Transformers HD DVD review roundup
Transformers was one of this year's biggest blockbusters at the theater, and now its one of HD DVD's biggest weapons in the format war. With exclusive features and online connectivity, the HD DVD camp expects this disc to show why Paramount chose them, and consumers will too. The biggest part of any HD release is the picture quality, and all the reviews we've found have high praise for the 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer. While HighDefDigest noticed some jaggies during horizontal pans, there were no other faults to be found, impressive considering the high speed action in the film. An unfortunate casualty of all the extras on this two disc set was a high-res audio track -- a strike against HD DVD's 30GB capacity -- although the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix that is present got the all-important "reference material" nod from several outlets. Paramount's much-ballyhooed special features include the opportunity to check out the CGI models in HD, all of the DVD extras in HD, and online options to download special widgets that play along with the movie or check out continually updated IMDB-style guides about the movie and its makers. Perfect its not, but reviewers seem to agree, this is a huge step forward for the format...will it be enough to keep Michael Bay happy?Read - DVD Talk
Read - Home Theater Forum Review
Read - High-Def Digest
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ryan @ Oct 15th 2007 3:03PM
I can't wait! My receiver only does 5.1 DD/DTS so I could care less about any of the other formats.
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 3:05PM
Just to be clear, the link-back has a misleading title. When he talked about "drinking the kool-aid", he was talking about how he drank the kool-aid and sided with Blu-Ray--a position he later recanted. Apparently, he didn't know much about either format and was swayed by Blu-Ray supporters.
As far as the sound, High-Def digest gave it five-stars. The fact that it is not lossless was a battle-cry for many BD supporters--but I guess it sounds pretty good as five is the theoretical limit for stars.
Scott @ Oct 15th 2007 3:07PM
Transformers was almost enough to make me go out and buy a HD DVD player. Almost but not quite. I'm still playing the waiting game.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 15th 2007 3:09PM
I'll be picking this up fo' sheezy.. This will be the first DVD/HD-DVD I've bought since the Season 3 release of Arrested Development.. Up until now I've been Netflix'n it. A great title to show off indeed! One question though, is the HD-DVD version a Combo disc or no?
MAK42868 @ Oct 15th 2007 3:12PM
No, it's not a combo disk.
ShadowGod @ Oct 15th 2007 3:12PM
Preordered this from Amazon, got the email that it shipped today.
Larry @ Oct 15th 2007 3:32PM
I wonder how the Xbox HD-DVD drive performs on this movie? It'll be an interesting comparison Mr. Lawler. What do you think?
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 3:33PM
Well, I own an XBox HD-DVD drive and I've never had a single problem with any HD-DVD movie.
Marc C. @ Oct 16th 2007 10:24AM
I have this movie already, and it took like 5 seconds for the loading. (HDi) Then it played perfect, Transformers looks so amazing in High Def.
musicforme @ Oct 16th 2007 8:30PM
While I can't speak to the sound track due my HK 645 won't arrive until tomorrow, I can speak to the picture quality.
I received the movie earlier today from Netflix and watched it on a Samsung 50" HL-S5088w using the hd-dvd player on my 360. At no point did I see any jagged lines or any problems with the image quality.
Once I have my AVR hooked up, I'll decide whether this is one I want to permanently add to my library.
Stephman @ Oct 15th 2007 3:45PM
I know that Hereos HD-DVD boxset Season 1 disc 2 was having problems in some Xbox 360 HD-DVD drives including mine.
http://www.jasondunn.com/xbox-360-hd-dvd-lock-up-playing-heroes-disc-508
Larry @ Oct 15th 2007 3:47PM
Sweet! Dave do you think in the future, if hardware costs permit, that MS will include a HD-DVD or HD-VMD drive in a future 360 or next-gen console? It would show some real support for HD-DVD and nerds like myself could watch Transformers on there. Sorry to get off topic?
ryan @ Oct 15th 2007 3:50PM
Disc 2 of Heroes took a few minutes to load on mine but that was the only one. When looking at the downloads each disc does under the xbox management, disc 2 had the largest space taken up as well.
ryan @ Oct 15th 2007 3:51PM
Disc 2 of Heroes took a few minutes to load on mine but that was the only one. When looking at the downloads each disc does under the xbox management, disc 2 had the largest space taken up as well.
