Ocean's Twelve sucked! Thankfully, Ocean's Thirteen is an entertaining romp that, while not as successful as the first film, is a great diversion worth a viewing. George Clooney and company return to the revelry of Ocean's Eleven with the addition of a scene chewing Al Pacino and a perfectly cast Ellen Barkin. Although Julia Roberts sat the film out, her presence is not all that missed. This is a boy's club after all.

THE FILM:
Danny Ocean (Clooney) has an idea for one more score. The biggest that they could do, Ocean reassembles his crew of Basher (Don Cheadle), Rusty (Brad Pitt) and others (including Matt Damon, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner). Ocean's bunch's new target is Willie Bank, a Las Vegas Mogul setting up shop with a brand new casino.

Bank double-crossed Reuben (Gould) and now the crew is out to get revenge. Enlisting the help of Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), Ocean goes through persona after persona to plot out when gigantic heist. Drawing on the charm of the first film and involving a confusing yet fun to follow heist, Ocean's Thirteen is a big step up from its predecessors.

The crew is now letting the audience in on the joke, while the script by Brian Koppelman and David Levein brings shape to what could have been a formless gabfest. If you are in the mode for a breezy and brisk film this is the ticket.

HD SOUND + VISION:
The HD DVD and Blu-ray releases of Ocean's Thirteen share very similar specs. Both feature a decent 2.40:1 visual presentation. The source material is digital video so the finished product does feature grain inherent within the frame. The quality of the transfer is decent, doing a nice job preserving the visual quality that is present. Certainly sharper than the DVD, both the HD DVD and Blu-ray are not essential visual releases.

The audio for the HD DVD features a Dolby Digital Plus selection of tracks, while the Blu-ray disc simply features Dolby Digital audio. Both are decent presentations that capture the clanging of the casino floor. Without anything particularly impressive, the HD DVD gets the edge for its slightly improved specs. The subtitles included are English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean while there are also French and Spanish audio tracks on each release.

PACKAGING/ LAYOUT:
Both releases feature similar presentation. The HD DVD arrives in a red Elite case, the Blu-ray in a blue one. While the Blu-ray features a modified version of the DVD's disc art, the HD DVD is a combo release, complete with the DVD on one side and the HD DVD on the other. The menu designs are similar, with the only notable difference being the inclusion of a "Bookmark" feature on the HD DVD. A solid overall presentation, both releases feature a more intuitive menu than previous Warner Home Entertainment releases. When one goes to choose "Scene Selections" while playing back a bonus feature, the disc recognizes such and offers an option for the viewer. "There are no scene selections for this special feature. Would you like the scene selections for the main feature?" A very nice addition indeed.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
A paltry selection of special features is included in this release. Most are carried over featurettes from the DVD that offer little more than a cursory look at the making of the film. The one nice high definition exclusive (included on both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc) is a commentary track with Director Steven Soderbergh and the two writers of the film. An insightful, fun and quick paced track, this is certainly worth picking up a high definition copy of the film.

• Commentary by Director Steven Soderbergh, Screen Writers Brian Koppelman and David Levein HD EXCLUSIVE - A great track, these three were recorded both separately and together. They introduce the commentary as a trio, but comments pipe in and out from different recording sessions. All and all, certainly worth a listen.
• Masters of the Heist HD EXCLUSIVE (44:02) - A look at the real life heists that people like the Ocean crew pulled off, this is a great, entertaining featurette. It is not the most current of features, but presented in high definition it is certainly an entertaining time. 
• Additional Scenes (4:36) - A series of brief moments, most of them just extended scenes that are all presented in high definition. 
• Vegas: An Opulent Illusion (22:47) - The Vegas design sense is discussed as creative individuals and Las Vegas experts come together to discuss the aesthetic and tone of the city. A nice featurette considering the topic of the film and the prevalence of launching a hotel in the plot.
• Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk (2:25) - The producer of the film walks us through the set of the Bank's Casino in this shameless promotional featurette.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Not the best in the series, Ocean's Thirteen is certainly a quality distraction worth a viewing. The visuals may not be particularly strong in HD, the overall presentation makes the release worth a look. While the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are barely different, the HD DVD gets the edge with an improved audio track. Now, if it was just a couple of dollars cheaper.

BLU-RAY DISC
FILM GRADE: B
HD SOUND GRADE: B-
HD VISION: B-
PACKAGING/ LAYOUT GRADE: B-
SPECIAL FEATURES GRADE: B+
OVERALL BLU-RAY DISC GRADE: B-

HD DVD
FILM GRADE: B
HD SOUND GRADE: B
HD VISION: B-
PACKAGING/ LAYOUT GRADE: B
SPECIAL FEATURES GRADE: B+
OVERALL HD DVD DISC GRADE: B

COMPARISON
FILM GRADE: N/A
HD SOUND GRADE: HD DVD
HD VISION GRADE: N/A
PACKAGING/ LAYOUT GRADE: HD DVD
SPECIAL FEATURES GRADE: N/A
THE CHOICE: HD DVD