The Cost of Happiness

I've been giving demonstrations using, so far, the only three HD DVDs I own (The Searchers, Mad Max 2 and La Haine) but the difference between watching a standard DVD on a 37" Widescreen TV designed for 1080p output and a HD DVD is enormous. The image is so alive in terms of detail that what initially seemed beautifully rendered by its predecessor now pales in comparison; imagine if practically every film could not only have "the Criterion treatment" but go that much further and surpass to the point where I very nearly lose track of my senses and want to buy films I have no time for (I haven't, luckily).

That moment toward the beginning of John Ford's The Searchers (1956) where we move from darkness into light by means of a door opening, revealing, quite overwhelmingly, the weight of the Grand Canyon's presence; vast open spaces obstructed by towers of natural rock forms, harsh and impenetrable by design and whose existence is juxtaposed by the surrounding wasteland, awash in infinite golden sunlight. A form of beauty and the beast but whose visual serenity harbours no remorse or sympathy for those who tread its path. During this sequence (and throughout the film), Ford uses landscape as a means for us to understand the conflicting nature of human psychology and he does so by using deep focus so that his characters (and us) are constantly reminded of their bitter, beautiful companion. Short of a remastered 35mm print, the HD DVD/Blu Ray captures this feeling as I've never seen before, no longer do the textures of Monument Valley seem "blurred" or lacking true definition, finally; it's now able to breathe through its almost three-dimensional representation.

A few other interesting things about the next generation's properties (that I'm sure you can find all over the net):

- HD DVD is *completely* region-free (its rival, Blu Ray, has 3 regions as opposed to current standard DVD's 6 zones).
- HD DVD/Blu Ray no longer present problems with regard to issues of PAL/NTSC because they utilise film's standard of 24fps (which, Studio Canal aside means that "pitching" errors present on PAL discs shouldn't occur as the length of the film is now universal as opposed to a 4% speedup currently employed on PAL discs).
- HD DVD/Blu Ray is backward compatible with standard DVDs and does this neat thing called "upscaling" which actually increases the resolution slightly (I've definitely noticed a difference). The only pitfall at the moment is that the players on either camp aren't SD-DVD regionless so you're best off using your old players for playback in that respect.

Currently on order: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Big Lebowski, The Wild Bunch, Total Recall and Out of Sight.
I also got to choose 5 free titles from 13 options and these should arrive in the next two weeks: Children of Men, Serenity, Black Rain, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and The Prestige (options were, er, yeah).