Another Columbia pan & scan travesty - "Castle Keep' (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

Lots of pan-and-scan only DVD's when DVD started, and they're starting to do it again with a number of titles in the past year prior to "Castle Keep."

 

[george kaplan]

Unfucking believable. I've never seen this film, but this pisses me off.

So, they don't want to alienate the "new to DVD crowd" by confusing them with a disc that has the OAR on one side. But they don't give a rat's ass about alienating the much larger (in terms of what we spend on dvd) "not new to DVD crowd"?

Never underestimate corporate stupidity.

 

[JPCinema]

Great to hear that Sidney Pollack has heard about this as well.
How can Columbia be contacted to let them know that ALL pan and scan DVDs are an abomination and it is a form of censorship and destruction of art.
I cannot believe that the Columbia exec does not want to confuse the public with "flippers". Does she think the public is as stupid as she is?

 

[WillG]

Wow, so much wrong with these few statements, it is scary that people like this are running things. Let's just dissect shall we.....

Paragraph one. This decision was made to comfort people who are breaking away from VHS. So we are taking a medium that is designed for proper presentations of films and turning it into a format reminicent of the technology of the last generation. If people still have not made the switch from VHS to DVD yet, I would argue that likely most of these are the people who will not go out of their way to see "Castle Keep" let alone, even heard of it.

Paragraph Two. There is an emerging market of consumers who are more interested in Pan and Scan. This may be somewhat true, but what this woman fails to point out is that Widescreen has greatly emerged as well. Since we have been so used to Pan and Scan with VHS, Widescreen has nothing to do but rise in popularity. Are they not aware that Widescreen versions of DVDs virtually always outsell the full screen counterparts there days. Also, usually, once you come to terms and accept Widescreen, you usually don't go back to Pan and Scan.

Paragraph Three. It was a cost effective decision to not issue a flipper. Maybe I don't know what the difference in cost is, but I just cannot believe it is something significant to use a DVD-10 instead of a DVD-5. Plus, there is already a Widescreen transfer that exists, so they can't use that as an excuse. They cannot ailenate new to DVD folks, but fuck the people who have been buying their product for years, right? They feel the flipper would be too confusing for them, Put in a damn insert with instructions for people who cannot figure this concept out. It's really not that hard.

Paragraph Five. Their intention was never to blow off a segment of the DVD community right? Then why are they constantly doing it? She admits that no matter what they do, some segment complains, so why do they go with the dumbest decision? If they release the flipper, people might still complain, but I'm sure most will be satisfied.

As for that Widescreen release somewhere down the road, I'm sure they will get right on it :rolleyes

 

[Craig S]

Yeah, I noticed that as well, but I'll cut him some slack as his heart's clearly in the right place, and he's acting as an advocate on this issue - an advocate who has access to the people involved.

 

[ZacharyTait]

I'm sure you meant VHS to DVD.

 

[jonathan_little]

Why is the "new to DVD" crowd more important than the informed people who already have dozens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of DVDs?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

How long has Alison Eiggers been working for this company, and how did she get the job? Based on her comments, it sounds like she should be fired.

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't understand what's so confusing about a flipper. You play one side, or the other. There's only two choices. If you get it wrong the first time, you only have one other option.

I get confused when I go to the store and want to buy white paint and get confronted with a whole wall of "cream," "eggshell," "marshmallow," "downy," "snowbound," "pure white," "extra white," "bright white," "pearly white," "dover white," "ivory lace," "antique white," "alabaster," "white duck," etc. Strangely enough, I don't see paint manufacturers responding to my confusion by getting rid of all these frou-frou choices in favor of plain ol' "white."

Not to mention that flippers are unnecessary. Several releases (from Disney, Fox, and probably others) have put both versions on the same side quite successfully.


People never seem to ask the right follow-ups. If I were interviewing her, I'd have asked:

1. Why is it OK to alienate the entire customer base that made DVD so successful in the first place? A group that spends a hell of a lot more buying DVD's than your average, late-to-the party, "emerging" customer?

2. How can Sony electronics be expected to successfully market and sell widescreen televisions when the home video arm obviously doesn't support them?

 

[WillG]

Thank you! Post corrected

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Alison Eiggers? Who?

It wouldn't surprise me if the decision was all her, ie. she doesn't like letterboxing/black bars so she is stopping widesreen releases of certain films. So... is Castle Keep one of her favourites? I very much doubt it. It is a very obscure cult classic that has never been shown at home in anything other than 1.33:1 pan and scam.

An anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer exists, yet they didn't use it?!!! I'm sorry, but that has to be the most illogical decision ever made at Sony.

Just when Universal start to turn things around (ie. more releases / anamorphic reissues, etc) Columbia go and unsettling their customers to the point of mania.

Yet Superbit editions are justified. No other studio does this.

Henri Decaë was one of the greatest cinematographers of all time - he shot 400 Blows, Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge, Bob le Flambeur, Plein Soleil, Le Professionnel (1981) and many other great films in his extensive, superlative career. Castle Keep was one of the few scope films he shot but both the interiors and location exteriors are beautifully shot in color Panavision. Decaë began as a cameraman in WW2. His work deserves to be preserved on DVD with the integrity of the framing intact.

Shame on Columbia.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

The stupid thing is that they may in fact release a widescreen version because so many people complained, but the large amount of catalogue titles they've removed the widescreen side from are still full-frame only.... and I doubt they'll change that without a similar backlash.

