2001 looks positively wonderful on HD. Crisp and clear, with a distinctive, almost three-dimensional appearance to many scenes, while retaining an extremely film-like transfer. Warner clearly knew this was going to be THE movie people would judge and put great care into it.
The Shining is a bit softer, particularly the opening and other outdoor shots, and looks to have a pinkish tint to the picture (the off-color tennis ball,
here, in Beaver's DVD comparison is similarly colored in the HD-DVD and is one of the more noticable instances) but still a very appealing, detailed image overall.
Eyes Wide Shut is, unfortunately, not terribly impressive. Color seems quite "thick" and saturated, grain is heavy throughout, and noise is prevalent on many dark objects (suits, cloaks, smoke and shadows, etc) to my eye. Looks marginally better than my R3 unedited DVD (which is also heavily grained) but far from being any sort of high-def showpiece. The case mentions having both rated and unrated versions selectable, though I can't find any way to do so -- it appears uncensored by default -- and the previously promised commentary is neither listed on the case or anywhere on the disc. This is one of my favorite Kubrick films and such an incredibly visual one at that, so this is disappointing.
Cant wait to get 2001.
