MGM: THE PAN & SCAM OUTRAGE CONTINUES!..I COULD GO ON SINGING Foolscreen ONLY! (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

And I'll be there screamin' right alongside you, William! Just simply ridiculous (if true). P&S for ANY 2.35:1 film really stands for: Pitiful & Silly.

 

[David Von Pein]

I find it kind of interesting that on MGM's own website (in the FAQ), regarding the subject of "Widescreen vs. Full Frame/Pan-&-Scan", they advise consumers .........

>> "If you have a choice between a pan & scan movie and its widescreen counterpart, buy the widescreen version because you'll experience the movie as it was intended to be seen."

 

[David Von Pein]

Another MGM/UA Judy Garland title -- 1963's "A Child Is Waiting" -- is another one I'd like to upgrade to DVD some day (Judy's next-to-last movie).

Anybody know the OAR of "A Child..." ?? Was it 2.35, or 1.85?

 

[m.cellophane]

Also in the FAQ:



I can't post the link cuz it appears I've been lurking here too long, but if you go to MGM's website, you can submit comments to MGM on their "Contact us" page.

I sent mine in regarding ICGOS and MOLM. I know...I know...it's probably pointless, but I had to rant to them.

 

[Greg_M]

Well let's hope a mistake has been made. It would be foolish of MGM to start planning pan and scan releases like these this late in the game (Man of La Mancha is only 1:85 so letterboxing wouldn't be so extreme)

It seems enough members are angry. Let's see what MGM has to say. There have been mistakes made in the past on press releases. These titles are cult favorites so widescreen would be the way to go - they definately wouldn't appeal to the Wal-Wart consumer.

There ought to be a law requiring a label for pan and scan much like that of releasing an abridged copy of a novel. The label should clearly read "Abridged Video Version" because that's what it really is.


Warner Bros. purchasing MGM would be great the old MGM team is now at Warners anyway - (George Feltinstein would never release a Judy Garland film in Pan and Scan) titles would get the propper respect, though less titles would be released.

 

[Roger Rollins]

Start yelling....

It was confirmed to me by a friend who has a friend who works at MGM Home Entertainment. He confirmed that I COULD GO ON SINGING will indeed be PAN & SCAM.

They must think this one is just destined for greatness at Wal-Mart!

 

[David Von Pein]

The stupidity of this is beyond any *instant* comprehension. Let me ponder this idiocy for a few days (THEN I'll consider wrist-slashing, etc.). :frowning: :frowning:

 

[Arnie G]

I guess they think Judy fans are so old they don't know any difference. If this is true we all need to protest re Willy Wonka

 

[Andrew Budgell]

MGM better not think that is true or they've got another thing coming! Judy has many young fans, and I and many other people are evidence of that! I am 17, and know many people that are interested in her, also my age. I am also a member of the JudyList, in which an uproar is occuring over there, too!! I think it's time for all Judy's fans to unite, and let MGM know that we deserve better than this second rate DVD release of a true classic.

Andy

 

[Dave Mack]

Hey, remember that the recent single disc release of West Side Story, (White cover) is 4x3...! Maybe this is a new standard for old musicals...???? Sux, either way...

 

[Michael_DC]

Hi Everyone,
As everyone is saying, the people who would buy ICGOS on dvd would not (for the most part) buy a pan/scan version--I know I won't buy it. So, why is MGM bothering to release this dvd? Don't they want it to sell?
May I suggest that all of us write to MGM and tell them that we won't buy a pan/scan version--and that they should release this movie in its correct widescreen format. May I also suggest that we ask anyone we know who cares about this issue, to write as well.
Here's a name/address:
David Bishop
President
MGM Home Entertainment
2500 Broadway Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Michael,

Welcome to the forum.

Your intentions are good, no doubt.

From experience, however, boycotts don't work
and generally it seems, MGM doesn't care what we
think.

They have it in their heads that some titles just
won't sell if released widescreen. It's a brainwash
process started by Walmart and other stores that have
threatened to stop carrying widescreen titles. MGM
seems to be more interested in pleasing that clientel
rather than the die-hard fans themselves.

