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When ABBA the movie was originally released on DVD it was supposed to be released as one of the first ever HD-DVD titles. So naturally the restoration of the film was with High Definition in mind. However, as the original release neared, it was decided to only release a standard DVD in both a plain format and a deluxe edition with some bonuses and saving the HD-DVD release for a point later on. Well two years later that point has been reached. But as there are two competing and not compatible formats for home High Definition entertainment, it meant the film either had to pick a format to be released on or come out on both since no clear winner of the format war had been defined by the time ABBA: The Movie was released in High Definition.

Originally this column was going to be a review of the HD-DVD version of the movie only. However, with the recent announced by Warner Brothers to be dropping HD-DVD and going Blu-Ray exclusive by mid year, the shift in the balance of major movie studios supporting Blu-Ray verses HD-DVD has tipped the scales in favor of Blu-Ray and it seems that it’s only a matter of time before HD-DVD becomes the beta-max of the High Definition format war. The unfortunate part of that to me is that HD-DVD was the truly region free format that completely eliminated region code limitations and the whole PAL vs. NTSC compatibility issue making it the ideal format for being able to import ABBA: The Movie on HD-DVD from the UK and knowing it would be completely compatible with a US HD-DVD player. So with pending extinction of HD-DVD it seemed it might be a wise decision to purchase ABBA: The Movie on Blu-Ray as well as the HD-DVD version I bought a month ago and cross my fingers in hope that when it arrived that it would play in my Blu-Ray player. I was a bit nervous about it since Blu-Ray has its own form of region coding and the manual for the player makes a big deal about not being able to play PAL formatted discs. Fortunately, there’s no region coding on the Blu-Ray version of ABBA: The Movie and perhaps all the fuss in the manual about PAL vs. NTSC relates to standard DVDs only.

What I was not prepared for with both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the movie, is that both formats offer a completely different experience. As far as the movie goes visually, there’s very little difference. I did find the color to be a little darker and richer on the HD-DVD version, and slightly brighter on the Blu-Ray version, but it could simply be a function of two completely different players by different companies. But that’s pretty much were the similarities between the two versions end. Checking the credits for each version reveals that different companies were used for each version so the design for menus and how the same bonus features are presented on each of the two versions.

The HD-DVD version was designed and authored by Abbey Road Interactive and upon putting the HD-DVD into the player and it begins to load, a standard copyright warning screen appears followed by the Polar mountain logo in white on a black background then a blindly bright logo for FremantleMedia Australia (the current incarnation of the Reg Grundy Productions company) with black lettering on a white background. Then the infamous ABBA animation from the opening credits is recreated except this time in black on a white background while fan chanting for “We want ABBA” is heard in the background before it gives way into the live version of Dancing Queen from the movie. The ABBA logo then shrinks in size and moves to the top of the screen while an animated version of the cover artwork for ABBA: The Album appears and then a menu of choices appears. The animated version of the artwork is very similar to the screensaver that is available to download from the official ABBA website, abbasite.com. As various different options are selected the menus change and the music does as well. The menus are very straightforward and easy to select the various options.

The Blu-Ray disc on the other hand was designed and authored by Sony DADC and its introductory menu appearance offers a very different experience from the HD-DVD. The introductory copyright screen is given an ABBA: The Movie flair as the information is presented on a screen with a white background and features some of the various icon images found in the artwork for “ABBA: The Album” and then like the HD-DVD version logos of Polar and FreemantleMedia Australia follow the copyright screen. Then borrowing an idea from the UK commercial for “ABBA: The Album” (which is included as a bonus feature on the disc) where the central images of the members of ABBA are separated out and given three dimensional form where we start from behind the image and see the text “Benny” printed in a shape outlined by a dotted line and an image of scissors to indicate a cutout, as we move around we see “Frida” printed in the same outline as “Benny” but just below. Then another cutout shape appears and it is “Agnetha” and then one more which is “Björn” before we move around to the front seeing each staggered at a different depth before it forms the image from the album cover. The animation was quite interesting and completely unexpected after having seen the HD-DVD version. One tiny complaint about the interface is that the lettering used for the various menu functions are done in white but the background images move sometimes leaving the white text over a the white background thus causing the text to disappear. And only a tiny outline of stars indicates which option is presently highlighted.

