Alias possibly coming to DVD in September '03!!! (1 Viewer)

[Joel C]

QaF is full frame I believe. As is SFU. But in both cases, that is OAR.

 

[LennyP]

I'll wait till other region Alias boxsets are announced and maybe like with Dark Angel, I'll get an Australian or UK release.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

QAF is NOT fullframe. I have the discs 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen

SFU is 1.33:1 OAR

 

[PhilipG]

Aren't all the A&E DVDs of recent w/s UK shows cropped as well? (Poirot, Hornblower etc).
I've seen both ARs for Alias season one, and it looks so much better in widescreen. If they don't want my money, fine - I'll stick to my w/s SVCD recordings.

 

[Joel C]

If this is confirmed AND it is widescreen in R2... tough decision. I know it will be twice as expensive overseas.

 

[Sven Lorenz]

It's a good thing they completely destroyed the show halfway through this season - I already spend too much money on TV shows on DVD so I'm happy I won't have to buy this one.

 

[Alex Morrow]

Is there anyplace we can email maybe to suggest to BVHE that we'd like it in 16:9? (not that it ever helps with BV)

 

[David Lambert]

1-800-72-DISNEY

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I don't get what people's problem with 4:3 is. For most shows that are broadcast in 16:9 and are not letterboxed for 4:3, the 4:3 presents a much better framing than the 16:9. I wish they had presented season one of the Sopranos in 4:3 on DVD. The 16:9 has all kinds of dead space on the sides, not unlike the dead space at the top and bottom of an open matte theatrical feature shown in 4:3. When the Sopranos went widescreen across the board with Season 3(letterboxed 16:9 for non-HD broadcast), they started using the 16:9 frame properly and it looked great.

I don't like open matte presentations of 1.85:1 theatrical films, and I don't like open (side) matte presentations of 4:3 TV shows. There are exceptions, but not many.

Regards,

 

[David Lambert]

I don't get what people's problem with 4:3 is.

For all that I mentioned Disney's phone #, I don't get it either. For films there is a clear-cut OAR in almost every case...few exceptions.

For TV shows with duo-OAR situations (broadcast both in 4x3 and in an HDTV 16x9 version), I don't get what the complaining is about. I am glad to get these either way...with the exception of obvious problems (like Buffy and Malcolm, with numerous examples of problems of objects/people creeping into the 16x9 "protected" - yeah, right! - image).


I am well-known on this forum as one of the strongest advocates of OAR you will find. But I use my head when it comes to duo-OAR situations, and Alias is one of those shows that I just won't get worked up over due to a 4x3 release. Same with CSI, for that matter.

For those of you who will eschew this release because it's full-frame, I respect your decision. We all decide what we will and won't buy, and not buying Alias for any reason whatsoever is strictly up to you.

 

[Dave F]

For most shows that are broadcast in 16:9 and are not letterboxed for 4:3, the 4:3 presents a much better framing than the 16:9

That isn't the case with Alias, IMO.

-Dave

 

[Jason Seaver]

That's the thing, though - it's "just" an opinion. There is all too often no definitive word on which ratio is preferred. I've only seen Alias 4:3, but it's seldom jumped out at me as too tight. Maybe it would if I saw it 16:9, especially since, all things being equal, I'd prefer 16:9 because I spent money on a widescreen TV.

 

[Joseph S]

This is my favorite Television show of the past few years...
BUT I WILL NOT PURCHASE IF IT IS A 4:3 release.
There will be none of my dollars spent until it is at least 16x9 Anamorphic, which of couse is lower quality than the original HD. Just like with CSI, I'm also not going to buy any future sets regardless of aspect ratio until they are all released in 16x9 anamorphic. I'll spend four times the cost in Hard Drives and time than purchase this crap.
Please, Buena Vista don't screw up another of my favorite TV shows on DVD!!!!!! Give us the original 16x9 and DD 5.1.

 

[Dave F]

Perhaps I should rephrase that "IMO". IMO, the 16:9 image of Alias does not show dead spaces indicative of a side open matte presentation.

Looking for a preferred AR can be a fool's game - in this situation, there is no preferred AR. It's dual. So all things being equal, I'll go for the more cinematic feel of 16:9.

