X-Men 3 Review

[Spankey]

I enjoyed this review more than any other as it is really evident that it pains Peter Bracke to say anything positive about Blu-ray..

High-def Digest

Love these quotes from the politics to the gnashing of teeth..

And that Singer is an openly gay filmmaker is more important than it may at first appear; the X-movies are so clearly an allegory for the current state of gay civil rights in America that it doesn't even need explaining.

I will never look at these gay X-Men the same way again!

'X-Men: The Last Stand' is certainly Fox's flagship Blu-ray launch title, so it is a bit a surprise that despite pre-release buzz the disc comes to the format as a BD-25 single-layer disc.

Uhmmmm...so what?

BD-25 issues aside, I was pleasantly surprised at the overall high quality of 'The Last Stand' on Blu-ray.

You mean that extra 5gb that HD-DVD has on a dual layer disc is really that important for a 2 hour movie?

The bad news is that in order to access a DTS-HD soundtrack, you either have to have a decoder built into your Blu-ray player, or in your A/V receiver.

Ok, but it's there..

So what you are going to hear without DTS-HD decoding is the core, lossy DTS soundtrack at a healthy 1.5mbps.

Sounds pretty good to me!

If nothing else, the quality of this soundtrack only leaves my mouth watering to hear it in full DTS-HD soon.

Does it?

As Fox's most high-profile Blu-ray launch title, it is a great start. The transfer shines, there's a DTS-HD track included for when compatible players and receivers become available, and we get a good suite of extras. Sure, a more supplement-packed version of 'The Last Stand' is inevitable, but in the meantime, this is a very fine offering for Blu-ray fans.

Is it?

[phranctoast]

sounds like a decent review. I agree with you though. It appears as if he wants to hate the format but its proving over and over again to hold up.

[Kenshiro]

Once again he complains about grain even though it is identical to the master. But when it is an HD DVD they get praise for staying true to the original. What a joke.

[dobyblue]

The one good thing about that article is that it says the PS3 will be able to decode DTS-HD, which further confirms DTS' email that the logos may not have been finalized which is why the PS3 says "DTS Digital Surround" instead of "DTS-HD Master Audio"

Good news for buyers of the Panny as well, that a firmware upgrade will enable them to listen to DTS out of the 7.1 analogs. Lucky ducks!

[JTK]

Wow this stuff just gets more pitiful every time.

So now the Xmen movies are homosexual propoganda pieces?

C'mon.

If you try hard enough, you can read almost anything you want into just about anything.

Give me a break.

[Chris Beveridge]

Well, there's a level of truth about it. The books were originally written and heavily tweaked over the years to be about racism. Racism certainly can apply when tweaked slightly again to the entire issue of gay politics so it can fit in.

Bringing in the fact that the director is gay though just seems... silly? And that was the director on the first two wasn't it? Not Ratner? I don't really follow or care who a director sleeps with so I'm not entirely sure.

There likely is some subtext, but it's the kind of subtext that anyone who feels oppressed by society will find strikes a chord with them.

[bferr1]

Originally Posted by JTK

Wow this stuff just gets more pitiful every time.

So now the Xmen movies are homosexual propoganda pieces?

C'mon.

If you try hard enough, you can read almost anything you want into just about anything.

Give me a break.

Yeah, like Magneto issuing videotaped threats reminded me of Osama Bin Laden. The clinic being protested and firebombed reminded me of the abortion controversy. There's a lot more to these films than first meets the eye, and still more than just simple gay allegories.

[vick vega]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

The one good thing about that article is that it says the PS3 will be able to decode DTS-HD, which further confirms DTS' email that the logos may not have been finalized which is why the PS3 says "DTS Digital Surround" instead of "DTS-HD Master Audio"

Good news for buyers of the Panny as well, that a firmware upgrade will enable them to listen to DTS out of the 7.1 analogs. Lucky ducks!

So the PS3 will have analogue outs and all the built in decoders? Wow that is a real step up from the stand alone player. Sony must either be over charging for their stand alone player or they are taking a real loss on the PS3 maybe a combination of both.

[Rio]

At least that review was wrong in 2 points:

1. PS3 does not decode DTS-HD. It plays DTS core only, when it plays DTS-HD MA track, its OSD says something like "DTS 48kHz 5.1ch 1.5Mbps".

2. X3 does have popup menu system during feature presentation.

X3 BD is very, very grainy film, but those heavy grains don't cause any compression artifacts - keeps very natural grain movement and very fine details. Never seen that kind of heavy grains with maintaining such high resolution on any other titles among BD and HD DVD titles. Someone who prefer video like, grain-free, clean look like Warner titles, would put a low score on X3. Those who don't like video look and prefer high resolution image would put a high score on X3.

Difference between X3 and Warner titles is well portrayed especially when a viewer uses high contrast, high resolution 1080p displays such as Pioneer PRO-FHD1/Panasonic TH-65PX600 plasmas and 1080p DLP projectors like Maranz VP-11S1. He/she will find more fine textures and details on X3 but Warner's lack those details but "clean" and flat on those displays.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by vick vega

So the PS3 will have analogue outs

No.

and all the built in decoders?

Probably not.

Basically with the PS3 if you don't have an HDMI receiver you're not going to get all the fancy new audio goodies.

Wow that is a real step up from the stand alone player. Sony must either be over charging for their stand alone player or they are taking a real loss on the PS3 maybe a combination of both.

Neither one.

[Deciazulado]

Here's the audio output settings:
http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...diooutput.html

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

Here's the audio output settings:
http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...diooutput.html

Thanks!

I've never seen a console yet with multichannel analog outputs and I knew this was no exception. The hardware and DAC's necessary would have made the PS3 cost past $800 for sure!

Kind of a pity, because I would have used them since I don't have an HDMI receiver and have no plans of getting one anytime soon.

So it'll be whatever I can get with digital optical and that'll have to be good enough.

[theknub]

even then, im sure the sound will be far and above what we're used to.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by theknub

even then, im sure the sound will be far and above what we're used to.

I'll still be getting a little higher bitrate right?

[theknub]

my assumption would be yes. from all i have read, that is the case.

[PeterTHX]

The hardware and DAC's necessary

It does have the DACs necessary. It converts advanced codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and SACD to multichannel PCM for output thru HDMI.

It's also fully capable of being updated to support DTS-MA.

There's no analog out because it adds to the cost and size of the unit.

[goodstuff]

The extras on this are in HD, and yes the pop-up menu is there where you can change everything on the fly.

[Josh]

Review from Home Theater Spot:

The 18mbs AVC encoding looks virtually flawless. Compression appears to be transparent viewing at 1080p on a 92" screen. Honestly, I think only a person intimate with the original photography could state whether or not the presentation could be improved. But, this looks essentially like I remember it in the theater.

Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsth...?sequence=1686