| Video Roundup January 2008
The Best Videos of 2007
This was a tumultuous year for the DVD format. Overall
sales were noticeably lower than in 2006, and the industry needed to depend on the new
high-definition formats to increase its revenue. But hi-def was split into two camps, HD
DVD and Blu-ray Disc, which inspired many people to put off buying any hi-def player until
one or the other format wins.
Despite this, there seemed to be more excellent DVDs
released in 2007 than in any previous year. Special editions were plentiful, the two-disc
set becoming the norm rather than the exception, and video and audio quality were seldom
less than very good. For these reasons, it was even more difficult than usual to pick the
year’s best titles. I haven’t seen every DVD released last year, but I did watch
more than 300 of them. Here are some that have stuck in my mind and that I’d be happy
to see again.
 300 -- a magic number
As far as fantasy action films go, the one I can’t
forget is 300 (Warner Home Video), based on artist Frank Miller’s retelling of
the story of the standoff at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Miller helped preserve the look of
his graphic novel onscreen, and 300 triumphs in all three formats: DVD,
HD DVD, and Blu-ray. Miller’s limited color palette is faithfully reproduced,
and the picture is sharp enough that you can see each bead of sweat and drop of blood. The
soundtrack thunders with lease-breaking bass, yet it’s clean and clear, the dialogue
always intelligible. There’s a good set of extras, too, especially on HD DVD.
The film was shot entirely in front of blue screens, the backgrounds inserted later, and
the HD DVD’s picture-in-picture feature allows the viewer to simultaneously
watch both the blue-screen-only and the finished background shots. Other very good fantasy
films that bear mention are Spider-Man 3 (Sony Home Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray)
and Transformers (DreamWorks-Paramount, DVD, HD DVD).
The science-fiction award goes to Close Encounters of
the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition (Sony Home
Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray). It shows how a special edition should be done, and fully
earns the right to be called "Ultimate." For one thing, it uses branching video
to present all three versions of the film, and even has a special subtitle feature with
which you can see exactly what was added and what was deleted. Awesome.  Also good are the very serious Children
of Men (Universal, DVD, HD DVD) and a remastering of Stanley Kubrick’s
classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (Warner Home Video, DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray).
Blade Runner (Warner Home Video, DVD, HD DVD,
Blu-ray) should probably be listed here too, but the review copies of this
late-December release hadn’t arrived by deadline. I’ve seen a one-minute clip
from the new remastering, and it was the state of the art. On paper, the extras sound
extraordinary. If all four discs of this special edition are like what I saw, it deserves
a place here.
Lights, camera, and -- most of all -- action
The DVD action-adventure film that stood out this year was Live
Free or Die Hard (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray). Once again,
Bruce Willis comes through with a performance that endears him to audiences as he
ruthlessly pounds bad-guy butt. We really root for Willis’s John McClane, knowing
that if he hadn’t been forced by circumstances into being a hero, he’d be the
nice guy next door, grilling a backyard steak on Sunday afternoon. The video transfer on
both DVD and Blu-ray is clean and crisp, with amazing contrast. The blacks are steady,
with plenty of detail in the shadows. The sound is rich and full, and great use is made of
the soundfield’s entire 360 degrees. Other notable action-adventure films on DVD were
Casino Royale (Sony Home Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray), Shooter (Paramount,
DVD, HD DVD), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Walt
Disney Home Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray), and The Bourne Identity (Universal, DVD,
HD DVD).
 With a song in their hearts
Musicals made a big-screen comeback in 2007, so of course
they have on video as well. Hairspray (New Line Home Entertainment, DVD, Blu-ray)
was the knockout winner in a tough field. Director Adam Shankman’s film version of
the Broadway musical, based on director John Waters’ original 1988 film about racial
tension in Baltimore in the 1960s, serves up handsome dance numbers and enough energy to
power a small city. It’s also a delightful tribute to the many teen dance shows that
aired on TV during the period. The two-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets have good extras -- you
can even learn a few dance steps. There’s also a DVD Limited Edition Giftset
that’s packaged in a case that replicates a school locker and contains all sorts of
’60s goodies. All of the transfers have a colorful, razor-sharp picture and
transparent sound with ideal focus and balance. Also worth looking into are Dream Girls
(DreamWorks, DVD, HD DVD) and 20th Century Fox’s remastering (only on DVD) of
the Rodgers and Hammerstein films, especially The King and I.
Animated heights
 Pixar raised the level of computer
animation to a new high with Ratatouille (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, DVD,
Blu-ray), my choice for 2007’s best animated film on DVD. The characters move with
such fluidity and seem so three-dimensional that one feels like writing them fan letters.
