Stage Beauty DVD Aspect Ratio (1 Viewer)

[PaulaJ]

According to the review at DVDfile, the aspect ratio of the Stage Beauty DVD is 1:85. According to the cover art, it's 1:78 -- I think. The language is rather confusing but that's what it seems to be.

However -- I'm positive that when I saw this film in the theater it was 2:35:1 and the IMDB says it was filmed in anamorphic Panavision.

So is Stage Beauty another title that's been cut down on DVD to fill the widescreen television screen without bars on the top and bottom?

I've been afraid to crack the plastic on my just-arrived Stage Beauty DVD because if it is 1:78, I'm going to be tempted to send it back (plus send an e-mail to Lionsgate).

Unless, of course, I'm remembering incorrectly and it was 1:85 in the theater. But I'm quite sure I saw it in 2:35:1.

 

[Vincent-P]

It WAS 2.35:1 in the theaters and the DVD is 1.78/1.85:1 (it's hard for me to tell which). But the change has been made by opening up the mattes, not by cropping the sides. There is more height on the top and bottom. The technical specs on IMDB must be wrong. The DVD case states "Formatted from the orginal 1.78:1 version in which the film was shot."

 

[Gary Palmer]

The movie was photographed in Super 35 and - as Vincent indicated - has been reframed on DVD from 2.35 to 1.78. The same thing happened recently with BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS from New Line. In *both* cases, the films are available everywhere else in the world in their original 2.35 AR on DVD. This disgraceful practice deserves a thread all its own, I think...