I have the R2 Fifth Element but thanks to Nic Rhodes have compared the UK R2, R1 and the superbit. The bog standard R1 beats the R2 into a cocked hat picture wise the sound is about the same. The R1 print is cleaner no scratches or dirt on the print like the R2. The best place to see this is in the opening scenes at the temple in Egypt. The image is sharper and brighter, the colours look a little different to the R2.
The superbit is stunning and beats both hands down. The jump in quality is not as obvious as between the R2 and R1 but you can tell it's different. Then you notice the small details, You can see every pore on peoples faces, sweat stands out off of the skin like your looking at a real person, metal is more shinny the list go's on, it's hard too describe just how good it is. You can even read the names of buildings where on the R2 you can't. Even my wife could see the difference. The best demonstration of this is at the end of the film when the presidents limo pulls up outside of the nucleo lab, there is a red LED sign with something scrolling on it that you can't read on the R2, on the superbit you can read what it says, "Nucleo Lab".
Sound is a little bit better than both versions plus it includes a DTS track if thats your bag. I prefered the DD. The space the soundtracks take up on the disk is the same as a normal DVD so is not enhanced in quality or encoded at a higher bit rate than normal. DD is full bit rate and DTS is half.
