Mini SM3 Review

[Josh]

You asked for it, so here it is - my mini Spider-man 3 review!

When people talk about which Blu-ray titles represent the pinnacle of video and audio performance - so called "reference" titles - they always seem to gravitate towards two movies: 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' and 'Crank'. Both of these titles present nearly flawless video and audio presentations which represent what people have come to expect from HD titles.

Well now, you can add one more title to that list. Or better yet, just remove the other two titles and concede that 'Spider-man 3' is the best looking and sounding Blu-ray title every released on the format. Yes, its really that good.

Colors are bright and on point. The picture is sharp throughout. I am seeing detail which I know I didn't see in the theaters. In fact, unless you saw 'Spider-man 3' in a brand new movie theater with a quality projectionist, you weren't seeing half the detail contained on this Blu-ray. It is truly a feast for the eyes.

The soundtrack is also very strong. I listened to the Dolby TrueHD track (there is also a PCM track) and it was very dynamic and very clean. Surrounds get used very effectively, and its difficult to imagine how it can get much better than this.

Authored using BD-J, menus are very smooth and well done.

The only thing that leaves me wanting about this release is the movie itself. This is easily the weakest Spider-man title, and I gained no further appreciation for it on my second viewing. The accompanying press release mentioned that it made $888M world-wide, so there is definitely a large number of people who saw and presumably like the film. I'm just not one of them.

If you haven't seen the film, give it a rent. If you like the film, well then, you've probably already put this on your pre-order list. I really can't wait to watch the second one - my favorite in the series - and see how well Sony put together a title which is a little older. The team at Sony has consistently put out some of the best looking titles, and I am anxious to watch the rest of the trilogy in stunning HD on Blu-ray.

Movie: 3/5
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5