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"No Black Bars" sticker on new Sound of Music disc (1 Viewer)

Matt Birchall

Supporting Actor
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Feb 22, 2000
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839
Well, the subject says it all. Saw the new, single-disc pan & scan release of The Sound of Music yesterday, and, adorning the front of the packaging, is a sticker which reads "Formatted to Fit Your TV / No Black Bars".
Couldn't help but roll my eyes as soon as I saw it.
What do you guys think?
 

Vlad D

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Oct 24, 2001
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Vladimir Derenoncourt
"Formatted to Fit Your TV / No Black Bars"
That is really pathetic. :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:
 

MartEvans

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Apr 17, 2002
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that's unbelievable... good job I found the five star set used (in perfect condition) for $9.99 this evening :D
 

Glenn Overholt

Senior HTF Member
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Mar 24, 1999
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Write/email/call them and let them know that it doesn't fit your screen at all. You now have gray bars on the sides, and they look worse than the black ones.

Glenn

PS - Actually, in a way, its false advertising. I wonder if we could sue?
 

Ed Faver

Second Unit
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Jul 30, 1999
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376
This is just awful...why not just advertise the thing in a really truthful manner-'no black bars!! approximately 20% of the picture the director wanted you to see no longer available!!'
 

Jeremy Little

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
770
Well, the subject says it all. Saw the new, single-disc pan & scan release of The Sound of Music yesterday, and, adorning the front of the packaging, is a sticker which reads "Formatted to Fit Your TV / No Black Bars".
I somehow would ensure those didn't make it to the floor.:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:
 

Ted Todorov

Senior HTF Member
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Aug 17, 2000
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My 16:9 TV has black bars on the side when playing 4:3 material. Can I sue them for false claims and false advertising?

Ted
 

Brenton

Screenwriter
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Jun 25, 2002
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htf_images_smilies_smiley_jawdrop.gif

->speechless
 

Dean Kousoulas

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 15, 2002
Messages
332
How about "No Black Bars: 50% LESS Picture"

This is pathetic...when will Widescreen become accepted? WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

Dean
 

LukeB

Senior HTF Member
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Apr 26, 2000
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I don't have a problem with them offering Fullscreen versions (although I do wish fullscreen re-releases wouldn't be such a high priority), but when they advertise it as something better, that's just ridiculous.
 

Rob Lutter

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2000
Messages
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when will Widescreen become accepted?
Never. There will always be a group of people that don't CARE about chopping the picture, just filling their TV (we have already seen the first of 16x9 Pan and Scan on HBO-HD)... :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:
Fox... I am really... really surprised at you. First Pan and Scan versions of movies, now adding insult to injury (why not EXPLAIN why the black bars are there instead of adding FIRE to the FLAME).
[sarcasm]
[rant]You might as well stop releasing WIDESCREEN ALTOGETHER, SO EVERYONE WON'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THE BLACK BARS! [/rant]
[/sarcasm]
:angry:
 

Damin J Toell

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Can I sue them for false claims and false advertising?
I sure hope not. There are already enough frivolous lawsuits clogging up American courts. Neither of you have suffered any harm whatsoever that should result in legal action. If you feel that Fox is misrepresenting their product, however, you should consider contacting the Federal Trade Commission.

DJ
 

Joe RZ

Stunt Coordinator
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Jun 6, 2002
Messages
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On Disney's new Peter Pan which is 1.66:1 on the back it says family friendly widescreen. :confused:
 

Dan Brecher

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Daniel
Fox... I am really... really surprised at you. First Pan and Scan versions of movies, now adding insult to injury (why not EXPLAIN why the black bars are there instead of adding FIRE to the FLAME).
It's getting to the point for a lot of studios that if they want to make money, they have to adhere to the larger market demand, and sadly, full frame and P&S releases do just this. Do I support such a practice? Of course not, but I understand the pressure upon Fox and other studios to please the masses.

I can accept DVD just isn’t what it was years ago. I don't get the sense Fox wants to put stuff like this out, but I understand the burden they and other studios carry regarding such issues.

I'm no longer one to get frustrated over the thought of a P&S release. Sure, if it's the only form of release of a film with there being no sign of a widescreen issue, THEN I have cause for concern. I'll do my best to teach who ever wants to listen about widescreen, but if someone wants to stick to buying FF/P&S then I don't really care what they do.

We have to understand that there are people out there, who will always be out there, who just dont care, and no side by side comparison or featurette showing them the differences is sadly going to make any difference.

It's their choice, they don't accept what they're missing and so be it. It's their loss, no? For me, I'm still confident that FF/P&S stuff isn’t ever going to have to sit on my shelves, and that’s all I care about. Studios can P&S as much as they want, I just ask they don't deny us a widescreen option in the process.

Dan
 

Jon Robertson

Screenwriter
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May 19, 2001
Messages
1,568
Honestly, get over yourselves!

As has been said before, it's an entirely aesthetical choice. Do I have any MAR titles in my collection? One or two full-frame titles, certainly (Piranha, for one, which I would not dream of being without), but I would not describe myself in any way, shape or form as a "casualty" of the "horrible new trend".

Of course studios are going to put "No Black Bars" on the front because this is the information many consumers are looking for before they make the purchase. Do you honestly think they'd put "Cropped Picture" on the front? If you ran a DVD company and realised you had to cater to all markets, would you?? If you say 'yes', then you have an awful lot to learn about business.

What amazes me is that you act like Fox have stabbed every film lover in the back, when all they're doing is getting sales as high as they can so they can continue producing magnificent discs like Say Anything, From Hell and Moulin Rouge for bargain prices.

DVD has gone mainstream, and all I can see are benefits for the true film lover. Yes, it's unfortunate that a handful of titles are available in full-frame only, but DTS is now a standard audio option on many new releases, DVDs are coming out in consistently higher quality than ever before, elaborate special editions are being afforded to the most minor of films and we have more genuine masterpieces, movie classics and fondly-remembered catalogue titles for ridiculously low prices than ever before.

Yes, there are some P&S-only releases out there. Yes, it would be great to have them in widescreen. By all means, write a letter or make a phonecall explaining why you haven't bought that product. But stop dwelling on the negative all the damn time! We've never, ever, had it so good!
 

Bruce Hedtke

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 11, 1999
Messages
2,249
Why don't they just put "Full-Screen is the only way to go" on there as well? Money always trumps integrity.

Bruce
 

David Lambert

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Aug 3, 2001
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I just bet that someone at Fox thought that the wording of this sticker was just right so that pro-OAR guys like us wouldn't feel offended - we might even be pleased at the "formatted to fit your screen" part - and that it would appeal to the consumers who do in all honesty prefer FS, however misguided or ignorant we may think they are.

Put yourself in Fox's position. You HAVE to come up with a POSITIVE statement to "market" these editions, you don't want to offend the HTF crowd (as if the existance of the FS version isn't offensive by its very nature to many of you), and you can't piss off the studio or the stockholders or the stores.

What exactly WOULD you say on there? C'mon...there's not a lot of wiggle room. The very essence of marketing is to somehow put a positive spin on any decision made that affects the product. I bet that Fox feels pretty good about that sticker's message, regardless as to whether we agree with it.
 

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