Lord of War: 2-Disc Special Edition 1/17 (2 Viewers)

[David James]

Very disapointing, I sent an email to Lions Gate. Small contribution, but what the heck.

 

[Jon Martin]

Wasn't Lion's Gate the production company? So Lion's Gate is blaming Lion's Gate for the ratio???

 

[CraigF]

Whoever the production company was, Lions Gate is just saying they used what they were given. Maybe they really don't have any say in what they release. Somehow I doubt it. Obviously somebody went to some trouble to reframe this instead of just using the theatrical framing...so it was additional expense I presume. Definitely a conscious effort, not a mistake, so there *is* a reason. Probably a misguided one.

I think not having a "modified to fit your screen" notice on the package was misleading. I wouldn't have known it wasn't OAR if I hadn't checked here. I sure would have figured it out *after* I opened the package and viewed the trailer... Having the notice "DVD aspect ratio" on the Canadian package is pure BS: duh, whatever AR the DVD is in is the DVD AR...this was purely evasive, stating the obvious but nothing informative. It's clear from now on that if an LG release doesn't explicitly say theatrical OAR, then it may not be, a package notice of 16x9/enhanced WS is not good enough. Fair enough, at least they weren't making a false claim in this case. Maybe LG has a better record in the U.S., but in Canada it's always been caveat emptor for them (now called Maple).

I think the 2-disc should have been OAR, for the "fans", and maybe have the 1-disc as MAR for the rental market. That is if they absolutely have to do WS MAR to satisfy their ex-FS customers.

I returned my 2-disc edition.

 

[Joel C]

As soon as I get confirmation that other regions are getting 2.35:1, I'll order.

 

[Juan C]

Thanks for the the information and the follow-up, Bill. To get in touch with Niccol, maybe you could try going through CHUD's Devin Faraci, who had an extensive interview with the filmmaker about Lord of War (and where, BTW, we first heard of a Gattaca SE in the works).

On other unrelated topic: When are you going to release your CES article? The delay has triggered as much speculation as the shooting of Eyes Wide Shut.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Lions Gate is just the distributor. The film had several production companies (the Variety review says "A Lions Gate Films release of an Entertainment Manufacturing Co. presentation of a VIP Medienfonds 3/Ascendant Pictures/Saturn Films production in association with Rising Star/Copag V/Endgame Entertainment") so I don't know which of them is "the" production company -- presumably whoever is listed as the copyright holder in the end credits.

 

[James_L]

Region 3 is gettin the proper OAR but no DTS :frowning:

 

[Jon Martin]

Since Lion's Gate was the distributor, they are most likely in charge of the decision regarding the aspect ratio.

 

[RaymondSteiner]

A very good movie, i read in the news page of HomeTheaterForum(here) that this movie lead the sales chart of this week.

Well deserved, it's quite sad that it didn't make money at the box office, anyway the important thing is that it found it's public.

 

[Jean-Michel]

That would be a reasonable assumption, but they're claiming otherwise. Are they lying? Maybe, but for Lions Gate to say "it was the production company's decision" is not a self-implication.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

No OAR, no sale... unless it's a good movie and released OAR in HD.

Another reason I hate Super35!!!!!

Dan

 

[Mark Lucas]

Super-35 has nothing to do with it. Lord of War could've been an anamorphic scope film and it would've been treated the same way.

 

[WillG]

It could have been that way. But I would think it would been much less likely if "Lord of War" had been shot anamorphically. Super 35 makes these MAR transfers a much easier prospect.

 

[Mark Lucas]

True, but from the screenshots it looks like there was a fairly tight hard matte. Not exactly 4x3 or 16x9 friendly.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I think Lions Gate made a telecine mistake and won't admit it. Other regions got it in 2.35:1/2.40:1, so the idea that it was the producers is bunk.

Remember when Sony first released Silverado? It was Super35 and they released it at 1.85:1 by accident. However, with enough backlash (didn't Lawrence Kasdan get on their case too?) they re-transfered it at 2.35:1.

Another problem with Super35 is the grain. I still like Panavision better, as you use the whole frame rather than blowing up a small portion of it and magnifying the flaws with less detail.

Dan

 

[Joseph S]

Do not buy or rent this garbage and be sure to let Lions Gate know it. I'm officially boycotting Lions Gate altogether for the time being as this is now becoming a trend with their releases. Give your money to another out of region distributor if you must, but don't give it to Lions Gate!!!!

 

[Malcolm Cleugh]

My R2 UK copy from Momentum has just arrived (its officially released next week. I can confirm that the picture is anamorphic 2.35 throughtout.

The technical spec on the back sleeve is confusing as it says something like "16x9 (original ratio 2.35)", so until I could play the disk I was worried we had also got a 1.78 version, luckily this is not the case and its 2.35

The only downside compared to the Lions Gate release is we only get DD5.1 there is no DTS track

Also it says as a banner on the top of the front sleeve Limited Edition so it may be they only plan to release the 2 disk version (which is all there is on sale in UK) for a short period and then replace with 1 disk. There is no limited edition number on the sleeve.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Yes!! Thank you! I only decided to buy this film after the R1 was released, so I preordered the UK version in the hopes of getting the OAR. I'm relieved... and can't wait to receive my copy.

 

[George_fsf]

I was on Best Buy yesterday and looking at the 2 disc edition, they now put a sticker on the back saying widedscreen 2.40:1

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Woh...

If Lionsgate are offering a replacement, why haven't they replied to the people (like me) who voiced their dissatisfaction through email or phone calls?

I'll be on the look out for this disc next time I hit Best Buy.