Aspect Ratio Documentation (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

Was it produced with UI financing?

 

[FoxyMulder]

Was it produced with UI financing?

I would have thought Hammer had enough of their own money back then, maybe Universal gave some cash for distribution rights but i imagine that Hammer controlled the production of the movie.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Special thanks to 3-D Film Archive friend and all around great guy Glenn Erickson for this review of my restoration of THE DEVIL BAT on Blu-ray.http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4280bat.html

 

[FoxyMulder]

I watched The Quatermass Experiment on BBC 2 HD last night, the film is from 1955 and they were showing it in what looked like a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, it looked very good except for some minor sharpening in a handful of scenes which caused some very light halo's on black suits against light backgrounds, minor though and overall it looked very good for a television HD broadcast.

I'm just wondering what the aspect ratio for the film would originally have been.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Definitely widescreen, it began shooting October 12. 1954. It's either 1.65, 1.66 or 1.75:1.

 

[John Hodson]

This is where I came in I've zoomed that transfer to an approximation of 1.75:1 (it may, or may not be fully open-matte) and it's a revelation.

 

[Rick2001ad]

Special thanks to 3-D Film Archive friend and all around great guy Glenn Erickson for this review of my restoration of THE DEVIL BAT on Blu-ray.http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4280bat.html

Have it on pre-order, many thanks for the hard work Bob!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thanks very much, Rick!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

From Mirek at the Latarnia Forum:

 

[Moe Dickstein]

So when is someone going to do Hitler reacting to the delay on Mad World?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Those make me laugh...every...single...time.

 

[DVDvision]

"Damn the evidence, I saw it at seven and it was 1.66:1" LOL

 

[Robert Crawford]

Those make me laugh...every...single...time.

Yeah, that was pretty funny.

 

[John Hodson]

Speaking of Hammer, specs for October's UK release of The Mummy include:

• Original UK theatrical aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (the film has never before been released at this aspect ratio)
• Alternate “full frame” aspect ratio: 1.37:1

*Sigh*...

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Truth be told, BRIDES is most likely 1.75:1. Same for THE MUMMY.

But who's listening?

 

[DVDvision]

Nazis. Aspect ratio fascists, meat cleaver at the ready?

 

[John Hodson]

This whole thing is beyond a joke; as I've said in another thread, the irony is that the new BD of Brides of Dracula is just a tad wider than Universal's slightly zoomboxed DVD transfer. But it's the cropping at the bottom of the image of the BD that absolutely cripples the presentation. Marry the two together - the BD's extra width, the DVD's extra image at the bottom - and the result is an image that measures very nearly 1.75:1...and frames perfectly.

Meanwhile Hammer, well, their fixation with presenting The Mummy with a totally redundant 1.37:1 transfer is ridiculous. Not a fully open-matte 1.33:1 presentation, but a proper Academy ratio transfer to sit alongside the 1.66:1. And their point? Only they know, but I have a good idea.

The Quatermass Xperiment is coming to BD shortly (an Australian release, but a UK one will surely follow), and I have little doubt it will be Academy only, as per the recent UK broadcast, Hammer insisting that it's not a widescreen production, when patently it is. Madness.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

If you can get through to them, good luck!

I've stopped trying.

 

[EddieLarkin]

The Quatermass Xperiment is coming to BD shortly (an Australian release, but a UK one will surely follow), and I have little doubt it will be Academy only, as per the recent UK broadcast, Hammer insisting that it's not a widescreen production, when patently it is. Madness.

Ugh. Another open matte Blu-ray presentation of an obvious widescreen film to add to the list. Their obsession with 1.66:1 is frustrating but bearable. This 1.37:1 nonsense is infuriating.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I just don't get it with Hammer, they should have documentation telling them exactly the aspect ratio of their films, it's strange they are not getting things right, maybe they will use this as an excuse to double dip and re-release all their titles with the correct aspect ratio in the future.