A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Departed -- in HD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Martin Scorsese's The Departed is yet another high definition release that yields as perfect an image as might be thought possible from this new generation of CD-like discs.
While for some reason I had trouble loading the disc on a new Toshiba XA2, once it did load, which seemed to be every 15 or so attempts, the resultant image as transferred to the Pioneer Pro plasma in 1080p was extraordinary.
I phoned Toshiba about the problem and was told that the SD side of the disc had probably been inadvertantly bonded to a BD disc, which was why I was having problems running it in my HD player. This was not correct.
Did I know that there was a difference?
Yes. Thank you.
I've steered clear of some of the early Sony releases on BD, and have not seen discs from Lions Gate, some of which I have been told by my son are problematic, but the sheer pleasure and exuberance from the high definition discs that I've recently been viewing in both formats is unceasing.
Score yet another brilliant release for Warner Home Video.
The Departed is both a great film and great software; properly encoded, compressed and pressed to yield perfect results in your home theater.
I'm going to re-visit on Blu-Ray.
Very Highly Recommended.
RAH

 

[Hayes Preston]

Mr. Harris, sorry to hear that your disc had some issues. Mine played fine on the first try on my XA1, so hopefully yours was an isolated case.
Regarding the rest of your "few words;" I completely agree!!!

The Departed is both a great film and great software; properly encoded, compressed and pressed to yield perfect results in your home theater.

I couldn't have said it better. I look forward to more great discs from WB.

 

[Edwin-S]

I phoned Toshiba about the problem and was told that the SD side of the disc had probably been inadvertantly bonded to a BD disc, which was why I was having problems running it in my HD player.
RAH

If that is the case, is it possible that it would run in a BD player?

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

My heavens. I watched my HD DVD copy last night for the first time.
Stellar picture quality. Stellar!
Watching The Departed with my friend basically turned into an "extended demo" designed to impress him with HD DVD. He was so floored that he immediately ordered his own Toshiba A2 today!

 

[Tim Glover]

Well, The Departed winning Best Picture might increase some sales for HD DVD & Blu-ray...

 

[Geoff_D]

The Departed is engrossing stuff anyway, but the superb HD transfer helped to pull me in further.
I'm starting to pine for that extra HD 'pop' when I watch a normal DVD these days - damn these HD formats!
FYI my HD-DVD version played first time on my D1 with only one little hiccup early on.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Looking forward to picking this up (BD)!

 

[Jim_K]

Watched Blu-Ray version of The Departed last week. Played flawlessly and looked fantastic.
Sorry to hear about the issues with the HD-DVD version.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I phoned Toshiba about the problem and was told that the SD side of the disc had probably been inadvertantly bonded to a BD disc

The implication of this statement is that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray pressing is handled by the same plant (I really can't see unbonded disc sides being shipped out of the factory). Interesting.

 

[Yumbo]

Had no issues with HD DVD on xBox.

 

[Tim Glover]

Mine was flawless too...the foul language was almost too audible

 

[Chris S]

the foul language was almost too audible

Watched the film last night (for the second time) and it really does look spectacular. Kudos to whomever worked on this release. Also glad to see it won best picture, as it is very deserving!

 

[Tim Glover]

...got to be a record for most F-Bombs in one movie.

 

[Doug^Ch]

I sent my disc back to Amazon because of multiple glitches around the one hour mark - my first problem with an HD-DVD Disc. Other than that problem a stellar movie and transfer IMO. I never heard any swearing in the movie. I think that could be because I recently watched Deadwood, and I may have been desensitized to all swearing - I now no longer even notice it, and have begun speaking that way myself!

 

[BrettGallman]

...got to be a record for most F-Bombs in one movie.

Not quite

 

[Tim Glover]

...great find there Brett!

 

[BrettGallman]

I was surprised at the list actually because for a long time Casino (another fine Scorsese film) was number one on the list.

I think it's going to take a lot to top the current leader, though.

 

[Robert Harris]

As Toshiba has now announced a firmware upgrade for the XA-2, the playability issue seems to be with the hardware and not the software.

 

[ppltd]

As Toshiba has now announced a firmware upgrade for the XA-2, the playability issue seems to be with the hardware and not the software.

Robert, I also had problems with this disk on my XA2. After downing the 1.3 update for the XA2 this weekend, the disk ran flawlessly.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Great news re: the HD a/v quality. Cleanses the palate of the bad taste left by the compression artifact-riddled abomination that is the SD-DVD...