Terminator 2: Judgement Day (HD DVD)

just bought this film was really looking forward to watching this on hd dvd as i expected the picture quality to be superb but was left feeling disapointed really did not think the picture quality was any better than the dvd itself i have a lot of hd dvds and am happy with the picture quality of them all execpt this one they seem to have just5 transferd the one from the dvd to the hd dvd without any improvment to quality and not many extras on disc either

The details were sketchy on play for this title.

For thoses of you who like me have bought this movie at least 3 times previously I'd say think before you buy.

Picture: Perfect. I'm only viewing at 1080i due to the limitations of my Panasonic HD-Ready TV but the difference is clear. Trust me this easily gets into my top 5 HD-DVD titles for the clarity of the picture and richness of the colour alone.

Sound: This is where it really loses marks. Momentum are using dts-HD on all their Studio Canal releases. Some of us don't have this DTS format on our machines!! DTS is great in properly alligned theatres (cinemas) and of course for music DVDs/DVD-Audio but I really just find the format too damn loud for home cinema. It's just boom, crash, bang, and if you're lucky some music. The sound levels are such that unless your setup is either dead-on the dialogue is almost always drowned out or when explosions happen the whole house shakes!! It should be standard practice to include at least one type of Dolby soundtrack (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 seems to be standard for most studios). All things considered though this is one of the better DTS mixes but I still think that Momemtum will lose sales due to their sountrack choices. Last time I checked Dolby was still the industry standard (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD).

Extras: None. A trailer for HD-DVD releases.

Conclusion: Keep your T2 Ultimate Edition on Standard Definition DVD. It looks good when upscaled to near HD quality. It has Dolby tracks available and an audio commentary. Plus there is of course the exhaustive disc of extras (strangely though no Guns 'N Roses music video).

Keep the DVD of the Extended edition and your VHS/DVD of the theatrical version.

Unless you are absolutely desperate, wait for a future re-release (we can only live in hope).

All-in-all a mixed bag really.

T2 is my favourite Terminator movie and without doubt Arnies finest outing ever, and over the years I have owned VHS and DVD versions of this movie. So what should I have been expecting from this transfer ? After all this is a classic action movie which deserves the full HD treatment.
What we get here is half a treatment, a mediocre blend of reasonable (at times) image transfer badly let down by a very poor audio transfer.
This is the directors cut version of the movie and one I have not seen before. There are plenty of additional scenes to whet your appetite including a very welcome return of Michael Biehn (Kyle from T1) in a dream sequence of Linda Hamiltons. Much of the movie benefits very nicely from the HD treatment, outdoor scenes are extremely clear and almost 3 dimensional at times, unfortunately much of this movie is shot in dark indoor sets and this is where the transfer suffers.
Blacks are not so much black as murky blends of grey with even the odd area of blocking (a definate no no as far as HD is concerned). Many of the interior shots, especially in the last 15 mins of the movie are very grainy and not much better than the SD version.
Don't get me started on the audio. The specs on the cover state that T2 carries a Dolby DTS HD soundtrack. My amp plays HD DTS (as well as Dolby True HD), and there is absolutely no comparison between the two.
The audio transfer here has sacrificed clarity for big noise on certain scenes, so what you get are very loud explosions and gunshots, followed by vocals you can hardly hear at all and a very muted musical score.
Compared the the True HD audio of 300 and V for Vendetta, T2 is left way behind. Why ?
There are no new extras, just a very poor trailer and a ridiculous attempt to incorporate Studio Canals version of a THX picture and sound Optimizer, which might well work but who cares.
Finally just to top it all off try accessing the top menu whilst the film is running and off you go to the very start of the film again.
This version is not worth the money for the HD transfer alone. Mediocre visuals, poor audio and a bargain basement extras and menu set up.
By all means if you have not seen the Directors Cut before then buy it, but prepared to be under whelmed.

T2 is brilliant 1 of the best action films ever made maybe?? anyway had this on DVD looked ok, got it in HD looks amazing i can only think of 1 scene where the picture quality drops & this is at the very end when Arnold is in slow motion coming up on a gear or conveyor belt other than that picture was SICK!

Like some other reviewers here, I found the transfer rather disappointing and not to my liking; its far from "perfect" (e.g. they could have scrubbed the image a lot cleaner to remove specs of black/white noise, there's a far amount of grain throughout and night time detail could be better). Having said all that its image quality is still a lot better than my original SD but way short of where this HD needs to be to attract repeat consumers. I wasn't able to hear the "HD DTS" soundtrack as my amp only recognised it as (or downgraded it to) Dolby 5.1. The soundtrack is offered in French HD DTS also.