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Warning: P&S Alert MGM (Sony) does it again... (1 Viewer)

TedD

Supporting Actor
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Jan 9, 2001
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698
For anyone looking to replace their old LD editions of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer:

Be warned both of these Panavision films are represented on their new DVD releases in a grainy cropped and chopped format!

Ted
 

JPCinema

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Oh Noooo!!! I was really looking forward to these. Very disappointing. No Sale.
BTWSony has been rather quiet with the new Columbia titles lately...
 

Jeff Ulmer

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What? :angry:

I too was looking forward to these. Damn you Sony!!!! :angry:

Amazon will be getting a lot of returns on these I'm sure, as they are still listing both as widescreen.

The Sony site says Fullscreen (2.35) for Tom Sawyer...
 

GlennH

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Should look simply stunning on those hot new Sony LCD and SXRD widescreen TVs. :rolleyes
 

Mike_Richardson

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Sep 11, 2002
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For once I did the right thing and hung onto those LDs!!

TOM SAWYER even had extras (commentary with the Sherman Brothers, vintage featurette).

A shame!! :angry:
 

streeter

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Michael
Wasn't there a LD commentary with Whitaker, too?

Real shame - lost sale.
 

PopBodhi

Second Unit
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Randall
What will it take to get SONY to realize that they are angering their customer base and losing $$$? I honestly hope this isn't arrogance on their part.

Aaron Silverman if you read this, I hope you encourage SONY to read our posts. They don't need to be shielded from how the public feels about them - no matter how unpleasant the reading might be!
 

Jeff Ulmer

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Has anyone actually seen a copy of these yet, or just the cover scans? The Sony site is conflicting on Tom Sawyer, and has no technical info on Huck Finn.
 

Jesse Skeen

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I've seen pictures of the back cover saying "Full Screen", but not the actual disc. Wish I hadn't passed up the laserdiscs when they were on clearance!
 

DanFe

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I have it in my possession and it is fullscreen :angry:

I have the laserdisc, but man am I ticked.
 

Cees Alons

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Cees Alons
On many sites it still says "Fullscreen - 2.35" for Tom Sawyer, so I figured it was two-sided.

That's really bad!
Not just the fact that it's P&S (or cropped), but also, and even more, the incorrect information!


Cees
 

DanFe

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 15, 2003
Messages
421
Cees,

That's what I thought when I ordered it, but when I got it yesterday it had only fullscreen written and nothing about 2:35. It's going back to Deepdiscount DVD pronto.
 

Cees Alons

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:angry: Mine is coming my way by trains and boats and planes. I cannot send it back too easily... read: inexpensively.

:thumbsdown:


Cees
 

Bill Huelbig

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I watched it last night, and it is indeed pan and scan. I had no idea when I ordered it - didn't do my homework. The first six minutes were letterboxed for the titles, which got my hopes up, but no such luck. Remember when MGM/UA used to include two versions on one disc? Why can't they go back to that format if they insist on fullscreen versions of so-called family titles?
 

Cees Alons

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Because most sites had it wrong, maybe it wouldn't have made any difference if you had.


Cees
 

Rob_Ray

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Dear Sony,

I was all set to plunk down my hard-earned cash for
DVD releases of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn"
released yesterday by MGM/UA (now part of Sony) but
they only offered the films in full-frame mode even
though both were filmed in ultra-wide Panavision and
originally released in 70mm with 6-track stereo. I decided to save my money.

Everything about the package screamed "done on the
cheap." The original ad artwork was nowhere to be found,
and there was no attempt by marketing to play up "Tom
Sawyer" as a major roadshow musical release complete
with an overture. There was no hype about these
musicals containing music by the Sherman Bros. of Mary
Poppins fame and there were no extras included even
though the laserdisc had a commentary track by the
now-late director and co-composer Richard Sherman.

These titles made no impact on street date. There
were no reviews on the internet and no pre-release
discussion on any of the fansites. And it's clear as
to why. The boxes look like they should be filed with
the 99-cent-store releases.

I am sure these titles will sell a few copies at
the discount stores and die a quick death, whereas with proper handling, attention to quality and minimal additional
expense, MGM/UA/Sony could still have a release that
sold well at WalMart and also attracted a strong
word-of-mouth in the baby-boom collectors' market as
well, giving it a longer shelf-life as "evergreen
titles."

These are major releases with Academy-Award-winning
talent on both sides of the camera. "Huckleberry
Finn" was not a success due to a variety of reasons
back in 1975, but "Tom Sawyer" was a big success. Both films could have been packaged as a double-feature to create a minor "event release" in the marketplace.

MGM/UA should have learned from their earlier debacle
with "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" that widescreen
full-stereo releases from the era of
lavishly-mounted musicals deserve better treatment.

Rob Ray
 

Jeff Ulmer

Senior HTF Member
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Aug 23, 1998
Messages
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Thanks for confirming the worst. So much for the buyout being an improvement. :thumbsdown:

If Sony f*cks up Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, which is currently listed on their site as dual format, I may never forgive them.
 

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