Angels & Demons

In Ron Howard's thrilling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, expert symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals' lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth. Based upon the novel by Dan Brown. (Tricia Spears)

Special features on Disc One of this three-disc theatrical (HD 02:18:37) and extended edition (HD 02:26:15) of the film include Cinechat, previews, BD-Live interactivity, MovieIQ, and up-front ads. Special features on Disc Two include the following featurettes: Rome Was Not Built In A Day (HD 17:30), Writing Angels & Demons (HD 10:09), Characters In Search of The True Story (HD 17:10), Cern: Pushing The Frontiers Of Knowledge (HD 14:52), Handling Props (HD 11:35), Angels & Demons: The Full Story (HD 09:46), and This Is An Ambigram (HD 04:46). Also included is the "Path Of Illumination," where you are able to follow Robert Langdon's journey through Rome and unlock the hidden secrets of the Illuminati by selecting from five marked locations on the map. Once on the path, you will unearth in-depth historical facts, film clips, and behind-the-scenes footage. Disc Three includes a digital copy of the film and Hans Zimmer Music Studio Powered By Sequel 2. Also included is a 192-page Angels & Demons Illustrated Movie Companion book.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture is wonderful! The picture is stylized throughout, to convey a mysterious visual character. Resolution is excellent, exhibiting sharp and pristine imagery. Fine facial features and object textures are impressively resolved. The color palette is naturally rendered, with saturated colors and warm and rich hues. Fleshtones are perfectly natural. Contrast is well balanced with deep, solid blacks and superb shadow delineation, resulting in effective dimensionality. As this is a dark film, to optimize black levels and shadow depth the viewing environment should be darkened or preferably black. The dark, shadowy visual character will challenge the best display systems. This is an impressive picture that renders mysterious moods, to complement the storytelling. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is terrific, with an impressive holosonic® soundfield presence. The music score is sweepingly wide and deep, extending well into the surrounds, for a nicely dimensional effect. Dialogue sounds, at times, excessively close-miked, which compromises spatial integration, as does the ADR production. The sound is dynamic, with a deep and solid, often pounding, low-frequency foundation in all channels, at times extending to below 25 Hz in the .1 LFE channel. Surround engagement is, at times, very powerful and directionalized, as is the entire soundfield, with heightened SPL energy. This is sure to challenge the capabilities of your sound system. The result is an emotionally exciting sonic experience that is impressive throughout. (Gary Reber)