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 4:20PM
Microsoft claims they won't ever integrate the HD-DVD player into the console. Of course, that means that all sales of HD-DVD add-ons represent buyers who are interested in HD-DVD--as opposed to PS3 player sales which could represent either Blu-Ray supporters, gamers, or people buying it for both purposes. Personally, I would prefer a stand-alone player. I bought the add-on because it was inexpensive. I'll wait for prices to come down and then buy a stand-alone player. In the meantime, the add-on has been great.
Ryan @ Oct 15th 2007 3:58PM
For the record this disc does have high resolution audio. The soundtrack included is Dolby Digital Plus, which runs at 1509 kb/s compared to Dolby Digital running at 640kb/s or even 448kb/s.
What the disc is missing is lossless audio such as Dolby True HD. I am not bothered by this as this is sounding like a top notch soundtrack no matter what.
MI @ Oct 15th 2007 4:03PM
"the HD DVD camp expects this disc to show why Paramount chose them"
Let's just ignore the fact that they got paid $150M to 'choose' them, shall we. If it's such a great format why keep lying about the fact that it's a format on welfare?
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 4:17PM
Well, first of all, the money was paid in promotions--not in cash. If you want to talk about a format on welfare, that's definitely Blu-Ray. If it wasn't for the PS3 Blu-Ray food-stamp, the format would be dead.
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 15th 2007 5:21PM
"..got $150 million to choose them."...
Everyone in this game gets something. Money, patent income, co-operation in other ventures, etc. Do you think Disney is doing what they do for fun? Or because they "bleed Blue-ray blue"? They are getting something, too. And there's nothing wrong with that -- companies are in business to do business and make money.
For the record, Paramount was not "given $150 million cash", they were promised that there would be money spent on co-marketing, advertising and other business activities to support them. Much like Sony subsidizing a Disney 2-for-1 deal.
mlody11 @ Oct 15th 2007 4:19PM
"An unfortunate casualty of all the extras on this two disc set was a high-res audio track"
Problems getting you audio formats straight? That sentence would read like this...
"An unfortunate casualty of all the extras on this two disc set was a "lossless" audio track"
On top of this... "Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix"... should read "Dolby Digital + 5.1 Surround mix"
Please don't leave out specific information (especially in a technology post)... it makes you look like a biased reporter.
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 4:32PM
I'm with mlody. I don't see how the audio track can be an "unfortunate casualty" when the audio specifically scored 5-stars. It's a 5-star scale. It couldn't possibly have earned more stars. Audio mixers have commented before that DD+ on HD-DVD is indistinguishable from the master.
Paul Fernandez @ Oct 15th 2007 4:44PM
Never thought I'd see the day when "format" was mentioned alongside "welfare" and "food stamp." The war is now sociopolitical, lol.
Jack @ Oct 15th 2007 4:57PM
TOO bad the BOGOF deal with blu-ray's this week won't give HD DVD camp a win this year now. I honestly don't know how they are going to ever win with Blu-ray still holding close to the 2:1 ratio EVEN after the whole paramount deal......This doesn't bode well at all for HD DVD
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 5:01PM
Well, Jack, there's a good chance they're already winning in profitability. Estimates indicate that replication costs for Blu-Ray are 30% higher than for HD-DVD...and that's for BD-25s.
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 15th 2007 5:24PM
It's easy to sell twice as many when you sell 2 for the price of 1. Of course, if you lose money on each one you get unhappy partners. Like Paramount.
