To (mis)quote the infamous Dennis Green: "It was what we thought it'd be." In other words, Warner Brothers' The Dark Knight truly is as mesmerizing and awesome on Blu-ray as it was in theaters. Some very early (and very thorough) reviews have already hit the 'net days before the film's sure-to-be-monumental release, and we've found nothing but praise across the board. Sure, varying critics had varying levels of appreciation for the plot, but when it comes to visual and auditory quality, the Blu-ray transfer delivers. Utterances of "wow," "stunning," and "spectacle" were peppered throughout each and every review, dashing any fears one may have had that the BD would fall short of the hype. For those who really want to dig deep, we've linked thousands of words below. But truthfully, they all come to the same conclusion: The Dark Knight is a must-own Blu-ray Disc.

Read - Big Picture Big Sound
Read - The HD Room
Read - Rope Of Silicon
Read - Home Cinema Choice
Read - HighDefDigest

Bourne is already a proven winner in high-def, so it's no shock at all to see that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is finally bringing the acclaimed trilogy to Blu-ray. The only real surprise is the release date; rather than squeezing it in before the holiday break, Universal's hoping to grab a small chunk of your grandma money in late January. The three pack, which will obviously include The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, will not only include hours of bonus materials including deleted scenes, interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentaries, but it'll also take advantage of BD-Live. The disc will grant access to the studio's BD-Live Center, where fans can then "download even more bonus content, share their favorite scenes with buddies, and engage in a BD-exclusive strategy game that pits users against each other in hand-to-hand combat simulation." Too bad the MSRP is set at $119.98, but you've got until January 27, 2009 to get enough couch change together.

[Via Blu-ray, thanks Anthony]

It's a momentous occasion, folks. Sony -- the outfit known for boldly sticking to its proprietary guns when perfectly acceptable options are widely available -- is finally showing that it can reach across the aisle to get things done. All politics aside, the January-bound Pineapple Express will include a downloadable version from iTunes. We're told that this is the first time in which a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release has included such a thing, and yes, a traditional digital copy for PCs / PSPs will also be bundled with the DVD / Blu-ray. Which is just about as cool as killing your arch enemy with a Daewoo Lanos.

[Via HomeMediaMagazine, image courtesy of SPHE]

Well over two years ago, Universal hit a home run with its decision to release Serenity on HD DVD. Now, the studio is finally giving Blu-ray aficionados the privilege of buying the film, and it's even tossing in a few nice upgrades to boot. Given that this title would likely sell on Blu even without any extras, we appreciate the touchups. Those who take the plunge will be treated to a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track, a 2.35:1 1080p video transfer, BD-Live support and a whole slew of bonus features that can't all be listed in this space. Make sure you don't spend all of that holiday cash before December 25th, as you'll need $29.98 (MSRP) in order to snatch this one up on December 30th.

It was bound to happen, and while wildly speculating was fun, we can now finally mark our calendars. The appropriately christened "sleeper hit of 2004" is all lined up for a Blu-ray release, and it'll arrive not a moment too soon. The film will be presented in 1080p / AVC MPEG-4 with a lossless 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio track (not to mention French / Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks on the side). There's no date set in stone just yet, but "February" at $34.95 (MSRP) is close enough... gosh!

We already saw that Sound & Vision felt that Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ should be loosed on Blu-ray, and lo and behold, here we have confirmation that it will indeed be going Blu. On February 17th of next year, the film will be released in a "Definitive Edition" that offers up a 2.4:1 1080p video presentation and a 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio track. As predicted, the audio will be in Aramaic for both the theatrical cut and the uncut version. This edition will also include "several new extras not found on the previous DVD edition including a pair of featurettes and four audio commentaries," and the exhaustive list is hosted up in the read link below. Per usual, the MSRP on this one sits at $34.99.

It's not often that we get jazzed enough to leap from our seats about a particular Blu-ray release, but we're brimming with excitement over this one. The 1999 cult classic Boondock Saints will be arriving well before Saint Patty's Day 2009 in high-def, as Fox Home Entertainment has selected January 13th as the launch date for the Blu-ray edition. As for extras, you can look forward to a feature audio commentary by writer / director Troy Duffy, another by Billy Connolly, deleted scenes, outtakes, case and crew filmographies and a printable script. The film itself will be presented in a 1080p / AVC MPEG-4 transfer on a BD-50, and as for audio, it'll have a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track. MSRP is set at $34.95 -- liberating, isn't it?

