Xbox HD DVD Player!!!!

[hairlesswookiee]

i know we don't need another thread on this, but i just had to share. on saturday i decided that i need one since i'm buying a new HD TV this summer. so i scanned ebay and found one for $200 BIN brand new unopened with the controller and Kong with Miami Vice, Beerfest, and Fast and the Furious HD DVD with it. so for $230 shipped it won it. i was a little skeptical at first so i paid for it through paypal with my credit card in case it was some kind of scam. but today when i got home from running errands was the box sitting on my doorstep. the movies were used but the drive itself was still sealed as if bought from best buy. so now im trying to figure out what good movies are on HD DVD that i should buy for viewing this weekend.

 

[alphatyrant]

Serenity is a benchmark title, although the R2 version has newer encoding...The Thing is a favourite of mine too.

 

[tomandshell]

Some of the best looking HD DVDs so far include King Kong, Corpse Bride, Hulk, The Chronicles of Riddick, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, Serenity, The Mummy series, M:I:III, Sahara, Polar Express, The Searchers, Ant Bully, Fast and the Furious, The Departed.

I have them all and they are all great looking discs. If you like any of these movies, you should be pleased with their presentation on HD DVD.

V for Vendetta, Troy, Poseidon, The Rundown, Terminator 3, The Last Samurai, World Trade Center, Van Helsing and the other Mission: Impossible movies also look pretty good.

Training Day, Aeon Flux, Seabiscuit, Ray, and Phantom of the Opera are supposed to be great looking as well, but I don't own them.

***Since R2 just got a new improved Serenity transfer and since Universal announced an upcoming 2 disc set on regular DVD, I think that this might be the first HD DVD double dip. I will buy it again if it means a better transfer and more special features, but the existing disc looks great already.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

thanks Tom. as always your knowledge is appreciated. i just ordered Serenity and End of Days off of deepdiscountdvd. i also bought Batman begins at best buy today so my collection is already off to a good start.

 

[alphatyrant]

Constantine is pretty sharp looking, as is Slither. I recommend Superman 1 & 2 plus Returns for some leotard goodness.

 

[alphatyrant]

Ooops double post...though should mention, as tomandshell rightly points out, that because Universal are strongly backing HD-DVD that means

Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz

Yessssssssss!!!!!

 

[tomandshell]

I hope you enjoy them!

I have an ever growing collection myself. Universal remains exclusively dedicated to HD DVD (Children of Men and The Good Shepherd are coming out soon, and they have announced Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 40-year-Old Virgin, The Nutty Professor, The Big Lebowski, Dragonheart, The Frighteners, and Lost in Translation for release this spring) and Warner and Paramount will continue their support as well. (Paramount just announced Flags of our Fathers for HD DVD in May.) Dreamworks has also made their first HD announcement with Dreamgirls, and along with Warner and Paramount, they will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD. Disc sales to date show that while Blu-ray has picked up momentum with the release of the PS3, there is still a nearly 50/50 split between the two formats. I think that both will be around for a while.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

IMO i think both formats will be around for at least another year or so then it will be split with whoever has the cheapest production costs and fanbase. i would like to see HD DVD in our living rooms and Blu Ray in our computers. its cheaper for HD DVD production wise and storage wise Blu Ray leaps and bounds. rumors are that either the end of this year or first of next year Mac Pro computers will feature blu ray in them.

 

[Darth Caedus]

Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz

Yessssssssss!!!!!

I had the pleasure of talking with Simon Pegg for about an hour last year, and the dude rocks !!!

