New Matilda SE DVD in Full Screen Only! (Sign the Petition) (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

I signed it, but I don't think petitions have much effect, especially at Petitiononline. I started one once and nobody signed it (I did absolute zero publicity on it, but still..) and there was one with thousands of signatures basically telling Columbia to get their heads out of their ass and yielded absolutely no comments from them.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I called that lame 1-800 number and played the number-pressing game for 10 minutes with their !@#$@# phone-tree menu.

Naturally there's absolutely no option to ever speak to an actual person--at least not one that I could find.

I ended up leaving a message the only place I could find...under the "defective DVD" selection.

GRRRRR.

If anyone comes up with something better do tell.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Signed.

I love this film and am disheartened that Columbia would treat it so poorly.

Given just how much of an enthusiast Danny DeVito has been of OAR presentations, (Dating back to the LD sets for War of the Roses & Hoffa, discs on which he praised the letterboxing process numerous times in the commentary tracks) I find it very hard to believe that he would be in any way pleased with such careless treatment.

 

[Nick Graham]

How about re-posting the orignal number we had that DID work, just not mentioning where we got it?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

That's probably why they asked that number be removed
How DARE their customers tell them what they want!

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I'm currently corresponding with someone at Columbia who is trying to locate a "source" that we can write/call/contact.

Those of you who've tried calling that blasted 1-800 customer service # have discovered it offers absolutely no way to speak to a representative or leave a proper message.

I'll share any updates as they come.

-dave

 

[Tim Glover]

signed it! Hope this will work.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

"Those of you who've tried calling that blasted 1-800 customer service # have discovered it offers absolutely no way to speak to a representative or leave a proper message."
---------------------------
You know what? I don't think there ARE any real people at this company anymore! Whoever was running it when they started out has been kidnapped, and it's just being run by robots right now!

 

[Joshua Clinard]

We have some new contact information, so get your e-mails in, and make your voice heard. Not sure if you will get a response or not. If you do, let us know.

[email protected]

For any requests and/or petitions, send all emails to this address. No phone calls, please. To send them via post mail, send them to:

CTHE
Attn: Customer Relations
10202 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

Here is my e-mail:

To the Home Video Department of Columbia Tristar Pictures:

I have heard that Columbia Tri-Star has announced that a Special Edition DVD of Matilda will be released next year. There is also going to be a Special Edition DVD for Annie. In addition, I have heard that these new DVD's are going to be FULL SCREEN ONLY! This is atrocious! There is already a DVD of Matilda out there for people who just want to fill their screens. You really should consider putting a proper version out there for people who care about the presentation, and who want to see the film the way the Director (Danny Devito) intended it to be seen. I, and a great many other home theater enthusiasts, refuse to purchase ANY DVD that is not released in it's correct theatrical aspect ratio. The future of DVD is Widescreen, because Widescreen T.V.s are infiltrating homes. The prices are getting lower, and in 3 or 4 years, almost everyone will own a widescreen set. I know quite a few other people myself that have HDTV's. Give us an oppurtunity to buy DVD's that take advantage of our Widescreen sets. Do this edition right, and give us a 16x9 widescreen edition. I bought Fly Away Home years ago when it was re-released in Widescreen, and I would love to buy Matilda, and Annie as well! But I cannot do that if they are not released in Widescreen. I will gladly purchase several copies of Matilda, and at least one of Annie, if and ONLY if, they are done right. You can even put both Full Screen, and Widescreen on the same disc, and satisfy both home theater enthusiasts, and people who want to fill their screens.

Thank you for listening!

 

[todd s]

I sent my email and got the following reply this morning:

We thank you for your interest in Matilda. While we respect your opinion
and your request for a widescreen version, we have based our decision to
include only the fullscreen version due to a number of factors, one of
which is that our research indicates that both kids and families will enjoy
the full screen version.

Thank you,
Customer Relations

I sent a reply back saying that my 2 kids never have questioned the "black bars" and also that I have a widescreen set along with a few friends(who aren't HT enthusiasts) that will get a marred version.

 

[Nick Graham]

Screw 'em, I'll just import. $43 dollar multi-region Cyberhome player from Wal-Mart and I'm set.

 

[Douglas R]

Columbia are releasing Matilda SE in the UK in February and it is listed on the Play.com website as being widescreen 2.35:1. I don't think Columbia would get away with releasing a 4x3 version in Europe given the popularity of widescreen TV sets. I really sympathise with our American friends over this.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

This "Kids and families" thing is getting REALLLY old!!

 

[Jesse Blough]

"our research indicates that both kids and families will enjoy the full screen version."

I would like to know who is doing their "research" because it's totally whack, yo.

 

[Malcolm R]

I guess their "research" doesn't include the weekly bestseller charts that show WS far outpacing FS.

Nice to know anyone who prefers WS is irrelevant to them. Well, now they're irrelevant to my wallet. Lots of other discs from other companies that are deserving of my cash.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Kids and the whole family at my house enjoy 16x9 OAR DVDs on our widescreen TV just fine. However they are often bothered by the vertical "black bars" on pan-and-scan titles...

-dave

 

[Christian Preischl]

Weird. Nowhere in their statement do they say that kids and families actually prefer full screen over widescreen, just that they'll enjoy it. You know what that sounds like to me? "We know it's crap but our research indicates that kids and families will swallow it nonetheless, so why bother with a new transfer."

Chris

 

[Jesse Skeen]

They could've at least used the letterbox laserdisc transfer (mine has laser rot!)

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Columbia already has 16x9 OAR masters (HD transfers) for both these films and is choosing not to use them.

-dave

 

[Joshua Clinard]

It's time for the major dvd web sites to pick up on this story. If they get 1000 e-mails, they might change their minds. Please e-mail your favorite dvd news site, and ask them to report this. Make sure to give them the contact information, and you might even quote the response that you got to your e-mail.