'300' Conquers High-Def Awards

[diabolo]

'300' Conquers High-Def Awards
Posted: December 5, 2007



Warner Home Video’s hit film 300 dominated the first ever High-Def Disc Awards, taking High-Def Title of the Year and Best Bonus Feature honors.

But in an outcome that underscored the bruising format war between the two rival high-definition optical discs, the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD versions of 300picked up one honor apiece.

The High-Def Disc Awards dinner was part of High-Def 2.0, a one-day conference held Dec. 4 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Calif. High-Def 2.0 was presented by Home Media Magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and the Entertainment Merchants Association.

A panel of critics and bloggers determined the best titles in 11 categories, with eligibility dating back to the inception of each high-def format — HD DVD in April 2006 and Blu-ray Disc in June 2006.

Not only was 300 the only multiple award winner, but it also was the only winner released on both high-def formats. Specifically, the 300 Blu-ray earned title of the year, while the HD DVD version won the bonus feature award for a function that allows a blue-screen version of the film to run simultaneously with the feature, allowing fans to compare the two and see the extent of the special-effects work done on the film to depict an ancient battle between Spartans and Persians.

Each format also was awarded a live-action title of the year: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s James Bond epic Casino Royale won for Blu-ray and Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s cop comedy Hot Fuzz won for HD DVD.

Sony Picture’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind was named best multidisc set. The definitive collection uses seamless branching to store three different versions of Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi film on a single disc, allowing viewers to compare them.

High-Def Award Winners:

High Def Title of the Year: 300 (Blu-ray), Warner Home Video

Best Live-Action Blu-ray: Casino Royale, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Best Live-Action HD DVD: Hot Fuzz, Universal Studios Home Entertainment Best Animated: Ratatouille (Blu-ray), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Best Picture Quality: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Blu-ray), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Best Audio Quality: Transformers (HD DVD), Paramount Home Entertainment

Best Bonus Feature: 300 (HD DVD), Bluescreen Picture-in-Picture, Warner Home Video

Most Innovative Use of New Technology: HD DVD U-Shop feature (Internet purchase ability), Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Best Long-Form Music Video: Dave Mathews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall (Blu-ray), Sony BMG

Best Catalog: Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Best Collection/Multidisc Set: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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[HiDeFJunKie]

............

So much for the alleged superiority of lossless audio.

[kururo]

So much for the alleged superiority of lossless audio.

so if this title was on blu-ray and had lossless audio(it has the disc capacity) it wouldn't win this award?

[marine92104]

Wow. For all the supporters of lossless audio I'm sure this is a surprise.

It has to be a shock for people that say DD+ doesn't come close to lossless soundtracks that "Transformers" won the soundtrack of the year.

You have to hear the soundtrack to understand why it won the best soundtrack of the year. It was totally awesome.

I'm surprised "Planet Earth" didn't win any awards for picture. The picture is amazing.

[HiDeFJunKie]

so if this title was on blu-ray and had lossless audio(it has the disc capacity) it wouldn't win this award?

Hard to say. But why didn't the many BD movies with lossless audio that smurfs like to brag about win this award?

[kururo]

Hard to say. But why didn't the many BD movies with lossless audio that smurfs like to brag about win this award?

Cause this movie has great a great audio track? would probably be better if it was lossless sound but we'll never know for sure now will we?

[marine92104]

Cause this movie has great a great audio track? would probably be better if it was lossless sound but we'll never know for sure now will we?

You have to hear it before you say it isn't that great because it isn't lossless.

I can't imagine a Dolby TrueHD track or a PCM track sounding any better.

Also picture quality wise it was amazing.

[stevo4]

Cause this movie has great a great audio track? would probably be better if it was lossless sound but we'll never know for sure now will we?

And if it was, I'm sure that smurf's would say the lossless track was better, because they are experts on how explosions should sound.

[kururo]

You have to hear it before you say it isn't that great because it isn't lossless.

I can't imagine a Dolby TrueHD track or a PCM track sounding any better.

Also picture quality wise it was amazing.

i didnt say it wasn't great. it was great, i watched it on hd-dvd :P. you also can't say it wouldnt have sounded better with lossless audio.

[marine92104]

i didnt say it wasn't great. it was great, i watched it on hd-dvd :P. you also can't say it wouldnt have sounded better with lossless audio.

You also can't say it wouldn't have. No one knows for sure. I will say with a HD DVD & Blu-ray bitstreaming player that it amazed me with the picture & soundtrack. I can't imagine it sounding better with a lossless soundtrack.

And believe me I've heard alot of them.

I wish "Planet Earth" for either format would have won best video award. It truly is demo material.

[Woody]

so if this title was on blu-ray and had lossless audio(it has the disc capacity) it wouldn't win this award?

LOL

+1 excellent post.

[Crackbone]

Despite all of the format war discussion, I think this is a good thread to sit back and reflect.

While we are all very passionate about our format of choice, the truth is many of us are just fans of HDM.

I hope that all of this bloody nonsense is over soon so we can just sit back and enjoy a movie.

Here's to hoping that these corporate asshats will get their acts together and figure out the best way to end all of the idiocy of the last year. It's doubtful, but it's my hope as a Home Theater enthusiast.

[simonnyc]

How did the blu version of 300 win 'Title of the Year' over the HD version? Are sales taken into consideration when voting? Or is the voting based strictly on the quality/features of each individual title?

[Voodoo_Papa]

Cause this movie has great a great audio track? would probably be better if it was lossless sound but we'll never know for sure now will we?

the award wasnt given for having a "great audio track". The award clearly states "Best Audio QUALITY".

sort of wondering why ratatouille didnt get best picture quality? Is pirates really that much better as far as picture goes?

[ScoBro828]

I am surprised that no one mentioned 7 of the 11 awards for High Def achievement went to BluRay. I thought that would have been an early response from some.