xXx (Blu-ray)

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"xXx" is presented in a 2.35:1 transfer. I find it very nice to not have to type the word anamorphic all of the time. That is one of the great things about Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The transfers are all native widescreen. No more of that "Enhanced for widescreen TVs" labeling. Colors are bright and colorful. Flesh tones are superb. So far, Blu-Ray does present great contrast and coloring. Shadow detail and black levels are good as well, though a couple scenes appeared a bit more gray than black. Detail, as mentioned, is all over the place. One moment it amazes and the next minute it doesn´t quite amaze. Much of this may be due to the MPEG-2 compression or the current space limitations of the single layer. It may also be due to the young nature of the format. I´m not scolding Blu-Ray for these shortcomings (except maybe the dual-layer problems), but just making you, the reader, aware that Blu-Ray is in a state similar to where DVD was when it was just a baby.

Sound:

I continue to really enjoy Blu-Ray´s decision to support Uncompressed PCM 5.1 audio as its ´use it if you can support it´ sound format. Dolby Digital 5.1 is provided as well and it too sounds quite good. My ears seemed to think that the Dolby Digital track was identical to the SD-DVD Dolby Digital track in an A-B comparison, though the volume level was slightly different. However, the PCM mix was all about excitement. Every silly and over-the-top moment sounded spectacular. There is a wide range of directional effects, ambient effects and in-your-face sound effects that just make this an exciting film to listen to. Dialogue is crisp and clear, though during some of the more poignant moments of the film´s audio presentation words do tend to get drowned out by the big explosions and such. I have not yet decided if this was bad or good considering the film´s writing.

All six channels are heavily used by both the PCM track and the Dolby Digital track. The avalanche scene rumbles deeply and challenges any .1 LFE channel to try to keep up. The combustible wooden building scenes feature gunfire from many directions and the sound field envelopes the viewer in gunfire. The films pulsing musical score beats heavily throughout the film. It is just a shame that your eyes are tortured while your ears are rewarded. I found myself loving the soundtrack to "House of Flying Daggers" and while "xXx" is not quite as powerful and amazing as that soundtrack, the uncompressed PCM mix is a huge step over the previous DVD soundtrack, especially at higher volume levels.

Extras:

The biggest complaint I have about Blu-Ray right now is the complete lack of supplements. HD-DVD is doing a great job of adding value-added content ("Cinderella Man" and "Jarhead" add supplements from the costlier multi-disc editions) and releases are slowly starting to show HD-DVD only features. They are trying to make that new format a worthy replacement of the old standard. Blu-Ray, on the other hand, seems like the next generation of Superbit releases. You get a higher quality transfer of the film, but no supplements. Will there be a Blu-Ray Deluxe?

I do not own a copy of the most recent release of "xXx," as owning one copy of the film on DVD seemed to be enough for me. There was a bit of interest in knowing how Xander Cage died and sometimes a temptation did exist to go find out. The Blu-Ray release of "xXx" I preordered when I blindly expected all of the recent supplements to appear on it. I didn´t do my homework and was rewarded with no special features and still no first hand account on what happened to Xander Cage. Sony gets my money and I get no satisfaction. There are a couple previews on the disc as a sort of apology from Sony, but deep down I know their motivation is to simply sell me more Blu-Ray discs and then make me buy them again when the dual layered releases hit the market.

Closing Thoughts:

I enjoy about fifteen total minutes of "xXx" and even half of that time I feel like the filmmakers are purposely insulting my intelligence. The film is noisy and in-your-face. If you are looking for pure mindless fun that cares nothing for a screenplay or sensibility, then perhaps "xXx" is a movie for you. Popcorn movies entertain me as much as the next guy, but I don´t enjoy being insulted by my entertainment. Sony has delivered us the best looking transfer of "xXx" yet. Not the best looking Vin film. That award would go to "Chronicles of Riddick" on HD-DVD. If you have that luxury, I´d recommend putting your money there. The sound is very good on this disc. I´m really loving the uncompressed PCM tracks. The picture goes from very good to looking more like upconverted standard definition DVD. What is almost as insulting as the cigarette seeking camcorder launched missile is the complete lack of supplements. I would have been much more forgiving if Blu-Ray were releasing 2-disc sets and charging five dollars more.

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