American Gangster HD DVD review roundup
American Gangster had the misfortune of being released on HD DVD the same day the format war died, and will probably serve more of a reminder of why red lost, than an example why it deserved to go on. Coming on an HD DVD / DVD combo disc extends compatibility, but expands the price beyond that of the far more extensive 3 DVD special edition set. Also apparent casualties of the combo are the unrated directors cut of the film (found only on the DVD side), standard-def extra features,and any TrueHD audio track. The audio and PQ present aren't bad, but don't meet the "reference quality" standards a film like this aspires to. Even HD DVD's HDi interactivity can't save it, with a picture-in-picture track described as a "slim afterthought" by HighDefDigest, and online downloads that aren't specific to this movie, this might make a good souvenir for HD fans, but most will want to wait for the inevitable Blu-ray edition.Read - HomeTheaterForum review
Read - HighDefDigest review
Read - Electronic House review
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lumpmoose @ Feb 19th 2008 7:35PM
On most DVD special features are pretty lame and a good encoding is never a given. I guess having fancier tools and higher bitrates doesn't mean the studio will spend more time on it.
Sean @ Feb 19th 2008 7:55PM
Only time will tell if the BD edition will be a fresh encode with lossless audio or just an HD-DVD port.
David S @ Feb 19th 2008 8:10PM
There have been lackluster Blu-Ray releases, but I'm not sure there could be a worse treatment of this movie if Universal tried. I imagine that the poor quality was decided upon before CES, so hopefully its a fluke and not a sign of things to come.
Maybe when Universal was planning this in December they were thinking of doing a Special Edition HD DVD release later on. I really hope the next version gets a better treatment.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Feb 19th 2008 8:10PM
On similar yet slightly unrelated note, Netflix has been doing a bang up job lately with my HDM queue. They shipped this movie out to me yesterday (not sure how that works since it was a USPS holiday) and I got it today to my surprise. Anyone else having better luck lately with Netflix?
DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 19th 2008 9:59PM
Hope BD is takings notes so that they don't let UNI get away with this crap when they start releasing on BD.
mtragedy.7414 @ Feb 19th 2008 11:46PM
engadget writers are all hating on the hddvd and its combo capabitlities. lets see if bluray can produce a combo disc. your shitty bluray have won with the help of warner and fox, but bluray have always been inferior to bluray thats why you f@ggs were always hating on hddvd and the fact that it had some of if not the best movie studios on the planet. hhddvd will live on in my living room and basement. I wont buy a bluray until it is comparible to hddvd; they (sony) still have ways to go before they can equal the likes of hddvd. and for you engadgethd how can you call yourselves hd when your'e bias. this site discusses me.
DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 19th 2008 10:22PM
Of course this site "discusses" you. We all love to "discuss" crazy rants like yours and make fun of your absolute blind devotion to a dead format. it's crazy fanboys like you that make all these death of HD DVD posts amusing.
BTW, spellcheck is your friend.
Oz @ Feb 20th 2008 4:01AM
Who wants a combo-disc anyway? People who wanted the HD-DVD version didn't want the DVD version, and people who wanted the DVD version didn't want to pay the premium for the HD-DVD version! It was a stupid idea.
DrXym @ Feb 20th 2008 8:31AM
Blu Ray was capable of combo disks. JVC announced the technology in 2004:
http://www.news.com/JVC-previews-Blu-ray-DVD-combo/2100-1041_3-5506834.html
Why they never got used in production is open to debate. Maybe it cost too much or maybe there were issues making the process production ready.
Whatever the reason, the tech existed but it wasn't used. As to why HD DVD used it... maybe they wanted to appeal to DVD owners, or as likely consumers were more wary of the format's future and the fallback to DVD was extra reassurance.
Either way, a fat load of good it did HD DVD.
Vidikron (FU) @ Feb 20th 2008 10:30AM
Too bad the HD DVD side of the combo didn't have enough storage space for the director's cut in HD. That's why BR is better and why it we needed it to win. At the end of the both are just storage formats and more storage is better. It's a simply as that. Hopefully you'll come to your senses after a good cry in your basement.
Tredennis @ Feb 20th 2008 5:04AM
Well, I think it's pretty obvious that the fact that Universal releases a crappy edition of a film has little to do with the quality of HD DVD as a format (Blu-ray wouldn't have been taken seriously at all if abysmal releases like The 5th Element, for instance -but not exclusively- were anything to go by). There are plenty of excellent, reference editions on HD DVD which demonstrate what the format is capable of. And there have been, and there always will be, lousy releases in every platform. But these latter only talk about the lack of professionalism of the people directly involved with planning and releasing them, as the article/snippet above does about the puerile fanboyism (and lack of professionalism) of the guy who wrote it. C'mon, engadgetHD, be serious...
Alex V @ Feb 20th 2008 9:12AM
amen
Vidikron (FU) @ Feb 20th 2008 10:33AM
EXCEPT for the fact that the HD DVD side apparently couldn't hold the HD version of the director's cut. I'm thinking that was more than likely a limitation of the sotrage space rather than a decision by Universal. And that does speak to HD DVD as a format.
Tanamashu @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:28AM
Vidikron, sorry to blow up your nice bubble of self-delusion (looking at your post, your conclusion is purely based on such reliable sources as "Apparently" + "I'm thinking"). The fact is, there are much longer movies on HD DVD which are universally regarded as reference material. For instance, Zodiac, which runs almost 30 minutes longer than American Gangster and is considered one of the most awesome editions on HD so far. And *that* speaks for HD DVD as a format.