Paramount Blu-ray in May/June - Artwork added
07-05-2008 20:39 | 11061 views | Dave Foster | Show Backlinks
Paramount Home Entertainment have announced their return to Blu-ray Disc with several new and old titles coming to the US on 20th May 2008. New titles include Bee Movie and two titles that were cancelled when Paramount went HD DVD only late last summer, Blades of Glory and Face/Off Special Edition. Titles being re-released as Paramount gets back into Blu-ray production are Aeon Flux, Babel, Black Snake Moan, Coming to America, Disturbia, Dreamgirls, Flags of our Fathers, Four Brothers, Mission: Impossible III, Next, Shooter, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow, The Untouchables, The Warriors, Trading Places, We Were Soldiers and World Trade Centre. For those that don’t remember, all of these were previously released on Blu-ray but production was ceased following their HD DVD exclusivity deal.
Moving into June Paramount will release a few big titles including their first day-and-date release since retuning to the format. On 3rd June 2008 you can expect Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood, followed a few weeks later by the day-and-date The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Specs on the new titles follow...
Bee Movie
Blades of Glory
Cloverfield
Face/Off Special Edition
The Spiderwick Chronicles
There Will Be Blood
Moving into June Paramount will release a few big titles including their first day-and-date release since retuning to the format. On 3rd June 2008 you can expect Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood, followed a few weeks later by the day-and-date The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Specs on the new titles follow...
Bee Movie
- English Dolby True HD 5.1
- French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- Blu-ray Exclusives:
- The Animators' Corner
- Barry's Trivia Track
- Customizable Character Menus
- The World of Bees
- Build A Bee Avatar
- Jerry & Filmmaker Commentary
- Featurettes:
- Inside the Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie HD
- Jerry's Flight Over Cannes
- Meet Barry B. Benson
- Tech of Bee Movie HD
- Lost Scenes with Commentary
- Alternate Endings with Commentary
- Jerry's NBeeC TV Juniors
- "We Got The Bee" Music Video HD
- DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox HD
- DWA Kids
- Kung Fu Panda Trailer HD
- Madagascar: The Crate Escape Trailer HD
- The Spiderwick Chronicles Trailer HD
Blades of Glory
- English 5.1 PCM (Uncompressed)
- English, French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English, English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles
- Return to Glory: The Making of "Blades" (HD)
- Celebrities On Thin Ice (HD)
- Cooler Than Ice: The Super-Sexy Costumes of Skating (HD)
- Arnett and Poehler - A Family Affair (HD)
- 20 Questions with Scott Hamilton (HD)
- Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan (HD)
- Moviephone unscripted with Will Ferrell, Jon Heder and Will Arnett
- Deleted Scenes (HD)
- Alternate Takes (HD)
- Gag Reel (HD)
- Photo Gallery
- Music Video "Blades of Glory" by Bo Bice
- MTV Interstitials
Cloverfield
- English Dolby True HD 5.1
- French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English, English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles
- Enhanced Viewing Mode with GPS Tracker, Creature Radar, Military Intelligence and more
- Commentary by Director Matt Reeves
- Featurettes:
- Special Investigation Mode
- Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield (HD)
- Cloverfield Visual Effects (HD)
- I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge! (HD)
- Clover Fun (HD)
- Additional Scenes (HD)
- Alternate Endings with Optional Commentary (HD)
- Easter Eggs:
- #USGX-8810-B467 Supplemental Files
- Alpha Encounter - UNCONFIRMED - TAG VD - #18 English / #19 Spanish / #20 French / #21 Japanese
- Org. of Interest - TAG VD #12
- Slusho!
- Person of Interest – JLVD
- Video 2, Video 5, Video 9, Video 11
- Rack 'Em & Pack 'Em
- Fighting the X
Face/Off Special Edition
- English 6.1 DTS and 5.1 EX Dolby Digital
- French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- Commentaries by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
- 7 Deleted Scenes – Including an Alternate Ending (with optional commentary) (HD)
- The Light and the Dark: Making Face/Off (HD)
- John Woo: A Life in Pictures (HD)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
- English Dolby True HD 5.1
- French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English, English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles
- Featurettes:
- Spiderwick: It's All True! (HD)
- It's a Spiderwick World! (HD)
- Special Enhanced Blu-ray Version of Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide (HD)
- Spiderwick: Meet the Clan! (HD)
- Making Spiderwick! (HD)
- The Magic of Spiderwick! (HD)
- A Final Word of Advice! (HD)
- Additional Scenes (HD)
- TV Spots
- Trailers
There Will Be Blood
- English Dolby True HD 5.1
- French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
- English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- The Story of Petroleum - B/W silent film chronicling the oil business in the 1920s (HD)
- 15 Minutes - Pies, Research, etc. for the Making of "There Will Be Blood" (HD)
- Trailers (HD)
- "Fishing" Sequence (HD)
- Haircut / Interrupted Hymm (HD)
- Dailies Gone Wild (HD)
Comments
Member
Posts: 75
Where on earth is Sweeney Todd?! Looks like it will have to be the UK BD then!
