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02-10-2008, 12:25 AM
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#331 of 434 
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Mark
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Local Time: 10:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 28
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Re: Best of Route 66
I e-mailed Infinity to tell them how let down and hacked off I am by the faux-letterboxing of R66:S1v2, but I'm not holding my breath for a response, much less a remedy. Like some of the early posters on this issue, my sense is that the company is both clueless and fixated on the bottom line. It's a shame, especially considering how lovingly shows like The Fugitive and Hawaii Five-0 have been treated on DVD. Hell, I would've been happier with the crummy, VHS-quality transfers and hissy sound quality of volume 1 on this set if it'd been full-frame.
"Stay glued to your TV set."
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02-11-2008, 07:41 AM
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#332 of 434
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Member
Join Date: May 2005
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 1,496
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Re: Best of Route 66
Quote:
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Originally Posted by David Von Pein
[/b]
This is totally untrue in many, many scenes throughout this series (or any series).
And chopped heads are incredibly annoying. (IMHO.)
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Not only chopped heads, but there are instances where necks and even chins are missing at the bottom of the screen. I think that closeup/dialog scenes suffer the most from the cropping.
I came across an online review that, strangely, doesn't even mention the cropping; perhaps the screener copy was full frame?
Blogger News Network / DVD Review: Route 66: Season 1, Volume 2
David, I know that you're a major fan of "The Fugitive," and so one can fantasize as to what "Route 66" would have looked like had Paramount had ownership of it.
Last edited by Bob Hug : 02-11-2008 at 07:50 AM.
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02-11-2008, 02:49 PM
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#333 of 434
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Rod
Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 167
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Re: Best of Route 66
Just received this email from IEG ..
Quote:
Yes we plan to release everything in the original aspect ratio. The reason it was cropped is because we took it to HD quality originally (for HD cable television, not DVD). Making it HD quality forced us to go into widescreen aspect ratio.
We are releasing a press release soon which will hopefully clear everything up.
-David
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Then why did they put the "cable teevee" version on DVD?
Looks like they want to sell it to us again at a later date..  |
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02-11-2008, 03:13 PM
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#334 of 434
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Local Time: 02:45 AM
Local Date: 12-03-2008
Posts: 1,076
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Re: Best of Route 66
Why does making it HD quality involve making it cropped? I would imagine wider screen films will still maintain their aspect ratio on HD cable channels with black bars on top and bottom. This makes no sense. We must make contact with whatever TV station intends to air these this way and put a stop to this evil before it is too late.
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02-11-2008, 03:18 PM
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#335 of 434
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Local Time: 02:45 AM
Local Date: 12-03-2008
Posts: 360
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Re: Best of Route 66
Well, my set came in with the familiar broken hinges on the plastic dvd tray, making 4-out-of-5 of my most recent dvd purchases having arrived in the mail either broken or banged-up. But, that's a fairly moot point, regarding this latest "Route 66" set.
I was rather hoping the cropping wasn't quite as bad as it sounded. Sometimes these things get blown up out of proportion, after all. Maybe it was just a little smidgen off the top and the bottom. Nope. It looks horrid. I watched about ten seconds of an episode, and turned it off. I'm sending the set back. Pretty exasperating. As I might have mentioned on an earlier post, this is my all-time favorite tv-series, so it really kills me to see what a farce the dvd's have become.
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02-11-2008, 03:20 PM
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#336 of 434
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Jason
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Local Time: 06:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 40
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Re: Best of Route 66
[quote=Tory]Why does making it HD quality involve making it cropped? I would imagine wider screen films will still maintain their aspect ratio on HD cable channels with black bars on top and bottom. This makes no sense.[quote]
That response from Infinity was uninformed nonsense or deliberate obfuscation! It's not necessary to convert the image to 16:9 to make if HD. Otherwise, if an old film like Casablanca was released on Blu-Ray, it would have to be cropped, too. But it isn't. HD does not limit the image.
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02-11-2008, 03:22 PM
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#337 of 434
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Local Time: 02:45 AM
Local Date: 12-03-2008
Posts: 352
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Re: Best of Route 66
I'm afraid that your average TV consumer would not think that it was in HD with the bars on the side. Obviously the material can be in HD and keep the original aspect ratio - Just look at two of the HD-DVD releases of Casablanca, and Robin Hood. They received HD treatment and they maintained their proper 4:3 aspect ratio. I really don't think that Roxbury knows what they are talking about.
