5th Element Superbit - Audio not playing?

I am stumped here. I recently purchased the 5th Element, Superbit edition. For whatever reason I cannot get the audio to play. I exchanged it for another brand new 5th Element Superbit DVD thinking that maybe I got a bad burn. Hey, it could happen...

No dice. No audio.

I have tested several other "regular" 5.1 DVD's in both Dolby and DTS and they have played audio without any issues. This was, by the way, back to back against the 5th Element to make sure that it wasn't a cable connection.

Nonetheless, I checked the cables anyway. I am using optical cable for audio. I disconnected that, ran standard RCA cables instead, L/R only to test to get ANY audio.

Again, no dice.

DVD player: Panasonic RB62, about 3 years old. per the manual, capable of 192/24 bit reproduction.
NAD T762 AVR

The DVD appears to be region 1 (USA, my region). The second disc (special features) works just fine. It's only Disc 1.

Anyone got any ideas? I am stumped here. I can't even get audio to play straight through standard connects on the TV!

IF the DVD player needs to be replaced, so be it. But I can't see at all why.

Final note, I haven't run into this issue with any other DVD ever.