Member
Posts: 47
What about Beowulf? The Jack Ryan Collection (hopefully with all extras previously announced but not present on HD-DVD), Shooter? Payback? Italian Job
Thankfully i've been able ot get some on BR (payback and Shooter) and already have some on HD-DVD. Doea anyone know their stance on regioncoding. Before the infamous switch all their releases were regionfree, is that still going to be the same?
Hopefully (fingers crossed)
Paul
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
No Uncompressed sound on Face/Off....??? I'll wait for the inevitable re-release......
Good to see Cloverfield announced officially at long last with the UK getting it the following week.
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
Member
Posts: 847
This is excellent news, about time.
Guys instead of being miffed what we don't have, be pleased for what we do have and that Paramount have finally caught up with the rest. There's no way Paramount could re-press all their BD releases at the same time!
I wasn't expecting Face/Off to have Lossless Audio, but it is a pity. If it bothers you that much the Non-USA BDs have PCM, but are otherwise virtually barebones. It is strange though when all the others have Lossless Audio.
Me I'll forgo Lossless on this occasion and pick up the USA BD.
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
Tony
You are right :-)
It's just I've got used to Lossless audio now, but at least I have a choice of extra's or uncompressed sound :-)
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
Member
Posts: 847
According to this review of the UK BD (which doesn't mention it's cut) there is little between the DTS (USA HD-DVD/BD) and PCM (Non-USA BD):
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/869/faceoff_uk.html
Member
Posts: 213
Frankly I can't tell the difference anyway between lossy Dolby Digital Plus (1.5mbps) and lossless Dolby TrueHD. Sound great, but just can't tell the difference. Still better than a DVD with plain Dolby Digital.
DTS discs however continue to blow me away, at least on HD DVD. I can't tell about DTS HD as I'm not too sure what my player is doing with DTS HD MA tracks. I think it may be converting to DTS 1.5mbps. However it sounds fantastic whatever. Basically they all sound like full bitrate DTS DVDs, and that's good enough for me.
Anyway, looks like a wait until Paramount start releasing decent movies on Blu-Ray, but didn't expect either them or Universal to suddenly flood the market with Blu-Ray. Any word on prices though? BD is still way too expensive.
Member
Posts: 847
DTS discs however continue to blow me away, at least on HD DVD.
Do you mean DTS on HD-DVD? I'm only aware of Tomb Raider and Face/Off that has DTS on HD-DVD.
I think it may be converting to DTS 1.5mbps.
Inside all DTS-HD tracks is a Legacy Core. If your Player or Amp cannot decode DTS-HD you'll get the core.
What Player do you have?
Basically they all sound like full bitrate DTS DVDs, and that's good enough for me.
Except those discs which only have DD5.1 :(, which roughly compares with Half-rate DTS found on DVDs.
Anyway, looks like a wait until Paramount start releasing decent movies on Blu-Ray
Of the new BDs: Face/Off and There will be Blood are great.
but didn't expect either them or Universal to suddenly flood the market with Blu-Ray.
16 titles released at the end of May is pretty good.
Any word on prices though? BD is still way too expensive.
Sadly it is but if you look around you can get some bargains. BD is a premium product and the only reason HD-DVDs suddenly shot down in price is because of the formats demise.
I cannot see BD prices dropping greatly any time soon.
Member
Posts: 213
Originally Posted by tonyleung:
Do you mean DTS on HD-DVD? I'm only aware of Tomb Raider and Face/Off that has DTS on HD-DVD.
T2 has a DTS-HD MA track. The Fog is advertised as DTS-HD High Resolution, which is a step down from MA I believe, though the player just says DTS when playing (unlike T2 which definitely says DTS-HD MA, although the output is likely just the 'core'). Pans Labyrinth is I believe DTS-HD MA. There are a few others I think. Seems to be Momentum releases mostly.
Member
Posts: 47
Originally Posted by tonyleung:
According to this review of the UK BD (which doesn't mention it's cut) there is little between the DTS (USA HD-DVD/BD) and PCM (Non-USA BD):
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/869/faceoff_uk.html
The UK Face/Off is cut, the whole knife scene as absent that's why, regardless of my support of BR, i opted to buy the US HD-DVD.