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02-11-2008, 03:27 PM
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#338 of 434
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Local Time: 02:45 AM
Local Date: 12-03-2008
Posts: 1,076
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Re: Best of Route 66
This is what I am afraid of, it starts off here in unfortunately little known Route 66 on TV and DVD next it spreads to films like Casablanca on TV, well Warner seems to know now that this is a mistake after Kung-Fu Season 1 but I could see things going down hill, like It's a Wonderful Life's NBC Christmas airings, adding in colorization as well.
Last edited by Tory : 02-11-2008 at 03:29 PM.
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02-11-2008, 03:36 PM
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#339 of 434
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Rod
Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 167
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Re: Best of Route 66
Couldn't they take a little more off the bottom and less off the top?
Last edited by Rod J : 02-11-2008 at 03:38 PM.
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02-11-2008, 04:10 PM
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#340 of 434
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Member
Location: Florida
Join Date: Feb 2004
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 1,321
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Re: Best of Route 66
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Bert Greene
It looks horrid. I watched about ten seconds of an episode, and turned it off. I'm sending the set back. Pretty exasperating.
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I'm going to do the same thing after attempting to take a second look at the set today. And like Bert, I literally couldn't watch it. I mean I literally was becoming sick trying to watch this abomination and I couldn't do it - so it's going back. What a shame.
Gary "it's not just a little bit of cropping either - they lopped off way too much!" O.
TV ON DVD HOLY GRAIL WANT LIST:
1950's - Father Knows Best (S3-6), The Donna Reed Show (S2-8), Dennis the Menace, Mickey Mouse Club, The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel (S4-6), Naked City (S1), Rawhide (S4-8), Leave it to Beaver (S3-6), Ozzie & Harriet, Perry Mason (S4-9), Hawaiian Eye, The Phil Silvers Show, Lone Ranger (S4,5.5), Lassie, Fury
1960's & 70's - The Fugitive (S2-4), My Three Sons, The Patty Duke Show, Route 66 (S3-4), The Untouchables (S3-4), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (S4.5), Big Valley (S2.5-4), That Girl (S5), Flipper (S2-3), Tarzan, Petticoat Junction (S2-7), Beverly Hillbillies (S3-5), The Lucy Show, Harlem Globetrotters, Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Quincy (S3-8)
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02-11-2008, 04:18 PM
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#341 of 434
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Member
Join Date: May 2005
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 1,496
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Re: Best of Route 66
Perhaps there should have been a disclaimer on this set . . . .
This television show has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your widescreen TV.
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02-11-2008, 04:26 PM
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#342 of 434
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Rod
Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Local Time: 09:45 PM
Local Date: 12-02-2008
Posts: 167
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Re: Best of Route 66
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Bob Hug
Perhaps there should have been a disclaimer on this set . . . .
This television show has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your widescreen TV.
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Perhaps they should NOT have issued a totally DISHONEST press release four days before release?
Quote:
Route 66: Season One, Volume Two
From: Roxbury Entertainment
Roxbury Entertainment in Association With Infinity Entertainment Group Proudly Presents Route 66: Season One, Volume Two
Trouble Along the Highway
Available for the First Time on DVD Feb. 5th Fully Restored & Digitally Transferred From the Original Masters
LOS ANGELES Feb. 1, 2008
For Immediate Release
Fully restored and digitally trans- ferred from the original masters, a special collector's set Route 66: Season One, Volume Two, will be available on DVD for the first time Feb. 5 (Infinity Entertainment Group), completing the exciting and pivotal debut season (1960-61) of one of television's most beloved classics.
...
Enjoy this treasured television classic (episodes 16-30) in a special four-disc, collector's set. Presented in full frame, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, special features include cast biographies.
Roxbury Entertainment, headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. (steps from the official "end" of Route 66), is a film and television production and distribution company owned and operated by producer Kirk Hallam (Finding Rin Tin Tin, The Death of Michael Smith, Gone in 60 Seconds: The Ride), currently in development on the major motion picture Route 66, scheduled for completion in 2008.
Infinity Entertainment Group, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., is a multi-service home entertainment retail distributor, specializing in independent films, television programming, special-interest, documentaries, anime and music. Clients include MOJO on INHD, Falcon Picture Group, Bandai Entertainment, Retromedia Entertainment and Stone Cutter Productions. The company was launched in 2006 and is a division of Infinity Resources, Inc., a privately-held, multi-channel marketing and service enterprise with general offices based in suburban Chicago, Ill.
Route 66: Season One, Volume Two
Collector's Set (4 Discs)
Infinity Entertainment Group
Genre: Classic TV/B&W
Not Rated
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx. 14 Hours (15 Episodes/54 Minutes Each, Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $29.98
Order Date: January 8, 2008
Street Date: February 5, 2008
Catalog #: IEG2031
UPC Code: #617742203196
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