Worst pan-and-scan transfer you've ever seen. (1 Viewer)

[WilliamMcK]

Back in the '70's one of the major networks used to pan and scan somewhat differently than the others (I suppose the networks were allowed to create their own television masters?). I think it was NBC, but I remember watching Day of the Dolphin and being VERY conscious of camera movement that was not generated by the filming camera. It's hard to describe, but it was as if a video camera were panning the filmed image--it had a very unnatural, very unfilm-like quality to it. I suppose this had something to do with 24fps film vs. 30 fps ntsc--but I really don't know. I only know that it was VERY noticeable and distracting. Afterwards, I noticed this a lot on the same network during their feature film broadcasts (as I said, I think it was NBC) but not at all on the others.

 

[Billy Fogerty]

Anyone of the first three Star Wars films. These looked really awful when they first came out on vhs. Also any of the Indiana Jones films. All composition was destroyed.
Another thing. You would think that in todays day and age,the cable channels would show films in the proper aspect ratio. HBO HD even shows them p&s. TCM seems to stay true to the aspect ratio.

 

[Mark B]

I know exactly what you mean, and it was NBC. My first viewing of THE SOUND OF MUSIC was their 1984 broadcast which had oodles of these odd looking pans.

 

[Mark B]

GREAT examples. REBEL was one of the first times I realized, at a very young age watching it on TV, that something was just not right about the image I was seeing.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Hands down, "Multiplicity" on VHS. What's the point of having four Michael Keatons if you can only show one at a time? The panning and scanning was beyond obvious and absolutely ridiculous. While I loathe the idea of pan and scan as a generally rule, this one was completely unwatchable to me after seeing it in theaters.

 

[Mark B]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "4 1/2 BRIDES FOR 4 1/2 BROTHERS" yet.

 

[Bonedwarf]

Mark B: HAHAHA!

Off the top of my head, I'd say "Heat". The great scene in the coffee shop with De Niro and Pacino ON SCREEN TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME. Only in pan'n'scan, they aren't, as they've had to pick which actor to focus on, leading some clueless folk to say "But they don't appear on screen together". Of course they don't if you've only seen the pan'n'scan version.

Another thing I do remember is when ITV in the UK showed "Lethal Weapon". They did it on other movies too. When there was nudity (like Mel Gibson's ass) they'd ZOOM the shot in. So not only was it pan'n'scanned, it was zoomed as well to cut out the "offensive" content.

And as I've just mentioned in another thread, "Grand Prix" is hopeless in pan'n'scan with all the split screen work. The race sequences, the best damn part of the movie, are utterly destroyed. That is one movie they shouldn't even bother showing if they can't do it in widescreen.

 

[JohnRa]

LOL! Yes! How could we have neglected this one?

 

[Bradley-E]

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE is pretty awful PAN/SCAN. TOOTSIE and JAWS also are terrible PAN/SCAN.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The thing that was particularly disconcerting about Rebel Without a Cause was that it was transferred using tube based imaging, meaning that every time there was a pan of a night scene with street lights, you'd get light streaking. Solid state imaging was not only the best thing to happen to video generally, but a telecine supervisor's best friend.

 

[Ric Easton]

Holy Crap. Is the guy still teaching? You tried to tell him it was panned and scanned and he didn't buy it? Unbelievable.

 

[Darcy Hunter]

Back in the dark days of VHS, I rented a copy of Jaws from a local video store. It must have been one of Universal's first home video versions of this title. Not only was it not OAR (obviously), but it wasn't even panned or scanned. The damn thing just had the framing centered for the entire film. Most shots consisted of just noses and hands waving. It was unwatchable.

 

[Mathew B]

Last Action Hero is nearly unwatchable in several sequences thanks to the panning and scanning, the most obvious example is the bit where we enter the movie police station, with the pans coming think and fast to keep up with the cameos of Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick.