Article: Fox Rushes X3 DVD For PS3 Blu Ray

[the a1ant]

For those who care I aint spending $499 for a PS3, nor am I getting a Blu Ray DVD player. The blu ray version of X3 doesn't have any extra content, besides one extra feature supposedly. Honestly, I would save my money and wait until they release the super-duper blu ray version w/ extra content in 2007, lol. Enjoy reading

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iBJfr5p+GfIf1hLEOZhnwog%3D%3D

Seeking to ride PlayStation 3 momentum, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is rush-releasing "X-Men: The Last Stand" to Blu-ray Disc on Nov. 14, three days before Sony's next-generation video game console makes its U.S. debut.

Executives from studios supporting the high-definition optical disc format believe PS3 will be the Trojan horse that gives Blu-ray an unbeatable advantage over rival HD-DVD. Both formats are vying to succeed standard DVD as consumers transition to HDTV.

PS3, which will hit stores at retail prices starting at $499, comes with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive, while the other hot game console in the market, Microsoft's Xbox 360, has an add-on HD-DVD drive available for about $200.

"The demographics between 'X-Men' and PlayStation 3 are a near-perfect match," said Steve Feldstein, senior vp marketing communications for 20th Century Fox. "This is the biggest new release yet for Blu-ray, and we're working closely with retailers and others to ensure that when people are buying their PS3s, they're going to know they can get 'X-Men' to play on it.

"PlayStation is by far the dominant game platform, and this should put questions about format wars to rest."

Fox's other Blu-ray titles coming Nov. 14 include "Behind Enemy Lines," "Fantastic Four," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Kiss of the Dragon," "The Omen," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Speed" and "The Transporter."

The Blu-ray version of "X-Men: The Last Stand," which lists for $39.98, includes both the film -- with a domestic gross of $234.4 million, the year's No. 3 movie -- and all bonus materials in high-definition. The film itself is authored in HDMV with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and features 6.1 DTS ES HD Lossless Master Audio. Bonus features include two commentary tracks (one from director Brett Ratner with writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, the other with producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter), 12 alternate or extended scenes, and a "Marvel Trivia Track" consisting of color graphics that pop up throughout the film with inside information on characters and events in the Marvel universe.

The standard DVD of the third film in the "X-Men" franchise was released Oct. 3 and has since sold more than 6 million units.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

 

[Retroman]

Except superior picture quality there isn't much insentive to go a dish out that kind of cash for the blu-ray. I thought these were going to have loads more extras on them?

The thing that really irks me is that eventually the consumer will be forced to buy the Blu-Ray or a HD-DVD player. And buying a player like that also means 9 out 10 times that you'll need a new television set as well.We're barely getting to used the conventional dvd players and you've consider getting something new already.

 

[Downhere]

Actually, you don't need a new television. You can play any High Def film on a regular tv but it will not display the high resolution unless your television can take advantage of it (i.e. a television that can display 1080i or 1080p resolution).

It kind of sucks that Fox is blu-ray only at the moment though, would have been cool to have X3 on HD-DVD.

 

[Retroman]

Actually, you don't need a new television. You can play any High Def film on a regular tv but it will not display the high resolution unless your television can take advantage of it (i.e. a television that can display 1080i or 1080p resolution).

If it can't display the High res then there wouldn't be much point in buying it now would there? At the end of the day you want to take full advantage of the product.So in this case people will eventually have to get a new tv set.

 

[Downhere]

If it can't display the High res then there wouldn't be much point in buying it now would there? At the end of the day you want to take full advantage of the product.So in this case people will eventually have to get a new tv set.

That is true, I was just stating that you can play it on a regular tv but it will be dvd like quality.

 

[J.Howlett]

Actually, playing it on a regular TV will have 20 to 25 percent MORE resolution than DVD. Granted, many probably won't be able to tell but the resolution, even on a regular TV, will be a tad better.

 

[Retroman]

That is true, I was just stating that you can play it on a regular tv but it will be dvd like quality.

I know.

 

[Downhere]

Actually, playing it on a regular TV will have 20 to 25 percent MORE resolution than DVD. Granted, many probably won't be able to tell but the resolution, even on a regular TV, will be a tad better.

Not really, because if you play it on a regular tv you still only have 480 interlaced lines of resolution just like a dvd can put out. In order to take advantage of a higher resolution your television would have to be capable of outputing more than that, in which case you would need an HDTV or EDTV that can do 720p.

 

[J.Howlett]

Downhere,

Quite true but the resolution will be a tad better. It's no leap, of course but it'll be a tad better than the standard DVD of The Last Stand.

 

[Downhere]

Downhere,

Quite true but the resolution will be a tad better. It's no leap, of course but it'll be a tad better than the standard DVD of The Last Stand.

Possibly, but the key question is will it be worth it to pay double for something that is a tad better than the standard DVD? I just think Sony is putting too much stock into the whole PS3 as a Blu-ray player thing.

 

[Retroman]

A review of the Blu-Ray dvd is now online.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/xmenlaststand.html