The Polar Express 3D Blu-ray (2004) [Region Free]

[jw]

Please note that the initial 3-D release of The Polar Express released on Blu-ray in 2008 was in (red/blue) anaglyph format. This is the cover of the anaglyph (red/blue glasses) version - this was before the introduction of Blu-ray 3D so note the lack of the "Blu-ray 3D" logo and "presented in 3-D":



The 2010 worldwide re-release is a true Blu-ray 3D and, being a Warner Brothers title, it's REGION FREE wherever you choose to buy it from. All real 3D versions will have a "Blu-ray 3D" banner on the cover as pictured below:



The Polar Express Blu-ray 3D

The Polar Express Blu-ray 3D

The Polar Express Blu-ray 3D

The Polar Express Blu-ray 3D

The Polar Express Blu-ray 3D

Polar Express Blu-ray 3D Review

[snappahead]

Very nice....keep em' coming! The anaplyph version was so ugly, it'll be nice to see it properly.

[trinireb]

This is great i love the polar express and it is close to a christmas carole that i believe is also released either on the same day or shortly after. now i have to sell the copy i have now.

[Jimmy Smith]

Awsome news. I bought the 2008 anaglyph 3D release because I was excited about the prospect of 3D in the home. I was unimpressed with the 3D on that release. With everything smuthered in red and blue and horrible ghosting throughout it was difficult to sit through. As someone who loved theatrical 3D presentations I was surprised to find the 2D version of the movie on the disc far more enjoyable. I found the additional TrueHD track on the anaglyph version to be the new money feature over the original 2D only version rather then the anaglyph.

Im so glad that its getting a proper 3D release and am glad its day to date with A Christmas Carol. Hopefully Beowulf isn't to far behind.

[Lovemy3D]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Im so glad that its getting a proper 3D release and am glad its day to date with A Christmas Carol. Hopefully Beowulf isn't to far behind.

Yeah, it's going to be awesome to get both of those on the same day. I never saw Polar Express in 3D. Watching it in 2D I could easily tell it was meant to be 3D. I look forward to seeing the part where the train ticket goes flying all over the place and comes back to the train. That was cool even in 2D.

I almost forgot about Beowulf. That will be a great one to own too.

[Jimmy Smith]

I have to say that this is the only 3D title from Warners first wave that has me interested

The IMAX titles are insanely overpriced. Even in 3D Full HD I can't justify spending over $15 for 40 minute documentaries. A suggested retail price of $44.99 is fine for the full length movies but not for IMAX 40 minute documentaries

Clash of the Titans is a mediocre movie with a bad conversion that makes 3D look bad.

Cats and Dogs weeelll you get the point

[Khee Mao]

I guess I should NetFlix the 2D version of Polar Express first as it seems to be a love it or hate it movie (~50% on rottentomatoes)

[bigrob]

Loved this film. picked up the 2D / 3D BD last year and watched it xmas eve (in 2D). first time i watched it as well, if i ever upgrade to 3D, this will be one of the first titles i'd buy

[Lovemy3D]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

I have to say that this is the only 3D title from Warners first wave that has me interested

The IMAX titles are insanely overpriced. Even in 3D Full HD I can't justify spending over $15 for 40 minute documentaries. A suggested retail price of $44.99 is fine for the full length movies but not for IMAX 40 minute documentaries

Clash of the Titans is a mediocre movie with a bad conversion that makes 3D look bad.

Cats and Dogs weeelll you get the point

Yeah, they should put three Imax movies on every disc.

Originally Posted by Khee Mao

I guess I should NetFlix the 2D version of Polar Express first as it seems to be a love it or hate it movie (~50% on rottentomatoes)

May as well.

[I-C-Blue]

Darn I was hoping they'd let the world know if it'd be dual layered or not. I know it's been said before that the bitrate mattered not since the quality goes with the intended art style but still I have a hanging doubt maybe the quality will just be as better.

And question: My Ps3 is 3d-ready now without a 3-D HDTV. I can still technically play this 3d Blu-ray without its 3d features right? So it'd just be like watching a 2D movie anyway would it? And would it still run in 24Hz?

