"Angel" season two is widescreen, not full-frame as previously announced (2 Viewers)

[Joshua_W]

The aspect ratio of "Angel" season two is interesting.

On the DVD, I've seen a lot of shots that look like they were composed for 16:9, and some that look like they were composed for 4:3. A good example of 16:9 shots would be in the Pylea storyline, where Lorne's cousin is doing the dances in the background while his mother speaks.

Also, noticed a couple of spots where the image is 4:3 windowboxed into the 16:9 frame... a sunset insert in one of the later episodes.

Overall, I think they probably made the right decision by going 16:9 for this one, rather than 4:3. Even though a few of the shots have some dead space, a lot look to be composed for widescreen. I'd rather have a handful of images have some dead space than a bunch of images overly cropped.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

good example of 16:9 shots would be in the Pylea storyline, where Lorne's cousin is doing the dances in the background while his mother speaks.

More Joss, the one and only reason it NEEDED to be 16:9

(for those not in the know, Numfar is Joss's one and only Buffyverse cameo, performed pretty much on a dare. Joss also refuses to do the Dance of Shame/Joy to this day unfortunately)

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Well, if you count voice-overs as cameos, he played a news caster in "I Robot, You Jane."

 

[Jeff Kleist]

This is true Dan, but I'm only counting on-screen

 

[Mitch Stevens]

Ok. Since everyone here is commenting on how GOOD the image quality looks on this set, I'm here to comment on the opposite. Is it just my DVD player (Sonly NS-700P) or is it the actual DVDs themselves?

I've tried playing it in:

Progressive Film
Progressive Video
Interlaced Film
Interlaced Video

And I'm still seeing the exact same thing. What I'm seeing is that one shot will look in focus, and the next shot, will be completely out of focus. In focus, and completely out of focus.....EVER SINGLE SHOW...EVERY SINGLE DVD! I don't get it. At first I thought it was just a defective DVD, but all 6 DVDs couldn't be defective. Is it just me, or are you guys seeing the same thing??? Please tell me, I'm not crazy!

 

[David Susilo]

I have that problem using my Pioneer 563 universal player

None of that problem using Pioneer DV-05, Panasonic RP-56, Panasonic DMR-E30.

 

[Joshua_W]

Yeah, to me the transfer seems a little "off," as well.

On my set-up, it looks like there's a lot of "shimmer" or something. It's kind of hard to describe, but the picture just seems a little soft and grainy in a way that the Buffy S4 and Angel S1 sets didn't.

Another thing... when there are credits on the screen (like during the end credits or "Guest Starring Andy Hallett") if I pause, the letters look blocky and incomplete.

For example, if I pause and zoom in during the end credits, the letter will be missing horizontal bars, like the top horizontal line of all of the capital "E"s will be missing. When I hit pause again and resume play, the letters look normal but a little shimmery.

This is from a five year-old Toshiba player.

 

[Joe6pack99]

God what a mess i had to go through 5 sets to get a ok disc 1 and 2. This packaging is so bad there is no excuse for this grrr

 

[Zen Butler]

I haven't noticed anything "out of focus." Joshua did speak of grain, for which I have noticed in a few darker scenes(not all though). It seems to be only for about 30 seconds, then its fine. This happens on both livingroom and bedroom set-ups. Both of which are very different.



On a side note: You guys were correct. This season really does take off at episode 5. It was difficult to stop last night.

 

[Carlo_M]

Damn! Floaters again! Argh, if I had known this set would also be plagued I would have bought from a B&M. Oh well, my set shipped from Overstock on Friday so hopefully it will be here this week, and be free of floaters.

** crosses fingers **

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Up to 2.07 now. Had to stop halfway through. Already having a great time.

It'll suck when I reach 2.16 because I've seen every episode since then....

2.01 - 2.16 has so far been a nice treat to watch.

 

[Scott_F_S]

On a side note: You guys were correct. This season really does take off at episode 5. It was difficult to stop last night.

To say the least! Got mine in the mail Saturday, and did a couple of marathons over the weekend, finally forced myself to shut it off after Ep 17, Disharmony.

What an awesome ride this has been. I've read that this series only gets better in Seasons 3 and 4. I can't imagine it being much better than this one's been so far. I was consistently getting blown away over the weekend, especially after finding S1 uneven and disappointing.

Never was much of a Cordy fan through three seasons of Buffy and one Angel season. But I really liked her this time around.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

What an awesome ride this has been. I've read that this series only gets better in Seasons 3 and 4.

Season Three is my favorite. Season Four has moments of greatness and was overall better than the concurrent Buffy season, but it was not necessarily as well thought out as it should have been.

Regards,

 

[Daryl L]

Never was much of a Cordy fan through three seasons of Buffy and one Angel season. But I really liked her this time around.

lol

 

[Jari]

Thanks for the spoiler!

Is it so hard to understand that not everyone is up to speed with this show?????

 

[Daryl L]

Jari,

I'm so sorry and deeply apologize. I really didn't give any plot or storyline. Every character changes during a series somewhat. I just commented on her exception. I guess I assumed wrong. Again I apologize.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah prolly safer to use spoilers for things like that. Although, I think that's more "general news" and not really show-specific news. Not really a "spoiler" per se, but rather a fact. Kind of like How that big, tall dude wasn't working on everybody loves raymond - it wasn't related to the show, he was PO'd over money differences (i.e the writers didn't want to get rid of Cordy, I think she wanted off the show)
. I actually heard about your spoiler from the local evening news, not from some fansite devoted to Angel.

 

[Daryl L]

Well I removed the two wordsdoyle died
.

I also readcordy wanted to leave due to having a child to be there for
also.

 

[Jari]

It's ok Daryl. I was just bit pissed off 'cause I was looking forward to watch this series unspoiled on dvd. Probably the only show I've been able to watch relatively unspoiled has been Babylon 5. Even back then when Twin Peaks aired some moron in school spoiled the mystery who killed Laura Palmer. Now that's cruel!

I've been waiting for a proper time to sat down and enjoy Angel season 3 which has lied in my dvd shelf for several months now. I'd like to have Buffy S7 alongside since I heard there are some crossovers between them...?

BTW, has anybody else noticed how cool comic book character Angel would've been back in the good old days?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Angel Season 3 corresponds to Buffy Season 6. There are crossovers, but they're not of the "story starts on show A and finishes on show B" variety - you can watch both seasons straight through and it makes complete sense (although I'd advise watching Angel first for S7/4).

And Angel made a pretty good comic book character about a year ago, when Whedon did a spiffy mini-series for Dark Horse with Mel Rubi on art ("I didn't take Jules Verne in high school!" "Just smash stuff." "OK. I aced that" - Gunn & Angel).