We shouldn't focus on this one film, we should focus on them all as a whole.

Honestly, it's really funny. I had never seen a DVD flipper before in 1999 when I bought my first 3 dvds. All three were flippers, and I figured out what to do with them in ten seconds...

If the public can't figure out how to put a disc in a machine they shouldn't be allowed to DRIVE, mow the lawn, use a key, or even leave bed...

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Disney gave a similar reason for putting out titles only in pan&scan- they said that people can't figure out 2-sided discs (which is ridiculous- the first DVDs I ever saw were 2-sided) and they didn't even want to do separate releases because they confused some people on which one to get. At least Disney seems to be coming around now, and they were never that great to begin with.
Columbia was one of the best studios, but they've quickly become one of the worst. What happened to the people who were running it before this person took over? Does anyone at Sony notice how bad she is making their entire company look???

 

[JPCinema]

There are other shamefull Pan and Scan disasters such as "Caseys Shadow", Divorce American Style" , "Trouble With Angels" and I afraid "Gidget" will be one too!!!
Columbia should be inundated with complaints until the persons involved making thses bad decisions are fired.
I sure do hope that the epic and beautifully photgraphed "Lord Jim" which been announced for August as Widescreen truly is!

 

[Robert Harris]

Before anyone dumps the tea overboard or starts burning execs in effigy...

I suggest that a few points be taken into consideration.

1. Everyone seems to agree that releasing Castle Keep in pan and scan only is a less than brilliant decision on someone's part.

2. Ms. Eiggers was most likely set forth by corporate to be the point person on what, in reality, is a tiny mis-step. She has most likely never seen this film, and has been sent to the fore to say "something," which is a difficult thing to do if you're not totally familiar with all aspects of the "controversy."

3. Ms. Eiggers and probably 90% of the folks in home video have probably never seen this niche film, and may well have been in grade school when it came out.

4. An education in film history is not an essential point or in any way a necessity in holding down a marketing position at a studio.

5. Henri Decae, who was the creator of some of the classic cinematography during the new wave and beyond, made his final film twenty years ago, and it is doubtful that those responsible for the decision to go pan and scan only, had any idea who he was or what he photographed.

6. The decision was probably made strictly on numbers, ie. how many units have been sold or on the film's theatrical gross, which was probably far from impressive, or the fact that Burt Lancaster was invovled.

7. There is no problem with film elements (nor should there be) and an anamorphic widescreen master has already been prepared.

8. Now that the studio is aware of the controvery, which in reality is a tempest in a proverbial teacup, they can prepare a widescreen release for later this year or early next.

To sum up...

The Sony gates in Culver City need not be stormed;

executives need not be hanged in effigy;

Ms. Eiggers need not be fired.

What is the upshot?

Columbia's other Decae films, Night of the Generals and Bobby Deerfield, also both scope productions will most certainly be offered in their proper aspect ratio. Someone in marketing may even come up with an idea to add a short career piece on Decae as an extra to Night of the Generals, a beautifully shot film.

Hopefully someone is upper management at home video will give Ms. Eiggers a tome on the history of new wave cinematography for either Christmas or her birthday (whichever comes first). In that way she can learn all about Henri Decae, who is someone that she addmittedly need not have heard of before this week. That isn't what her job is about.

Those of you who have read my comments on HTF are well aware that I don't measure my words when it comes to corporate stupidity or non-benign neglect or damage to important works of the cinema.

That isn't what's going on here.

This is a simple marketing mis-step which is easily corrected.

Sony has a history of putting out superb releases.

When they've made an error -- think The General or Silverado or even Lawrence -- they are the first to re-issue the film properly.

RAH

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Robert A. Harris wrote: Not to take this thread off-topic, but did Sony ever fix The General? I've never heard of any correction being made to that disc...

I agree that they definitely did right by Silverado, and that they did eventually address the problem with the colours in the Lawrence transfer.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Made an error? It seems to me releasing any film MAR is an error.

The fact that it happened wasn't what makes us mad, it's their reasoning.

"People are too stupid to figure out 2 sided discs?" Man, if that's how stupid some people really are I truly HAVE lost faith in humanity...

 

[Jesse Skeen]

[c]Sony has a history of putting out superb releases.[/c]

They HAD a history of putting out superb releases- the past couple years has shown a complete 180 from them.

[c]When they've made an error -- think The General or Silverado or even Lawrence -- they are the first to re-issue the film properly.[/c]

Why are they re-issuing their past titles IMproperly then?? Several titles that had both WS and P&S versions have been reissued with ONLY the P&S versions! If that doesn't show that something has gone seriously wrong with this company, then I don't know what does.

 

[george kaplan]

Robert,

Until they re-release all of their pan & scan only atrocities (e.g., Gidget), then I don't think they deserve any slack. It's not like Castle Keep is an isolated incident. Someone there is deciding on lots of pan & scan only releases lately, and that is corporate stupidity. I'll agree that their corporate mouthpiece was simply in a position of defending a stupid decision, not making it, although she didn't do a very good job of even that.

 

[jonathan_little]

How about Annie (1982)? That was originally put out in widescreen, though it was badly misframed in some scenes. Then Columbia silently fixed the problem and never told people how to get a fixed copy. Zoom ahead to 2003 and the widescreen release is deleted as they they re-release Annie in pan and scan only, but with a fresh 5.1 mix presented in Dolby Digital and DTS.

So evidently the VHS crowd that Sony is catering to demands 5.1 DTS sound.