From the main menu of both discs, each offers an option to pick scenes, and the Blu-Ray disc offers the better looking approach where it is able to show all sixteen chapters with an image representing each featured in a star all on a single screen. The HD-DVD offers a menu with a larger image but the menu is carried over a couple of scrollable screens. Accessing the scene menu from within the playback of the movie, the HD-DVD menu is identical to how it is from the main menu, where the Blu-Ray version just presents a text menu with a few words to describe each chapter.

In terms of playback set up options, both versions offer a selection of subtitles available in Swedish, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Japanese. And in appearance over the film the subtitles look virtually identical. Where we get into a great deal of difference is the sound. The HD-DVD version offers the choice between a DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a Dolby Digital Plus Stereo mix. The Blu-Ray version offers a LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) 5.1 Surround Sound mix, and a PCM Stereo mix. Unfortunately, I think the Blu-Ray disc is completely lacking in the sound department because no matter which version is selected, the only signal my stereo seems to get from the disc is plain old two channel stereo despite the fact that the audio on my system is connected through optical audio connections and all my other Blu-Ray titles in my collection offer full 5.1 channel separation. I’m not sure if this is a defect in the Blu-Ray edition or simply a matter of incompatibility between a European based Blu-Ray disc and my Blu-Ray player. In either case, this basically renders the Blu-Ray version of the movie useless to me because there is no point in even bothering to watch it if full surround sound can’t be enjoyed. The sound mix on the HD-DVD disc is wonderful and the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 mix creates a wonderful room filling sound during the concert footage.

As for bonus features, the movie trailer, two commercials for the album, and the 40 minute interview of Björn, Benny, and Lasse Hallström are presented in standard DVD definition and not High Definition on both versions of the movie. Because of its lesser quality definition, the footage is presented in both as footage within a box featuring a background image, like a picture in picture presentation. The HD-DVD version has each selectable separately, but the Blu-Ray actually has it set up so that when one finishes, the next one starts to play automatically.

The presentations of the Interactive Tour Programme Gallery and Memorabilia Gallery on the two versions of the movie are also very different in how they are presented, even though the content is the same. The Blu-Ray version offers each as a selectable gallery where in the case of the memorabilia gallery, an overall page with a photo of each item is presented and the viewer can select any items of interest for a closer look and then if they so desire, from the zoomed in view move on to the next or previous item in the gallery. Additionally the Blu-Ray version also presents the Tour Programme over a background image designed to look like pages of a book. Opportunities to zoom in on the text are offered in case the viewer’s eyesight isn’t quite good enough to read the text directly without any zoom. The resolution is fairly sharp so those with good vision could actually read the text of the program without any zooming if they have a television of sufficient size to see the text clearly.

The HD-DVD version doesn’t make each gallery available as a separate feature but incorporates both like a commentary layer over the movie. So in order to view the items, you have to turn on the option to see the items then go in and play the movie, where the galleries are presented as selectable items over the playback of the movie. It is not as distracting as it sounds as when the galleries are opened, the movie shrinks down to a small window on the left side of the screen while the right side is used to show the items or pages from the program. In the tour programme, the individual pages are also available to be zoomed in on where a zoomed view of the whole page is presented filling the screen and scrolling down until the bottom of the page is reached. While the Blu-Ray only offers a chance to zoom in on the text of the programme, the HD-DVD version blows up the whole page allowing the images from the programme to be viewed zoomed in as well.

Overall, I would have expected very little difference between the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the movie, but there are many. And after having reviewed both, I find the HD-DVD version to be the superior version due to the fact it has true 5.1 surround sound for the movie which is the deal breaker for me. I am very dismayed in the audio options on the Blu-Ray version and as a result cannot recommend the Blu-Ray version at all. There is no excuse for a supposed 5.1 mix that only comes out as two channel stereo. With this being a film about music, naturally the sound is just as important as the visual presentation, if not more so. I do think the HD-DVD version loses a few points for having the galleries as content overlays to the movie, as it just doesn’t seem that intuitive to have to playback the movie in order to see the galleries. But this slight oversight doesn’t significantly detract from the experience of the HD-DVD because once you’ve seen the galleries, how often is anyone really ever going to look at that content in comparison to the movie itself?

I truly wish I could be recommending the Blu-Ray version in light of the fact it seems to the likely successor to DVD, but by and large the HD-DVD version of ABBA: The Movie is the better version to have. Or one could simply do what I did and get both.

Ryan