Lord of War - What would you do? (Aspect Ratio)

I saw Lord of War in Best Buy's flyer the other day for $3.99. I own the 2 disc version with the incorrect aspect ratio of 1.78:1, so I thought I would go see if the single disc they had on sale had the proper AR. I found one in the store (the only one I saw) and it said WIDESCREEN 2.40:1. No sticker, the actual sleeve said this.

Do you know where this is going??? I bought it, brought it home, popped it in and...


Same aspect ratio as the one I already own, 1.78:1.

What would you do? With tax, I paid $4.25. Is it worth the hassle to try and return it? Anyone ever flatout return a DVD because the aspect ratio was mis-labeled on the box?

I've got to say I'm currently leaning against it, because I don't know if $4.25 is worth trying to explain to someone at the customer service counter that "Yes, I know my TV is supposed to have black bars, but these black bars are not big enough."

Re: Lord of War - What would you do? (Aspect Ratio)

Unbelieveable... just unbelieveable.

And the thing is, its my own fault. I should have brought this new copy to a local used CD/DVD place to get a buck or two for it. But no, today I decided to return it to Best Buy.

The customer service girl asks me what's wrong with it. I tell her that its mislabeled, the aspect ratio on the disc is not what the packaging says. She says go grab another one, the wrong disc was put in the case. I said no, they're all going to be like that based on the research I've done. She says she can't give me my money back because of copywright laws. I say a store credit will be fine. She says can't do that.

She says just a minute and comes back with a geek squad/tech guy. I explain to him what the deal is. He said he was going to take a look at it on a display they have behind the counter.

A few minutes later she comes up and says the guy wants me to come back so he can "show me." I get back there, and there are black bars on the top and bottom of the 16x9 display. For a second I doubted myself until I saw Nicolas Cage with a very short and round face. The display or player was vertically squeezing the image so it looked like a 2.40:1 ratio.

I explained that the image was being squeezed vertically, and the guy tries to explain aspect ratios to me and how the black bars need to be there, etc. I say I understand that, but the picture was being squeezed. (It was really quite obvious when you looked at it) He again tried to explain aspect ratios when I said that I truly understood what he meant, I have been into home theater for a very long time... But before I could complete my sentence he said, "I just got back from a home theater install this morning."

I was at a loss. I really had nothing to say after he said this. I almost laughed a little.

He pulls the disc out of the player, hands it to the customer service girl, and says "I've got to go."

She gave the disc to me, I thanked her for her time (because I'm too damn polite) and left.

Why I decided to go through that for $3.99 plus tax is something I'll never understand.

I was going to try to finish with a moral of the story, but I'm not sure what it is.
Its either... 1. Don't worry about a couple bucks when deep down you just knew it wouldn't work (read my original post) or,
2. Don't ever question the knowledge of a guy who "just got back from a home theater install this morning."

Long post, I know. Thanks for listening.