Make a little noise about WARNER -- get some Press! You have been HEARD! (1 Viewer)

[Travis Hedger]

w00t!
Very good news to hear!
/me pats his HTF Bretheren on the back for the good work!
We will not stand idly by and allow studios to put out subpar product on such a wide scale as they had intended.
P&S is fine...AS LONG AS AN OAR VERSION IS ALSO AVAILABLE!!!!
Let this be a lesson to you Warner.

 

[Scott D S]

We rule!

 

[John Berggren]

Super! Thanks for asking!
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[David Lambert]

Keep talking it up, HTF! You'll be surprised what a difference we can make as a group!
Each and every one of us should take a moment and pat ourselves on our backs that we've gotten this far. We've gotten attention.
Now, let's bring it home. We still haven't "won" yet; we still don't have those anamorphic widescreen versions of Wonka or C&D or LoTR yet.
Let's show a BIG round of support tomorrow for OAR by purchasing those anamorphic copies of The Goonies from WB. Let them see that OAR is important to us.
Then...hold fast and leave 'em in the cold when WW&TCF ships the following week. Leave it on the shelves. Encourage others to leave it on the shelves. Make sure they know in very simple terms: "The copy of this movie you're thinking of buying isn't the original version shown in theatres, way back when". "They screwed it up...by showing too much!". "You can see the tubes leading into the little girl when she turns into a blueberry, for chrissakes!".
We're on-the-way...but we haven't even rounded 2nd base yet. Keep it steady, and look out for the shortstop. M'kay?
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DAVE/Memphis
My 3-year-old enjoying Superman - The Movie in widescreen:

(Some of my DVD's are to the left side of the picture)

 

[JamesCS]

I wrote in the Wonka Pan & Scan thread that the DVD marketing executives at Fox and the other forward-thinking studios will be laughing at the rash of myopic blunders from Warner Brothers. Boy, I didn't know they would be laughing so soon and with such public fanfare. Thanks for the update, Ron.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

It's moments like these when I'm glad that I'm a member of this board.
Wonderful news, Ron!
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-J.Fo
"And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were... 'I'm on drugs!'"

 

[CRyan]

Well, thank you again HTF. This is obviously just the beginning, but we are at least getting our foot in the door now. If anyone wanted another fight after DIVX, this is it. Many of us had a feeling this would be our next fight two years ago, and now it is upon us. With the advent of rental-pricing, this will be a long fight.
C. Ryan

 

[Wes Ray]

I just hope in all this negative press that Warner Bros. gets that someone at the video magazine will comment about Warner Bros. lack of support for the director's original intentions.
Mainly this concerns Eyes Wide Shut and Valentine.
Eyes Wide Shut should've been released on DVD in it's original NC-17/Unrated version, at least on DVD. Things like this are why DVDs are so popular. We want to see what we couldn't see in theaters. This is a pure and simple shame. Kubrick's vision was never realized, because Warner Bros. wouldn't admit that they were wrong. Just like the next film I will discuss...
Valentine, an enjoyable throwback to the slasher movies of the early 80's and not films like Scream, was given an R-Rating with all the blood and gore intact. Warner Bros. got cold feet and trimmed the film further, basically releasing a PG-13 movie to theaters with an MPAA R-Rating. Shouldn't there be a penalty for this of some sort? Surely this practice can't be allowed by the MPAA. All would've been forgiven if Warner Bros. had released the theatrical cut AND the Director's original cut on DVD, but did they? No, they did not. They have a whole audio commentary with director Jamie Blanks talking about all the great things that were shot and cut out by Warner Bros, but we never get to see any of it. A pure and simple shame.
If Video Store Magazine is reading through these, please don't forget to address Warner Bros' neglect for fans who like to see DVDs with Director's Cuts and alternate versions/footage of films.
This is just further proof that Warner Bros. has no interest in taking advantage of the fantastic medium before them which is, DVD.

