The Fountain (HD DVD)

I already reviewed the DVD edition of The Fountain (see here) and I am happy to see that many of you read it, so when reviewing the HD DVD I am only going to take a look at the different elements rather than repeat myself all over again.

First off, the HD DVD edition comes as a HD DVD/DVD combo disc with the DVD edition on one side and the HD DVD edition on the other. Both sides include the "Inside the Fountain: Death and Rebirth" six-part documentary I spoke about in my DVD review and on both sides of the disc it is offered in standard definition only. However, the HD DVD side not only includes the high definition transfer of the film and a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack, it also includes a few extra features.

The first feature is a cool little mock-interview as Hugh Jackman is sitting in the make-up chair and co-star Rachel Weisz chats it up with the actor as two ladies draw tattoos on his arms. The interview was done on the last day of shooting and is actually quite entertaining as Jackman talks about how he got involved in the film and his thoughts on the material and working with Darren Aronofsky. It is light and actually quite good. It runs just over 13 minutes.

The second featurette is a step-by-step look at some of the visual effects for the film, primarily centered on the bubble ship of the future and a little bit of the conquistador's quest for the Tree of Life. It is pretty cool as it is quick and highlighted with Clint Mansell's amazing score, but I really would have wanted to see more of how they went from Peter Parks' Petri dish work to the organic atmosphere of the Xibalba nebula, but there is a bit of that to come.

The third new feature is a storyboard-to-scene featurette that I personally never am all that interested in. I don't care what the storyboards looked like, it just doesn't interest me.

The final new feature is the Peter Parks macro photography loop. Now this is really cool. You seem all the organic backgrounds in space as Jackman's character hurtles through space in his bubble with the Tree of Life in search of the Xibalba nebula, are created in Petri dishes using various kinds of chemical reactions and then photographed and altered to fit the film. This feature takes a look at that photography untouched and is offered in a five minute loop with one of Mansell's songs playing in the background. The piece loops over and over again and you never have to turn it off if you don't like. Actually you could just pop the soundtrack into your stereo and have at it with a cool little screensaver.

If you are an owner of an HD DVD player this is the best way to watch The Fountain, it is truly beautiful. I still recommend at least a rental of this film and if you want to get my opinion of the film itself read my review here and for my thoughts on the DVD edition read here. This is a film that took balls to make and as you will see in the Weisz and Jackman interview conversation, everyone can have a different opinion and this film just opens up so many avenues for conversation.