Finally, a reason to pick a side in the format wars.

"Their war, our world" may have served as the tagline for the summer blockbuster Transformers, but it could just as well be used to describe the battle between being waged in the marketplace between high definition DVD formats Blu-Ray and HD DVD. With the companies behind each format (Sony for Blu-Ray; Toshiba and Microsoft for HD DVD) competing vigorously for market share, plenty of consumers -- myself included-- have been content to sit on the sidelines and wait for a clear winner to emerge before blowing $500 or more on a player.

With the summer tentpole flicks starting to arrive on DVD shelves, the competition began to heat up considerably over the past few months.Toshiba/Microsoft fired the most recent salvo, announcing in August that Paramount/Dreamworks had signed on to use HD DVD exclusively.

This week the first fruits of that deal will materialize when Transformers makes its much-anticipated home video debut. Paramount hosted a special preview event last Friday to showcase the flick's two-disc Special Edition HD DVD, a dazzling, feature-packed effort that promises alter the playing field substantially.

Paramount home video exec Alan Bell laid out the reasoning behind the decision to go with HD DVD. "As we made this title in both formats, the objective was to have them come out at the same time," he explained. "But this movie could not be put out in the Blu-Ray format. One important thing about this disc is that this will play on every single HD DVD player in the world that's being sold."

"Let's suppose the other format had the capability to support this kind of interactivity," Bell added. "The players that people have -- the Blu-Ray players today -- still wouldn't play 'em."

While both the high- and regular-definition versions of the Transformers Special Edition DVD will include a commentary track from director Michael Bay, a "making of" documentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes, the HD DVD will contain a number of additional elements not available on the regular DVD.

Here's a quick rundown of the HD-exclusive features:

Heads-Up Display: Picture-in-picture pop-ups featuring behind-the-scenes footage, interview clips, info and trivia.

Tech Inspector - 3D images taken directly from Transformers digital effects wizards ILM, allowing 360 degree, rotating views of six of the Autobots and Decepticons.

There are also several web-enabled features exclusive to the HD DVD:

Intelligence Mode: A handy videogame-esque interface featuring avatars of each of the Transformers, complete with a "health meter" for each robot and a GPS device pinpointing their exact locations. Unfortunately, Intelligence Mode still won't be able to tell you what happened to Barricade, a Decepticon who inexplicably disappeared right before the film's climactic battle.

Profiler: A downloadable movie guide users can call up during playback, providing updated cast and crew information and production background, updated regularly.

MyClips: An application similar to the one provided on the 300 disc, enabling fans to edit together their own montages from the movie and share them with friends.

Downloads: Beginning on Tuesday, HD DVD owners will be able to download six "Secret Transmissions" of additional HD content, which will be rolled out over the course of the upcoming week.

I've never been much of a special features buff, so I was relatively unimpressed with all of the fancy widgets, gizmos and doohickeys. What really impressed me was the picture and sound quality, both of which are outstanding on the HD DVDs. As a nice bonus, all of the 10+ hours of content on the two discs are in high-definition, including trailers and Easter eggs (of which there are five). Now I can finally watch Michael Bay scream at his underlings in all of its ear-shattering, HD glory.

The Transformers Two-Disc Special Edition is really shaping up to be the definitive HD release of 2007. And the Paramount execs assured me that they won't be issuing a four-disc "Special-er Edition" two months from now, unlike some other blockbuster franchises have done in the past (I'm looking at you, Lord of the Rings), so fanboys will be heartened to know that their copies won't be obsolete by Christmas. 

The Transformers Two-Disc Special Edition HD DVD arrives in stores Tuesday, October 16th.