[Via HighDefDigest, image courtesy of MyFreeWallpapers]

Given that the HD DVD flavor of I Am Legend is still a few weeks off, we figured we'd point the eyes of BD supporters to a couple of Blu-ray reviews for the time being. Both reviews noted that the 1080p encode was nothing short of beautiful, and visually, the film was an absolute treat. Colors, contrast and black levels were all found to be "excellent," and the Dolby TrueHD track was singled out as being particularly fantastic. As for extras, there was enough here to keep the casual fan satisfied, but as with we saw with Michael Clayton, those really, truly interested in getting behind the scenes may be somewhat disappointed. Overall, it sounds like the BD version is certainly worth a glance if you enjoyed it in cinemas, but those hoping to find a world of extras may want to pass on the purchase and get their rental on.

Read - The Man Room's I Am Legend Blu-ray review
Read - HighDefDigest's I Am Legend Blu-ray review
Read - DVDTown's I Am Legend Blu-ray review

We've seen various slates of HD DVD / Blu-ray titles come out today, and heading up the rear of the release lists is none other than Lionsgate. While a Lionsgate film (The Descent) has caused quite a bit of fuss lately, the studio is hoping to create some positive PR noise by announcing that 40 BD titles should be hitting shelves with its name on it during this year, starting with Crank. It also highlighted the Golden Globe-winning TV series Weeds would be making its way to Blu-ray disc, as well as Ultimate Avengers I and II on the animation side. If you're anxious to get a few more Lionsgate productions in your collection, Employee of the Month is landing on January 16th, while the sure-to-be-successful Saw III hits on the 23rd. Overall, Lionsgate's 2007 list is far from spectacular, but it's got a bit of everything mixed in, including one of our personal favorites: Reservoir Dogs on February 6th. Click on through to see the first 21 titles to be released from Lionsgate on Blu-ray disc this year.

A lot of the criticism leveled at early Blu-ray releases cited their use of the MPEG-2 video codec for compression on 25GB single-layer discs. According to Home Theater Spot, a Warner rep confirmed to them that Lethal Weapon, Blazing Saddles and Firewall will all be encoded with the Microsoft codec. Full Metal Jacket however will still ship as MPEG-2. With fixed Samsung BD-P1000 players and properly next-gen encoded titles, perhaps Blu-ray can stand up to HD DVD and show why it is worth the investment. No word on any new extras to take advantage of all that extra space however, we guess we'll just take one order of increased video quality at lower bitrates to go, thank you.


[Via HDBlog]

After being rather unceremoniously dropped with no release date in sight, Paramount's HD DVD lineup is now back on track with the first four movies due July 25th. Those movies will be Sahara, Tomb Raider, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. A week later on August 1, Four Brothers, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate follow, with U2: Rattle and Hum, Aeon Flux and The Italian Job rounding things out on the 10th. No word on any special features for any of the movies yet, although they will all carry an MSRP of $29.95. The only movies included in their High Definition Series yet to get a release date are the Mission: Impossible trilogy, hopefully girding for a day-and-date release with M:i:III later this year. The high-def trailers looked great on Apple.com, Super Bowl commercials and Xbox Live.

It's a little behind the original schedule, but we finally have a third major player in the HD DVD camp. Like their counterparts over at Warner, Paramount has not yet announced a Blu-ray release schedule although they are expected to support both formats.

Syriana, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon have been added to the slate of HD DVD titles scheduled as Blu-ray's debut continues to draw closer. With Samsung's BD-P1000 slated for June 25 and the first Blu-ray titles hitting shelves on the 20th, the high definition DVD format war will soon become a reality. 

Syriana is a day-and-date release with the DVD edition on June 20, carries an SRP of $34.99, and will contain two featurettes exclusive to the HD DVD version. Also released the same day is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the fourth combination HD DVD/DVD disc released and having an SRP of $39.99. Lethal Weapon will follow on June 27 with an SRP of $34.99. The latter two movies will have the same bonus features as the standard-def DVD editions.

Well, Blu-ray is done, which I'd hope it would be, what with them announcing players and content and all. If you're interested in licensing the Blu-ray technology you can get in touch with your local Blu-ray licensing agent and execute the secret handshake licensing agreement.

Also we've got the complete list of player manufacturers, computer software, and launch titles from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment Eagle Rock Entertainment, as well as the Japan only content announced so far.