-Dave

 

[Christian Preischl]

Dave F,
I agree completely. They only just started showing it in Germany, and I could have sworn it was exclusively shot for WS, just like Angel Season 3.
So far no noticable open space on the sides, no WS goofs, actually there were numerous shots that in my opinion were clearly indicative of a WS only composition. So I was quite surprised to read here that it aired in 4:3 as well.

Chris

 

[Dominik Droscher]

Chrstian is right. I have all episodes on CD-R in 4:3 and was quite surprised when Pro7 (german TV station) started to air them 16:9. It looked fantastic. I even watched the pilot all way through because of this though the horrible german dubbing.

 

[James Reader]

Just to side track the matter slightly - I think some people (including myself to be honest) are putting too much weight on the framing errors in Buffy season 4 on-wards. I did so in previous posts, because I was getting angry that posters were refusing to look at the facts when debating OAR of Buffy and other television DVD releases. Sort of like selective OAR support - if they didn't like what was being told to them, they ignored it.
Yes, widescreen framing errors do exist on Buffy Season 4 - that's a fact and not open to a debate. And that alone is reason enough to:
(1) Show that the intended ratio for Buffy is 4:3
(2) Justify the R1 release of Buffy Season 4 in 4:3
However, I do have to question how obvious these mistakes are. I think I spotted a couple with no prompting on my UK Season 4 set. I think that I've located a few more, but some are arguable (actors waiting 'off-screen' for a cue being one). But most telling of all I cannot locate one of the reported errors - hands moving vines (which I presume is from the "Where The Wild Things Are" episode). Perhaps it's just the overscan on my television.
So I have to ask, how many people would see these mistakes in the first place? I doubt 'Joe Public' would, after all they never seem to notice P&S framing errors.
But does the fact that the majority of viewers would miss these framing errors justify putting them out as widescreen in the first place?
YES (based upon one condition)
But why is this different to "open matte" transfers which this forum is so set against?
Because we can code the 16:9 transfers to include "Pan and Scan on the fly" - something that was done on the R2 Stargate SG-1 releases (one the early discs anyhow - I've not been keeping up with the latest discs).
A quick simple featurette on each disc, explaining 16:9, 4:3 and composition and a bit of blurb about changing the player's preference (call your manufacturer for further details) and everyone can be happy.
And no, I won't take the argument "People won't know how to change their player's settings unless told step-by-step". How low is your opinion of the general public if you say that? You've got to give people credit for some intelligence!
So this is what we should be doing now - lobbying Fox, Disney, Sony and everyone else who releases TV products. Include a P&S on the fly option and brief explanation featurette. (And I'll be interested to see if anyone can verify MGM's R1 Stargate SG-1 releases include this feature).

 

[Jeff Kleist]

And no, I won't take the argument "People won't know how to change their player's settings unless told step-by-step". How low is your opinion of the general public if you say that? You've got to give people credit for some intelligence!

No, people are extremely stupid. I barely give them credit with knowing how to tie their shoes. If you say "consult your manual" most of them threw it out or turned it into a hat.

Call Disney and bitch is the best thing. It's not too late to change things, fast decisive movement!

 

[James Reader]

No, people are extremely stupid. I barely give them credit with knowing how to tie their shoes. If you say "consult your manual" most of them threw it out or turned it into a hat.

Jeff, I said I wasn't going to accept that argument.
So does this mean the HD-DVD standard will include lots of cool features, which nobody will ever implement becuase "people are extremely stupid" and wouldn't know how to activate them? Whatever.
I cannot believe this attitude. My mind is really boggling as I type this. Does everybody on this forum have the same disregard to the average American?
If they really are too stupid (which I doubt) then just forget them - they'll probably be happy to watch an anamorphic image un-expanded on a 4:3 set anyway.
Oh and can somebody please confirm or debunk if the R1 Stargate SG-1 discs use this feature? If they do, then it seems nobodys actually noticed. And there's not been a backlash against the R2 PAL Stargate discs which use the "Pan and Scan on the Fly" settings.

 

[Christian Preischl]

James,

Does everybody on this forum have the same disregard to the average American?

Probably more of a disrigard to the stupidity of mankind in general. I know of at least one German TV station that severely reduced the airing of bilingual movies (i.e. dub on channel 1, original language on channel 2) because people couldn't figure out how to select the German version when they recorded the films on video.
As for your P&S on the fly idea, I've been voicing the same opinion numerous times before and agree with you 100%. It'd be so easy to implement, and virtually everybody would be happy. So of course they're not gonna use it. :frowning:
Chris