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by I-C-Blue

Darn I was hoping they'd let the world know if it'd be dual layered or not. I know it's been said before that the bitrate mattered not since the quality goes with the intended art style but still I have a hanging doubt maybe the quality will just be as better.

And question: My Ps3 is 3d-ready now without a 3-D HDTV. I can still technically play this 3d Blu-ray without its 3d features right? So it'd just be like watching a 2D movie anyway would it? And would it still run in 24Hz?

Correct. You can play all general retail 3D Blu-Rays in all Blu-Ray players in 2D regardless of firmware. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs played fine in my Playstation 3 before Tuesday's firmware.

Again bitrates will not improve the movie. The Polar Express is naturally intended to have a hazy dreamlike quality to it and in 2D the current Blu-Ray is as good as this movie can look without modifying its intended style. Its a 2.35 digital movie (aka no film grain which make movies difficult to compress) so its easy to compress such a movie with a bitrate in the upper teens without hurting quality whatsoever. The only thing missing from the 2D/anaglyph version quality wise was a proper 3D presentation. A problem that has been fixed here

[I-C-Blue]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Correct. You can play all general retail 3D Blu-Rays in all Blu-Ray players in 2D regardless of firmware. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs played fine in my Playstation 3 before Tuesday's firmware.

Again bitrates will not improve the movie. The Polar Express is naturally intended to have a hazy dreamlike quality to it and in 2D the current Blu-Ray is as good as this movie can look without modifying its intended style. Its a 2.35 digital movie (aka no film grain which make movies difficult to compress) so its easy to compress such a movie with a bitrate in the upper teens without hurting quality whatsoever. The only thing missing from the 2D/anaglyph version quality wise was a proper 3D presentation. A problem that has been fixed here

Lol I think it was you who told me that. And now I get you when you said how dumb it was for Disney to make a separate 3D blu-ray release with a "2D blu-ray".

Well the bitrate thing you're definitely right with. I have Home Alone 2 on blu-ray and just last night, I was toggling with it again to see how disappointing the quality was (and it was a single layer blu-ray). Complained about it over here and mentioned how a higher bitrate for this wouldn't matter since all the grain and dirt would still be on the film. Guess Fox was smart to release it on single layer. But that's kind of a different story but still, a higher bitrate for that movie wouldn't do squat.

What was the bitrate for the 2D version anyway from the 3D anaglyph release?

And another question. I found out that 3D playback on PS3 won't get you HD lossless audio when playing back the movie in 3D. So from what I read, this only happens when you watch a movie in 3D mode on (I'm not even sure if there's a setting for 3D on/off yet is there or it just happens automatically when you have a 3d tv?). I don't have a 3D TV and I'll be going after this release hoping to just enjoy it in 2D with lossless audio and the same time, future proofing myself for 3D incase. That's my hope anyway.

[ckenisell]

Looking forward to this release.

I already have the other two versions of this movie on BD. This will be my first triple dip.

• The Polar Express 2D BD - Lossy Audio
• The Polar Express 2D/3D Anaglyph - Lossless audio
• The Polar Express Full 3D - Audio TBA???

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by I-C-Blue

Lol I think it was you who told me that. And now I get you when you said how dumb it was for Disney to make a separate 3D blu-ray release with a "2D blu-ray".

Well the bitrate thing you're definitely right with. I have Home Alone 2 on blu-ray and just last night, I was toggling with it again to see how disappointing the quality was (and it was a single layer blu-ray). Complained about it over here and mentioned how a higher bitrate for this wouldn't matter since all the grain and dirt would still be on the film. Guess Fox was smart to release it on single layer. But that's kind of a different story but still, a higher bitrate for that movie wouldn't do squat.

What was the bitrate for the 2D version anyway from the 3D anaglyph release?

Its not dumb there is method in the madness of encoding separate discs. In the minds of less informed consumers more discs equals more value and thus encoding the 2D and 3D versions on separate discs will in there minds increase sales. Same reason Warner won't use seemelss branching for multiple cuts of the movie or why Disney also includes DVD and digital copies on separate discs when one dual layer DVD can easily fit both versions of the movie.

