'Babel' - High-Def Digest Review

[jed]

It may not come out until February 20, but Paramount was nice enough to send us an advance copy of 'Babel' on HD DVD, and Peter's review is now up. Despite some trepidation going in, Peter quite liked the film itself, and gives both the video and audio their props with 4 (out of five) stars apiece. Alas, with a trailer as the only included extra, seems like the studio is prepping this one for a double dip sometime soon, so buyer beware.

Full review here:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/babel.html

[Cochise]

Great! Thanks to Paramount for getting this to you guys so quickly, and thanks to Peter for another very well written review. The only point I would contend in the review is "Pitt and Blanchett -- likely the only names familiar to American audiences". OK, he did say "likely", but hopefully we "American audiences" will get more credit next time. One of the reasons I've been eagerly awaiting this release is because it also stars one of my favorite actors - Gael García Bernal - a Mexican actor who has starred in films including Y tu mamá también, Motorcycle Diaries and Bad Education. And I'm a big fan of the Mexican Director Alejandro Iñárritu, who has also directed the brilliant film Amores Perros (Love is a Bitch) and 21 grams. I'm not usually a big fan of Mexican cinema, but Bernal is an exceptionally talented actor, and they have produced some great films lately.

As I saw Babel in the cinema I wondered how it's almost "documentary style" (which Peter better describes as "grainy, battered, rough-looking" would benefit from HD DVD. Peter's review convinced me it does. The lack of any supplements except for a trailer doesn't bother me nearly as much as the price - $27.95 at Amazon. It's not a combo; I wonder why such the high price? I'm going to wait awhile and see if I find a more "happy price" before deciding to buy or Netflix.

[Blurry]

That's a strong review and it sounds like an interesting film. I was planning on getting it anyways, but this spurs me to put my order in right now.

[eastx]

Cochise, surely you realize you are in the minority as far as knowing who those guys are.

[dandeeswish]

I was going to get this on it's release date, however I am going to wait a bit. I am going to rent the regular DVD and see if it is has much replay value. It sounds great though. Who knows, I might change my mind, guess I'll wait and see.

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by eastx

Cochise, surely you realize you are in the minority as far as knowing who those guys are.

Well, I guess Peter was right, then.

I kinda consider myself as a typical middle-aged, middle-class Anglo American as opposed to the "artsy-fartsy" type. But I supposed I do have an above average appreciation of foreign language films. I've lived overseas quite a bit working in the hotel biz. If you haven't heard of Gael Garcia Bernal you might try renting some of the movies I mentioned.

Looking forward to Babel!

[eastx]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too - if only the reviewer didn't have me scared for a double dip! I'll hold out till the fall and see.

[Dr_Gonzo]

I just recieved my copy of Babel - I guess, that it is not just you guys a Highdef Digest, who got this movie early. Sadly i don't have time to watch it before sometime next week

[thewall]

Also recieved my copy early, not bad considering I am from Europe importing from the US

As everybody probably already knows, this is not something to show of your system with but it is a very good representation of how the movie is supposed to look. That's all I need, nice to see some new and different movies being released.

[Darko]

Has anyone had problems with the subtitles on this film? I finally got around to watching it today, and noticed that sometimes the subtitles flash quickly on screen, so that I can't even read them.

[atouk]

I didn't experience any problems when I watched it last week and I have a Toshiba A1. (I have not upgraded to the latest firmware, for what it's worth.)

[Darko]

I played it through the 360 add on. I wonder if that's the issue?

The funny thing is, it was'nt all the subtitles, just about 20%.

[nickelplayer]

this has got to be the most over-rated movie of all time. it is nowhere as near as good as crash or 21 grams. the japanese sequences had nothing to do with the rest of the movie(except the original owner of the gun was the deaf girls father). a 5 yr old could have written this script.

[irascian]

Originally Posted by nickelplayer

this has got to be the most over-rated movie of all time.

Well to be fair, I'd say more like "the most critically abused movie of all time". Going into the oscars the vast majority of the reviews (at least here in the UK) were negative, calling it "pretentious", "written to formula for the oscars", "deadly dull" etc etc.

Mind you when I read the film critic of "The Guardian" calling it "pretentious" having pontificated ad nauseum about "The Death of Mr Lazarescu", or Mark Kermode calling it "pretentious" when he introduced "Pan's Labyrinth" with the words "This is the Citizen Kane of the fantasy genre" I tend to think I've rarely seen worse examples of the pot calling the kettle black.

I guess it boils down to what you expect going in. I went in with an open mind, found it a bit long, but an otherwise excellent, thought-provoking film. Perhaps more like two or three films for the price of one!

I think the HD-DVD transfer is superb (I saw the film screened at the Odeon Leicester Square at the London Film Festival last year which has a very impressive revamped video/sound set-up, but still thought the HD-DVD transfer was better) but the complete lack of any extra's (other than an advert boasting about the advantages of HD-DVD being that it has more extra's!) very poor. Well worth a purchase in my view.

[mulderscully]

Originally Posted by Darko

Has anyone had problems with the subtitles on this film? I finally got around to watching it today, and noticed that sometimes the subtitles flash quickly on screen, so that I can't even read them.

I had problems with the subtitles too--but only about 20%, like was said earlier. It was kinda frustrating. Some of them would flash quickly on the screen--with no time to read them. I rationalized it by thinking that it made the viewer part of the experience--we didn't know what they were saying some of the time, we too, had problems communicating (I had to rationalize it this way or I would have turned it off in frustration).
I watched it on my 360 HD drive--wonder if that had anything to do with it?