Batman Begins
December 2006 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: HD DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

This movie delighted Batman fans all over the world. The camp series is gone, which had included Michael Keaton, George Clooney, and Val Kilmer each as the Dark Knight, and in its place is a darker, more dramatic view of everyone’s favorite superhero. The Batman of this movie is a serious hero on the side of the oppressed and endangered citizens of Gotham. To relieve the tension there are a few one-liners here and there, but they are never uttered by Batman. Batman is serious to the core in his dedication to fighting crime and dealing with his own fears.

The movie tells how Batman came to be. Bats attack the young Bruce Wayne, stranded in an abandoned well. Later, at a performance of Boito’s opera Mefistofele, he becomes frightened and begs to leave. His parents take him out a back door and into an alley where they are gunned down. Bruce grows up, joins criminal gangs to learn their mindset, trains in martial arts, and comes back to Gotham as billionaire Bruce Wayne -- and Batman when needed.

But that you already know. What you want to know is how the HD DVD is. In a word, magnificent. The source material is pristine, and the picture is incredibly sharp. All the details of the batmobile, bat cave, and batman armor glisten. The intricate, often-cluttered design of Gotham City is clean and clear. The smallest nuance in facial expression is clearly conveyed. Though the movie is dark overall, the colors are rich and the contrast so well done that characters are in the shadows, not lost in them. I have been fortunate to see some excellent HD DVDs in the past three months, but this one sets a whole new standard.

Likewise the Dolby Digital TrueHD sound. The Dolby Digital Plus tracks are quite good, but the TrueHD sound is perfection. I have never, ever heard a soundtrack design that is as good as this one, or as faithfully realized on disc. I saw Batman Begins in a Dolby-equipped theater, but it was merely Dolby Digital and had nowhere near the natural quality found on this disc. The big moments make a lot of noise, but it is focused loudness with nuance. You can hear small details inside the din, and you can choose to concentrate on one particular set of sounds and follow them through a melee. There is a huge soundstage. And it is not all loud; frequency range is amazing. The sound goes from ppp to fff, but nothing, absolutely nothing, is lost. The music sounds as good in this lossless sound as it would on the best SACD recording. Moreover, the balance with Foley effects is perfect. In the theater I was disturbed by the music and felt that it was fighting the sound effects. On this HD DVD, everything is ideally integrated.

There is an HD DVD trailer and another of those special "HD Movie Experience" features. Flip it on and various picture-within-picture boxes will appear while you watch the film with information that enhances the experience. In addition to these, there’s a slew of SD extras. If you could buy only one HD DVD to go with a new player, this is the one! It redefines and updates "state of the art" and sets a totally new standard, one that might be hard to reach again.

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