16 Blocks on HD-DVD (1 Viewer)

I wanted to see this in theaters since it's directed by Richard Donner, but it slipped between the cracks. The same thing happened when it came to DVD, but when I noticed it was out on HD-DVD, I rented it from Blockbuster online. I'm glad I finally gave it a shot, because it was actually pretty good. It certainly wasn't the greatest action movie I've ever seen, but it was above average in my opinion. Willis turns in a good performance, and I even warmed up to Mos Def's character (once I got past his dialogue delivery). Storywise, I kept thinking it was something Michael Mann might do, but it obviously lacked that director's visual flair and style. The story was a bit heavier than I expected because I thought Willis just had to transport Mos Def over 16 city blocks, but I didn't know that he'd be protecting him from corrupt cops.

So, the plot isn't layered or complex by any means, but some of the themes brought it up a little. As for the presentation, I thought it looked stellar despite being on a combo disc. Everything looked clear and clean, with a good amount of detail. The audio was very immersive,(especially during some of the shootouts) but I was surprised by how sparingly the LFE is used (could be something up with my setup though). I don't know if anyone will be using this as demo material, and in all honesty, the HD presentation ended up being the icing on the cake because the film itself turned out to be better than expected. If you haven't checked this one out yet, and you have an HD-DVD player, give it a shot.

Great post Brett. I agree with you. I rented this HD-DVD from blockbuster and it surprised me. I'm a huge Bruce Willis fan so I did give a few moments of so so stuff a pass.

It's a great image as well and very good audio. Right now, it's fairly expensive being a combo disc but when it lowers some, this one I will own.

Yeah, it's a lot harder to do a blind buy with the prices of those combo discs, so I'm glad Blockbuster online has HD-DVDs. I just wish the Blockbuster stores would follow suit.

My local BB says in another month they "hope" to carry HD-DVDs.

is that a franchise

i work at a corp and still no word on hd dvd there.

I feel rather stupid Tony, but could you elaborate a bit?

ah dont feel stupid.


by BB i was thinking you meant Blockbuster
i didnt even think to imagine your bestbuy hasnt been carrying hd dvd yet.



by franchise i mean privately owned and run bbv
a corp(erate) store is owned and run by bbv

the rules arent the same for franchise.
they can essentially run the store as they want.

they can order and choose what movies to rent.
a corp is at the mercy of bbv as to what is sent to the store for rental purposes.

Gotcha Tony! No I did mean Blockbuster and not sure about a franchise thingy? The manager I talked to is a big HT guy so this may be more his dream rather than a reality!