Hi-Def Preview

A Mighty Heart

Paramount Home Entertainment

Release Date: 10/23/07

Review By: JoeRod

Picture Quality - 2.5/5

Audio Quality -3/5

Special Features -2/5

OVERALL - 2.5/5

Comments: This VC-1 HD DVD is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The story of Daniel Pearl (A Mighty Heart) is about the diary of his wife Marianne. During her 9 days of turmoil the story is centered around her. And like the real life situation which did not turn out good, neither did this HD DVD. Like the avalanche of information that will come throughout the entire story you will also get an avalanche of digital noise. Edge enhancement appears in nearly every scene. They were going for a pale colored look but ended up with a washed out grainy look. Black levels are more gray. I hate to compare this to a really good SD dvd or satellite broadcast but this movie literally looks like HD LITE. The only thing this title has going for it is there are a few scenes which actually came out very good.

Audio: The Dolby TrueHD sondtrack gets a higher rating than the picture. Though it really is not earth-shattering it does a couple of things right. Dialogue is clear and distinct. You will get good spatial sound which will envelope your room. If it weren't for this Dolby TrueHD soundtrack you might not believe you are watching (and hearing) a HD DVD.

Special Features: With all the news broadcasts about this incident I would have expected more. Journey Of The Passion was actually pretty good. It takes you behind the scenes. There was some good information there in the interviews. The the Committee to Protect Journalists segment talks about how many have been killed over the years. And finally a "special" message from CNN about the Daniel Pearl Foundation. I was very grateful Christiane Amanpour was not in HD!

OVERALL: The story is not bad at all. Especially since it is a true story. I am just shocked this is the same studio (Paramount) that released Transformers HD DVD the same week. I guess it just goes to show you that you can't win them all...

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