Hi-Def Preview

The Spider-Man Trilogy

Spider-Man

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: 10/30/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality – 4.25/5

Audio Quality – 4.5/5

Special Features - 0/5

Overall – 4.25/5

Comments: The new Blu-ray release of Spider-Man is a substantial improvement over its DVD counterpart. For this encode Sony went with an AVC encode and I watched using the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound option. This release of Spider-Man was virtually free of any film debris and was free of noise as well. I also saw no hints of macroblocking in any of the action sequences. I do want to place a word of caution here. This release contains a moderate amount of film grain. Because of this the picture will not be as sharp as lets say “Crank” however it is as the Director intended. I personally like a moderate amount of film grain for certain movies and this one qualifies. I do have to say though that to my eye, this release of Spider-Man has a bit of “red-push” with flesh-tones. I ran a recalibration of my set-up just to make sure all setting were correct and they were. This “red-push” I speak of can become slightly distracting at times.

The TrueHD track for this release was very good. It rivaled some of the best PCM releases I have heard. The Center Channel did an exceptional job of presenting the dialog in a clear and understandable manner. The Surrounds were used frequently and effectively and the LFE was booming throughout the presentation, especially towards the end of the film during the fire fight scene between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. As mentioned before this new release of Spider-Man is a substantial improvement over the DVD version of this film, so if you are a fan of this film, I highly recommend this purchase.

Spider-Man 2 (2.1)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: 10/30/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality – 4.5/5

Audio Quality – 4.75/5

Special Features - 3/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Comments: The new Blu-ray release of Spider-Man 2 is a substantial improvement over its DVD counterpart, much like Spider-Man was. For this encode Sony went with an AVC encode and I watched using the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound option. This release of Spider-Man 2 was virtually free of any film debris and was free of noise as well. I also saw no hints of macroblocking in any of the action sequences. Much like Spider-Man, this release contains a moderate amount of film grain. Because of this the picture will look slightly soft in some of the darker scenes. I personally like a moderate amount of film grain for certain movies and this one qualifies much like Spider-Man did. The flesh-tones of this release did not have the “red-push” which was noticeable of Spider-Man. This release also appeared more vibrant and had more “pop” to the image during the outdoor scenes as compared to Spider-Man.

The TrueHD track for this release was very good, however I would rank it slightly higher then Spider-Man. It too rivaled some of the best PCM releases I have heard. The Center Channel did an exceptional job of presenting the dialog in a clear and understandable manner. The Surrounds were used frequently and effectively and the LFE was strong throughout the presentation, especially during the train fight scene between Spider-Man and Doc Ock. This was perhaps the most enveloping and impressive sound sequence I have ever on HDM. This release also allows you to watch Spider-Man 2.1 which includes additional footage and extended fight sequences which were not seen in theaters. I assume that this feature to include the 2.1 cut is implemented using seamless branching. I will contact Sony to confirm. As mentioned before this new release of Spider-Man 2 is a substantial improvement over the DVD version of this film, so if you are a fan of this film, I highly recommend this purchase.

Spider-Man 3

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: 10/30/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality – 4.75/5

Audio Quality – 4.75/5

Special Features - 5/5

Overall – 4.75/5

Comments: For this release Sony used an AVC encode and offers either a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or PCM 5.1 option for sound. This is without a doubt one of the best releases I have seen in quite some time in-terms of PQ. Out of the three Spider-Man Blu-ray releases, this one in the best for PQ. This release has minimal film grain and is sharper and more vibrant than the other two. I saw absolutely no hint of macroblocking or noise in any scene, including action sequences. Also the colors, especially flesh-tones were spot-on. Even darker scenes had a sharper and less soft feel to them. In-fact this may be the best release I have seen thus far for presentation of dark scenes on HDM. For this viewing I listened using the Dolby TrueHD option and once again I was blown away. The Center Channel did an exceptional job of presenting the dialog in a clear and understandable manner. The Surrounds were used frequently and effectively and the LFE was strong throughout the entire presentation. Again this release rivaled the best PCM encodes I have heard on HDM. I have to say TrueHD is really growing on me! This release also contains a second disc full of Special Features. My personal favorite was “Grains Of Sand – Building Sandman.” This is a look at the creation and history of the character, Sandman. If you are a fan of this film or in high quality HDM, I highly recommend this purchase.