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Sony Pictures continues to drop existing widescreen transfers - Page 10

post #271 of 293
8/13/05 at 9:14pm
Quote:
If you can name at least two films from any single studio that has been released in P&S only this year, other than Sony owned studios, I'll concede the point.
Joshua, I think Disney has released a number of their older live action titles with modified aspect ratios this year. Whether P&S or open-matte I'm not certain, but some are definitely cropped.

The Boatniks
That Darn Cat!

there are several more.
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post #272 of 293
8/13/05 at 10:32pm
I apologize in advance for straying off topic, but what was the blunder with Jules & Jim?
Apparently there is a scene where some of it is backwards (people on the left are on the right, etc.).
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post #273 of 293
8/13/05 at 10:37pm
Joshua, I think Disney has released a number of their older live action titles with modified aspect ratios this year. Whether P&S or open-matte I'm not certain, but some are definitely cropped.

The Boatniks
That Darn Cat!

there are several more.
Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find out what the original aspect ratio of most of those Disney films are. There have been endless debates, but nobody seems to have any undisputed documentation in most of those cases.

The one Disney dvd that is without a doubt pan & scan, is Blackbeard's Ghost, which you can easily tell by watching it. The others are much fuzzier, and in most cases you don't get the telltale signs such as people's faces cut off, or talking to someone missing, or chopped off credit sequences, etc.
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post #274 of 293
8/14/05 at 8:42pm
That is true, but Blackbeards Ghost was released around 3 years ago.

Some of those films may be open matte, but that does not mean for certain that it is a modified aspect ratio. Some of those films, such as Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and possibly others were originally shot for TV, and then brought to the theaters later.
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post #275 of 293
8/14/05 at 9:09pm
Quote:
That is true, but Blackbeards Ghost was released around 3 years ago.

The transfer, though, seems to have been made in the early 1980s.
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post #276 of 293
8/15/05 at 7:53am
Remember, Sony is *the* company which sent a couple lists to retailers explaining how they planned remove the widescreen versions from their currently released discs! This is quite different from intially (Warner) releasing P&S as a *test* bargain line.

To be sure, Sony is "dumbing-down" some of their DVD product in preparation for Blu-Ray. Don't believe me? Check the extras listed on the back of the now P&S only The Mirror Has Two Faces!
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post #277 of 293
8/15/05 at 8:38am
RandallV,

please share about those extras...what do they reveal?

dave
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post #278 of 293
8/15/05 at 8:58am
Let's see: English 2-Channel or 5.1, Additional Languages: Spanish, French, Subtitles and Scene Selection!

Scene Selection - OH JOY! I'm in Heaven.

Looks like VHS on a shiny little disc to me.
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post #279 of 293
8/15/05 at 11:04am
Quote:
DVD's that have been previously re-leased as full/wide flipper discs that have had widescreen sides removed, that I would like to purchase, if they wree made available again.

Josie and the Pussycats


Just wanted to point out that the Josie and the Pussycats DVD is open matte, not pan and scan.

I was watching it on TV and noticed the framing differences so I queued up the widescreen DVD and compared it. It was definitely just open matte.

Still no excuse for removing the widescreen, but not as bad as pan and scan.
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post #280 of 293
8/15/05 at 2:31pm
Wow, Randall! Do we even get one of them fancy black boxes, too?
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post #281 of 293
8/16/05 at 7:13am
OMG! Yes we do still get the nice black boxes that hold our DVDs. I should chastise you for mentioning Sony/MGM possibly replacing the keepcases with something cheaper! I buy CDs from Europe and many are sold in a cardboard sleeve - no jewel box!
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post #282 of 293
8/30/05 at 4:40pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I spoke too soon last time- Apparently this thread hasn't gone on long enough, and not enough ill will has been generated towards the company, so the "Aspect Ratio Update" is back up on their site, with a new notice dated August 19th with the same wording as last time. Latest victims this time around include:

The Cable Guy
Dogma (I assume the special edition will still be available)

The Juror
Karate Kid Part III (VERY strange as this was only in widescreen on ALL formats, including VHS on its first release, and Karate Kid II and Next Karate Kid are now widescreen-only)

The Man From Laramie
Muppets From Space (This has already been available for a couple years with both formats at $9.99 list, available in the $6 range at a lot of stores)

