HD DVD for X-Box 360 and SAW on Blu-Ray

By: John Sinnott
Date: Sunday, September 24, 2006

HD DVD add-on for X-Box 360 No HDMI: The first pictures of the HD DVD add-on for Microsoft's X-Box 360 were recently posted on IGN.com, and there's some bad news: The accessory apparently will not have an HDMI digital output, only two USB ports and component outs. Why is this bad? Because of the copy protection that is part of the HD DVD (and Blu-ray) specs. An Image Constraint Token (ICT), if placed on the HD discs, would only allow the high definition signal to be transferred over HDMI. If you played a disc with ICT through a component output, the image would be automatically downgraded to 480p, the definition of standard DVDs. So far no HD DVD or Blu-ray discs have used ICT, but that doesn't mean that they won't.

I'm not one of those Microsoft detractors who love to bash the company at every turn, but this is one of the more bone-headed things that I've seen so far in these new technologies. If ICT becomes common place, and when has Hollywood not loved copy protection, this costly addition (no price has been announced yet but it will cost the equivalent of $170 when it is released in Japan on November 22, and will most probably go for $199 in the US) will end up being almost totally useless. Hopefully the Seattle-based giant will change this before the accessory is actually released.


MUMMY coming to HD DVD: Universal has announced that some genre flicks will make it to HD DVD on November 28th. Stephen Sommers $200 million grossing film THE MUMMY heads off the list that also included David Lynch's DUNE and the great film AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. The latter film will be a dual format disc with an HD DVD version of the film on one side and the SD version of the other. It will retail for $39.99 while the other titles will have a MSRP of $28.99.

Spotlight of the week:

SAW on Blu-Ray:

It seems that every few years a small budget film will come along that exceeds everyone's wildest expectations at the box office. These films often have a different feel from the regular Hollywood product and have to rely on a strong story and creativity to make up for the lack of money. The most recent film like this to take the theaters by storm is SAW, a horror film that was made for around a million dollars but went on to gross over $100 million in worldwide (and that's not counting the DVD releases.) This film is creative and eerie and filled with a good amount of suspense and mystery. It's easy to see why it did so well.

The film starts off fast and doesn't let up. Two men, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (co-writer Leigh Whannell) wake up in an old, decrepit bathroom, chained by the leg to metal pipes. Lying on the floor in between them is a dead man with a gun shot wound to the head. The men have no recollection of how they got there or why they are being held.

Through cassette tapes left in their pockets they find that they are being held by a serial killer, dubbed the Jigsaw killer by the press. This maniac has presented Dr. Gordon with a little problem: his wife and child are being held hostage and will be killed in eight hours. All he has to do to save their lives is kill Adam, a man that he can't reach. It's an interesting problem since he only has a few tools at his disposal. There's a key that doesn't seem to unlock anything, some broken floor tiles, and a hacksaw that he could use to cut off his own leg in order to be freed.

This film gets a lot of things right. There are some weaknesses in the plot, but these fly by unnoticed due to the way the film is constructed. Told through a series of flashbacks, the background becomes clearer as the movie progresses. As time marches on however the situation in the room also becomes more dire. The mystery of who these people are and why they are in this bathroom really draws the viewers in like moths to a flame. The writers also did a great job of doling out the answers slowly as the film unfolds so that the film doesn't have a chance to get stale or dull.

There's a lot of suspense in this film, with even the flashbacks being rather scary in parts. As each piece of the puzzle gets put into place, the tension continues to build, ratcheting up to a nail biting edge-of-your-seat conclusion that is both surprising and well done.

This was a very entertaining and well done film, much better than its miniscule budget would indicate. There are a few minor plot flaws but these don't ruin the film and are hardly noticeable. The acting is very good too. Danny Glover is the only real name in the cast, he plays a cop who is after the serial killer, and he does a very good job with his role. I especially liked the way the officer's character changes over the course of the film. The movie really rest on the performances of the two main characters, and Elwes and Whannell were up to the task. Both of them really act like they are trapped in the lair of a killer, alternating between trying to rationally think through their predicament and being filled with mind numbing panic. A very well done job on both their parts.

While the film is well done, but Blu-ray presentation leaves a little to be desired. First the good: the image was sharp and had a great definition. The contrast was excellent, with details clear even in the myriad of dark scenes that filled the movie. I haven't seen the standard definition DVD of this film, but reproduction here looked very good.

Now for the bad part: There's a fair amount of grain in the picture, but the digital noise is much worse. The dirty white floor of the room where Adam and Lawrence are trapped looks like it's moving and the doctor's blue shirt seems to shimmer on his back. The grain I can live with but the noise was a bit distracting.

There's one more odd thing that I'm not sure is a defect with disc, it could be a problem with the Samsung BD-P1000, the only Blu-ray player available at present. In a couple of scenes where there is fast movement, the image jerks a bit. It is as if every other frame was cut out of the film, or someone increased the projection speed for just a moment. This gives the characters movements an unnatural look. It happens quickly, and in only a few spots. The first time I thought I was imagining it, but the second time I played the scene back again and the defect was repeated. Another odd thing is that this jerky effect is only apparent when the DTS audio track is selected. When viewing the film with Dolby Digital sound, that defect isn't present.

It's too bad that this excellent film made a below average Blu-ray disc. With no extras whatsoever, (how hard would it have been to include the director's commentary that appears on the SD DVD release?) and poor video quality in parts it is hard to recommend that consumers upgrade to this disc.


Upcoming High Definition Discs:

September 26, 2006

HD DVD

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)
DAZED & CONFUSED
THE DIRTY DOZEN
END OF DAYS
FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT
GRAND PRIX
THE LAKE HOUSE
LAND OF THE DEAD
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES
2 FAST 2 FURIOUS

Blu-ray

FOUR BROTHERS
THE FUGITIVE
HOUSE OF WAX (2005)
THE LAKE HOUSE
LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER
LEATHAL WEAPON 2
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
SLEEPY HOLLOW
SPACE COWBOYS
SWORDFISH
TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE


October 3, 2006

THE PAT METHENY GROUP: THE WAY UP HD DVD and Blu-ray

October 10, 2006

HD DVD

ARMY OF DARKNESS
BATMAN BEGINS
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
THE CORPSE BRIDE
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
THE POLAR EXPRESS
WAIST DEEP
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Blu-ray

16 BLOCKS
AEON FLUX
CLICK
SYRIANA
U2: RATTLE AND HUM

October 17, 2006

HD DVD

THE BREAK-UP

Blu-ray

AMERICAN PSYCHO
THE BROTHERS GRIMM
DARK WATER
FIRST BLOOD
GATTACA
GLORY ROAD
GONE IN 60 SECONDS
HAUNTED MANSION
THE PROFESSIONALS
SAW II
YOUNG GUNS

October 24, 2006

HD DVD

12 MONKEYS
THE INTERPRETER
OUT OF SIGHT
THE THING (1982)
SLITHER
SPARTACUS

Blu-ray

THE ITALIAN JOB (2003)
MONSTER HOUSE
RESEROIR DOGS
SAHARA