Kung Fu - Season 1 (March 16th) is not OAR (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

Warner might have sold lots, and that's unfortunate because the bean-counters are likely to think it's a good idea, but they did screw up. Releasing this in OAR would have been the artistically correct thing to do, and it's hard to imagine that sales wouldn't have been higher. I doubt if anyone who bought it wouldn't have bought it if it were OAR, and I for one would have bought it, so they'd have made at least one additional sale.

 

[Randy A Salas]

I doubt if anyone who bought it wouldn't have bought it if it were OAR, and I for one would have bought it, so they'd have made at least one additional sale.

I agree with that sentiment. But that all appears to be in the past. Warner made the decision and is unlikely to revisit Kung Fu S1.

 

[Randy Gray]

I would have bought it also so that makes two additional sales. Anyone else?

Randy

 

[Anthony_H]

I already bought it...:frowning: But I would have bought it HARDER if the aspect ratio was correct..


A.T.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Did they burn the original film it was shot on or something?

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I would have bought it, too.

 

[Louis C]

I was buying this even if the transfer sucked AND it was not OAR. Some people are just major fans.

We want OAR but if can't get the series any other way we just weren't going to be without it.

Bring on Season 2, and this time OAR please...

 

[Mark Lx]

I'm afraid I bought it eventually because it was so cheap and I used to love the show. Other than the pilot movie, I didn't get quite as much out of it as an adult. I might be more selective with Season 2, but I hope I end up with the whole series.

 

[JohnSmith]

I think the decision to mix K.F. in DD 5.1 was a bit daft- why not just mix it in mono, with the centre only?

 

[David Stone]

Make that 3, 4 & 5 here. (Myself plus two friends that I warned in time about the incorrect hard-matting.)

I simply cannot enjoy any film that has been incorrectly hard-matted to fit a 16:9 screen. I feel a sort of couch-like road rage when I see tops of heads (especially the friggin eyes) matted out of top of the frame.

 

[Randy A Salas]

I think the decision to mix K.F. in DD 5.1 was a bit daft- why not just mix it in mono, with the centre only?

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The R1 DVD is mono.

 

[JohnSmith]

My mistake (just played back on PC as Dolby Digital Mono)..but it DOES say 5.1 Logic 7, and 3/2.1 but only from centre. Strange.

 

[MattHR]

I still don't understand Warner's explanation for why "Kung Fu" was released matted. Were there fans of "Kung Fu" campaigning for a matted version? They said it's a "title-by-title" decision. Does that mean there will be more MAR shows coming? Why did they not matte "Dukes of Hazzard" or "Wonder Woman"? Will "Dallas" be matted? I just can't figure out their logic.

Warner has otherwise been one of the best studios when it comes to OAR and transfer quality.

 

[Jeff(R)]

I just can't figure out their logic.

I don't think that there is any logic. They probably just wanted to test the idea and this series unfortunately was the one which was victimized. But why this one was selected - who knows.. I'm curious to find out what they will do to season 2, and if season 2 is not franken-widescreen-ized, will that mean that they realize that they made a mistake, leading to a re-issue of the first season in it's proper aspect ratio.

Jeff

 

[Randy A Salas]

if season 2 is not franken-widescreen-ized, will that mean that they realize that they made a mistake, leading to a re-issue of the first season in it's proper aspect ratio.

I'd be amazed if that ever happened. Kung Fu sold incredibly well, but not enough that re-releasing an OAR presentation will sell enough to merit the costs, time and energy.

Broken record...

 

[george kaplan]

You're probably right Randy, but I for one am not going to buy Season 2 (even if it is OAR) since I don't have Season 1. So, frankly, unless they redo season 1 OAR (which I'll concede is unlikely), they'll continue to lose sales on following seasons, at least from people like me.

 

[Rick P]

Randy - FYI the 'Justice League' discs...

the people that actually produced the JL series WANTED it in LBX, and Visually COMPOSED it for LBX. Cartoon Network WANTED the full screen version (guess they think kids watch cartoons). The producers finally got them to accept showings BOTH ways. Rather than pan/scan the LBX version they did the animation equivalent of 'open matte' to make the 4:3 version..

the LBX is the OAR and 'director/producers choice'.

ADDENDUM.. you can find a little more info here http://jl.toonzone.net/widescreen/widescreen.htm

and this-


"There has been some debate, however, on whether or not these widescreen airings of Justice League are considered the “true” version of the show. Some people believe that the version preferred by the creative team is the right one, while others believe that the version showing the most picture is correct. Ultimately it is a matter of personal preference, but Justice League producer Bruce Timm had this to say on the matter:

"Please watch the letterbox airing! It was a major battle to get Cartoon Network to agree to a regularly scheduled widescreen airing. We prepared the show with the widescreen ratio in mind—in anticipation of HDTV—and we feel the show just plain looks better that way: the compositions are tighter, more focused, etc. It also helps give the show that “epic movie” look we were trying to achieve. Certainly the full-frame version works well too, [but] we just prefer the widescreen version. If the ratings just plummet for the widescreen airings, I guess Cartoon Network will just stop airing ‘em that way. The best of all possible worlds would be for folks to watch the show both ways, but I realize that’s a lot to ask!"

 

[Randy A Salas]

"There has been some debate, however, on whether or not these widescreen airings of Justice League are considered the “true” version of the show. Some people believe that the version preferred by the creative team is the right one, while others believe that the version showing the most picture is correct.

So what to make of the JL DVD? The widescreen version shows the most picture here. So did Warner crop the widescreen image to create the full-screen image for the DVD?

To bring this back to Kung Fu, JL: Starcrossed isn't a good comparison anymore because of the differences in its MAR and OAR images--unlike Kung Fu, which was obviously cropped to create the faux widescreen presentation. Kung Fu also is lacking any creative vision behind its presentation, unlike JL: Starcrossed; KF seems to have been modified merely at the studio's whim.

 

[Rick P]

Well... isn't that special? Looks like the DVD Production managed to screw up? Instead of taking the OPEN MATTE masters and the WIDESCREEN masters to make the disc.. they cropped the WIDESCREEN? If you look back at the link I gave, they show shots that CLEARLY show the full frame version SHOULD be open matte.

That's something that warrants investigation.... David? Gord?

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I read that only the first season of JL was shot 4:3, open-matte. The rest were shot at 16:9. (I think I got this info from an article on toonzone.net.)