DaViD Boulet
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 1999
- Messages
- 8,826
If I got a 1.33:1 version of a 1950's film in my hand that was clearly not P/S (like an open-matte copy) I might just assume that it was OAR. Heck...I assumed that This Island Earth was 1.33:1 until reading this thread. I doubt that the technicians at TMC have the time to do careful research on the OAR history of each movie that they show...especially if they happen to be given the best-quality digital master currently available and it happens to be open-matte bcs no WS version is available.
Besides, many of these early 1.85:1 movies were shot to be viewed both ways to accomodate theaters that weren't WS-saavy. This Island Earth looks GREAT in 1.33:1...I'd venture to say it looks BETTER that way than matted to 1.85 (especially the shots of the triangular-shaped interocitor screen).
If it really matters to you, just zoom on your 16x9 display and do your own cropping. If 4x3 masters are all that exist at least we're not losing additional resolution we could have had, and 4x3 viewers can happily enjoy their 1.33:1 versions as did probably many 1950's audiences.
Besides, many of these early 1.85:1 movies were shot to be viewed both ways to accomodate theaters that weren't WS-saavy. This Island Earth looks GREAT in 1.33:1...I'd venture to say it looks BETTER that way than matted to 1.85 (especially the shots of the triangular-shaped interocitor screen).
If it really matters to you, just zoom on your 16x9 display and do your own cropping. If 4x3 masters are all that exist at least we're not losing additional resolution we could have had, and 4x3 viewers can happily enjoy their 1.33:1 versions as did probably many 1950's audiences.