Last week Warner Bros released the HD-DVD version of Batman Begins, the best Batman movie since Michael Keaton played the part back in 1989. Returning to the roots of Batman “The Dark Knight” (the comics) was a brilliant move by Warner Bros. When the movie was released last week I could not wait to pop the movie into my Toshiba HD-D1 (Walmart version of the HD-A1). I had some issues locating the movie at first as most stores received the movie a day or two after the release.

Batman Begins HD-DVD comes to the party fully loaded with TrueHD support, The “In-Movie Experience” (full interactive features), tons of extras and support for 720p, 1080i and 1080p (1080p HD-DVD players will launch soon).

TrueHD allows for outstanding audio on the Toshiba HD-DVD player. Firmware version 2.0 for the Toshiba HD-DVD player enabled TrueHD for 5.1 (previous support was 2 channel only). The end result is the ability to hear the more subtle and sometimes hard to hear sound effects in movies due to the fact that the sound is bit for bit identical to the original master and is also “lossless”. TrueHD is supported via HDMI and Analog 5.1.

The “In-Movie Experience” consists of very cool interactive features enabled by the HD-DVD standard. The “In-Movie Experience” for Batman Begins allows you to view features while the movie is running. Once you enable the feature from the setup menu a video window will overlay at key points throughout the movie showing you things such as how a certain scene was shot or how special effects were applied to a scene. The “In-Movie Experience” also includes director commentary and some actor commentary. I really liked seeing how they filmed the scene where Bruce Wayne saves Henri Ducard from falling over the cliff after Ra's Al Ghul palace is destroyed in the explosion following Bruce’s refusal to kill the farmer accused of murder. The “In-Movie Experience” can vary from disk to disk. In some cases the features can be viewed without disrupting your movie viewing experience (such as in Tokyo Drift). But in the case of Terminator 3 and Batman Begins, the feature will lower audio during commentary and other video features. I suggest watching each movie first if you have never seen them before.

Before I begin the visual part of this review I want to list the displays I used during viewing this movie: Syntaxgroups Olevia 27” LT27HVS HDTV LCD and an Optoma EP-1690 720p projector. The resolution used for review was 1080i.

The movie itself is spectacular. I believe this is one of the best HD-DVD’s I have seen (on par with Chronicles of Riddick and Serenity). The color levels (including black) are some of the most accurate I have ever seen. In some HD-DVD movies the color is larger than life (which is ok by all means). The skins tones, color of the grass, texture of clothing is all very sharp and very realistic in Batman Begins. The level of detail in Batman’s suit is extremely impressive.

This HD-DVD version of Batman Begins is leaps and bounds above the Comcast HD Broadcast version of the movie. When viewing on my projector I nearly felt like I was on the set of the movie during filming, absolutely stunning. Quality on my Olevia 27” HDTV LCD was crystal clear. Of course HDTV LCD’s have better lighting and brighter colors than the projector. The color is so vivid it is hard to believe and always leaves me in awe.

Resolution is the other part of the equation. You can make out the blemishes on people faces and see every pore their face as well. Water and sweat is always impressive looking, nearly “unreal”. And the scenes in which the Scarecrow uses his hallucinogenic drug on people is so “intense” that I feel like I have been affected by the drug.

Audio in the movie is exactly what one would expect. Crisp, sharp, loud heart-pounding DTS Audio (Dolby Digital is also supported). Dialog is clear and can be easily heard regardless of the listen level. Bass and special effect sounds such as when the Bat Mobile is “flying on rooftops” is awesome. When I upgrade to a receiver with HDMI, I will review Batman Begins with TrueHD enabled.

The extras are overwhelming with features such as the hilarious “Tankman Begins” (a Batman Begins Spoof), Batman Begins Stunts, Path to Recovery (1st week of filming in remote locations), Cape and Cowl (making of the new Batman suit) and many many more.

To sum up this review, I highly recommend this $24.99 HD-DVD version of Batman Begins to “anyone” with a Toshiba HD-DVD player and the soon to come XBOX360 HD-DVD add-on drive.

All I can say to WB is bring on more great HD-DVD movies…