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Some of you guys give a WHOLE NEW meaning to being blind.  You won't even acknowledge that HD DVD has AT LEAST as many problems as Blu-ray.  It's really a shame.  It's been WAY past the point of being funny quite some time ago.

I love that fact that some of you judge SO fairly. /sarcasm

twojayz, you need to re-read your post.  You inferred that it was the larger manufacturer support that was a big thorn in Blu-ray's side.

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Bay says 'Transformers' DVD could have been better

Transformers director Michael Bay says the newly released DVD isn't as good as it could've been.

Most directors diplomatically go to bat for DVDs of their films. Filmmaker Michael Bay (Armageddon, Bad Boys, The Rock) is just as likely to drop verbal bombs while talking about his DVDs as when he is directing.
Bay's take on the new Transformers DVD, which has sold 8.3 million copies since its release last week: "It's a good DVD. But not as good as it could have been," he says. That sales total made Transformers the year's fastest-selling DVD in North America, according to Paramount Home Entertainment.

Despite setting a record, Bay, 42, says a hectic studio schedule prevented him from being as personally involved in the DVD as he was back in the days of Pearl Harbor. His 2002 four-disc director's cut of that film set the standard for buffed-up special editions.

"I was traveling promoting (Transformers) while they were doing the DVD," he says. "You try to guide people as to what to do (in making it), but ultimately if you rush your date, you are not going to get the DVD as good as it could be. … Studios want to pump this stuff out, and my job is to care about it and try to put the right people on it. They just see it as a show they are selling, and I see it as a movie. That's how your movie lives on, in the DVD format."

An aspect of the DVD that Bay says he personally fought for was having the film be on a disc by itself, with just a commentary. He won that battle in the $20 single-disc version that hit shelves last week along with a deluxe, two-disc $40 version.


The two-disc set has many bonus features:

•Producer Steven Spielberg talks about wooing Bay to direct. "Michael Bay was born to direct Transformers," he says on the DVD. "He was the perfect fit for this concept."

Early on, Spielberg knew that he had made a good choice. "Michael staged huge, logistically complicated scenes of massive destruction and explosions, and even when I was watching those dailies without the actual Transformers there, it was just eye candy," he says.

•Also covered in the filmmaking extras are Bay's dealings with the military, toy company Hasbro and General Motors, which supplied many of the vehicles. An Easter egg on the DVD is a "Bay Bot," a Transformer robot with Bay's face. "(Hasbro) made that for me, but I didn't know it was going to be on the DVD," Bay says.

•An anatomy of a scene details how Bay and the crew created the desert attack by the scorpion-like Skorponok. Filming that scene early on convinced Bay that the Transformers movie could work. "As soon as I saw how violent and vicious it was and we added a rough visual effect to it, I said, 'Oh my, I get it,' " he says.

Transformers is the first major film to arrive on HD DVD ($40) since partners Paramount and DreamWorks joined that side of the high-definition video disc format war. Universal also makes its films available exclusively on HD DVD. Sony, Disney and Fox support rival Blu-ray Disc, while Warner releases on both formats.

Bay caused a brouhaha on his blog (michaelbay.com) by voicing his displeasure that Transformers would not be available on Blu-ray and that he was rethinking his plan to direct a sequel. The next day he backpedaled, but he is still upset about the format war.

"It's short-sighted and it has delayed consumers' moving to HD (home video)," he says. "As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is. Consumers are smart, and they are going to wait it out."

The HD DVD version also set a new mark. Its 190,000 copies sold is the best debut of any high-def disc.

Bay expects the cast to return for Transformers 2, which is targeted for June 25, 2009. The first film's take recently surpassed $700 million worldwide, and it has reached No. 18 on the all-time U.S. box office chart and No. 28 internationally.

"It just caught on in our culture, and I am excited to do the second one," he says. "There are so many different and innovative ways you could have fun with this movie."

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Quoting Battling Butler:

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I haven't had a single problem with any HD combo disc, or any HD DVD disc for that matter

Me neither, nor any problem with Bluray, but maybe the fact i've only got 3 discs (and 2 of those were free) helps!!

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All players after that date must be 1.1 capable. I don't think they ever clearly stated that they had to support it out of the box with proper firmware.

So in theory after Oct 31st a vendor can release a player that contains the hardware for 1.1 support but in fact never ever enable it, or choose to enable it if and when they like? There's no deadline for players actually supporting 1.1? That's even more stupid to be honest.

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plus, with no 1.1 titles to test, how can they make the 10/31 deadline?

So what are you saying pplchamp, the BDA can't test 1.1 players until the studios release 1.1 titles? How do the studios test 1.1 titles with no players?   

Do you not think BDA engineers have a bunch of test 1.1 discs already, and are authoring more now to test the technology?