Aeon Flux (2005/HD-DVD)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C     Film: C

 

 

Paramount has chosen the feature film remake of Aeon Flux as among its first HD-DVDs and soon Blu-ray titles.  It looked so good on DVD that they would have been foolish not to choose it and since it did not do well upon initial release, so a fresh new action production like this makes sense to issue.  I liked a few aspects of this film, but continue to see it as a real missed opportunity.  The review for the film in its original standard DVD release form can be found at:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3679/Aeon+Flux+–+Special+Collector’s+Edition+(2005/Widescreen)

 

 

That leaves us looking at the new performance aspects of this disc.  The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition is actually better than the original DVD, but instead of outdoing it, the improvements are held back by how the improved definition reveals new flaws, limits in color & detail and how digital red is still an issue with HD.  This was filmed in Super 35mm, but a Digital Internegative was then used to an extent that gives the film a candy color look.  That color is richer here than the regular DVD, but it is funny what you can get away with in lower definition formats.  This does look better than the horrible HD trailers on both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD demo discs.

 

Sound is much more like it, with the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 from the standard DVD being easily outperformed by the Dolby Digital Plus and DTS 5.1 soundtracks here.  I like them both, each with different advantages, but the most important thing is the improved articulation.  The same extras on the regular DVD are here, though the trailer is in HD, but enough already.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo