Details of one of the first Blu-ray discs to make use of the new Blu-ray Profile 1.1 standard have been announced.
War, from Lionsgate, is set to be launched on Blu-ray in the US on January 1 2008 featuring a picture in picture video commentary – something not possible prior to the 1.1 specification. Or at least something not TRULY possible; Lionsgate and one or two others managed to fudge picture in picture commentaries on Blu-ray titles by simply encoding a second full-length version of the film with the picture in picture content burned in!
But with War the disc will make use of Profile 1.1’s secondary video decoding capabilities for a Behind the Scenes FX Bonus track that guides viewers through the film’s special effects. Other features of the disc will include a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video transfer with uncompressed PCM 7.1 soundtrack, a BD-Java enhanced interactive game, a ‘Blu-line Slider’ interface allowing for enhanced scene access; a custom bookmarking option; two audio commentaries with director Philip Atwell and coscreenwriters Lee Anthony Smith & Gregory J. Bradley, a "War Chest" mode that allows for bonus making-of vignettes to be unlocked via seamless branching, a "War Zone" subtitle fact track, "Scoring ‘War’" featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel and the film’s original theatrical trailer.
A second film set to appear with Profile 1.1 features is Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, from Fox, launching in the US on Jan 8.
The only pity about all this, of course, is that the only current Blu-ray player the nice, shiny new Profile 1.1 features will actually work on is the PS3…
