD, etc. But that isn't really what you're talking about... So, pretty much you can't.
Honestly, that's why I like HD-DVD. No matter what happens in the ultimate "format wars," I've got an HD-DVD player and movies that will keep working. I have control of the physical media and the method of playing it, and if I were to get another 360 addon (or standard BluRay/HD-DVD PC drive), I could play them on my PC as well.
That said, I'm still teetering on the point of adopting one of the formats. The HD-DVD add on has hit £100, but I'd rather have some sort of deal with free movies. The one in the states looks tempting. Also I've seen blu-ray drives for PCs for £150, and my local bb has a few blu-ray titles to rent. At the moment the price of the films and the quality of titles available leaves a hell of a lot to be desired.
The rental only thing is dumb but, hey, they have HD movies and TV shows available. TV Shows you actually purchase, btw, instead of just rent.
Best Buy includes a Spartan cat helmet so you can have cat fights with the Halo 3 one.
I bought the Blu-ray for my PS3 for $30*
The five dollars would piss me off if it wasn't for all of the extra content I get that Blu-Ray doesn't.
I mean, seriously, that is a tone of extra content that Blu-Ray is missing out on.
I'll probably snag up the Blue Ray version sometime soon (target has the BD version for $25) as I haven't seen it yet (didn't see it at the theater). It will also be my first BD since getting the PS3.
I expect it to be a bit cleaner but like someone else said I feel that both BD and HD-DVD are just hobbyist/tech toy super versions of DVD and not as huge leap forward like VHS to DVD. I'm still amazed at how good some movies look on my HDTV while still on normal DVDs.
edit: Oh yeah I forgot about HD DVD having the extra features bah. I suppose I should get the HD drive for my 360 so I can have the best of both worlds. But TBH I'm still pretty happy with DVD.
In HD-DVDs thats a relatively common feature. Its used better in some movies than in others. It's pretty good in 300 though.
My only question is: how/why exactly did you stop watching it halfway through on your first viewing? O_o
This Saturday we're having a pizza & beer night at my friends with HD-DVD 300 on his 60" Sony High Def screen. Heads are gonna fucking roll!
Ng Security Industries, Inc.
PRERELEASE VERSION-NOT FOR FIELD USE - DO NOT TEST IN A POPULATED AREA
-ULTIMA RATIO REGUM-
Combo disk so I get to see how the DVD version compares. (I haven't yet)
Movie is fantastic, not as good as in the theatres in my opinion, I think it was just better sound there.
Best HD-DVD movie released to date.
It was ridiculous to go back to work. I was geeked out all damn day. MISTAKE to start a movie like that during lunch.
Yes, HDMI makes a difference in larger screen sizes. Also, early reviews focused on the lack of Dolby True HD sound, although this problem may have been solved with the latest update.
http://DocumentingLaziness.blogspot.com/
The difference being that the grain in 300 is intentionally introduced as a visual gimmick to give the film a graphic novel look while the grain in the other films you mentioned is just the HD bringing out whats present in the film stock. I saw House of Flying Daggers in HD and didn't think it looked that bad.
I love HD but I hate the prices they are charging for stuff. $220 for a single season of Star Trek?!?! Gimme a fucking break! I'll plop down $35 for a film on an HD format over the $15-20 to buy it on DVD but I'm not delving into the 3 figure arena for any movie or TV show. Christ, even the Bladerunner collectors edition thing thats due out in December is less than $100 and that's got something like 5 Discs worth of Bladerunner!
I was just looking at that Bladerunner set. Kinda amused how both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD versions are 5 discs. Either way though, I think I'd only want the new cut (assuming they've actually improved it)
THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!!!
TONIGHT WE DINE
IN HELL
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/676826/XMC_Cable_Will_Allow_HDMI_on_nonElite_360s.html