And just to repeat my question: any info on their stance on regioncoding?
Paul
Member
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by paulb_99:
The UK Face/Off is cut, the whole knife scene as absent that's why, regardless of my support of BR, i opted to buy the US HD-DVD.
The Buena Vista BDs released in Australia and Europe have been confirmed to be uncut. Same specs as the UK disc:- barebones, BD50, PCM track, AVC encoded.
Member
Posts: 847
Originally Posted by DeadKenny:
T2 has a DTS-HD MA track. The Fog is advertised as DTS-HD High
Resolution, which is a step down from MA I believe, though the player
just says DTS when playing (unlike T2 which definitely says DTS-HD MA,
although the output is likely just the 'core'). Pans Labyrinth is I
believe DTS-HD MA. There are a few others I think. Seems to be Momentum
releases mostly.
You said DTS ;). I thought you meant DTS not DTS-HD.
Except Pan's Labyrinth all the ones you mentioned are ports from the
Studio Canal batch in France, only the cover art is different. Pan's
Labyrinth USA has DTS-HD MA 7.1 but the UK offering only has DD Plus
5.1.
Originally Posted by paulb_99:
The UK Face/Off is cut, the whole knife scene as absent that's why, regardless of my support of BR, i opted to buy the US HD-DVD.
I know. I said it was cut ;)
And just to repeat my question: any info on their stance on regioncoding?
I'd be very surprised if any have region coding. Not one of the existing Paramount BDs has Region Coding.
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
Thanks for all the info guys!
PCM Aussie for me I think then, as the movie will be watched/listened to over and over but extra's will only be watched once......
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
Member
Posts: 402
Yea Bee Movie, I had the HD-DVD on order but it got canned. I am going to pick up Cloverfield also.
By the way, the T2 HD-DVD German SE is great, great extras and DTS HD High Res. While its not DTS HD MA its still great and T2 looks better than it ever has. Expensive though but I think it was worth the £30 i paid for it.
Member
Posts: 47
Originally Posted by tonyleung:
Originally Posted by paulb_99:
The UK Face/Off is cut, the whole knife scene as absent that's why, regardless of my support of BR, i opted to buy the US HD-DVD.
I know. I said it was cut ;)
And just to repeat my question: any info on their stance on regioncoding?
I'd be very surprised if any have region coding. Not one of the existing Paramount BDs has Region Coding.
Thanks for the info, i know Paramount's BR's have thusfar always been regionfree. Let's hope it stays that way.
And regarding my comment on Face/Off, i read it as a question, saying the review didn't mention which cut it was.
My Mistake,
Paul
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
Now I'm happy :-)
However, we're told that going forward, Dolby TrueHD audio should become a standard feature on Paramount's Blu-ray titles as they're newly authored. Also, most of the new titles will be on BD-50 discs and many of the video extras will be in full HD.
Universal is going a slightly different route with their Blu-ray plans, making DTS-MA Lossless audio standard on their future titles, like 20th Century Fox currently does.
Both Quotes taken from The Digital Bits.com with thanks
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
Administrator
Posts: 2301
Updated with full Cloverfield specs and artwork. Paramount have also added several more re-release titles to their 20/05 schedule - Flags of our Fathers, Four Brothers, Mission: Impossible III, Next, and Shooter.
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
But what about Transformers with Dolby True HD audio?
Come on Paramount that's the one we're all waiting for.....
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
Administrator
Posts: 2301
They'll get to it in time. Worst case scenario you'll have to wait until next summer so they can tie it in with the theatrical release of the sequel.
Grave Wisdom
Posts: 376
Dave - Please don't jinx things by making comments like that ;-)
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Metal Damage, Brain Damage...Are you listening Bronze? I am the Nightrider. I'm a Fuel Injected Suicide Machine......
POW
Posts: 27
Anyone know whether Paramount are sticking with their previous stance (pre the move to HD-DVD) on releasing Region free Blu-Rays? - I'd like to know whether I can pick up these US titles for playback here in the UK.
Administrator
Posts: 2301
Added There Will Be Blood art.
Administrator
Posts: 2301
For those asking about Region coding, the only info I have is based on the rear covers which have been supplied. Just like their old Blu-ray releases, and just like Warner releases, there is no region coding info supplied. So I'd say it's a good bet they're going to stay region free.
Member
Posts: 29
Originally Posted by DaveF:
Added There Will Be Blood art.
was hoping that artwork was only temporary :(