Framing and lack of headroom in Excalibur (1 Viewer)

[Mark_Wilson]

Heres an odd one, the picture in this old auction looks like the widescreen picture above but without the word 'widescreen'.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1539611015

 

[CameronS]

Come on guys...
The artwork on the DVD is clearly superior than that of the LD. Another fine decision by the Warner Marketing Team!

 

[Ric Easton]

Mark,
That is an odd one. Without seeing the details up close I couldn't tell you which one it is.

Ric

 

[MartinTeller]

I like how that guy is trying to market it as "early Patrick Stewart". Like, for all the Patrick Stewart fans out there who've never heard of Excalibur.

 

[JonZ]

"Overall I prefer the LD"

I had the widescreen version and I think I preferred it to the DVD as well.I dont remember if mine said "widescreen" on the cover. I believe it did.

The also hate the DVD cover art, its very cheesy and prefer the old painting 100 times more.

I love this movie, one of my 10 favorites of all time.

 

[Daniel _J_K]

Based on what I've read, here, I'll stick to my "widescreen" LD.

 

[Ric Easton]

Hey JonZ,

Who are those babes on your sig, anyway?

Ric

 

[Andy Olivera]

Ric, I've been wondering that, too. I know the one on the left is Jennifer Connelly. The other looks like Terry Farrell, but it's too small to be sure. So Jon, am I right?

 

[Felix Martinez]

Based on what I've read, here, I'll stick to my "widescreen" LD.

I have the dvd and the WS LD. All things considered, I prefer the dvd, especially when viewing on larger monitors/projection screens.
My $.02
Felix
Visit the CineFlexx
http://members.aol.com/beautymarkstudio/Home.html

 

[JonZ]

Nope, Giant Robo and Laura Harring

 

[Jim DiJoseph]

Check out the tag lines on the LD and the DVD:

LD:
Forged by a god.
Foretold by a wizard.
Found by a King.

DVD:
Forged by a god.
Foretold by a wizard.
Found by a man.

That last line is riveting on the LD, and leaves something to be desired on the DVD. I wonder if the movie had this duality when it was released, or if Warner decided to change yet another thing for the DVD...?

 

[Ken Garrison]

Today, directors are a little careless on how they shoot their movie. When you watch an old movie that's widescreen, you notice that there's a bit of breathing room. Lots of it too. The cameraman didn't zoom too close and everything was perfect. Now I see some movies today that'd look better if they just zoomed out just a little because a little part of the head is cut off and stuff. I noticed a lot of that on Pearl Harbor. Guess that's why the VHS version is almost pan and scan. Probably was shot by a director that did not want his movie pan and scanned. So, he did some things on purpose to make it hard. Guess a pan and scanner said "f*** it" and made a 1.85:1 frame for most of the movie, and made the fight scenes in 2.35:1. Hey. More movies should be done like that where it's too hard to pan and scan. Put one character on one side and one on the other. I guess however they filmed the movie is just the way they wanted us to see it. I definently wouldn't want ANY movie I'd make Pan and Scanned. I'd SUE if a movie of mine was Pan and Scanned. Uh, I haven't made a movie yet. LOL

 

[John P Grosskopf]

Forged by a god.
Foretold by a wizard.
Found by a man.

This is simple political correctness. To beleive that someone is ordained by noble birth the be "better" than others is not a politically correct belief, as it goes against the idea that everyone is potentially equal.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

IMDB shows two taglines. One of them says "Found by a man", not "Found by a King". Perhaps the LD was wrong. I like "Found by a man" better. Although Arthur didn't really find it. Everybody knew it was stuck in that rock.

The other is "No mortal could possess it! No kingdom could command it!" What the hell is that?

 

[PhilipG]

Well, my poster says "Found by a King". I think the Warner alternate coverart designer really wanted to hammer home his incompetence with that one.

 

[PhilipG]

The other is "No mortal could possess it! No kingdom could command it!" What the hell is that?

The sword Excalibur, of course! One version of the legend says that Arthur is immortal, and will return one day. And pretty much the entire kingdom tried to retrieve the sword from the stone.

 

[Sean Patrick]

i watched this dvd for the first time in ages last night (also the first time i'd seen in on my 16:9 tv), and the top of the frame seems VERY cropped. it was a lot worse than i was fearing.

i might actually sell it on ebay, since i don't think i'd want to see it like this again.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Also, Warner's DVD of another Boorman classic, DELIVERANCE is badly framed - overmatted, to be precise. It should be 2.40:1, but it is overmatted to somwhere in the region of 2.60-70:1 - GAH! But the transfer is sharp and colorful and the extras are interesting.
But EXCALIBUR and DELIVERANCE could be great "2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION" DVDs...

Gordy

 

[Ric Easton]

It's really a shame that Excalibur can't stir up as much attention as Back to the Future for a properly framed DVD. I always loved this movie, I had to buy back my LD!

Ric

 

[JeffPh]

This is really disapointing news to me...I've passed on Excalibur on DVD a few times, but it was on my short list. Now it sounds like I'm glad I did pass...I knew there was a reason I kept my VCR.

IMHO this movie should be considered a classic. I can still remember my parents taking me to the R rated and making me stand out in the hall for the sex scenes (they watched it in advance to know where the naughty scenes were). I've watched my VHS tape too many times to count. What a tribute to the "fantasy" genre. I guess we'll just have to raise a fuss until they get the DVD right.