Babel: Combine Blu-ray Disc And HD DVD Review

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Title: Babel: Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Combined Media Review

Blu-ray Disc Region: A

HD DVD Region: N/A

Genre: Drama

Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Adriana Barraza, and Rinko Kikuchi

Writer: Guillermo Arraga

Based On An Idea By Guillermo Arraga and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Feature length: 143 minutes

Extras: Trailer

Blu-ray Disc Languages: English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

HD DVD Languages: English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles

Blu-ray Disc Packaging: Blue BD Case

HD DVD Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

Chapter Stops: 24

Blu-ray Disc Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

HD DVD Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2006/Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Vantage

Home Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Beware – Spoilers Begin Here

Babel is filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s conclusion to his “Trilogy Of Chance” though the film extends upon themes developed in previous entries; this trilogy is one of concept and not a literal sequel in the traditional sense. The film is quite ambitious in it’s scope with essentially four expanding stories that at first the viewer will think is going on all at once, but in reality the story is non linear so what we are basically seeing is a tragic chain of consequences that unite groups of people in four different countries out of sequence. One part involves a married couple in Morocco (Brad Pit and Cate Blanchett) who find themselves at the mercy of the people around them when the wife is shot on the tour bus. The shooting was an accident. Two poor kids were target practicing with their father’s rifle, which they have been charged with learning how to use in order to protect their father’s sheep farm from local predators. They did not even think the gun had that kind of range to reach the bus, but once they realize they’ve made a terrible mistake, they run away in fear and don’t tell their father what happened. Since we are in climate where Americans are not the most liked tourist group in certain countries due to contemporary events, the immediate reaction is that it was a terrorist sniper or something and the situation quickly grows out of control

Back in the United States, a Mexican nanny (Gael Garcia Bernal) is taking care of the son and daughter of the parents who are away in Morocco. When she is told she must stay with the kids abruptly by their father over the phone, who is too emotionally wound up to listen to the woman, she ends up taking the children with her to Mexico so she can see her son’s wedding. Things grow increasingly worse for her and the kids when they attempt to re-enter the country and the border guards think the children were kidnapped. In Japan, a deaf girl with some emotional issues probably related to abandonment (Rinko Kikuchi) gets herself into trouble through displaying things she shouldn’t be displaying in a public place to arouse the local boys. Her story intersects with the story of her father Koji Yakusho, a widower that sold a rifle overseas that just happens to be the same one the kids shot at the bus with in Morocco.

Spoilers End Here

Babel is about human relations, consequence and the hope for redemption. It is well worth seeing twice since it makes putting the pieces together much easier because the film is too long and as a result, it gets dull sometimes. Once you’ve seen it twice, then you’ll either like it or hate it more or less. I think it is a good film and I liked it after I watched it twice, but having seen it now I doubt I’d want to see it a third time unless the Director decides to put an audio commentary or something to discuss the film since regardless if you watch it on Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD, or DVD, this is strictly a movie and trailer release. Encoded using MPEG4/AVC, Babel looks more or less the same on both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. The differences, if there are any, are so subtle that I’d have to state I felt the picture quality on both high definition optical formats was equal. Sound wise, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound on the HD DVD, which also features a French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Soundtrack, has a higher fidelity than the English and French standard Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks on the Blu-ray Disc. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded as options on both versions. The theatrical trailer (2:32) is presented in high definition on both discs too.

Babel is available now at retailers on and offline on Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD, and standard definition DVD courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

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Buy Either The Blu-ray Disc Or HD DVD Edition By Clicking On The Respective Icons Below!