replacing all of my non-anamorphic titles (1 Viewer)

[Bo_Darville]

is there any difference in quality btwn anamorphic vs. non-anamorphic, the inconvenience of switching the zoom off when viewing the main menu notwithstanding?

 

[Bepaof8]

Hey Ernie - why do you think I posted that crap about "The Game"? It's anamorphic.

Glad you appreciated it...

Pete

 

[David_B_K]

Very much so. There is more resolution with the anamorphic DVDs if you are viewing on a HDTV set. If viewing on a "standard" 4:3 TV, not so much.

 

[Chad Ellinger]

Assuming we're talking about region 1, I have the original (non-DTS) LOTM DVD, and it is the Director's Cut. I don't believe the theatrical cut has been released on DVD in region 1.

 

[tzgq2m]

Pete, I did appreciate it, and I did buy it today, many thanks.

See below for todays purchases:

Shipping estimate for these items: January 10, 2007

Delivery estimate: January 13, 2007 - January 16, 2007

1 "The Crow (Miramax/Dimension Collector's Series)"
Brandon Lee; DVD; $14.99

1 "The English Patient (Miramax Collector's Edition)"
Ralph Fiennes; DVD; $14.99

1 "The Truman Show (Special Edition)"
Jim Carrey; DVD; $9.99

1 "Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition)"
Jennifer Aniston; DVD; $13.99

1 "Dead Poets Society (Special Edition)"
Robin Williams; DVD; $13.99

1 "Mission Impossible (Special Collector's Edition)"
Tom Cruise; DVD; $13.32


Delivery estimate: 15 Jan 2007 - 17 Jan 2007

1"The Last Of The Mohicans [1992]"
Daniel Day-Lewis; DVD; £3.99
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk

1"The Game [1997]"
Michael Douglas; DVD; £3.38
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk

1"High Plains Drifter [1973]"
Clint Eastwood; DVD; £4.99
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk

1"For A Few Dollars More (Special Edition) [1965]"
Clint Eastwood; DVD; £4.99
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk

1"A Fistful Of Dollars (Special Edition) [1964]"
Clint Eastwood; DVD; £11.89
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk

1 of The Graduate [1967] [DVD] (2001) Anne Bancroft; Dustin Hoffman; Katharine Ross,
£4.58


Plus I netflixed Boondock Saints Collector Edition and Trainspotting Collectors Edition, and am borrowing Rounders from a friend who has the anamorphic version...

The only one I didn't buy or make arrangements for that I know exists is the Canadian Good Will Hunting... anyone know a store that is selling that one for certain?

I'll report back to you guys when they get here, and let you know the quality of each.

Here's what's left... I'm guessing most don't exist in anamorphic.

a clockwork orange
beautiful girls
blair witch project - doesn't exist
color of money
days of thunder
eyes wide shut
good will hunting - 717951001498?
great expectations (1998)
pi
private lessons
ref
sliding doors
tres pajaros

thanks again for all the help guys.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Because it was 4:3. Modern theaters are ususally only equipped to handle 1.85:1 matted or 2.35:1 anamorphic release prints. Wide releases of 4:3 material are usually acheived by creating release prints that are windowboxed in a 1.85:1 frame, using only about 50% of the 35mm frame's surface area. There have been some releases where the 4:3 image is windowboxed in a scope frame such as the release of Gone with the Wind back in 1998. This has the advantage of being less susceptible to inaccurate matting in multiplexes, but it uses even less of the frame area on the print.

Regards,

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

All other things being equal, 16:9 enhanced is better due to improved vertical resolution. When all thing are not equal, there are still some instances where I prefer an older non-enhanced release to a 16:9 enhanced reissue (e.g. the Criterion "Silence of the Lambs" is letterboxed 4:3 and pro-logic, but it looks and sounds more like the film I remember in theaters than the MGM 16:9 enhanced 5.1 remixed remaster).

Regards,

 

[MarkHastings]

Good to know - I had no idea that theaters couldn't project 4:3.

 

[Marty M]

I, too, have going through my collection to try to replace non-anamorphic versions. I was sad to learn that Beautiful Girls is not anamorphic. It is one of my guilty pleasure movies.

 

[Chris Dugger]

Well..... Hold on here in regards to "Blair Witch"..... The major reason that it is windowboxed is that this represents the true image of the found tapes.

This was apart of the movie..... if the film students shot on video, it would have been 4:3 they were shooting in....

A 1.85 blow up of this would have eliminated this effect.

Dugger

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

That answers the question of why the film was 4:3, but nobody asked that question. The question was why was it released windowboxed to 4:3, which was due to practical limitations in the ability of most theaters to show films at any aspect ratio rather than the two dominant ones.

Regards,

 

[MarkHastings]

Just for clarification: I didn't realize theaters had a hard time presenting 4x3 material....I also thought the original comment meant that the DVD was presented as a windowboxed/anamorphic DVD.

I understand that the film was shot 4x3, I understand why movies are windowboxed, and I understand DVD ratios and presentation...it's just that the original comment confused me as to why a DVD manufacturer would present a 4x3 DVD in a 16x9 transfer.

 

[Shawn DuHast]

The only uncut version of For A Few Dollars More is the German Paramount 2 disc SE, it also has a restored Mono track.
For A Fistfull of Dollars also has the restored Mono track.

The English version and all other versions worldwide of the SE's do not have the mono track as well as FAFDM missing a 30 sec sequence.

I have the German Paramount versions and not only does the original restored mono sound a lot better than the 5.1 mix but the picture has been restored more than the MGM versions and looks better.

The DVD's are interlaced rather than progressive but when I did back to back comparisons the Paramout versions blew the MGM's out the water.......

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/ind...ion_DVD_Review

 

[David_B_K]

Ernie, getting back to Last of the Mohicans. I received my order of the R2 version from Amazon/UK yesterday. I can confirm that it is indeed anamorphic and is the original theatrical verion. It also includes the music only soundtrack in 5.1 DD. The picture quality was quite decent, IMO. The Expanded R1 version may look a tad better, but I was watching in on a better player that upconverts, so it may not have been that much better. The R2 has brighter color but is a bit dark.

So, when you get that one in the mail, you can safely get rid of that original non-anamorphic R1 release.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

The R4 is anamorphic, check out this review