When Fox anounced Alien Vs. Predator for Blu-ray, they issued a splashy press release touting this disc as a "first" for Blu-ray. Two versions of the movie on the same disc using seamless branching. Does this disc really use seamless branching? Did Fox oversell the Blu-ray format (again)? More pointedly, did Fox lie about this disc and what they can really do on Blu-ray?

Submitted for your approval....

Alien Vs. Predator
101 minutes (theatrical)
108 minutes (unrated)
MPEG-2 at 18 mb/s ABR.
BD50

This seems like an awful lot of disc space for this length of a movie at this bit rate. Here are some other Fox/MGM titles for comparison...

The Devil Wears Prada
109 minutes
MPEG-2 at 18 mb/s ABR
BD25

Rocky (includes HD trailers)
119 minutes
MPEG-2 at 18 mb/s
BD25

The Fantastic Four
106 minutes
MPEG-2 at 18 mb/s
BD25

Bulletprof Monk
104 minutes
MPEG-2 at 20 mb/s
BD25

Windtalkers
134 minutes
MPEG-2 at 18 mb/s
BD25

Does seamless branching take up so much room for a 7 minute difference, or did Fox pull a "Lionsgate" and simply encode two versions of the movie?

Inquiring minds want to know.

When Fox anounced Alien Vs. Predator for Blu-ray, they issued a splashy press release touting this disc as a "first" for Blu-ray. Two versions of the movie on the same disc using seamless branching. Does this disc really use seamless branching? Did Fox oversell the Blu-ray format (again)? More pointedly, did Fox lie about this disc and what they can really do on Blu-ray?

Does seamless branching take up so much room for a 7 minute difference, or did Fox pull a "Lionsgate" and simply encode two versions of the movie?

Inquiring minds want to know.
From Peter M. Bracke at High-Def Digest

Note, however, that Fox has included both the Unrated and PG-13 Theatrical versions of 'Alien vs. Predator.' In what I believe is a first for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, the cuts are presented via seamless branching, so you can select either version right from the main menu for uninterrupted playback. Fox has even included the Unrated footage (about two minutes worth in all) as stand-alone supplemental material accessible on the Theatrical cut submenu, so you can check out the six additional scenes on their own. As far as quality goes, it is excellent -- the integrated footage is completely transparent with the theatrical version, and there are no "hiccups" or stalls as the disc branches off during playback of the Unrated cut.

Will have to see what benes has to say about the audio but with:

* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

would use a fair amount of space.

Will have to see what benes has to say about the audio but with:

* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

would use a fair amount of space.

That's the same as TDWP, isn't it?

That's the same as TDWP, isn't it?Do not know because:

Title 1 could have;
* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround 1:1 with a 20/96 source
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 640 kbps
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 640 kbps

Title 2 could have;
* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround 1:1 with a 16/48 source
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 384 kbps
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 384 kbps

Obviously title 1 would use a fair amount more space than title 2.

Do not know because:

Title 1 could have;
* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround 1:1 with a 20/96 source
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 640 kbps
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 640 kbps

Title 2 could have;
* English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround 1:1 with a 16/48 source
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 384 kbps
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround @ 384 kbps

Obviously title 1 one use a fair amount more space than title 2.

Gotcha, thanks!

Based on The Descent, I'm really interested to see what benes calculates.

Thanks for the update. 30 GB is a lot for this length of a movie, but I guess a branched version at a higher than advertised bit rate would do that.

Thanks as always. Good to know.