First bout in the HD DVD tournament:Man vs. Baby. (This is a fair fight, so all ratings are relative to other HD discs, not to standard-definition DVDs.)
The story of Cinderella Man (Universal; Movie ••½, Picture/Sound •••) delivers a one-two punch: The Depression was, well, depressing, and in a fight it's probably better to win.
First skirmish in the Blu-ray Conflict: martial arts vs. illegal arms. (As with the HD DVD roundup in our previous issue, this is a fair fight, so all ratings are relative to other high-definition discs, not to standard-definition DVDs. All discs were screened using an unmodified Samsung BD-P1000 player.)
Stealth (Sony; Movie •••, Blu-ray Picture/Sound •••½, Extras: None). The opening aerial assault is also an audio assault: I was so overwhelmed by the dramatic orchestral score, rocket whooshings, and booming explosions all around me that I wasn't even aware of the high-def visuals.
It combines elements of The Prisoner, The Twilight Zone, and Forbidden Planet with the philosophy of It's a Wonderful Life - that we're all intrinsically intertwined, affecting each other in ways we'll never know. And it continues to chart new TV territory in an extremely addictive way, taking the mystery in unpredictable directions.
When he first landed in the U.S. in 1961, British agent John Drake went mostly unnoticed. But when this Danger Man reappeared 4 years later - with a new name, a new theme song, and a visa extended from 30 minutes to an hour - he made quite a stir.
This is the first Disney HD title I've viewed, and sadly it wasn't a particularly auspicious launch. On standard-definition DVD Eight Below seemed fine, but with the higher resolution of Blu-ray, there just doesn't seem to be enough detail.
