A Few Words About A few words about…™ Gandhi - in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

What's ironic is that when David Lean came back to Columbia two years later to direct A Passage To India, he was not allowed to shoot in any format wider than 1.85:1 because HBO would crop it when it came to TV. This was something someone mentioned in an issue of Widescreen Review in the 1990s (remember them?). I find that difficult to believe as anything more than just a rumor when many concurrent releases from Columbia were shot in Panavision. It was a non-issue not only for Attenborough but for Steven Spielberg for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Huston for Annie, Sydney Pollack for Tootsie, and Ivan Reitman for Ghostbusters, but for Lean they drew the line? Even Fred Schepisi could get it for Roxanne in 1987*, by which time Coca-Cola was easing their way out of the movie business. Lawrence Kasdan settled for the then-new Super 35 for Silverado two years earlier, by which time Columbia had inherited Attenborough's next film, A Chorus Line, from the recently acquired Embassy, which he also, regrettably, shot in Super 35.

 

[Robert Harris]

What's ironic is that when David Lean came back to Columbia two years later to direct A Passage To India, he was not allowed to shoot in any format wider than 1.85:1 because HBO would crop it when it came to TV. This was something someone mentioned in an issue of Widescreen Review in the 1990s (remember them?). I find that difficult to believe as anything more than just a rumor when many concurrent releases from Columbia were shot in Panavision. It was a non-issue not only for Attenborough but for Steven Spielberg for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Huston for Annie, Sydney Pollack for Tootsie, and Ivan Reitman for Ghostbusters, but for Lean they drew the line? Even Fred Schepisi could get it for Roxanne in 1987*, by which time Coca-Cola was easing their way out of the movie business. Lawrence Kasdan settled for the then-new Super 35 for Silverado two years earlier, by which time Columbia had inherited Attenborough's next film, A Chorus Line, from the recently acquired Embassy, which he also, regrettably, shot in Super 35.

HBO

 

[Nick*Z]

Wonderful news!

 

[PMF]

That would be great if “A Passage to India” found its way onto 4K/UHD and into Volume II of this series.

 

[Worth]

What's ironic is that when David Lean came back to Columbia two years later to direct A Passage To India, he was not allowed to shoot in any format wider than 1.85:1 because HBO would crop it when it came to TV. This was something someone mentioned in an issue of Widescreen Review in the 1990s (remember them?). I find that difficult to believe as anything more than just a rumor when many concurrent releases from Columbia were shot in Panavision. It was a non-issue not only for Attenborough but for Steven Spielberg for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Huston for Annie, Sydney Pollack for Tootsie, and Ivan Reitman for Ghostbusters, but for Lean they drew the line? Even Fred Schepisi could get it for Roxanne in 1987*, by which time Coca-Cola was easing their way out of the movie business. Lawrence Kasdan settled for the then-new Super 35 for Silverado two years earlier, by which time Columbia had inherited Attenborough's next film, A Chorus Line, from the recently acquired Embassy, which he also, regrettably, shot in Super 35.

Passage wasn't produced by Columbia - it was EMI and HBO. Columbia was only the distributor.

 

[Carlo_M]

I admit I went back and forth on buying the set for a while. I normally don't like being forced into multiple movie purchases. I admit I have not seen Gandhi or Strangelove, but both are obviously beloved by their fanbase, quite a few of whom I consider (virtual) friends here on HTF and whose opinions I often find myself in agreement with. I won't apologize for my love for Cameron Crowe films (although admittedly I never saw the Zoo one), and Mr. Smith and LoA speak for themselves. I was struck by RAH's love for League...a movie which I think I saw on cable once not long after it was out of theaters in my reckless youth when I was more interested in Terminator 2, Unforgiven, Reservoir Dogs, etc. Yeah I was trying to be a "badazz" as I entered college at that time but RAH's review makes me eager to watch this film again.

So...yeah I sprung for it. Now I'm just hoping Best Buy makes good on their promise to get it to me by release date, because by the time I decided to pull the trigger, Amazon's ETA was "we'll let you know when it ships". I am not a patient man.

I'm also praying USPS treats the package kindly, because it looks like a nice bit of kit.

 

[MatthewA]

Passage wasn't produced by Columbia - it was EMI and HBO. Columbia was only the distributor.

Got it, although it's odd considering HBO was one of the three original partners in TriStar, which started the same year. Gandhi was also a pickup from an independent producer IIRC. But it also shows how much the studio's priorities shifted since the days of Lawrence of Arabia.

 

[JoshZ]

Got it, although it's odd considering HBO was one of the three original partners in TriStar, which started the same year. Gandhi was also a pickup from an independent producer IIRC. But it also shows how much the studio's priorities shifted since the days of Lawrence of Arabia.

Up until recently, HBO had a very firm "We Hate Black Bars" policy and would only air movies on their channel cropped or open-matte to full-screen (originally 4:3, but later grudgingly 16:9). The only movies that aired letterboxed on the network were those (such as Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy) where the filmmaker contractually demanded it. During that time, any movie that HBO produced itself was required to be shot in a format that would be friendly to a cropped or open-matte presentation. Even if the film was granted a theatrical release, the intention was that it would ultimately play on the HBO network, and they would not condone letterboxing.

Only in the last year has this finally changed. HBO currently has several original series that air with a letterboxed 2.00:1 ratio, and is more open to broadcasting movies in their Original Aspect Ratio. I imagine that whichever high-ranking executive was so opposed to black bars finally left the company.

 

[MatthewA]

That's because 16x9 TVs with larger screens than the 1980s and 1990s are the norm now, but that creates a conundrum for legacy content: do they crop it to 16x9 or leave it at 4x3?

Even when it was a pay-cable network, The Disney Channel was not any better with the few widescreen movies they owned the rights to. They aired the restoration of My Fair Lady OAR in the 1990s after years of having shown it in Pan and Scan, but that was it.

 

[john a hunter]

Only in the last year has this finally changed. HBO currently has several original series that air with a letterboxed 2.00:1 ratio, and is more open to broadcasting movies in their Original Aspect Ratio. I imagine that whichever high-ranking executive was so opposed to black bars finally left the company.

Good riddance to that gentlemen.
2:1 may not be Scope but going in the right direction.!

 

[MatthewA]

Here we go again…

 

[JoshZ]

Good riddance to that gentlemen.
2:1 may not be Scope but going in the right direction.!

2:1 seems to be settling in as a new standard for streaming and cable TV series (and a few network shows now too).