JeffDM @ Oct 15th 2007 11:56PM
_Estimates_? How about some few actual figures:
http://www.pacificdisc.com/PricingBluRay.html
http://www.pacificdisc.com/PricingHD-DVD.html
Packaged, in quantities of 100k, the difference is $0.40 a disc, single layer for both. In 10k quantities, that's $0.42. If you even it up a bit, HD-DVD in dual layer is only $0.20 cheaper per disc (30GB) vs. single layer (25GB) BRD. Until you go down to the 1k quantities, I really don't think the cost disparities are that significant for duplication costs to be somehow staggeringly expensive. Even a $10-$15 disc from the BOGO specials is probably bringing a little money back, even after considering distribution and retail mark-up expenses.
h4ldol @ Oct 15th 2007 5:16PM
I can't believe anyone likes this movie. So lame. 5 autobots vs 5 decepticons. Wow. And autobots are f'ing buicks and oldsmobiles. C'mon, Jazz is a freaking pontiac instead of a porsche? Starscream was okay, and it was nice to use the original Optimus' voice, but that was about the only redeeming feature of this typical Michael Bay crapfest.
Gil @ Oct 15th 2007 5:37PM
I bet you'd probably be singin a different tune had this come out on Blu-Ray, judging from all your HD-DVD hating posts. And I'm guessin you'll be singing praises for that snooze fest that is Spider-Man 3. Ne who I'm not a huge fan of the movie myself, but it is great to show off your setup
MI @ Oct 15th 2007 7:59PM
"It's not cash" -- "Everyone gets money"
So what part of that means that means that Paramount stopped making Blu-Ray for any reason other than the money!?!? You people simply don't make sense.
All I said what that the idea that this disc will show why paramount dropped Blu-Ray isn't possible (unless one of the features shows the paramount execs bathing in cash).
Chaz @ Oct 15th 2007 5:55PM
I personally loved the movie, and so did my son. And almost anything my lil boy likes, i buy. Glad to hear the Visual and Audio quality came out great. I'll be picking this one up some time this week.
Interested Watcher @ Oct 15th 2007 6:18PM
"Everything about this track just screams "REFERENCE!" and it holds up easily to the best PCM and True HD mixes that I have heard.
Call me a doubter no more."
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review.php?ID=30988
It's just a matter of time now, HD DVD stand-alones are selling very very well and have a much higher movie disc attachment rate compared to PS3, er I mean Blu-ray.
HD DVD has Blu-ray beaten for price, spec and now movie content (both exclusive & available).
Like I said, it's just a matter of time......and seeing as how HD DVD cost (relatively speaking) nothing in R&D and new plant it is HD DVD that can afford the lower and slower growth and rate of return, not Blu-ray.
Blu-ray is headed the same way as UMD is to the PSP, a market of millions worth selling to for some time, of course, but basically it's going nowhere and dead.
The just might get some interest in professional bulk data storage if they can get the 100gb/200gb media & hardware out at a price the business market might pay.
Mexigun @ Oct 15th 2007 6:43PM
I'll buy the special edition Blu-Ray version in less than 18 months...
Mexigun
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 7:17PM
"I'll buy the special edition Blu-Ray version in less than 18 months..."
Sure you will. I'm sure it's already been pressed and loaded with Profile 2.0 features. Hundreds or thousands of copies are just sitting in a warehouse waiting for the day for the contract to be over... Don't believe Paramount when they say they were unhappy with the costs and poor interactivity for Blu-Ray--believe Blu-Ray bloggers and random posters!
Rob @ Oct 15th 2007 7:44PM
Boycott Transformers. It is racist.
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 15th 2007 9:18PM
Paramount (and Warner for that matter) started out as HD DVD exclusive. They were of the opinion that BD was half-baked and hopelessly ambitious. Blu-ray solved some of their problems (e.g. getting rid of disk caddies) and talked Warner and Paramount around to neutral. Probably gave them some cash, too.
But Paramount got tired of waiting for BD to get it's act together. It is STILL not finished, 18 months after launch, and no two players do the same thing the same way. Paramount was losing money and delaying product to accomdate BD. Life is short, product life especially so, and they went back to their original position: exclusive.
What's not to understand. My only question is why Warner is still sticking it out.
richard @ Oct 15th 2007 8:28PM
Some of these posts state that hd dvd has more movie selection than blu-ray. I really dislike misinformation propagated by people that give supposed facts that are really either bold lies or sadly un-researched statements. Therefore, I present some truth in a forum racked with opinionated statements.
