Cinderella Man (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B+     Extras: B+     Film: B+

 

 

Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man (2005) may not have made the comeback it could have during the strange Academy Awards that did not seem to know what to do with itself, but the regular DVD release did get the film more exposure and it is a film people are still talking about as it continues to slowly get out to the public on various video outlets.  Now comes the HD-DVD and it does a whole new justice to the film.  For more about the film and its extras, see the regular Special Edition DVD review at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3078/Cinderella+Man+-+Collector's+Edition+(Widescreen)

 

 

Needless to say I not only feel the same way about the film, but the more I watch it, the more I realize what a great film it is.  On HD-DVD, it is more obvious than ever.  The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is a marked improvement over the regular DVD image, with much better Video Black, Video White, detail and color richness than the regular DVD could ever be capable of.  Salvatore Totino’s work here is just amazing and the HD-DVD presents it so well, it is like watching a really good 16mm or 35mm film print trying to come through the HD image and often succeeding.  The production design by Wynn Thomas is just stunning and watching this on HD-DVD is like a time machine window to the past.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is much more like the great sound mix heard in theaters, versus the plain old Dolby Digital 5.1 from the DVD, not on this HD-DVD.  This mix has character and easily complements the terrific picture performance.

 

Cinderella Man joins Training Day and Serenity as the early demo quality HD-DVD titles everyone will want to see.  Like the title character, this HD-DVD is a winner.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo