Colin’s Film Journal

I’m starting a new project for DVDTimes - I am going to build ‘The Ultimate Home Cinema PC’ using top of the range components and will take you through all of the steps needed to build a system capable of running anything you wish to throw at it. There will be no limitations on format - DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD will all be compatible and regions won’t be a restriction.

I’ll cover the hardware, software and configuration of the system and to top it all, the finished PC will be given away in a competition on DVD Times. The total retail cost is expected to be nearly £1,000.

In the run up to the article I will also update my

FilmJournal with my progress. This is an exciting project, both in terms of scope and the ability to play all formats and I hope you all find it useful.

The First Component

The first component is here - the stunning Shuttle SG33G5M. This gorgeous piece of hardware specifically designed for media centre use - it comes with every connection you need, supports all of the hardware and software we will be using and even ships with a remote control.

No surprises here!

To top it all, Universal have dropped all of their prices too so the end of HD DVD is really only months away now…

Toshiba have now confirmed they are ceasing all HD DVD production.

Reports are starting to come in that Toshiba have announced they are suspending all HD DVD hardware production. Japanese news channel NHK have run the story today that Toshiba will cease hardware production, but are going to continue selling remaining stocks and supporting the players that are already on the market.

If these rumours prove to be true (and it is looking likely), this will be the end of HD DVD. Toshiba account for almost all HD DVD hardware sales and other than the X-Box 360 HD DVD drive, they are the main hardware driving force in the market. With no new hardware in production, it can only be a matter of days or weeks before we see Universal and Paramount making similar announcements.

Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is a joy to behold. One of the best films of 2007, it was practically ignored on its theatrical release - but the reasons why are hard to grasp. It has a very strong cast - DeNiro, Pfieffer, Danes and a plethora of well known UK comic actors, it is a fantastic feel good fantasy and feels like a modern ‘Princess Bride’. It’s well directed, well acted and very funny, but on both it’s UK and US releases it sunk without a trace… It does seem that a modern fantasy that’s not filmed in New Zealand is doomed to fail from the start. A real shame.

Tristan (Charlie Cox) is so determined to take Victoria’s (Sienna Miller) hand in marriage that when they see a falling star he promises her that he will find it and bring it to her within a week. However, the fallen star turns out to be a beautiful woman named Yvaite (Claire Danes) and during their journey back to the village of Wall, Tristan finds himself falling in love with her. Unfortunately, Tristan isn’t the only person seeking Yvaite; the heart of a fallen star can give the person who takes it eternal life and three witch sisters led by Lamia (Michelle Pfieffer) are determined to do whatever it takes to capture and kill her; she also also hunted by some princes who must retrieve the ruby Yvaite holds to determine which of them will become king…

With perfect casting, a touching screenplay, sypathetic direction and a wonderful story, Stardust certainly ticks all of the boxes. Shot mostly in the UK and Iceland, it makes use of the best that these countries can offer with some truly stunning scenery that offers just as much as any New Zealand backdrop. The biggest surprise is just how adept the director, Matthew Vaughn, is with the fantasy genre - it is a far cry from his usual work, but he seems to be able to hold his own.

The US HD DVD is a nice all-round package with excellent picture and sound quality, backed up by a decent making-of, outtakes, deleted scenes and theatrical trailer. It’s not a package that will set the world alight, but offers enough to justify a purchase.

Stardust HD DVD is available on Amazon.com for $19.99 at the time of writing, that’s around £10 at current exchange rates. The standard definition DVD is available for $17.99.

Film: 9/10, HD DVD: 7/10

Toshiba UK are refusing to comment on rumours that their support of HD DVD is coming to an end. Recent industry reports and speculation, and rumours that Toshiba are developing a Blu-Ray player have cast significant doubt on the future of HD DVD, and Toshiba’s reluctance to make any statement to refute these rumours is damning. I predict that the coming days and weeks will see some significant changes to the HD playing field - this is happening far more quickly than anyone (including myself) had predicted.

Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products says, “Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings”. This is as non-commital as we’ve come to expect from the company and does nothing to quell rumours and continues a trend of an obvious lack of confidence and support that has plagued the format since its inception. This is most obvious from the total lack of good marketing allowing Blu-Ray to surge into the lead despite the advantages HD DVD had to offer the consumer.

I would no longer be surprised if Toshiba, Universal and Paramount all throw their weight behind the dominant format within the next few months…

Today I heard a rumour that Toshiba may be looking to release their own Blu-Ray players this year. Even more surprising is the suggestion that they have actually been working on two machines for a while, with a September release in mind. Sources are suggesting that this release schedule has been brought forward with a July date now more likely due to the shifts in allegiances in the HD marketplace.

Toshiba, along with Universal, are the two biggest proponents of the HD DVD format. If either one of them shows any sign of switching to the rival Blu-Ray, that will almost certainly be the final nail in the coffin. We’ve heard suggestions that Universal’s exclusivity agreement has come to an end, but that has been flatly denied so far and now rumours of Toshiba moving some eggs out of the HD DVD basket are very interesting indeed.

Even if these are just rumours, they are now out there. With both sides grasping at anything to boost their chosen format’s reputation, any rumour could be enough to prevent take up of either one of the formats. Denials often just give the company involved the chance to make announcements in their own time. HD DVD’s days are numbered, and the quieter the HD DVD camp are, the more speculation there will be that one or more of the big supporters is looking to break away.