Since all Pixar features are originally produced digitally, they’re transferred to
DVD with no intermediate prints and thus no loss of detail. The colors are vivid, and the
soundtrack makes full use of the surround possibilities. Close behind Ratatouille
are Meet the Robinsons and Pixar’s Cars (both Walt Disney Home Video,
DVD, Blu-ray). And I’d be remiss if I didn’t list the Looney Tunes Golden
Collection, Volume 5 (Warner Home Video, DVD). It’s amazing to see such
fluid animation and realize that its creators had no computers at all to work with. The
commentaries on individual cartoons by veteran animators are icing on the cake.
Dramas real and unreal, present and past
The two highest-profile documentaries also turned out to be
the best. It was a tie between Planet Earth (BBC Home Video, DVD, HD DVD,
Blu-ray) and The War (PBS Home Video, DVD). The former, shot entirely in
high-definition, visits unlikely places on our planet, from artic wilderness to ocean
deeps, and finds that every part of the earth supports life of some sort. The stunning
photography, crisply and clearly reproduced on disc, will have you constantly gasping in
awe. The War, Ken Burns’ rhapsodic account of World War II as America
experienced it, is pieced together from archival film, still photographs, and contemporary
interviews. Uncanny editing makes this work better than it should. The producers spent a
year coming up with a soundtrack that at times puts the work of major film studios to
shame.  Other documentaries
we’ve reviewed that received high ratings and are well worth your while are Off to
War (Kino International, DVD), The Bridge (Koch Lorber Films, DVD), The Life
and Times of Allen Ginsberg (New Yorker Video, DVD), and The Up Series
(First Run Video, DVD).
The best recent drama on DVD was La Vie en Rose (HBO
Home Video, DVD), the story of French singer Edith Piaf. The best reissue of the year was
a drop-dead-gorgeous transfer of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (The
Criterion Collection, DVD). Other films along that line that bear investigation include Gary
Cooper: MGM Movie Legends Collection (MGM Home Entertainment, DVD), The
Warriors: Ultimate Director’s Cut (Paramount, DVD, HD DVD), and the new
transfer of To Catch a Thief (Paramount, DVD). The best discovery in independent
film was The Uninvited Guest (El Habitante Incierto) (HBO Home Entertainment, DVD),
with The Other Conquest (La Otra Conquisata) (Starz/Anchor Bay, DVD) a very close
second. Both films prove that you don’t have to have a zillion bucks and a superstar
cast to create good entertainment.
TV on DVD
In 2007, all roads led to Rome, Season 2 (HBO Home
Video, DVD). Boasting production values usually reserved for feature films, Rome
never proved less than mesmerizing, and the widescreen DVD transfers look almost like HD.  The extras virtually constitute a college course
on the topic of ancient Rome. Also worth investigating are Boston Legal: Season 2
(20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, DVD), Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1
(Paramount, DVD/HD DVD combo discs), and Picket Fences (Warner Home Video,
DVD).
The sounds and sights of music
For pop music, I don’t hesitate: The National
Parks’ Timbervision (Les Disques Audiograms, DVD). The three young men who
comprise the group are accomplished musicians and songwriters who ingeniously use natural
sounds in their music, and have sought out the best video and audio for their first
release. Classical music is led by Mozart’s The Magic Flute (BBC Opus Arte,
DVD, HD DVD), reviewed in this issue. Also worthy of note: Poulenc’s Dialogues
des Carmélites (TDK, DVD), Bellini’s Norma (Deutsche Grammophon, DVD),
and four operas by Monteverdi: L’Orfeo, L’Incoronazione di Poppea,
Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, and Il Combattimento di tancredi e
Clorinda (BBC Opus Arte, DVD).
HD DVD and Blu-ray
I pick 300 as the best HD DVD and Ratatouille
as the best Blu-ray. You can make a longer list by choosing the DVDs above that have HD
DVD and/or Blu-ray versions. In general, the hi-def editions have deeper color and much
higher resolution than the SD DVDs, creating more of a three-dimensional feeling.
 The best disc of all .
. .
Ratatouille. On Blu-ray, it has five-star audio and
video transfers that could not be better, plus very interesting and fun extras. The HD
extras are especially good. Sure, the SD DVD isn’t as good as the Blu-ray, but
it’s as good as DVD gets -- put it in a good upconverting player and it looks
terrific.
If you believe the press releases, one day HD DVD is
on top, and the next Blu-ray -- it seems both formats will be around for a while. The
high-definition war may be resolved in 2008, and there’s no doubt that producers of
DVDs have a lot more in store for us. In the meantime, if you’re a serious collector,
you should see the discs discussed in this article. They’ll help you get the most out
of your home theater while providing great entertainment.
That’s it till next year.
...Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
