austin powers aspect ratio? (1 Viewer)

[stephen^wilson]

Can someone tell me if the austin powers:IMOM dvd released in canada by Alliance is in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or like the U.S. disc,1.85:1? Also,are the Alliance Austin discs in amaray cases or snappers? and is the doctor evil story on the canadian spy who shagged me disc?

 

[Marc Alexander]

Canadian release is cropped just like the US. You've got to go to Region 2 or 4 (PAL) for the OAR.
Link Removed

 

[Damin J Toell]

Canadian release is cropped just like the US.

It's actually not cropped at all. The viewing area is made taller, revealing more visual information. This is the preferred aspect ratio of director Jay Roach.

DJ

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

To add to what Damin said, the films are shot in Super 35, but Roach's preferred aspect ratio for the first film is around 2.00:1 rather than 2.35:1 (the film's theatrical aspect ratio).

 

[Brenton]

I wonder if Roach realizes he's hit the ultimate low of blasphemy to us OAR buffs... preferring something other than the theatrical aspect ratio!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

I wonder if Roach realizes he's hit the ultimate low of blasphemy to us OAR buffs... preferring something other than the theatrical aspect ratio!

Well it's his film, so he could do whatever he damn well pleases to it. He did supervise the transfer for both the LD and DVD.

 

[rutger_s]

I wonder if Roach realizes he's hit the ultimate low of blasphemy to us OAR buffs... preferring something other than the theatrical aspect ratio!

So if you made a film and it was intended to be seen at 1.85:1 but the theaters cropped off the top and bottom of the frame to make it 2.35:1...

You'd want customers buying a DVD featuring the original theatrical ratio and not the framing you originally wanted?

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

So if you made a film and it was intended to be seen at 1.85:1 but the theaters cropped off the top and bottom of the frame to make it 2.35:1...

The film prints were at 2.35:1 anamoprhic. Let me give you an example.
Here is the film framed around the 2.35:1 aspect ratio (not 100% accurate, but close):

Here is the film framed around 2.00:1 (as due to Roach's wishes):

And here is the film framed at 1.33:1 (for VHS and TV):

With the DVD, LD, and VHS Widescreen releases, Jay Roach opened up the frame a bit. Of course with pan and scan, the film was opened up a bit more on the top and bottom, but cropped on the sides.

 

[Simon Massey]

Well from what I remember of buying the R1 release, I thought it was cropped at the sides - the specific part I noticed was near the beginning when there is a scene with several different viewscreens within the frame, and the viewscreens at the edge of the print are only partly in the frame.

On the R2 version, I am sure you see all of the screens.

 

[Simon Massey]

just checked the R2 version, and I may be wrong about this, but if someone has the R1 version, perhaps they could check.

It is around 7 min 50 sec, and there are 8 screens within the frame. They are roughly square, and 2 screens on the far left are cut off slightly by the edge of the print.

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

Also not forgetting that the US version of Austin Powers: IMOM is an edited version 'cause apparantly you guys wouldn't get the jokes or something?!
Some of what the rest of the world got in the full version is in the deleted scenes but why did they completely remove Christian Slater's "orange sherbert" cameo?
more details on the numerous differences at Link Removed
Whatever Roach thought was a better video presentation I'd rather have what I saw in the cinema back in '97. The full version in 2.35:1 (which luckily I can here on DVD in the UK)

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Simon, here is a screenshot from the widescreen version:

And from the full frame version:

Now if anybody has the R2 DVD to compare.

 

[Dan Brecher]

It's probably not right to deem the international cut of Austin Powers as the "full version" just because it retains deleted footage over the domestic release.

Besides the pussycat joke ruined in the US version, Roach and Myers pretty much got what they wanted. If they wanted to put what was in the international cuts for Region1, New Line would have let them do it, and the director and star are going to end up owning the R1 disc at the end of the day.

The scenes showing the effects on a dead henchmans family and friends were cut because they felt they simply did not work well enough, and they do kind of slow things down, especially when the second one comes along. The Slater scenes are just plain odd... Food for thought you know, if the director liked them enough, they'd have been in the US theatrical release or at very least restored to the US DVD and Laseridsc.

I like the original US version more, its a better paced cut in my opinon, let down by the pussycat gag edit. For me it certianly was not a case of more = better, since the extra stuff we got was little in the way of substance and comic effect.

Dan

PS: For what it's worth, a forgetable "How's your father" gag from Austin 2 was also not in the US version.

 

[Derek Miner]

There are some shots on the 2.00:1 version of Austin Powers that are reframed (ie cropped on the sides). At least one of them is in the opening credits.

For the 2.35:1 framing and the international cut, I also own the Australian DVD (also features the "BBC" music video). This disc has an interesting quirk, because of the added footage. The commentary is taken from the shorter US cut, and some sections are repeated to fill time. In some places, the commentary is completely out of sync with the film, so they're talking about things you aren't seeing.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I wonder if Roach realizes he's hit the ultimate low of blasphemy to us OAR buffs... preferring something other than the theatrical aspect ratio!

It seems to me that preferring something other than what the director wants is the "ultimate low of blasphemy"....

DJ

 

[Tim Ke]

I prefer the international cut, which is the version I saw first and the one I own (the region 4). This is definitely not one example to use in trying to explain widescreen!

 

[Patrick McCart]

This is definitely not one example to use in trying to explain widescreen!

Not really. This is an excellent example of variable framing for Super-35. IMO, if the compositions look fine when undermatted at 2:1 (there's NO cropping on the sides) and the filmmakers want it that way, by all means do it!

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

The international cut is a lot better than the US one. We're not talking The Shining here; it's a simple case of MPAA censorship. Also, I believe the UK R2 disc is missing the joke about Princess Diana. To me the R4 disc is the only way to go since, frankly, I consider Jay Roach's "wishes" in this case to be a bunch of bull.

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

Remind me what the Princess Diana joke is?
The R2 disc has the bit where Dr. Evil wants to make it look like Prince Charles is having an affair unless they pay up - is that the bit or is it something else?

 

[Dan Brecher]

The R2 disc has the bit where Dr. Evil wants to make it look like Prince Charles is having an affair unless they pay up - is that the bit or is it something else?

Yeah that's the gag, like you say, it's present in the R2. It wasnt cut for home video or TV here and I personally do not believe it was cut from theatrical prtins in Britain, at least until it's 2nd week of release (and lets face it, the film founds its biggest audience here on home video).
I saw the film theatrically in its first week, and the print I saw retained that joke too. I distinctly remember my eyes widening upon hearing it, especially given the fact that Diana's coffin procession from the airplane was being shown live on the TVs in the cinema foyer before people went into the auditorium.
Dan