'Pearl Harbor' -- High-Def Digest review

[PeterB]

Okay, we know the movie sucks:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/pearlharbor.html

But the transfer is good and the soundtrack fantastic. Even the extras ain't that pithy. Plus, it is a BD-50, so nice to see another one of those...

[Chris]

With 50GB and MPEG2 Im surprised that the PQ isnt more impressive

Hardly any extras and 50GB; this could have been a reference BD-title for the format. Why cant BD deliver PQ like HDDVD King Kong?

[dobyblue]

It does, but not in the eyes of every reviewer.

And the results are really quite good, however I'm deducting a full star off the video rating for a couple of quality caveats I found distracting.

Sounds a little different from Hulk's "fuck it, I will give it five stars"
Odd that a 3.5/5 Blu-ray can be considered "for fans only"

[hmurchison]

I'm sure the fans of cloying sappy quasi docudrama won't mind.

[illegalprelude]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

I'm sure the fans of cloying sappy quasi docudrama won't mind.

so in english, we would restate how?

[BBHTGuy]

I have been reading hi def digest since the beginning of the format war, and I have noticed a few trends that I just have to get off my chest.



One, I think the reviews have become more of a showcase for Peter's particular dislike of the movie. In the case of Pearl Harbor, he spent more than two-thirds of the review trashing the movie. Honestly, I do not really care what you think of the movie, all due respect. I think movie reviews are so subjective that it's insane, and I wish we got a little bit less of your take on the film and more on what I read your reviews for: I want to know about the quality of the disc, as an HD movie experience.

For example, while I agree that Tears of the Sun is an average film, I think as an HD movie experience it is in the top tier on either format. The audio and video are insane! I wish we got more in-depth reviews of the discs.

I want to know what scenes this chroma noise pops up in Pearl Harbor. I want to know which scenes made your furniture the move because the .1 effects were blasting. I like Bay and Cameron, but I got your point: you do not care for Bay or the film.

Second, on a different note, I'd like to know why it seems that more HD-DVDs are reviewed than BD's. Alot of HD-DVD's get day and date review treatment (where is the Rocky review??!?), and us BD guys need some love, too.

I agree with the earlier poster, your Hulk review was quite lofty, and to be honest, I'm a little shocked. I popped Hulk into our demo pod at my Best Buy, and I agree, the quality is superb. But I don't think it is better than say, Kingdom of Heaven or Underworld or Constantine or The Searchers or King Kong or....

You get the idea.

I'm not accusing anyone of bias, because I love the site, I just want the site I love to be better and continue to grow.

Thanks for the good work, Peter.

[hmurchison]

If you like sugary and melodramtic movies please come see Pear Harbor. We promise not to bore you with facts and details and there will be no blood. Everyone will just have a few nasty scratches.

[BBHTGuy]

but you have not considered something very important:

romantic dramas/comedies attract customers like my wife, who placed the Pearl Harbor Blu Ray on her Christmas list.



Now if that ain't just dad gum cool, I don't know what it is!

[sticks]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

If you like sugary and melodramtic movies please come see Pear Harbor. We promise not to bore you with facts and details and there will be no blood. Everyone will just have a few nasty scratches.

I picked up Pearl Harbour at noon and it was the last one they had (guy told me he put out 8 at opening this morning) , so somebody likes it eh.

[Chris]

Oh boy. Is it about the reviewer bashing your favourite movie now? Some like it others dont. That is not the importanse of this review.

For the last 5 months or so I have heard Sony and BD fans talk of how much of an advantage 50GB have over HDDVDs 30GB. I have the last spesial ed of Pearl Harbour on DVD and it has always been a referance movie at home theater shows. It should not come as a surprise if everybody expected Pearl Harb to be reference disc on bluray!?

With all the hype about how good the MPEG2 keeps true to the original master and how 50GB outclass HD DVD; no wonder it comes as a surprise that this BD-disk didnt get the five stars

What more does Bluray have to offer that HD DVD do not????

100 BDs and 118 HDDVDs has been reviewed as far as my count is correct. Remember, HDDVDs are open for everyone with a HDDVD player. Bluray is regioncode and mainly US. Fair that HDDVDs have had more reviews IMO.

[Chris]

One thing I do not like is when the reviewer critisize how the filmmaker wanted a certain look. The reviewer can comment on it but he cannot give negative review if the reviewer doesnt like it. Is the HD transfer true to the master, what more can you ask

[krammer]

Originally Posted by Chris

One thing I do not like is when the reviewer critisize how the filmmaker wanted a certain look. The reviewer can comment on it but he cannot give negative review if the reviewer doesnt like it. Is the HD transfer true to the master, what more can you ask

We can ask John Lowry if he can make the film better.


err.. mean video transfer.

[BBHTGuy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Oh boy. Is it about the reviewer bashing your favourite movie now? Some like it others dont. That is not the importanse of this review.

For the last 5 months or so I have heard Sony and BD fans talk of how much of an advantage 50GB have over HDDVDs 30GB. I have the last spesial ed of Pearl Harbour on DVD and it has always been a referance movie at home theater shows. It should not come as a surprise if everybody expected Pearl Harb to be reference disc on bluray!?

With all the hype about how good the MPEG2 keeps true to the original master and how 50GB outclass HD DVD; no wonder it comes as a surprise that this BD-disk didnt get the five stars

What more does Bluray have to offer that HD DVD do not????

100 BDs and 118 HDDVDs has been reviewed as far as my count is correct. Remember, HDDVDs are open for everyone with a HDDVD player. Bluray is regioncode and mainly US. Fair that HDDVDs have had more reviews IMO.

if i wanted to have a pointless discussion on why one format was better than the other, i would have posted on the smackdown board.

i wish a mod would reply to this, because i wanted to discuss the merits of Pearl Harbor as a HD disc and I hoped to have a good, solid discussion about its review. instead, i have to navigate the usual "HD-DVD is better" or "BD is better" crap.

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

If you like sugary and melodramtic movies please come see Pear Harbor. We promise not to bore you with facts and details and there will be no blood. Everyone will just have a few nasty scratches.

Well it is a great chick flick, I always bring the tissues as I always know that I'll get the waterworks from my wife when we watch this movie!

I take it for what it is and therefore I'm glad to see it did well audio visually!

[krammer]

Originally Posted by Tejstar

Well it is a great chick flick, I always bring the tissues as I always know that I'll get the waterworks from my wife when we watch this movie!

I take it for what it is and therefore I'm glad to see it did well audio visually!

3 hours of reference LPCM track is probably worth the purchase alone. Them tracks are killer. Havn't been let down by any yet so it good to see Disney following the same suit as Sony titles.

Will def pick up this title if my Sony player arrives by the end of 2009