A few words about…™ No Time to Die — in 4k UHD

I don't have the disc yet, obviously, but I rank the theatrical Atmos presentation as one of the best that I have yet heard. There was an incredible precision to the placement of sound effects, all around the viewer. Too many action movies sound spectacular, but overwhelmingly so, and the ear just can't keep up with everything. But this was a rare commercial blockbuster where the mix took time to smell the roses.

Are there IMAX scenes on this disc release?

Ashly Yeo said:

Are there IMAX scenes on this disc release?

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No scenes have been removed from the movie. Reviews indicate that the disc is constant height 2.35:1, however. No variable aspect ratio.

JoshZ said:

No scenes have been removed from the movie. Reviews indicate that the disc is constant height 2.35:1, however. No variable aspect ratio.

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Thanks- will wait for a future release when its done properly then.

Long wait.

Malcolm R said:

Long wait.

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yes almost certainly (perhaps forever if it is never re-released)...but I have tons of other stuff to watch in the meantime.

I'd like to know why they did this and if it was with the intention of keeping it for another future disc.

Blu_rayfan66 said:

Thanks- will wait for a future release when its done properly then.

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Blu_rayfan66 said:

yes almost certainly (perhaps forever if it is never re-released)...but I have tons of other stuff to watch in the meantime.

I'd like to know why they did this and if it was with the intention of keeping it for another future disc.

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Some directors do not want the variable aspect ratio versions of their movies to be used on home video. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) stated that he found it distracting on a home screen, and only intended that version to be seen on IMAX screens. Scott Derrickson was very upset when he recently learned that Disney put the VAR version of Doctor Strange on Disney+ without his permission.

Perhaps Cary Fukunaga feels the same way?

JoshZ said:

Some directors do not want the variable aspect ratio versions of their movies to be used on home video. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) stated that he found it distracting on a home screen, and only intended that version to be seen on IMAX screens. Scott Derrickson was very upset when he recently learned that Disney put the VAR version of Doctor Strange on Disney+ without his permission.

Perhaps Cary Fukunaga feels the same way?

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Precisely. On a home screen images get smaller rather than larger, much like most theaters that run DCPs of 70mm films improperly.

JoshZ said:

Scott Derrickson was very upset when he recently learned that Disney put the VAR version of Doctor Strange on Disney+ without his permission.

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But it's not VAR, is it? I was under the impression that all of the "IMAX Enhanced" titles on Disney+ were being presented in 1.90:1 IMAX ratio from beginning to end.

JoshZ said:

Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) stated that he found it distracting on a home screen,

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Honestly, I seldom even notice when the AR changes. I own several discs where it does, mostly 3D versions of Marvel films from the UK. I think the only one I really noticed was Captain Marvel, and it was like "oh, so that's what everyone talks about. Cool."

I'm usually watching the film, not the AR or the size/location of any black bars on the screen. If I'm engrossed in the film, I don't even notice.

dpippel said:

But it's not VAR, is it? I was under the impression that all of the "IMAX Enhanced" titles on Disney+ were being presented in 1.90:1 IMAX ratio from beginning to end.

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They’re presented as they were in IMAX theaters - of the titles that do have an IMAX ratio on D+, all have shifting aspect ratios except for Avengers 3, 4 and Shang-Chi - those three titles are 1.90:1 from start to finish.

I don’t know if “ironically” is the right word but the expanded ratio was meant specifically for IMAX 3D (not 2D) exhibition - the extra height on the giant screens helps compensate for the “miniaturization” effect that can happen with 3D and can be more immersive - when they started making variable aspect ratio Marvel films for IMAX, there was no IMAX 2D option at all. They weren’t really meant to be seen with shifting aspect ratios in 2D. They’re generally not shown that way internationally. It’s really a quirk of the U.S. market and studios believing that the IMAX 3D versions were chasing customers away to other 2D formats that led to these films now getting mostly 2D IMAX releases domestically.

Josh Steinberg said:

I don’t know if “ironically” is the right word but the expanded ratio was meant specifically for IMAX 3D (not 2D) exhibition - the extra height on the giant screens helps compensate for the “miniaturization” effect that can happen with 3D and can be more immersive

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If anything, I'd think that adding extra (mostly empty) space around the subject would only make the miniaturization effect more pronounced. Now they take up even less of the available screen area.

In the case of the Marvel films, I get the sense that the decision to create alternate aspect ratio versions for IMAX was a corporate mandate hammered out during contract negotiations between Marvel and IMAX, with possibly no input from the filmmakers. Derrickson sounded surprised to find out (five years later) that a variable ratio version of his movie existed at all. He might not have been aware of it until it showed up on Disney+.

Josh Steinberg said:

They’re presented as they were in IMAX theaters - of the titles that do have an IMAX ratio on D+, all have shifting aspect ratios except for Avengers 3, 4 and Shang-Chi - those three titles are 1.90:1 from start to finish.

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That makes me happy. I thought that Disney was pulling some sort of tomfoolery since obviously most of these films were not shot in IMAX all the way through. Turns out I missed one sentence in Disney's description of the enhancement.

dpippel said:

That makes me happy. I thought that Disney was pulling some sort of tomfoolery since obviously most of these films were not shot in IMAX all the way through.

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Most of these Marvel movies were not shot with IMAX cameras at all. I believe Avengers: Infinity War was the first actually shot with IMAX equipment. Earlier Marvel movies that did VAR (Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.) were shot with regular 2K or 4K cameras and framed for 2.35:1 composition. The VAR scenes merely had the mattes lifted from that footage. Which is why I suspect that the changing aspect ratio gimmick was probably an afterthought at best for most of them.

Why not just make 16 x 9 the standard for all films? Many auditoriums in multiplex theaters mask the screen down for 2.35 films. More people will see a film on their home screen.

I can see why this thread is called, "A few words about...™ No Time to Die" because most of the words in it have been about Marvel movies.

Panavision70 said:

Why not just make 16 x 9 the standard for all films? Many auditoriums in multiplex theaters mask the screen down for 2.35 films. More people will see a film on their home screen.

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Because filmmakers have overwhelmingly rejected that idea. In 2019 (the last year with a normal release schedule before the pandemic disrupted everything), 71% of American theatrical features were 2.35:1.



TV shows are also moving to wider aspect ratios at a rapid pace. I've tracked nearly 900 TV series to date with aspect ratios wider than 16:9.

The clear trend among the people who actually make the content we watch is to embrace wider aspect ratios, not to fill your TV screen at all costs.

Neil S. Bulk said:

I can see why this thread is called, "A few words about...™ No Time to Die" because most of the words in it have been about Marvel movies.

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True, but the question was asked why No Time to Die isn't available with a variable aspect ratio on Blu-ray or 4K, and this info is related.

JoshZ said:

True, but the question was asked why No Time to Die isn't available with a variable aspect ratio on Blu-ray or 4K, and this info is related.

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True, but haven't we answered that question to the best of our abilities. Why continue to beat a dead horse until something more concrete comes out as to why it isn't in variable aspect ratio.