sometimes people go overboard...

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on July 30, 2008 at 21:17:01

Some of you may have seen the heat that Warner Bros has been getting re: their choices for Blu-ray encodes -- both audio and video. The movie Speed Racer isn't going to win any Oscars nor did it make the top of any critic's "Gotta own!" list. However, the action and visuals as well as the enveloping soundfield should definitely make for a Home Theater playfest. Video sales of this movie could easily trump box office sales.

So what's the deal? So far Warner Bros has confined this 2+ hour movie to a BD25 disc and lossy audio. It's almost as if they've reverted to producing HD DVDs again. You would have thought that we'd gotten past this point when producing a film from a major Hollywood studio. Guess not if you're Warner Bros.

from TheDigitalBits:
Okay... I'm STILL having a tough time getting a straight answer out of Warner Home Video's new theatrical people. I've got multiple calls into them to try to clear up the Speed Racer BD situation. The best I can tell, the Blu-ray is a BD-25, with only Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The back of the Blu-ray artwork claims that it's Dolby Digital 5.1 audio as you can see below (on the left). On the other hand, Warner's own sell sheet for the title indicates TrueHD (below right).
Good grief! When I get a call from someone at Warner who actually has a clue on this, I'll update you all here. In the meantime, I'm hearing that the three featurettes created for the release are at least worth your time. While Spritle in the Big Leagues and Supercharged! are fun but geared more toward younger audiences, I've been told that the Car Fu Cinema piece is a special effects fan's dream, and is a very extensive look at the CG work that went into the making of the film. Of course, that's small consolation for those Blu-ray enthusiasts who, even if they didn't care for the film, had still hoped for the maxed-out video data rate and top-notch lossless audio that would have made this a must-have A/V demo purchase on Blu-ray regardless. In fact, there's now a poll over on Blu-ray.com, which is revealing that a lot of people are either not going to buy the Blu-ray or are canceling their orders given the lackluster specs. What a shame. They're usually pretty reliable, but WHV really screwed the pooch on this title.

[ Bill Hunt (TheDigitalBits) will post an update on Thursday. It seems someone from Warner Bros is willing to talk about this situation. Perhaps they have "seen the light" and will do right by Home Theater enthusiasts. ]

If the studios give us lackluster releases for lesser titles, what's to stop them from backing off the quality for major blockbusters? Quality should be of the utmost importance, regardless of the movie. Now I'm sure some people will view this drama, the boycotts and internet traffic, as a bunch of crazies going overboard. Perhaps it is. Then again, maybe Warner Bros needs to be the nail that gets hammered smack dab in the middle of its

head (Open in New Window)

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Topic - sometimes people go overboard... - Joe Murphy Jr 21:17:01 07/30/08 (1)

RE: sometimes people go overboard... - Jack G 06:27:22 07/31/08 (0)

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