Our 10 Best Software Award winners.
Nothing less than our picks for the best demo material of the past year.
Iron Man: Ultimate Two-Disc Edition (Blu-ray)
In watching Iron Man, one gets the sense that director Jon Favreau said, “Yeah, let’s tell a great story, but what I really want to do is make projectors and amplifiers smoke!”
And did he ever.
The second half of the movie could best be summed up as follows: living, breathing crash-test dummy in shiny metallic armor with rockets on his feet, a bucket on his head, and missile launchers on his shoulders beats the snot out of pretty much everybody.
If that doesn’t sound like the makings of a sphincter-tightening, filling-rattling home theater demo, I don’t know what does.
The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray)
It may have been the verdigris-headed stepchild of this summer’s slate of superhero flicks, but this quasi-reboot of Ang Lee’s disastrous 2003 snooze-fest gets Show-Off bonus points for taking its “Hulk smash!” mantra to heart.
Nearly every scene pummels the screen with detailed debris and bold splashes of comicbook color that would have made Jack “The King” Kirby proud.
And the sound is a beast in and of itself. If your subwoofer doesn’t rip through the room like a gamma-fueled mutant with a bad attitude and a bone to pick during the final fight sequence, it might be time to call your custom installer for an upgrade.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PlayStation 3)
This unparalleled interactive magnum opus blurs the line between movies and games, not only with its renowned storytelling techniques, but also its groundbreaking cinematic framing and frighteningly realistic visuals.
From the opening scenes you’ll find yourself feeling less like a gamer and more like a movie star, thrown onto a dusty dystopian back lot without a script.
You’re on your own for crafts services, too.
But the payoff is that you get to explore a disturbingly detailed world that looks like it was dreamt up by that twisted little neighbor kid from Toy Story after a few hard years and a stint in the Special Forces.
LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation 3)
This deliciously delightful little romp is nothing like Metal Gear, but that’s not saying much; it’s actually unlike anything you’ve ever seen or played before.
Imagine a sort of 21st-century Super Mario Bros., but set in a sumptuous semi-3D world packed to the gills with Crayola colors and textures so rich you’ll just want to dive into the screen and wallow in them.
Best of all, once you’ve beaten the game you’ll have all the tools you need to craft a jaw-dropping fairy tale world of your own, limited only by your imagination.
A homemade Show-Off—what could be better than that? (Hint: nothing.)
The Fall (Blu-ray)
This heartbreaking little bedtime story may not boast the best action scenes or the most explosions, but what it does have is a one-of-a-kind aesthetic and a film-like presence that must be seen to be believed.
If your friends have complained that they have a hard time appreciating the difference between DVD and Blu-ray, pop this one in to set them straight.
With none of the heavy-handed picture processing that plagues so many high-definition transfers bogging things down, you’ll swear you can taste the tang of desert dirt on the back of your throat, and feel the thread-count in the luscious, vibrant fabrics that dominate the film’s fantasy sequences.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Blu-ray)
If your eyes are feeling a little overwhelmed by all the color, not to worry; this magnificently macabre Tim Burton musical still makes for one of the year’s best Show-Offs, with hardly a happy hue to be found in its chilling two-hour run.
It’s no less stunning, though—in fact, the film’s bold chiaroscuro contrasts weave together to craft a rich, dimensional image that’s disturbingly inviting despite all the dankness.
What really sets the Blu-ray apart from the DVD, though, is the ten-foot-tall Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, which pushes the music along with sweet vocals, thumping percussion, and strings thick enough to hold up the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition (Blu-ray)
There has been no shortage of amazing computer-animated releases this year, but for my money the cartoon that deserves the spotlight is the retro-tastic restoration of Disney’s 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty.
This brilliant Blu-ray transfer preserves the original ultra-widescreen Technicolor presentation of the film beautifully; in fact, the presentation itself is practically transparent.
Every line flows with fluid grace. Every color oozes off the screen.
You’ll feel as if you’re looking at, not a highfalutin’ digital copy of decades-old three-strip celluloid, but rather the original animation cells themselves, straight from the artists’ hands and still waiting to dry.
Speed Racer (Blu-ray)
Sadly, this kooky cartoon adaptation makes its way to Blu-ray with a boring old compressed Dolby Digital soundtrack (no Plus, no TrueHD, no nothing), so it pulls off the starting line with a severe handicap.
But it isn’t long before you forget the less-than-perfect sound and get lost in a visual experience that falls somewhere between a sugar high and an acid trip inside a giant liquid kaleidoscope.
Another few minutes of neon colors, razor-sharp details, and shadows the shade of the deepest depths of a black hole and you might even forgive the ridiculous writing and laborious acting. Seriously. It looks that good.
Chamber Music Palisades: Shostakovich/Debussy/Brockman (DVD-Audio/Video or iTrax download)
The only way to effectively describe the sonic effect of this exquisite AIX Records release is hauntingly holographic.
As with all of Dr. Mark Waldrep’s other recordings, it strips away the crud and crappy compression that cripple so much of today’s music.
What’s left is a breath of fresh music—a sonic experience that verges on the transcendental. The recording’s instruments have weight. They take up space in the air around your room.
The music doesn’t simply move through the air; it moves the air with it, filling the spaces between your speakers with a rich verisimilitude that few music fans will ever be lucky enough to hear at home.
For our full review, check out hifiTunes.
Across the Universe (Blu-ray)
Writer/director Julie Taymor may be woefully incapable of stringing together a coherent narrative, but who can deny the bombastic audiovisual splendor of her films?
Her latest—a helter-skelter tour of the volatile 1960s strung together with some of the best Beatles covers ever laid down—is no exception; in fact, it may well be her most beautifully incoherent spectacle yet.
The soundtrack blasts through the room like a Fab Four bullet blasted out of a warm gun, and the visuals come off like a cross
between a Calvin Klein advert and a thermonuclear meltdown at a Jelly Belly factory.
But in a good way.
Also check out our 10 Best Design and 10 Best Gear winners
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