Higher bitrates actually matter much more if theres alot of film grain. One of the ways bitrates are lowered without hurting quality is by comparing alike frames. If a scene goes on with little change from frame to frame a low bitrate can be used and the scene can still look great. Film grain makes this more difficult cause it makes a scene different from frame to frame and thus harder to compress. Which is why grainer movies need higher bitrates then digital movies like The Polar Express.

The 2D version on both the previous releases is encoded with a bitrate averaging in the upper teens. However more bitrate won't improve anything on it. The Polar Express is a digital movie with no film grain, is very dark thus lacks highly lit detail, and has a 2.4 aspect ratio so it needs 26% less vertical resolution then a full 16:9 movie would. These factors made compressing the Polar Express at a low bitrate easy without any compression issues. The upcoming 3D Full HD version will only need 50% higher rates and Im sure will be the best the movie can look on the current format.

[obriensg1]

Ok I think I understood what was said. Let me spell it out to make sure I'm not dumb lol.

I don't have a 3DTV yet, but I have the update on the PS3. I can start buying 3D films and when I pop them in, then won't be ghosty, they will simply be in 2D?

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by obriensg1

Ok I think I understood what was said. Let me spell it out to make sure I'm not dumb lol.

I don't have a 3DTV yet, but I have the update on the PS3. I can start buying 3D films and when I pop them in, then won't be ghosty, they will simply be in 2D?

Ghosting is a side effect of the two eye streams not combining properly. A 2D version within the 3D is simply the main eye stream and thus there is no ghosting.

I had Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D even before the Playstation 3s upgrade and it played in 2D just fine and looked great.

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by obriensg1

Ok I think I understood what was said. Let me spell it out to make sure I'm not dumb lol.

I don't have a 3DTV yet, but I have the update on the PS3. I can start buying 3D films and when I pop them in, then won't be ghosty, they will simply be in 2D?

Seriously dude, ALL 3D Blu-Rays support 2D as well. It's part of the Blu-Ray standard. I'm buying all movies in 3D if there's an option for it even though I won't have a 3DTV until next year or 2012. YOU WILL NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WATCHING 3D BDs IN 2D.

Furthermore, if you try to wwatch the 3D version on a system that does not support 3D, the Bd will tell you that your systems doesn't support it. I don't know if it can detect the entire HDMI chain, but at least for the player. I know the PS3 is now 3D capable, but I don't know how it would handle it as far as warningg you that you don't have a 3DTV.

[psx3man]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

Seriously dude, ALL 3D Blu-Rays support 2D as well. It's part of the Blu-Ray standard. I'm buying all movies in 3D if there's an option for it even though I won't have a 3DTV until next year or 2012. YOU WILL NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WATCHING 3D BDs IN 2D.

Furthermore, if you try to wwatch the 3D version on a system that does not support 3D, the Bd will tell you that your systems doesn't support it. I don't know if it can detect the entire HDMI chain, but at least for the player. I know the PS3 is now 3D capable, but I don't know how it would handle it as far as warningg you that you don't have a 3DTV.

I just tried cloudy with a chance of meatballs 3D at when you try to play the movie in 3d it says you must have a 3dtv and 3d blu-ray player. And it wouldn't let me play it clicking the 3D version. So i'm guessing the ps3 can detect automatically if you have a 3d tv or not.

[jdmac29]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

Looking forward to this release.

I already have the other two versions of this movie on BD. This will be my first triple dip.

• The Polar Express 2D BD - Lossy Audio
• The Polar Express 2D/3D Anaglyph - Lossless audio
• The Polar Express Full 3D - Audio TBA???

I have the dvd, hd dvd & 2d/3d bd anaglyph. I have a ps3 but no 3D TV.
Still not sure if I want to get into 3DTV but this movie is really good and is made for 3D. I am like everyone else the anaglph version of 3D was not very good at all.

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by jdmac29

I have the dvd, hd dvd & 2d/3d bd anaglyph. I have a ps3 but no 3D TV.
Still not sure if I want to get into 3DTV but this movie is really good and is made for 3D. I am like everyone else the anaglph version of 3D was not very good at all.

Those of use that purchased the anaglyph version should get a discount. No?