 

[EricK]

AWESOME!!! We can make a difference!! Love this place!
Eric.
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[Jim Reynolds]

Ron,My wife and I will be buying a 16:9 direct view within the next 2 months and it was agreed upon because of our love of widescreen movies and only that reason.As a family of 4,we watch only widescreen now on a 27" and even my kids now know the value of widescreen. Next time you talk to a studio rep,please pass that along. We may lose a few minor battles but we'll win the war. Jim

 

[Edwin-S]

It is good news that enough heat was generated here to catch the eye of an industry publication. If the studios HAVE to put out P&S versions then just make sure the real movie is included too. Now all that has to be done is to convince them to put the P&S version on its own disk with screen printed art and no extras.....that way I can start my movie themed drink coaster collection!

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[Inspector Hammer!]

Oh, man, I think i'm gonna cry!!
I have NEVER in my life fought for a cause as hard as this!
I LOVE you guys and gals, each and every one of ya!
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Warner Bros. is officially dead to me.

 

[GaryEA]

A big "Thank You" to Ron and to my fellow HTF members. I think the boulder we have been pushing uphill just got a little smaller.
I'm looking forward to the article, and for the discussion afterwards.
-g

 

[Andy_S]

Anyone know the lead time on this magazine? I know some mag's can take up to 3 months from writing the story to actually pressing the magazine. I can't wait that long!
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[Mark Basile]

I wasn't really sure which thread to post this in because there are so many on the subject, but I just have to say to Warner Bros. and any other studio that even thinks about Pan-and-Scan-only DVDs:
DVD is the fastest selling home entertainment medium of all time. There will be twenty-plus million DVD players in homes by this Christmas. These numbers are impressive considering that 98% of all movie DVDs are presented in their original aspect ratio. There are only MAYBE 100,000 hardcore home theater enthusiasts in the United States, so who is buying the other 3+ million copies of "The Matrix"? Or the other 2+ million copies of "Gladiator"? Obviously the rest of the public.
Hardcore enthusiasts may have ignited DVD sales, but the rest of the public obviously loves the format. If they didn't like movies presented in their original aspect ratio, then DVD could not have possibly taken off the way it has, and there would have been a major backlash about two years ago about support for pan-and-scan. This never happened, and never will. Twenty million people have purchased DVD players fully knowing that the vast majority of movies are widescreen, so why would any studio throw money into market research to tell them what they already know? That widescreen presentations have and will continue to sell millions of copies of movies.
Pan-and-scan is slowly dying. With top-rated television shows such as ER and The Sopranos presented exclusively in widescreen, and commercials continuously using widescreen shots, the public IS learning to deal with "the black bars", even if they don't fully understand them. Disney doesn't believe it needs to have a pan-and-scan version of "The Emperor's New Groove" or "Tarzan", and they are the ultimate "family" studio.
At this point, I do hope that the studios don't take a major step backwards, with newfound support for pan-and-scan, because DVD has always been and will continue to be a widescreen format.

 

[Sebastian_M]

Ron,
Make sure the article prints exactly how many members there are at the HTF, and that there are more joining each day. And thank God Warner is going to get bad press for this, its just plain stupid of them.
Seb
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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[Tom Boucher]

I don't think we should settle for just OAR, It should be Anamorphic OAR as well.
Though getting OAR is a victory, don't sit on our laurels. While the momentum is there and there is a stuido to point the finger at, we must push forward.
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[SteveMc]

Considering this is a weekly mag, i wouldn't suspect the lead time is long at all, they need to be up the current happening in the biz.
I think I have tears welling up

This is great news. No we haven't won yet but Warner can not simply ignore bad press such as this. I think we will at the very least see a seperate disc with the OAR version of Wonka. Congrats to all the HTF members who have spoken out on this.
And as another member said, no hard feelings Warner. If you continue to support OAR, I will continue to buy your DVDs.
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Crash
"I don't even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack."
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[Scott Wong]

This is definitely awesome news!! *yay!!!* How cool is that? I'm glad we're making a difference...
Scott.
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[Dwayne]

Hats off to everyone here. Let's keep being agressive.
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-Dwayne
"And vidi films I would."