11 of top 15 movies of 2006 are from blu-ray exclusive studios. 7 of top 15 from Sony themselves.
Box Office 2006 Source: Box Office Mojo
Position Title Studio Domestic Gross
1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BV $423,315,812 blu-ray only
2 Cars BV $244,082,982 blu-ray only
3 X-Men III: The Last Stand Fox $234,362,462 blu-ray only
4 The Da Vinci Code Sony $217,536,138 blu-ray only
5 Superman Returns WB $200,081,192 both
6 Ice Age: The Meltdown Fox $195,330,621 blu-ray only
7 Happy Feet WB $185,625,671 both
8 Night at the Museum Fox $165,150,384 blu-ray only
9 Casino Royale Sony $160,047,891 blu-ray only
10 Over the Hedge P/DW $155,019,34 hd-dvd only
11 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Sony $148,213,377 blu-ray only
12 Click Sony $137,340,146 blu only
13 Mission: Impossible III Par. $133,501,348 hd-dvd only
14 Borat Fox $126,598,982 blu-ray only
15 The Pursuit of Happyness Sony $124,834,524 blu-ray only
Paramaount only holds the #10 + #13 spots, Universal didn't make the top 15.
Top Ten Global Summer Blockbusters of 2007
# Film Gross ($M)
1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $958 blu-ray only
2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix $912 both
3 Spider-Man 3 $890 blu-ray only
4 Shrek the Third $757 hd-dvd only
5 Transformers $685 hd-dvd only
6 The Simpsons Movie $482 blu-ray only
7 Ratatouille $390 blu-ray only
8 Die Hard 4.0 $356 blu-ray only
9 Ocean's Thirteen $305 both
10 The Bourne Ultimatum $278 hd-dvd only
7 on blu-ray, 5 on hd-dvd. 5 blu-ray exclusives, 3 hd-dvd exclusives, 2 neutrals.
Hd-dvd exclusive studios, Universal/NBC tv, and Paramount/Dreamworks
Blu-ray exclusive studios, Sony, including Columbia, 20th Century Fox/Fox tv, Lionsgate, MGM, Disney/Buena Vista, Miramax, Pixar, and Touchstone.
Plenty of good movies for both, but blu-ray has a much greater selection.
Between now (10/10) and the end of the year blu-ray has 120 announced titles coming out to hd dvds 65.
Put together these facts when I was on the fence trying to decide between the 2 formats. I suppose I don't need to tell you which way I went. It had nothing to do with Sony infatuation, although I do believe that they make very good quality products hence they charge more and still are an industry leader. I had a Toshiba vcr many years ago and thought it was well made too.
For me it came down to movies available and on the horizon. Studio backing, and elec. manufacturer support. Most electronic hardware producers have joined blu-ray including Philips, Sharp, JVC, LG, Daewoo, Loewe, Denon, Funai, Hitachi, Harmon Kardon, Sony, Apple, Dell, Acer, TDK, Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, intel, and Hewlett Packard.
Manufacturer support of hd-dvd, Hewlett Packard, Acer, Toshiba, LG (combo player), Microsoft, Samsung (combo player), and Venturer.
Blockbuster retail is blu-ray exclusive.
Smee @ Oct 16th 2007 2:59AM
@Richard
Wow, this bullshit gets posted every time someone sneezes blu ray!! Why don't you recalculate over the last 10 years instead of this 1 year propaganda.
In case you haven't realized fool, people are buying movies from lots of different years,2007 included, so stop constantly spreading this blu ray FUD about 2006!!
When you recalculate, you will get an entirely different, and balanced result, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, whatever, put it into perspective!... but I guess you don't want that.
Anyone can quote miles of boring 1 eyed crap to suit their own fanboy driven paranoia , but in case you haven't realized, this HD war isn't being fought over 2006!!!
DC @ Oct 16th 2007 4:44AM
@Richard
Your post describes beautifully why blu ray WILL FAIL, to many players, & not enough pie.
