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Just when you thought home entertainment technology couldn't get any better, more entertaining, or more thrilling, along comes an item that rejuvenates your faith in the creative power of mankind.

In what is sure to be a big boost for the HD DVD format, Microsoft and Toshiba announced on Monday that they have formed a partnership to co-develop HD DVD players among other joint activities. Now that unification talks with the Blu-ray camp seem to have completely stalled, this sets the stage for a rip-roaring battle royale with Sony, Apple Computer, and the other Blu-ray supporters.

Americans tend to prefer quantity over quality. Given the opportunity, we build McMansions. We drive Hummers. We wash down our Whoppers with Big Gulps. And we always buy the biggest AV receiver we can, because you can't be too rich, too thin, or have too many watts. More is <I>better</I>.

Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 3
Director John Moore had a lot going for him when he helmed this 2004 remake of the 1965 original. He used CGI and other effects barely dreamed of 40 years ago to create the harrowing plane crash that sets the plot in motion. Can the survivors escape the desert that threatens to kill them? Moore also effectively filmed his African location using aerial photography and wide-angle lenses to portray its vastness, eliminating much of the original film's stage-play feel. What Moore didn't have, though, were actors like Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, and the rest of the original cast. The new players are good (Giovanni Ribisi is a stand-out), but they tend to lean on the special effects to create the suspense and drama that the original actors could muster alone.