I live in an undesclosed European country, downloaded a 1.3 GB film last night in 35 minutes flat and watched it on my TV this evening with the family. The picture quality was literally "nearly" DVD. We've been watching the Daily Show for months on the lower quality and everyone in the family agreed the higher resolution made for great viewing. Now if only I had a wide-screen LCD TV instead of my standard formatted TV, then the image would have filled the screen. Remember, these are wide-screen format films.
Tip on downloads: connect an Ethernet cable to your computer. Wireless just can't handle large downloads quickly. I do have 100 Mbps fiber optic into the house so that certainly helped but no reason to strangle your broadband with your airport connection. Just say no to wireless until Apple comes out with the new, speedier standard.
D.O.
Apple's Movie Buying Experience Reviewed