A Widescreen vs P&S story with a happy ending :-) (1 Viewer)

[MickeS]

I was just at Blockbuster to rent a movie, when the woman in line in front of me walked up to the register to buy "Harry Potter". She gave the clerk the WS version, and the clerk asked "Don't you want the fullscreen version instead?" The woman said "Oh yeah, sure" and put the WS back. I said "Come on, you don't want to the fullscreen version, you won't get the whole picture if you do". She said "Well, what's the difference?". The clerk then explained the difference saying "the fullscreen one fills the TV, but the sides are cut off, and the WS one shows the whole picture, but you'll get black bars on top and bottom". The woman then said "Oh, then I want the widescreen one". She then turned to me and said "Thank you". HAHA, take that Blockbuster!
Made me very happy.
/Mike

 

[Mike Frezon]

Way to go, Mike! We all need to keep doing our part.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Nice work Micke! You did your good deed for this month.

 

[Dustin B]

Cool, but what I don't understand is if the clerk actually new the difference, why did he tell her she wanted the full screen version?

 

[MickeS]

Yeah, that was odd to me too, but I assume they just like to point out which version the customer is buying, to avoid that they get the incorrect version (even though her choice of words were somewhat peculiar if that's what she was doing). That's the benign interpretation, the malign one is of course that Blockbuster wants to sell more fullscreen and try to steer customers towards that.
/Mike

 

[Sean Conklin]

Well thats a happy ending to your encounter, but how many DVD consumers are being misled by these BlockBuster clerks?
Man, I thought Blockbuster was going out of Business or something. Or maybe it was just that I wish they did.

 

[HenrikTull]

Well, we can only hope she NEVER watches the full screen version.
"I didn't see that on my widescreen version!"

 

[Andrew_Sch]

Ah, reading this thread makes me realize how much I love being on Netflix in the summers and not having to deal with Blockbuster.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

The clerk probably knew the difference but was getting tired of people complaining about black bars. In the case of Harry Potter, the sides aren't cut off on the full screen but widescreen is the picture the director intended us to see.

 

[Scott L]

Thanks Micke, very inspirational! I'll be sure to do the same if I ever see it happen.

 

[Chuck C]

"How do you like me NOW!"

 

[Jack Briggs]

*thunder, lightning*

Well done, thou faithful child of widescreen!

*booming noises, echoes*

 

[MickeS]

In that LOONG thread in the Software forum, there were screenshots that "supported" both versions, in some shots the sides were cut off, in some cases not. Like you said though, you can't (IMO) go wrong with the theatrical version.

/Mike

 

[Sean Conklin]

Has our attitude changed since I've been away? Micke there is no case for P&S period! This is not your opinion it is a fact! When I hear of scenes getting chopped off I go on the offensive!

If I'm missing the point just ignore me, sorry.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

there were screenshots that "supported" both versions

But only one of those screenshots was what was seen in the theater. If it's different, its alteration.
Back to the subject at hand-kudos for taking the time to steer the woman right. I'll bet that if I were there, I would have heard that familiar light-saber sound when you and the clerk "squared off" Then you realized that both of the sabers were blue and gave each other a knowing nod. OAR Jedi, we salute you!
Bruce

 

[Ryan Wright]

Wait - you were actually IN a Blockbuster? Were you scoping the place out for a robbery or simply stirring up problems? Don't tell me you were actually RENTING from them!
HTF members at Blockbuster (shudder). What's next, lifetime NRA card holders playing golf with Rosie O'Donnell?

 

[MickeS]

Ryan, I actually pondered whether I should even admit in the forum that I set foot at Blockbuster. But I do, since it's the videostore that's closest to me (of course, they're everywhere).
At least I got a free rental of "Kate & Leopold" out of it, since they were out of stock on that title on Saturday.
Oh no, now someone's gonna make fun of me for that too...
/Mike

 

[Ralph Summa]

I'm doing my part too! I tried to get Best Buy to pricematch CompUSA's price of $9.97 gfor Harry Potter. She called the local CUSA and they had only the full screen version. When she asked if I wanted the pricematch on the full screen I said "no way"! She then called another store, same result. She thought I was out of my mind and asked me why I wouldn't want to save $9 on the full screen. I explained the difference between P&S and widescreen, but I still don't think she gave a rat's a$$. Hopefully the people in line behind me overheard us.

 

[brentl]

People still rent at Blockbuster!!

Stick to mom and pop stores myself