Apollo
13 on HD DVD
By Jim Bray
The first shots have been fired in the high definition DVD format war, and
so far the winner is the HD DVD format being pushed by Toshiba and its little
friends, if only because Sony and its Blu-ray partners are playing catch up.
I have no intention of taking sides in this war, having no vested interest
in seeing either one win; I just want it to be over so consumers can embrace
whichever high definition DVD format wins, because if my first experience is
any benchmark, it'll be really good.
In fact, I'm now suffering angst attacks at the thought of having to watch
any of the thousands of "old fashioned" DVD's in my library. And
that's despite having been a huge fan and booster of the format for many years.
NASA in HD
I lost my HD DVD virginity to Universal's Apollo 13, which tells the real
life drama of a nearly-disastrous moon mission and is a powerful tribute to
NASA and the ingenuity of the human being.
Tom Hanks stars as Jim Lovell, a true astronaut hero and the leader of the
first crew to reach the moon, at Christmas 1968 (they orbited that time, but
didn't land). Hanks is joined by Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon (whose character
replaces Gary Sinise's in the Command Module) on their lonely voyage.
On the road to the moon, an explosion rocks the Command Module, forcing the
crew to shut it down and take refuge in the Lunar Module, using it as a lifeboat
to ride around the moon and head back to earth – with luck, before their
oxygen runs out.
The crew displays the type of heroism one expects from such people, and Hanks,
Paxton and Bacon are all more than up to the task of portraying these larger-than-life
figures. But it's the unsung people back in Houston, led by Ed Harris as flight
director Gene Kranz, who are the real story. Their efforts, improvisations,
and innovations - coupled with the astronauts' sure fingers on the rocket engine
control - ensured the safe return of the crippled ship and saved the lives
of the crew.
It's an epic adventure that would work well as fiction, except that it isn't.
The spaceship scenes, from the Saturn V rocket's final assembly to the Command
Module's eventual splashdown, are beautifully re-enacted thanks to the special
effects wizardry of Digital Domain. It looks as if it were shot on location,
back in time.
Adding to the realism is a number of shots done aboard NASA's "vomit
comet," a jet that flies a parabolic course through the near-earth heavens
to allow several seconds of free fall weightlessness. This allowed the cinematic
Apollo 13 crew to float around their spaceship as they would have in real life.
Must have been a hoot, too!
The "secondary" stories are also well told, including the ordeals
through which the astronauts' wives are put by the circumstances and the damn
news media.
Speaking of secondary stories, the HD DVD also includes a running commentary
with director Ron Howard, a commentary by Jim and Marilyn Lovell and three
documentaries to sweeten the deal. They're accessed through a new menu treatment
that's far less annoying than the ones on many DVD's. Let's hope this is a
trend.
The original DVD looks and sounds wonderful, though it's by no means the best
example of the species. But the picture is colorful, sharp, bright and clean.
Audio on both versions is outstanding. I didn't have a chance to hook my loaner
HD DVD player through its 5.1 channel analog outputs, but when listening to
both versions via coaxial digital outputs I could find subtle differences between
them, naturally favoring the HD version. High definition DVD's are supposed
to offer even better sound than today's already-terrific DVD's, via technologies
such as "Dolby Digital Plus," but while I did notice better clarity
and a little more "oomph" on the HD version (especially during the
exciting launch sequence which is chapter 13 on the DVD and chapter four on
the HD DVD – and what's with that difference?), it wasn't a spectacular
distinction.
Highly Defined….
But the HD DVD picture reaches out and grabs you, and is perhaps as far above
the original 480i DVD as DVD's are to videocassettes. The HD picture, which
I watched in 1080i, is more detailed, with better color saturation and a lot
better sharpness. There's a depth to it, a film-like look, I've never seen
in home video before other than with the occasional high definition TV broadcasts.
And I think HD DVD and Blu-ray have the capability of being better than HDTV,
because your typical cable and satellite television data delivery is at around
eight Mbps (Megabits per second) maximum, while HD-DVD players are supposed
to be capable of speeds more like 14 to 16 Mbps, with peaks of up to 40 Mbps
if the content demands. It's kind of like the difference in water pressure
between a garden hose and a fire hose.
I guess the real test for that would be to watch a high definition DVD side
by side with a high definition TV broadcast of the same material, but I haven't
had a chance to do that yet.
But I did watch the Apollo 13 HD DVD side by side with its DVD counterpart,
which right now is the more important comparison. And the HD DVD makes the
conventional version look like you're watching through a screen door, with
visible pixelization and colors that look washed out compared to the hi def.
I kid you not: by the time the opening credits had rolled I was ready to throw
away my reference DVD player –a high end Rotel that continues to serve
me extremely well.
And I was delighted to find that Universal's Apollo 13 HD DVD played in true
1080i high definition via component video output to my TV.
Let's hope this continues. Otherwise, millions of "early adopters" of
high definition televisions (the people who traditionally drive new consumer
technologies through their buying dollars and would be logical first customers
for HD DVD and/or Blu-ray) will be screwed, forced to buy new, HDMI-equipped
TV's despite the fact that their existing sets may still be capable of performing
beautifully for several years. This is due to Hollywood greed and paranoia
personified by a copy protection scheme that'll hamstring older HDTV's, forcing
them to output in 480p, which defeats the purpose of going HD.
A copy protection technology that'll undoubtedly be beaten by some kid with
a PC, given the history of such schemes.
Connecting, copy protection and format issues aside, high definition DVD (at
least as embodied by Universal's HD DVD version of Apollo 13) is for real – and
it's great.
There was a bit of a recurring glitch during playback of the HD DVD. Four
or five times during the movie it froze for a few seconds, kind of like you
see sometimes on conventional DVD's when they change layers. But this was worse,
and it happened repeatedly. I don't know if it was the player or the disc,
though I suspect it was the player. It wasn't enough to kill my enjoyment of
the movie, but it wasn't the best way to kick off a new format, either.
Would I recommend spending the hundreds of dollars required to enter the world
of HD DVD or Blu-ray? Only if you're the type who just has to have the best,
and has to have it now. One reason is that HD titles are few and far between
right now, though of course this will change over time (as long as you're lucky
enough to back the winning format).
And that's where the caveat comes in: as long as the format war continues
it's probably in your best interest to let the protagonists beat their heads
against the wall on someone else's dime. It would be a shame to end up on the
short end of the format stick because the companies pushing them can't get
their act together.
Remember the betamax!
Apollo 13, from Universal Home Video HD DVD
140 minutes, 1080p High Definition anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital
Plus
Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris
Produced by Brian Grazer,
Screenplay William Broyles, Jr. & Al Reinert, Directed by Ron Howard