The Professional (Superbit available?)
The Replacement Killers (Superbit available)
Seven Years In Tibet (Superbit available)
Tortilla Soup
Two Moon Junction

These will have the "Fullscreen" versions dropped:

The Assignment
The Big Hit
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Dancer, Texas Pop 81
The Glass House
Indian In The Cupboard
Karate Kid Part II
The Next Karate Kid
Poetic Justice
Run Lola Run
Single White Female
Striking Distance
Welcome To The Dollhouse

Again, no rhyme or reason to which titles are affected, and not all of them seem to have the list prices dropped either. They seem to be pushing people to the higher-priced Superbit discs to get the widescreen versions, but again some other titles are essentially going out-of-print for all practical purposes.
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post #283 of 293
8/30/05 at 5:36pm
Quote:
Again, no rhyme or reason to which titles are affected,


This...alongside the MAR-only releases...seems to be the most frustrating thing about this situation.
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post #284 of 293
8/30/05 at 6:57pm
Sheesh. Do they just draw the titles out of a hat or something?
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post #285 of 293
8/30/05 at 7:57pm
Clearly there must be a large outcry from Karate Kid fans to get Part II in widescreen but Part III in P&S. Very logical.
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post #286 of 293
10/11/05 at 10:31am
I noticed this morning at TARGET that GUARDING TESS has dropped the Widescreen side and has awful new cover. Also MONEY TRAIN. Both were in the $5.50 section.
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post #287 of 293
10/11/05 at 3:01pm
Muppets From Space has a new cover too. They painted the big moon in the background bright green. That makes about as much sense as dropping the widescreen version of the film, so I guess it's fitting.
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post #288 of 293
10/11/05 at 6:01pm
Quote:
Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find out what the original aspect ratio of most of those Disney films are. There have been endless debates, but nobody seems to have any undisputed documentation in most of those cases.


I would certainly consider having personally handled and projected release prints of most of the 1960's and 1970's Disney live action pictures to be a pretty concrete source.

The great majority of them were hard matted IB Tech prints at 1.75:1.

So, it's a pretty safe bet that most of the non-ws releases are P&S or at least, have the edges cropped, at least when compared to the theatical release prints.

Ted
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post #289 of 293
10/11/05 at 8:24pm
So, it's a pretty safe bet that most of the non-ws releases are P&S or at least, have the edges cropped, at least when compared to the theatical release prints.
Maybe. The problem, for me at least, is that some films, such as Blackbeard's Ghost are clearly pan & scanned. It's so obvious that there's no way you could miss it. Then on some of the others, there are no shots like that. Most pan & scanned films I've seen are pretty obviously so. But many of the Disney films just don't have the telltale signs of being pan & scanned. That doesn't mean they're not, but it's easy to see why people aren't certain.
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post #290 of 293
10/12/05 at 1:33pm
To be sure, Sony is "dumbing-down" some of their DVD product in preparation for Blu-Ray. Don't believe me? Check the extras listed on the back of the now P&S only The Mirror Has Two Faces!
I've got two questions RandallV:
1. What good does "dumbing-down" do for Sony in view of Blu-Ray?
2. Is "The Mirror Has Two Faces" P&S or open-matte?
Thanks.
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post #291 of 293
10/12/05 at 3:27pm
Even with OPEN MATTE films when you have a Anamorphic Television it sucks. I Hate those black bars on the sides!
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post #292 of 293
10/13/05 at 2:36pm
Ira,

I'm quite sure I don't need to explain the obvious with regard to Sony and their Blu-Ray format.

The Mirror Has Two Faces is most likely open matte. I don't have any information from Columbia/Tristar specifically citing the aspect ratio. Sorry.
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post #293 of 293
11/21/05 at 12:23pm
All the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVDs I currently own are WIDESCREEN only, and here they are:

Easy Rider 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the 2-disc Collector's Edition
The Big Chill 15th Anniversary Edition
St. Elmo's Fire
Steel Magnolias
Ghostbusters 2-disc Double Feature Gift Set

Not one of those above titles EVER had a full-frame version. I strongly support widescreen-only DVD releases, no matter what movie studio it is. Take Paramount Pictures, for example; they issued a whole lot of their movies on DVD in widescreen only. I strongly suggest all other movie-based home entertainment companies do the same.
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