I received the new anamorphic DVD re-issue of "Baraka" for Christmas. This version is made from the 8k Ultradigital HD master used for the new Blu-ray disc. It was originally filmed in 2.21:1 70mm. Beautiful DVD transfer! I checked the real-time bit rate meter on my Sony DVP-C600D player (still going strong, baby!) during several scenes and it was practically maxed-out at 9 or 10 Mbps the whole time. They took full advantage of the format and used the least amount of compression possible for the DVD.. There is a scene of a large flock of white cranes taking flight from a huge glassy lake that is just clean as a whistle - no jaggies, no blurring, it's virtually high-def. The video on this disc is cleaner than the DVD issue of the Planet Earth series. It really shows how the format still has some good life left in it when care is taken in creating the disc with good source material. ;)
Baraka is in the same vein as Winged Migration, et al but is different and quite moving. If you haven't seen this 1992 film, it's worth checking out. Audio is great too with a choice of DD or DTS 24/96 5.1.
The Superbit version of the first Spiderman movie is also excellent for a demo. The skin-tones of the actors are very well saturated and film-like and the 1.85:1 aspect ratio really fills the screen for maximum impact on a front-projection system.
