Paramount Unveils Specs for HD DVD Launch Titles; First Paramount Discs Reviewed
Posted Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 12:22 PM PDT by
Following Paramount's recent announcement of its first three waves
of titles to debut on HD DVD, the studio has now revealed full specs for each
of the releases, which are set to include a wealth of bonus features as well
as optional DTS soundtracks on all titles.
All of Paramount's initial HD DVD launch titles will be HD-30 dual-layer discs
and present the film in its original aspect ratio and be encoded in 1080p. Dolby
Digital-Plus 5.1 surround tracks will be standard on all titles as well as optional
DTS 5.1 surround tracks (select releases will include DTS-HD and/or DTS-ES
6.1 surround mixes).
The titles will also feature the same supplemental content as their standard
DVD counterparts, including audio commentaries, featurettes and deleted scenes.
Paramount's approach continues the strategy of fellow HD DVD supporting studios
Warner and Universal, which also uniformly include the same extras as the standard
DVD releases.
Paramount's first three waves of HD DVD titles include: '
Lara
Croft: Tomb Raider,' '
Sahara,'
'
Sleepy Hollow'
and '
Sky Captain and
the World of Tomorrow' (July 25); '
Four
Brothers,' '
The
Manchurian Candidate' and '
We
Were Soldiers' (August 1); '
Aeon
Flux,' '
The
Italian Job' and '
U2:
Rattle & Hum' (August 8).
Complete details for all four of Paramount's initial HD DVD titles, including
box cover art, have been added to our complete
HD
DVD Release Schedule.
High Def Digest has also begun posting the web's first full-length reviews of
the Paramount titles, including '
Sleepy
Hollow' and '
Sahara.'
Stay tuned for reviews of all of Paramount's remaining launch titles in the
days ahead.