The real ignorance here is that MGM could have
put BOTH versions on a single DVD to please everyone.
The fact they didn't even consider such is a real
crime.

I do encourage you to write letters. Email does
not work, but snail mail makes an impression!

 

[Matt`L]

Hi Ronald, it's off topic, but if it's not too much trouble could you help me with relevent mailing addresses for Warner and Universal?

I know there's been rumours of their releases, but I want to send my support for the release of Batman: The Animated Series and Sliders.

Thanks .

edit:
Oh yeah, awesome site you have here .

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I don't have email addresses. Perhaps someone
else here can provide them. All my dealings with
them are through email with their reps.

We will be having a live chat with Warner Brothers
in February. You can show your support at that point.

Now back on topic....

 

[Brian W.]

No, it's true. I've known it for a couple months, both "I Could Go On" and "Man of LaMancha." My...I'll just say my "division"...did some work on this title, and the copy of the tape we received was PAN AND SCAN. I remember looking at the tape labels and seeing "Pan-n-Scan," and running to look them up on IMDB to see what the OAR was, and thinking, "This is crazy." Especially since there are pre-existing non-anamorphic widescreen transfers available.

There's a certain DVD web site that I'm an "informant" for, and I told them about the release several weeks ago, but asked them not to post the Pan-n-scan info because I thought it might be a double-sided release, since MGM likes to do that. I thought maybe we just hadn't gotten the widescreen tape in yet.

As far as I know, we never did. And now, the retailers appear to be confirming this -- Pan-n-scan only on these.

It just doesn't make any sense.

 

[Jay E]

Very sad news!

MGM has recently released a number of 2.35:1 OAR films in pan & scan format on DVD so this news doesn't surprise me. They are seriously competing with Universal & Columbia for the "worst DVD marketing" award.

 

[WillG]

I hate to say it, but I'm starting to think we all better start getting used to this. This is not the first batch of MGM titles that are getting P&S only. CTHE, where do you begin? I have even seen that they are releasing P&S only of DVDs they used to issue in both versions. Even Warner catalog titles still aren't immune to P&S only (Police Academy) I think with these certain studios, catalog titles will no longer necessairly be OAR by default. As Ron pointed out (not going to use his exact words here) it especially is a big "Fuck You" in the cases where both versions can be put on the same disc. A upcoming chat with Warner Bros was mentioned, so maybe we get an explanation for "Police Academy" But I doubt MGM and CTHE will be dropping in anytime soon. So, it will be tough to get answers besides the form "Our Research indicates......."

 

[JohnnyHK]

What would be the possible motivation for this? Widescreen versions of dual releases consistently outsell their fullscreen counterparts. It would appear to make sense both monetarily and artistically to release in widescreen.

It doesn't make any sense!

 

[Michael_DC]

Hi,

I disagree that we have to get used to great widescreen movies stupidly being released in p/s.

As consumers, we do have power--after all, their goal is to sell to us. Without us, they're nothing (to paraphrase Sandra Bernhardt). When we raise an outcry, AND refuse to buy inferior product, things CAN change.

Just focusing on Judy Garland, in 1986 Capitol released her Carnegie Hall album in an abbreviated 1-disc version! There was a great outcry, the album did very poorly, and in 1989 a 2-disc version was released (and in fact, a lot of you probably know that Capitol released a COMPLETE version of the album in 2001!)

Right now, we MAY have the opportunity to change MGM's mind by letting them know their proposed release won't sell. So, it's important (imho) to write, immediately.

It's also important (if the dvd is ultimately released only as p/s) not to support their stupidity by buying such a dvd--and to let them know why we're not buying.

Well, that's my 2 cents!

 

[Jon Martin]

There is. Scorsese and others fought the studios, forcing them to place the "This film has been formatted to fit your screen" warning. The warning also has to state if, when it airs on TV, any scenes are edited, or sped up etc.

As for MGM doing this for Wal Mart, is there any proof? Wal Mart carries many widescreen only films. If they were really threatening the studios, they wouldn't carry them at all.

So many urban legends are out there blaming all evils on the world/video industry on Wal Mart or Blockbuster that unless I see some sort of proof, I won't buy it.