 

[the Doctor]

when will the lotr triology come out on hd or blue-ray disc..any plans in the works

 

[Radagaster]

Some titles I've been eyeing are ones which offer the best-bang-for-the-buck. By that, I look for the ones which have the best display of HD, as well as features (read: In-Movie Experience). Of these, the following are recommended:
1) Batman Begins (best refernce disk)
2) Fast/Furious: Tokyo Drift (Eye candy for the cars as well)
3) Bourne Supremacy
4) V for Vendetta

Another option to consider are movies that are combo-dvds, and the following fall into that category:
1) Fast/Furious: Tokyo drift

Some good eye candy are the following:
1) Corpse Bride
2) MI-3
3) Swordfish
4) Chronicles of Riddick
5) Sky Captain
6) Enter the Dragon
7) Van Helsing
8) Phantom of the Opera
9) Serenity

Keep in mind that there are nice FREE sampler discs out there. I just picked up Nine-Inch Nails sampler HD-DVD which has 6 tracks from their March of Pigs release. Let's just say seeing Reznor in HD and Dolby-Digital Plus was quite a treat.

One site that I've been frequenting because of their reviews is:

https://highdefdigest.com

Their reviews go in-depth as to whether the HD versions have additional HD bonus content beyond what is offered on the standard DVD versions of the same movies.

Now here comes my complain:
I love how HD-DVD seems to have a nicer offerings of HD movies out there. Thing is, I don't like the idea that XBox's HD-DVD can only be put out to an 1080P via DVI connectors! The only superior option to watch HD-DVD via HDMI is to buy a $2k Toshiba/HP laptop that comes with an HD-DVD drive. There's no way I can justify buying a standalone HD-DVD player for close to $600+ without getting some other benefits from it. For $600+ I'll buy a PS3 and watch Blu-Ray instead (which is what I did )

Hope this info helps.

 

[Eli26]

I had the pleasure of talking with Simon Pegg for about an hour last year, and the dude rocks !!!

I LOVE YOU! What did Simon say?! TELL TELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tomandshell]

I actually prefer the VGA connection on the 360 for 1080p over the HDMI on the PS3 (which is how I have both set up) because on my TV, I can "dial in" the precise size of the screen image to fit the screen, and there is absolutely no overscan like there is watching movies on the PS3. In the regular DVD days, I always made sure to get a Toshiba player that had reverse zoom, so that I could shrink the picture to fit the screen and see what was being lost from the overscan. My TV allows you to fine tune the PC input image and make it fit the screen perfectly, so I am not missing any of the picture. On the PS3, I have the usual overscan that crops out a portion of the top, bottom, left and right of the frame. (Or just the left and right if it's a 2.35:1 transfer, of course.)

 

[hairlesswookiee]

alright i just added another movie to my list: Dune!!! i had to get it since i never got around to buying it on regular dvd. i also plan on getting the hulk the next time i get paid. (im trying to get a new movie every other week when its payday.)
i just wish that casino royale was coming out on HD DVD.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

just got back from Moviestop.... traded in some old movies and paid a whopping $.77 for:
Chronicles of Riddick
Hulk
Assault on Precinct 13 (remake)
The Bourne Supremacy

my collection is really starting to take off now. one thing that i love is that i can really see the difference in the quality in comparison to the old DVDs.

 

[tomandshell]

Riddick is not really one of my all time favorite movies, but I have it on HD DVD and it looks really great.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Riddick is not really one of my all time favorite movies, but I have it on HD DVD and it looks really great.

very true... riddick isn't the best movie, but i really enjoy watching it every once in a while. i watched a few minutes last night and it looks incredible in HD.

 

[tomandshell]

Coming May 22 to HD DVD:

https://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=10426

Also available on Blu-ray on some future, yet-to-be-determined date.

 

[nash]

Coming May 22 to HD DVD:

https://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=10426

Also available on Blu-ray on some future, yet-to-be-determined date.

cool gonna have to get that on the ray.

any word yet on a hi-def LOTR box set transfer?

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Coming May 22 to HD DVD:

https://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=10426

Also available on Blu-ray on some future, yet-to-be-determined date.

i am all over this!!! i was wondering what the deal was... all my HD movies i have show previews of the Matrix, but it wasn't even released in HD yet. now i have to trade in some more movies to get this set. im just glad i never bought the regular DVD set now.