A Few Words About A few words about... 16 Blocks -- in High Definition (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I missed of 16 Blocks in theatrical release, and was looking forward to it on DVD, even though I'd been told that if I were in Mr. Willis' position I'd be sorely tempted to place a 9mm projectile between the eyes of Mos Def's Eddie Bunker just to get a moment's silence.

My friend was correct.

Mos Def plays one of the most annoyingly cloying characters in the history of the cinema, and does a beautiful job of it.

The film is yet another tale of police gone bad, that moves swiftly, and is worth the viewing.

The selection of this film is another example of how diligently Warner is attempting to produce quality HD fare as software for the new format. The film is 1080p and once again looks like film on a 100+" screen.

There are certainly a few knits to pick, and a bit of stumbling in the earliest efforts. We're certain to see a few more 1080i transfers in the next month or so, but beyond that Warner, along with Universal have given us superlative results.

Quality performances pressed to a quality HD disc.

RAH

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Thanks again, RAH!
Can't beleive Willis is still able to pull off these kind of roles.
Good for him!

 

[Bill Marsh]

Can't speak for high-def yet but the standard definition dvd was fine and the movie ended up being much better than the initial 20 minutes led me to believe---It takes a while for Mos Def to get to you but he does --- good supporting characters even if they're not totally fleshed out. Nice to see Bruce Willis stretch a bit---this movie is one I have recommended to quite a few people.

 

[CaptDS9E]

At first I couldnt stand him, but as the movie went along I started to enjoy the charector. Good film as well

 

[Pete T C]

I highly recommend this movie and HD-DVD. The best action movie I've seen in a while!

 

[TonyD]

pretty good movie.

now about these hybrids...

STOP PLEASE.

i rented this from netflix and watched the hd side, it was fine but when i tried to look at the special features, "special features are on the other side."

WHAT.

Are you kidding, whats the point of them just being on the sd side.
this is just a bad idea.

 

[Pete T C]

I highly recommend this movie and HD-DVD!

As for hybrids, remember as HD-DVD gets cheaper to manufacturer and hybrids are more common the price goes down. When they are able to sell hybrids @ 19.99, studios will be able to single stock titles in HD-DVD.

i.e. when the King Kong 2 "DVD" comes out Universal could release only the HD-DVD/DVD hybrid disc for 19.99 and customers in Walmart/Best Buy/CC etc will be forced into buy the HD-DVD/DVD version, bringing in a lot more customers for the HD-DVD sale. Also once the HD30/DVD9 hybrids are made available it won't be any different than an HD30 in content.

 

[Adam Tyner]

For what it's worth, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has its extras on both sides, so perhaps this won't be something we have to suffer with much longer.

30/9 combo discs (30 gigs on the HD DVD side; 9 gigs on the DVD side) are reportedly in the wings, and if those ever do come to market, that may alleviate some of those problems as well.

...although there are still some marketing headaches to work out with that approach. We'll see.

 

[TonyD]

no thanks.
there has been dvds of one title that are full frame/widescreen/extended cut/theatrical cut, etc..
if dvds can be released in sometimes 5 different versions for one
movie then i see no reason why a seperate hd dvd can't also be released.


but back to 16 blocks.
who's decision is it to have a character use a voice like that in a movie.
is it in the script or does the dir decide.

it was not needed in the movie.
sounded like bugs bunny