The big question isn’t whether Toshiba will release a Blu-Ray player, but when? and what other formats will it support? Could they be looking to boost HD DVDs chances by producing a dual-format player?

The press has been awash with stories on the current format war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray. These new formats should be taking us into the next decade with style - HD is the new big thing, from TV channels to gaming and even mobile phones, the HD buzzword is selling hardware like hotcakes, but with HD DVD and Blu-Ray the story is somewhat different. Even the early adopters are being more cautious than usual.

Why is this?

Well - throughout the press all we’re seeing are each ‘camp’ taking pot-shots at each other, scoring cheap points (Blu-Ray outsells HD DVD one week and vice versa, the PS3 is selling poorly, Blockbuster drop HD DVD in most of their US stores) while consumers keep their distance waiting for that day that one or the other capitulates. Unfortunately, by the time that happens, disc-based formats will be old news and neither HD DVD or Blu-Ray will have made it big.

The only chance either format has is if they both survive and feed off each other’s publicity. Dual-format players have to be the way forward - no sensible member of the public is going to buy two expensive pieces of hardware to clutter up their already crowded living rooms. Warner are going to trial their Blu-Ray/HD DVD hybrid discs, but these shouldn’t be needed and offer more drawbacks than benefits - they’ll have no disc art and will be far more fragile. The format war should NEVER happened - it’s all well and good having studios pick their preferred format based on technical needs and costs, but the end user shouldn’t have to do the same.

The move to HD is confusing enough with different resolutions and connectivity standards without that off-putting need to decide which films you don’t want to be able to buy. You see, that’s the problem - consumers are going to realise that whichever format they choose, they won’t be able to buy everything they want, so why should they bother if that old DVD format that everyone owns offer them everything they need.

HD as a whole needs to offer consumers more, not less. HD releases of new films should come out either before or day and date with DVD from the start, they should offer more content to justify all of this hot air about storage capacities and there should be wide-spread promotion as a whole.

The studios should choose whether a particular film should be released on Blu-Ray (if it needs more space) or HD DVD (if it doesn’t), and all customers should need to do is pick up the film they want in their local Asda and come home and play it regardless of which hardware they’ve bought.

All of this confusion is forcing HD DVD and Blu-Ray into a niche and unless there’s an urgent rethink in the next few months, by this time next year we’ll be using our broadband connections to download the latest HD films to our PCs directly from the studio servers. It’s going to be a struggle for either format to become anything more than the new ‘Laserdisc’ and it’ll be impossible if this pathetic ‘war’ continues for much longer.

JJ Abrams’ jump from the small screen is a big one. His TV roots were formed with the hit series Alias and Felicity and for his cinematic debut, Paramount have given him a huge budget and one of Hollywoods biggest (and loopy) stars, Tom Cruise. Not only that, they’ve given him one of their bigger franchises to tinker with in Mission Impossible III.

Thankfully, Abrams was up to the job and his third entry in the MI franchise brings the series back on course following John Woo’s misfire second outing. Fans of Alias, will find the story structure familiar - the pre-credits sequence see’s our hero in deep trouble, his new wife has a gun pointed at her head and she’s about to die if he doesn’t tell her would-be murderer where the Rabbit’s Foot is; unfortunately Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is as clueless as the rest of us and as the trigger is pulled we jump to the credits sequence. It’s a tense opening and sets the tone for the rest of the film. We then quickly jump back to the beginning of the story and Ethan and Julie (Michelle Monaghan) are throwing their engagement party…

Despite the variation in the styles with the films in the series, we kind-of know what to expect; but the story isn’t too predictable. There are some stunning set pieces, one in particular see’s Cruise and his team get ambushed when returning home from a successful mission to the Vatican. While Abrams’ direction does vere into Michael Bay territory, it remains coherent despite being frenzied.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Cruise’ nemesis, Owen Davian, in this installment and while I for one don’t expect him to be in such a role, he aquits himself well and is convincing as a ruthless killer. Fans of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead will recognise Simon Pegg as the quirky IMF tech guy.

The Paramount HD DVD offers a great picture quality with no sign of any artefacting or edge-enhancement. I’d put the transfer almost on a par with that of Serenity and the set pieces in particular show wonderful definition and perfect colour balance. The soundtrack is suitable bombastic and is hugely active with gun shots and explosions making the full use of the available sound stage. There is a second disc of extras but I’ve yet to watch these.

Film: 8/10

HD DVD: 8/10

A brief update today having just finished watching the US HD DVD release of Superman Returns; something I’ve been putting off due to poor reviews dampening my interest. However, despite the negativity, I thought it was pretty good - and a good sequel to the first two films. All of the main cast have come in for criticism in the reviews I’ve read - each review seems to pick on a different cast member. Again, I wasn’t too disappointed with Routh, Spacey, Marsden or even Bosworth (granted she’s a bit young to play the role, but hey, her performance was good enough for me).

The HD DVD was excellent with a pin sharp picture quality and a wonderfully enveloping soundtrack. I did have a couple of stutters when playing back on 360 HD DVD drive which is the first time I’ve seen a problem on the new format, but it wasn’t a mastering issue and is more likely down to dust or dirt on the disc.

There are loads of extras too. I haven’t watched any of them yet, but there’s a reasonably lengthy making-of and also a big pile of deleted scenes.

Film: 8/10 HD DVD: 8/10