In the heat of the format war, a great deal of emphasis was placed on player prices, an area where the rival HD DVD format had somewhat of an advantage. Highlighting that advantage was the Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on, which came packaged with one of the most visually pleasing films of that year - Peter Jackson's 'King Kong'. While the player was a bust, the disc was visually stunning, especially with the restrictions of the format. Today, '
King Kong gets released on Blu-ray, and finally receives the treatment it deserves.
Before the release of 'King Kong' on HD DVD, Microsoft insiders were extremely proud of having shrunk the video file to the point where it could fit on the 30GB disc. So proud, that they conveniently forgot that a longer, extended version of the film was available. Thankfully, Universal included that version of the film on this release. And how does the film look with all the extra space that Blu-ray provides? Review Editor Ben Williams proclaims, "The film is a true sight to behold on Blu-ray and easily ranks among the best transfers the format has seen."
While the story of the great ape may be too much of a stretch for some Blu-ray fans, there are two films based on true stories out today. Universal is releasing the true story of Ernie Davis in '
The Express', while Fox is releasing the story of '
Antwone Fisher'.
Horror fans get quite a workout today, with Liongate releasing '
Saw V' and '
Repo!: The Genetic Opera' and New Line releasing '
Amusement' and '
Poison Ivy 4'. Conversely, the studios made sure that the female Blu-ray fans out there aren't left behind, with Sony releasing '
13 Going on 30' and Warner releasing '
The Notebook'.
In fact, its hard to discount any of today's releases as "second tier", so I'll simply recommend you check out today's full list of Blu-ray releases. I will point out, however, that the bargain of the day has to be '
Henry Poole Is Here' which is currently only $14 at Amazon for this new release. If you are a fan of Luke Wilson, this is a title you'll want to consider.
For a complete listing of all the Blu-ray titles released today,
click here.