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Terminator: Salvation BD-Live director commentary impressions
One of the main problems with initial Blu-ray director's chat sessions was a lack of feeling any life or interactivity, but Warner gave it another shot this weekend by offering audio over BD-Live as a moderator bounced audience provided questions off of director McG while watching Terminator: Salvation. Despite a less than stellar reputation, BD-Live has continued to slowly creep along, adding features and enhancements, so we wanted to if this event bodes well for the future of internet enabled discs. Check after the break for our impressions, plus a few clips of the director talking about what he did and didn't like about the finished product, director's cuts in general, and the possibility of doing another Terminator movie. %Gallery-79793%
Terminator: Salvation's McG hosts the first audio Blu-ray director's chat session tonight
It's been a little over a year since we first checked out a live director's chat session on Blu-ray with Guillermo del Toro and Hellboy II, and now Warner is prepared to take the next step by letting interested fans hear their questions answered rather than simply reading text for the duration of the movie. the first release so honored? Terminator: Salvation and its director McG. Everything's set to go off at 9 p.m. est, with only a copy of the movie, BD-Live connected player, registration on Warner's website and an appetite for yet another sequel in an action movie franchise that topped out two movies and almost as many decades ago. A chance to see if Blu-ray's interactive potential can ever pay off means we're in, interested parties can sign up at the read link below, if you can't make it check back later, we'll try and grab some audio. Update: Well, we're logged in and ready to go, we'll save you our 30 seconds of confusion and remind that you'll need to insert the director's cut disc to access the BD-Live menu. Feel free to add "Rjcc" as a buddy on Warner's BD-Live setup.
Terminator: Salvation Blu-ray review roundup
It didn't crack the podium on our most anticipated Blu-ray poll behind current number one selling Star Trek, but Terminator: Salvation's feature-laden release December 1 has already made the review circuit and come away with some widely varying opinions. The good news is the picture doesn't disappoint, with a clear transfer and elaborate special effects, although BigPictureBigSound's reviewer found a few issues with a bluish matte line appearing at times, plus a few notes about compression and noise in clouds of dust and smoke also noted in other reviews. On the audio front, the DTS-HD MA soundtrack by all accounts is an impressive treatment, with the only "problem" that viewers might want to dial back slightly on the bass to avoid waking the neighbors. Of the extras included in the U.S. release of the film, the only real issue seems to be a lack of seamless branching, requiring viewers to forego the Director's Cut and its extra few minutes of Moon Bloodgood in order to walk through the flick in Maximum Movie mode with director McG and others showing how they pulled off many of the shots. The European edition released by Sony does feature seamless branching, although CNET UK and DVD Times both complained of slow loads and glitches on their players as a result, with the latter also finding some possible compression issues from being squeezed on one disc. Whatever your choice, check the reviews and make it soon as Warner is planning a one time only BD-Live community screening with the director answering questions via audio December 5.
Watchmen BD-Live director's chat set for Comic-Con
Beyond its Facebook ties, the Watchmen Blu-ray set will include the opportunity to participate in a BD-Live session with the director while he's live at Comic-Con four days after its release on July 25. Hopefully able to do a better job of creating a live experience for home viewers than our experience with Hellboy II: The Golden Army or The Dark Knight, Video Business reports event attendees can watch the movie and observer director Zack Snyder's responses. Other details revealed during a media presentation yesterday included the Blu-ray cut's Maximum Movie Mode, a session that takes the run time up to three hours so Snyder can step in and explain various behind the scenes details of the movie -- only hardcore fans need apply.
Sony still pushing the potential of BD-Live, but is anyone listening?
Still believe in the potential of BD-Live? Sony does, exec David Bishop called this the "Pong" stage of development in the technology during an industry demo yesterday on its lot. Apparently wanting to get some fresh eyes on BD-Live after some glitchy releases and underwhelming features, Sony, Disney and others are still trying to find different ways to work BD-Live into their discs, and new wireless capable players like Samsung's 2009 models mighty see more people going online. We've seen live directors chats, games, story databases and other twists, but at the moment we're not as optimistic about where BD-Live is headed in 2009 and beyond.
Hellboy II BD-Live director's chat event recap
Blu-ray's Internet capabilities got a brand new push this weekend, with the first director's chat featuring Hellboy II: The Golden Army's Guillermo del Toro live from New Zealand. Didn't get home in time to access the event (scattered forum posts reported problems logging in at all, or people who were logged in but unable to access the comments), or might not have the movie? No problem, here's a quick look at things after the break, and hopefully a preview of what to expect from future director / fan chats.%Gallery-37835%
