'Posiedon' - High-Def Digest Review

[jed]

A five star audio rating, and a four and-a-half star video rating highlight Peter's review of the new 'Poseidon' HD DVD. Sounds like we've got another near-reference quality disc...

Full review:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/poseidon.html

[Ramenator]

I almost bought this last night, but decided I'd wait to read a review. I think I may get it now. It appears like the movie will look and sound great, and I am easily amused by cheesy adventure ride type flicks.

I am curious about the IME as (since I bought Batman) this has become my favorite type of extra feature. It sounds like this one has an interesting IME, but I wonder what it takes to get a good grade for HD exclusives in these reviews. Is Peter just leaving a lot of room to improve in the future? Reading the description (a "true highlight," "this kind of stuff is tailor-made for IME," "the pacing is great," "one of the most enjoyable such features,") it sounded like the 98 minutes of IME ranks up there with the more entertaining and informative examples released so far, but that is not worth more than 1 star (assuming the movie had already earned 1/2 for the standard warner menu features?)

[tranzparentl]

I watched the preview and the whole way through I couldn't help but keep thinking..... I've already seen this movie and it was called Titanic.

[chooch]

I rented the Poseidon HD-DVD last night and with the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack playing my L & R front speakers made some popping sounds at the 47:26 spot and a couple other times within 30 seconds of that mark on the disc. And it also occurred on a few others spots in the movie, but none more significant. I played back the scenes with the 5.1 DD+ and there was no popping. While I don't have an elaborate HT system, Marantz SR-5300, Athena AS-F2 fronts and other Athena speakers to finish off the 6.1 system, I have listened to other Dolby TrueHD soundtracks, like Superman Returns and Phantom of the Opera and have never heard this before. And the volume on my receiver was much lower than my normal listening level. I have the Xbox 360 with the external HD-DVD drive as my player. I am curious if it is my speakers, or the 360 HD-DVD drive. And after reading Mr. Bracke's review I am assuming he used his stand alone player nad not the 360 drive. So if anyone has the 360 drive and watches this HD-DVD can you post it here and see if you had a similar problem or if it is just me.

Thanks

[valmont74]

Originally Posted by chooch

I rented the Poseidon HD-DVD last night and with the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack playing my L & R front speakers made some popping sounds at the 47:26 spot and a couple other times within 30 seconds of that mark on the disc. And it also occurred on a few others spots in the movie, but none more significant. I played back the scenes with the 5.1 DD+ and there was no popping. While I don't have an elaborate HT system, Marantz SR-5300, Athena AS-F2 fronts and other Athena speakers to finish off the 6.1 system, I have listened to other Dolby TrueHD soundtracks, like Superman Returns and Phantom of the Opera and have never heard this before. And the volume on my receiver was much lower than my normal listening level. I have the Xbox 360 with the external HD-DVD drive as my player. I am curious if it is my speakers, or the 360 HD-DVD drive. And after reading Mr. Bracke's review I am assuming he used his stand alone player nad not the 360 drive. So if anyone has the 360 drive and watches this HD-DVD can you post it here and see if you had a similar problem or if it is just me.

Thanks

I have the same problem!

Exactly the same symptoms, popping sounds on several occasions on the TrueHD track, but not the DD+. I also use an Xbox 360 external HD-DVD drive and have played several other TrueHD tracks without problem.

I got the disc about one week ago from DVD Pacific but was holding out for a review to see if it was mentioned or if a recall from Warner was in the loops, but nothing. So "Thank God" I found this post confirming I was not the only one...

[chooch]

Originally Posted by valmont74

I have the same problem!

Exactly the same symptoms, popping sounds on several occasions on the TrueHD track, but not the DD+. I also use an Xbox 360 external HD-DVD drive and have played several other TrueHD tracks without problem.

I got the disc about one week ago from DVD Pacific but was holding out for a review to see if it was mentioned or if a recall from Warner was in the loops, but nothing. So "Thank God" I found this post confirming I was not the only one...

Thanks Valmont. I am glad that I am not the only one.

[madFloyd]

I got the disc a month or so ago (yes, it did come out early) and thought it was a totally soft, lackluster transfer. I played it for guests over the holidays and they were very surprised that it was actually HD.

Either they totally redid the transfer (possible since they delayed official release by a whole month) or it doesn't take much to impress people nowadays.

[dkny75]

Originally Posted by madFloyd

I got the disc a month or so ago (yes, it did come out early) and thought it was a totally soft, lackluster transfer. I played it for guests over the holidays and they were very surprised that it was actually HD.

Either they totally redid the transfer (possible since they delayed official release by a whole month) or it doesn't take much to impress people nowadays.

I haven't seen it yet but from the disparity in opinions I think it may have to do with each individual set-up.

[Mal Reynolds]

I sat on the fence with this release, but from the review I might blow the $20... what the heck!

[cordillius]

Because of the review on this site I put in an order for this movie yesterday.

[irascian]

Originally Posted by dkny75

I haven't seen it yet but from the disparity in opinions I think it may have to do with each individual set-up.

I'm not sure how individual set-ups would affect comparative reviews of different HD-DVDs. If an HD-DVD like "King kong" looks so sharp and colourful it's like 3D, why would "Poseidon" on the same set-up look slightly soft and as if it had a "filmic" sheen all over it?

One of the more worrying things about reviews is the disparity when it comes to picture quality ratings. Too often reviews seem to automatically think that because an HD-DVD is better than an SD (well, duh!) that should automatically mean a high picture rating. And then there's the completely contrasting opinions. I still don't know if "Superman Returns" is one of the weakest discs in terms of picture quality or one of the best reference disks becuase of the completely contradictory reviews. Then there's "Batman Returns" - high marks all over the place, but in the latest "Home Cinema Choice" (who, being primarily hardware testing focussed SHOULD know a thing or two about picture quality) it gets the lowest mark of all the HD-DVD reviews (six out of 10).

I know we can have different opinions on enjoyment factor, quality of acting, script etc, but it's surprising to see so much diversity on something as basic as picture quality.

[valmont74]

Still no word if the popping sound on the TrueHD track has affected someone not using a external Xbox 360 HD-DVD?

Considering the amount of sold drives and that this is a major blockbuster, at least a few more should have noticed this problem.

[Glenmulder]

No popping sound on the Toshiba A1

[valmont74]

Originally Posted by Glenmulder

No popping sound on the Toshiba A1

Okay, I figure you tested the TrueHD track on the A1 and did not get these popping sounds, so it sounds to me like this flaw on that specific disc has something to do with the external Xbox 360 drive and not the disc itself.

Any word from Warner or Microsoft regarding this??


And are there any other users with Xbox 360 who has noticed similar popping sounds on other HD-DVD titles than Poseidon?

[BuyHDOnline]

No popping sound on the Toshiba A2