Excellent on Blu-Ray

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2007)

I saw this on hi-definition Blu-Ray disc and probably had a better experience than I would have done in a full-scale cinema. The disc reproduces the intentions seemingly perfectly - it has a luscious strip-cartoon-ish, almost video-game look, and grain, black crush and bronzing of colours are there when they should be. If you take the story on its own premises then you couldn't fault the visual rendition of it here.
The soundtrack is equally good. I listened in DD 5.1. The full surround is made use of almost constantly and effectively. Low bass is used when appropriate. One caveat: since the whole thing is processed or coloured in an artificial way in order to convey the spirit of the source, it is important to resist the temptation to twiddle with your projector or TV settings.
I'd call it demo material for hi-def across the full AV spectrum, though I wouldn't choose it as the only material because of its relatively extreme aesthetic and look. It's a fine example of a film that deserves a big screen and full-on AV system to convey its epic scale.