How can a consortium that big, with so much money involved, be a viable proposition when BR has less than %1 of the DVD market?
Simple mathematics say BR cant survive.
Mass market HD adoption is not happening, the average Joe cant/wont spend the money when upscaled DVD does a damn fine job.
Very cheap pricing is the only solution for mass market HD adoption, and that means BR is doomed as the investment is enormous, the returns are very low, the market is very small, and BR is to damn expensive.
You would hate to be Panasonic with $millions tied up in BR technology and the only BR player selling is PS3. Discount the PS3 price even further losing truckloads of $ in the process, where does that leave the rest of the CE partners?
Up shit creek, that's where!
ian9outof10 @ Oct 16th 2007 7:11AM
While you're right about the film groses, I look at the top 10 or so movies and think "I would NEVER buy most of those, no matter what format they are on".
I prefer the selection of films on HD DVD, but that's very personal and I don't expect people to agree with me on that.
Spiza @ Oct 15th 2007 9:05PM
Dave, were do you get your disc replication info? Its wrong.
25GB Blu-Ray disc replication is less on average than 30GB HD DVD disc replication. 50GB discs cost about 60-70 cents more. Also notable is that Blu Ray is cheaper per GB on average.
Go ahead and look up the costs now. Blu-Ray is putting a ton more discs with the 2:1 sales ratio of movies, plus all the PS3 games. Lets wait and see how much the 51GB HD DVD disc costs.
The cost is in the content on the DVD, not the actual disc.
Spiza @ Oct 15th 2007 9:07PM
Dave, were do you get your disc replication info? Its wrong.
25GB Blu-Ray disc replication is less on average than 30GB HD DVD disc replication. 50GB discs cost about 60-70 cents more. Also notable is that Blu Ray is cheaper per GB on average.
Go ahead and look up the costs now. Blu-Ray is putting a ton more discs with the 2:1 sales ratio of movies, plus all the PS3 games. Lets wait and see how much the 51GB HD DVD disc costs.
The cost is in the content on the DVD, not the actual disc.
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 9:28PM
I get my information from AVS Forum. Where do you get yours? Link, please?
domerdel @ Oct 15th 2007 9:26PM
richard:
good post...although I think you posted this last week. I know, I know, it's a redundant counter on the red camp..
Kevin/HD-DVD supporter:
there's this uncanny tone that needs to be set straight. HD-DVD is a specified format, but giving it "specification" are you saying it's perfect and/or better than BD? In the early stages of adapting to a hi-def format, I chose blu-ray because it hasn't set the standard yet. There's this up and coming urban legend that it has all these problems that are killing itself such as BD+ (which I might add was never that severe and was fixed within a week's time). People, give it a rest. There are advantages to each format, but each format went down a different path.
IT IS TOO EARLY TO SET A STANDARD!!!!
TrentD @ Oct 15th 2007 9:59PM
--------------------------------------------
::there's this uncanny tone that needs to be set straight. HD-DVD is a specified format, but giving it "specification" are you saying it's perfect and/or better than BD? In the early stages of adapting to a hi-def format, I chose blu-ray because it hasn't set the standard yet. There's this up and coming urban legend that it has all these problems that are killing itself such as BD+ (which I might add was never that severe and was fixed within a week's time). People, give it a rest. There are advantages to each format, but each format went down a different path.
IT IS TOO EARLY TO SET A STANDARD!!!!::
----------------------------------------------
Wow! That's the best Blu-ray fanboyism I've EVER heard! Congratulations!
You mean that since Blu-ray has incomplete specifications that result in overpriced, underperforming players, it's somehow the format to buy?
""I bought it because it's not finished""...I don't ever do this...but...ROFL!
zargon @ Oct 15th 2007 10:26PM
"IT IS TOO EARLY TO SET A STANDARD!!!!"
*yawn*
Keep telling yourself that.
Now, no one is claiming HD-DVD to be perfect, I am not sure where you are pulling that from. The point is that people with HD-DVD do not have to worry about hardware they buy now, not working with software coming out later. You are fooling yourself if you don't think there isn't going to be issues with profile 1.1 and 2.0. It requires more hardware for the added features and with all the issues they have been having to date, I wouldn't be holding my breath. With HD-DVD however, people who bought first, second or third generation players do not have to worry about this. Sure, it is a fine edge sword locking in a format, but it is necessary in consumer products for the very reasons mentioned.
Lets face the facts here, BR was pushed out the door well before it was ready for prime time as to not miss the HDM boat. These profiles are just their pathetic attempt to cover their asses on their poor decision. Pathetic, screwing over your early adopters is always a great way to get more business. It is also pathetic that so many people are trying to defend this move, like it is some added bonus for BR.
Why would you buy an incomplete product that you know is incomplete and the company openly admits it, leaving you out in the cold. I am curious as to what else you would buy that is known to be incomplete.
smee @ Oct 16th 2007 5:01AM
It's to early to set a standard!?
Are you kidding???!!!
@doorbell
Thank god,... , brake manufacturers, airline industry, pharmaceuticals, food processing, shipping, petroleum,auto manufactures, the list is endless,... don't subscribe to your theory, the world would be a very ugly place!
After 10 years of DVD, there should be very clear standards!
Your theory says , It's OK to build 2nd best crap while we test our absurdly expensive products on the unwary consumers. That sounds like communism.
domerdel @ Oct 15th 2007 10:08PM
TrentD:
call it what you want. Yeah, it's so overpriced, my wallet feels pain, better throw away my PS3, damn reistance fall of man and folklore, and all those Blu-ray movies i love, so damned overpriced...I'll let you know when microsoft has a bug, and I'll go out of my way to make headlines.
There's no fanboyism, I'd say that to any format.
I rather have a "half-baked" format than a pre-mature specified standard.
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 10:47PM
Resistance Fall of Man again. That game only got "good" reviews. Compare it to Bioshock or Gears of War or Halo 3--games which received "great" reviews. I mean, how long before another game comes around that PS3 fanboys can talk about? Look, I hadn't even decided which console to get until recently. I picked the 360 because I like games. If you like movies, and you're not worried that the PS3 might not be Profile 1.1 and 2.0 compatible (and there's no guarantee it will be), then you should go with that.
domerdel @ Oct 15th 2007 10:46PM
zargon:
Skimming through your long post, I can't help to jump to "Let's face the facts", and quickly reply that, IT IS NOT FACT, rather subjective and you and I are entitled to our opinion.
The people who are SOL (in my theory) are the people who are missing out on PiP (upcoming), but for those who don't give a rats, and just want the movie, they aren't getting screwed. I made the decision to buy a PS3 for multiple reason. blu-ray is great for movies....... AND GAMES. Yes there are few titles out there, but the titles I do own, aree very enjoyable.
I say "incomplete" in the context to those who support HD-DVD because thats what they understand, but in my vision, blu-ray is evolving, and their avenue of choice was the movie, not the supplements/interactivity. Movie and sound, that's all i care about.
Scroll up, and see the post richard commented. It speaks for itself, and my decision is based on the library out there by sony and those are neutral. Also, do a query on amazon.highdefdigest.com I did a query Top 100, Avg rank for blu-ray, 576, avg rank for hd-dvd... 3,600. Transformers owns the top spot right now, but in perspective, the top 23 of 25 top selling movies are blu-ray.
And not say hd-dvd or even blu-rar are perfect, but the points i made above are the reasons why i chose this format.
And here's my perspective, which is entirely subjective, not fact as you are quickly misusing that word
HD-DVD = current gen
Blu-ray = next gen
TL51.. is that confirmed to work on all existing players? or are they still "Investigating" ?
Dave @ Oct 15th 2007 10:49PM
That exclusivity list of his doesn't factor in movies like Batman or the Matrix trilogy--movies which are not "exclusives"--but which have yet to be released for Blu-Ray. Also, it doesn't factor in series like Heroes or Battlestar Galactica--which will only be available on HD-DVD.