Basic Instinct - DVD vs Blu-ray (USA) vs HD DVD (France) Stats, info, etc.

HD DVD pics and specs from benes. Extras info from DVDCompare.net.

DVD USA Artisan Region 1 only "Standard" side 4.27GB
Theatrical VTS_01_1 to VTS_01_5.vob 2:07:24 4:3 MPEG-2 ?GB Dolby 5.1 384kbps
Dolby 2.0 192kbps Spanish
Dolby 2.0 192kbps Described Video
DVD USA Artisan Region 1 only "Widescreen" side 4.27GB
Theatrical VTS_01_1 to VTS_01_5.vob 2:07:24 Non-anamorphic MPEG-2 ?GB Dolby 5.1 384kbps
Dolby 2.0 192kbps Spanish
Dolby 2.0 192kbps Described Video
Extras Theatrical trailer
Cast & crew biographies
Production notes


Blu-ray USA Lionsgate Region A only 23.22GB
Unrated 00000 + 00044.m2ts 2:08:15 AVC 15.75GB (17.59Mbps) DTS-HD HR 6.1 3309kbps
Dolby 5.1-EX 640kbps
Dolby 2.0 192kbps commentary 1
(Verhoeven & de Bont)
Dolby 2.0 192kbps commentary 2
(Paglia)
Other extras Everything from the DVDs worldwide, EXCEPT:
No "Exclusive Interview with Paul Verhoeven" (Dutch with English subtitles) from Scandinavia SE
No 6:29 featurette from Scandinavia SE, UK SE, Germany SE, Holland SE, Spain SE, Portugal SE
No "Introduction by Sharon Stone" from USA UE
No "A Conversation with Sharon Stone" featurette from USA UE
No teaser trailer from USA SE & UE, UK SE, Germany SE, Holland SE, Spain SE, Portugal SE
No photo gallery from USA SE, UK SE, Germany SE, Holland SE, Spain SE, Portugal SE
No "Love Scene/Murder" storyboard from USA SE & UE, UK SE, Germany SE, Holland SE, Spain SE, Portugal SE
No cast & crew bios/production notes from USA & USA SE


HD DVD France Studio Canal Region Free ~21.19GB
Unrated ? 2:08:04 (pitch incorrect) VC-1 ?GB (16.98Mbps) DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless
DTS-HD HR 5.1 ?kbps French
DTS-HD HR 5.1 ?kbps German
Extras Theatrical trailer

Notes:
- "1GB" = 1,073,741,824 bytes
- video sizes are without audio (demuxed)

ADDITIONAL INFO, THOUGHTS, CONCLUSIONS
Ah, the horrors of pan & scan. The DVD is the first release before the anamorphic SE came out: it's a flipper that includes a "standard" side so I capped both for kicks. I'm not sure what's up with the bright blue bar on the left of the P&S. It starts off black in the first few minutes then switches to blue...

At some scene changes on the DVD, like 0-04-20;18 on the widescreen side, there are a few seconds where the pulldown is corrupted and interlacing artifacts appear that can't be removed by IVTC. The pattern also changes often.

The Blu-ray and HD DVD clearly come from the same source master, with the same framing. They both have a fairly large black bar on the left side for some reason, and the HD DVD adds a tiny one to the right that obscures a little extra picture. The BD black bars are halo'd, while the HD DVD top and bottom are clean and the left has some artifacting in the form of halo-like lines adjacent to the bar. More notably, colors and levels have been jacked on the BD, crushing blacks.

Then there is the DNR issue. The BD has clearly had the fine detail smoothed over, even leaving motion trails (0-07-28;12 rooftop). The HD DVD has better detail overall, but somehow has rampant blocking (or something similar) that obscures the appearance of natural grain. The Blu-ray does show some tiny details that are masked by this blocking.

The downscales show the BD's detail at very slightly above 720p level (good luck seeing the differences without magnifying), and the HD DVD's comfortably above 720p, probably somewhere in the low-to-mid 1080p range.

Like "Total Recall", the HD DVD of this film has a higher pitch than normal. I've included MP3 samples of the original BD sound along with one modified to the higher-pitched PAL rate. If you want to see if the HD DVD's sound would bother you without the correct pitch to compare to, you can check the PAL MP3 first.