TMNT [HD DVD and DVD Combo]

Finally, there's the animation, which by today's CGI standards is good but not distinctive. In some scenes it has a herky-jerky look and feel to it, like the first "Spider-Man" movie. Maybe it's supposed to look like a video game, I don't know, because it has the dark, hushed hues of a video game, albeit with beautifully detailed, almost photorealistic, backgrounds.

Video:
On flip sides of this HD DVD and DVD Combo disc, WB offer two versions of the film, one in standard definition (480) and one in high definition (1080). You pay a few dollars more to get your cake and eat it, too. Both sides preserve the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 (showing up across my screen, given a small degree of overscan, at about 2.28:1). The SD image is beautifully clear for standard definition, with no grain or noise anywhere. The high-bit-rate, anamorphic transfer is also beautiful in conveying the resolution and detail of a good standard-def DVD. I have little to complain about here, except that the filmmakers chose an oddly subdued color palette for their movie, perhaps, as I said earlier, to simulate the look of a video game.

On the HD DVD side, the picture is, as expected, even better. Yes, I know it's not really fair to compare CGI-rendered images to a real-life ones, the cartoon always looking better because it has less nuance to convey, but the HD DVD video is terrific by any standard. Again, the screen is admirably clean, the delineation is as perfect as it could be, the colors--slightly muted on purpose--are rendered flawlessly, and backgrounds look as good as the best still photographs. To be fair, the standard-definition picture looks good, too, and it is only on direct comparison that a viewer might notice any significant improvement.

Audio:
The movie has a loud, booming soundtrack, nicely reproduced via Dolby Digital 5.1 audio processing on the standard-def side of the disc and via Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and TrueHD 5.1 on the HD side. As you listen to these soundtracks one after the other, they get progressively better. In regular DD, there are some reasonably wide dynamics, a robust bass, and an effective use of the surrounds for every stray noise that passes. The sound mix balances the midrange into the scheme of things pretty well, so one can hear the dialogue properly through all the commotion.

With Dolby Digital Plus, you get an ounce more clarity, especially noticeable in the midrange, and then with TrueHD a touch more spaciousness in the soundstage. I also noticed a bit more refinement with the TrueHD overall, but after clicking back and forth for ten minutes, I may have begun imagining things. The fact is, though, when you instantly compare the DD+ and TrueHD, you will notice differences. I found the TrueHD best, but other people might disagree or hear no differences at all.

Extras:
There is an assortment of extras duplicated on both sides of the disc, all of them in 480 resolution and most of them about the making of the film. First up is an audio commentary by writer-director Kevin Munroe, available with or without English captions for the hearing impaired. Munroe tells us that this is his very first commentary, which makes sense since this is his very first big-screen movie. After that, we get an alternative opening and ending, totaling about four or five minutes, again with director commentary. Next, there are several extended and deleted scenes, each a minute or two long, often in rough cuts or previsualizations: "Mickey's Birthday Party," "Splinter Gets Cake," "Still Wanna Fight?," "Rooftop Workout," and "Raphael Roughhouse Test." Following those, there are "Donny's Digital Data Files," about two minutes; "Monsters Come Alive," a side-by-side comparison of storyboard and CGI action; an Internet reel trailer; and "Voice Talent: First Look," five minutes of interviews with Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Geller, Laurence Fishburne, and others.

The bonuses wind down with twenty-one scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired in both SD and HD. Then, for the HD side, we also get pop-up menus, bookmarks, a gauge of elapsed time, and a zoom-and-pan feature, the disc contained in an Elite Red HD case.

Parting Shots:
Maybe if I were ten years old I would have enjoyed this film more. Not that I actually disliked it, you understand, especially as its new high-definition picture and sound are so good. I just didn't find much in its plot or characters beyond the ordinary. As it is, "TMNT" seems mostly flat and tired, with a script that spends more of its time getting the Turtles back together as a team than developing a coherent or engaging plot line. Old fans will undoubtedly appreciate the movie, but I don't know that it will win over many viewers who are not already familiar with the characters. Unless they just like everything in HD.

"We strike hard, defend, protect, and fade into the night.... I love being a Turtle."

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