Seabiscuit (HD DVD)

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Seabiscuit" is an absolutely gorgeous film and a true gem of an HD-DVD.

Sound:

As a period film and a drama, "Seabiscuit" is not the kind of film that typically contains and loud and bombastic soundtrack. It aspires to be quiet and tender in nature for long periods of time, but fortunately, there are moments in the movie that leap to life and place you nicely in the center of the action. The English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix is very nicely done and especially remarkable during the horse racing sequences when you are placed in the middle of the hard galloping animals. The sequences are loud. Each heavy hitting hoof can be felt. If you´ve ever wandered what it sounds like to be on a horse and to be directly between two other horses as you round the corner before the home stretch, "Seabiscuit" on HD-DVD will give you that sonic experience. During these scenes, the rear surrounds and subwoofer are heavily used and all six channels nicely spring to life. Scenes that take place in the countryside or among the streets of the Great Depression have nice atmospheric and ambient effects and serve as a nice contrast to the heavy hitting racing scenes. The horse racing scenes of the film sound strong enough to show off your home theater setup. Dialogue is strong and clear and both Spanish and French soundtracks are provided in 5.1 sound.

Extras:

"Seabiscuit" was previously released as a single disc and two-disc editions. In typical Universal fashion, all of the supplements from the limited 2-disc set have been carried over to the HD-DVD release. They had done this previously with "Jarhead" and "Ray." "Seabiscuit" contains a wealth of bonus materials that detail both the making of the very good film and recount the actual history of the little Stallion and his storied career. One of the reasons I have given HD-DVD the nod over Blu-Ray in the early going is because of the efforts of both Warner Bros. and Universal to port over all of the materials from their best standard definition releases. I had passed on "Seabiscuit" when it was released on standard definition DVD, but had seen it theatrically. Part of the reason was that I wanted the limited edition release, but didn´t have the money on me when it was released and had never gotten back to purchasing it. That is a moot point now that the HD-DVD contains everything the pricier limited set contained.

The Feature Commentary with Director Gary Ross and Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh is the sole commentary track on the disc. Soderbergh is a friend and colleague of Gary Ross and had nothing to do with the actual production of "Seabiscuit," but his involvement here is welcomed. The two have a wonderful dynamic and Soderbergh routinely asks nicely pointed questions to Ross about the development of the movie. Most of the commentary is centered on the actual production of the movie and details are provided in the commentary that can only be found in the commentary. There are some minor details on the historical aspects and accuracy of the film, but the vast majority of it is about brining the story of "Seabiscuit" to the silver screen.

The feature Bringing the Legend to Life: The Making of Seabiscuit runs for about a quarter of an hour and contains the typical promotional interviews and segments that serve to not only promote the film, but provide a quick look on the making of the movie. It is not a bad feature and contains some nice pieces on "Seabiscuit," but only scratches the surface of the effort. Anatomy of a Movie Moment is another relatively short feature and finds the film´s director breaking down a scene from the film and details how he started with the screenplay and lays out the various steps in bringing that scene to life. Seabiscuit: Racing Through History is another fifteen minute feature involving Gary Ross. This vignette gives historical background on Seabiscuit and details the horses place in history. I was disappointed at the length of this particular supplement and found myself wanting to know more about the horse and the interesting men that helped mold him into a champion stallion. Photo Finish: Jeff Bridges´ On-Set Photographs is an interesting feature. The actor took a series of very nice photographs during the making of the film and they are shown here as an animated gallery that is accentuated with various bits of music.

Archival footage of Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral: The 1938 Match Race are included on the disc and it is fascinating to look at the actual race and then compare it to how the race was recreated for the film. The footage is old and scratchy, but I enjoyed seeing the real horses that the film was based upon. Winner´s Circle: The Heroes Behind the Legend is a very good supplement that details the men who were part of the Seabiscuit legend. The True Story of Seabiscuit is another relatively lengthy supplement that deals with historical information on the racehorse. A lot of information about the horse is provided here and you get a good sense on where he came from and what he accomplished. The story of Seabiscuit is quite remarkable and these historical documentaries help cement that fact.

Finally, the major supplement that adorned the limited edition 2-disc DVD set is the HBO First Look special and is included here. These half hour specials are commonplace on HBO and commonly do a good job detailing the making of the film they are centered on and provide additional background on the story. The "HBO First Look" special on "Seabiscuit" finds William H. Macy providing narration and looking at the legendary horse and the historical personalities that were involved with the horse. The actors that portrayed their real-life counterparts give their own thoughts on the real life people and others who were involved first-hand with Seabiscuit offer there remembrances. With the HD-DVD release, there are no theatrical trailers, but to the best of my knowledge, they were not contained on the standard DVD releases either.

Closing Comments:

The "Seabiscuit Gift Set Limited Edition" finds all of its on-disc content delivered to HD-DVD with very impressive visuals and quality sound. Although the HD-DVD packaging is not nearly as nice as the limited edition DVD, it is a quality addition to any film collection. The historical drama that tells the tale of an undersized and lazy horse and how a quiet outsider, scarred auto dealer and a half-blind and oversized jockey became a national phenomenon that helped an America deep in a Depression recover and find comfort. The story is captivating and interesting. There are inaccuracies, but the film keeps close enough to actual events to keep "Seabiscuit" honest. With a great cast and great performances, Universal has picked a winner from its catalog and delivered one of the better overall titles yet to be released on HD-DVD.

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