DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: How the West Was Won: Ultimate Collector's Edition (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

You mean my two options are 1) Warners being out to get me; and 2) Warners not supporting me? Is there a door no. 3?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Door number three is "Warner is trying various approaches to titles on the two formats, some of which I like and some of which I do not", but this version does not lend itself to dramatic ultimatums, so where's the fun in that?

Regards,

 

[Edwin-S]

Yeah, but the Blu-ray conspiracy is real while the DVD conspiracy is just paranoia. The men in the Black Helicopters said so.

 

[Thomas T]

Let me add my voice to the dismayed chorus of what this thread has degenerated to. If I wasn't already sold Mr. McAlinden, your review would certainly have tipped me over and I'm looking forward to the Cinerama documentary.

But I do wish the blu-ray fanboys would stop turning every thread into a promotion for blu-ray. If I cry "Uncle!" will you guys stop or do you just enjoy torturing me?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Actually, I get great pleasure in torturing you.

Crawdaddy

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I am not paranoid. You are just saying that because you hate me like everyone else.

Regards,

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Ken, I just had to say that I loved this line in your review. Well done. I'll be ordering the release, despite the lack of a Smilebox transfer.

 

[Jon Martin]

I have to be honest, I don't quite understand this whole Smileboxing. Does it actually work on a large display? From the screenshots, it looks like it might be distracting.

As for Cinerama being a "gimmick", of course it was. Like 3-D, it was initially a way to compete with TV, to get people back into the theatre. That isn't to say it wasn't a valid technological achievement, but it was originally a "gimmick".

Great review. I've never cared for HTWWW (which I thought was more an ad for Cinerama than a film) but this review makes me want to check out the DVD.

And as for the laserdisc vs VHS debate, it works quite well. Back in the 80's, laserdiscs were the only way to see most films letterboxed. They could have been letterboxed on VHS, but the studios didn't think people were interested. Same with extras on Blu-Ray. Like I said, I don't even understand the smileboxing and I've been around here for years, and was heavily involved in laserdiscs even longer.

 

[Jonny_L]

Thanks to Brent for posting those screencaps - It's apparent that the join lines haven't been 100% removed in all shots, but i expected that since it seemed to me the quality of the 3 different panels had slightly different levels of deterioration over the years. It still looks phenomenal.

For everyone who wanted the letterbox version abolished, if you just buy a new $20,000 projector with an anamorphic lens and curved screen for your home theater, you'd see how silly that statement is as the letterbox can become the "smilebox" version in almost every way. The point is, why downgrade a potential presentation of the film because YOU can't afford the proper equipment. Not that I can myself, but the whole notion is silly.

As for the extras being different across various versions, I was kinda bummed out about that myself but a)it makes good business sense and b) Warner has stated in either their press release or later in comments that the added clarity and capacity in blu-ray is why the smile box version is on that set instead of all sets. Also, if you look at the upcoming Casablanca Ultimate Set, you'll see Warner has stopped the practice of separating extras as both sets are the same save for the HD. They still and always have been THE BEST studio for offering up classic titles on home video.

Finally, WB didn't drop HD DVD because the public left it as a format. It was because the Blu-Ray consortium gave them a truckload of money and a portion of revenue from the licensing as they've been the number one selling studio for over a decade now.

 

[Steve Christou]

The best thing about How the West Was Won is Alfred Newman's magnificent music score, one of the most famous western themes ever.


Distracting and from the screenshots the movie looks even more distorted. I'm glad it's not included on the SD-DVD, to be honest it looks as gimmicky as the cinerama process.

 

[RolandL]

What Cinerama was trying to do with its three projectors and a 146 degree deeply curved screen was to give you the feeling of "being there". The smilebox processs tries to duplicate this by curving the letterboxed image to make it look like you are seeing it on a 146 degree Cinerama screen.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Yeah but since the curve is 2-D, the process doesn't look right at all.

 

[Dan_Shane]

I think seeing the SmileBox process with a *moving* image is going to be quite different from looking at screen captures. I agree that in the samples there appears to be a measure of distortion even beyond the inherent stretching expected in the process. For instance, little Debbie Reynolds has never looked taller than she does in the SmileBox example.

But since no one has posted actual frames from the Blu-ray movie proper (only the snippets included in THE CINERAMA ADVENTURE documentary), I am reserving judgement until my BD arrives and I can see the images in motion on my 65" screen. I expect that the camera movement is likely to contribute to the "you-are-there" experience in a way that still pictures cannot.

 

[Edwin-S]

BTW, Nice review.

I find it interesting that the traditionally letterboxed version has a lot more information showing on the sides than the Smilebox version. I suspect they may have cropped the Smilebox version so as not to lose too much resolution in the central portion of the image; although, that is just my uneducated guess.

The traditionally letterboxed version looks like it may be the most accurate version in terms of AR; however, I'm no expert on this film so I will wait for confirmation from others who are more familiar with the in and outs of the film.

 

[BillyFeldman]

Actually, you won't know the answer to that question until someone reviews the Blu-Ray version - the screencaps here are from the Cinerama Adventure documentary, and those may not be accurate.

 

[RolandL]

It all depends on your definition of "a lot". The letterboxed image is about 2.8:1 and the image that comes from the letterboxed that is shown in smilebox is about 2.5:1. So, about 10% of the image is missing. The scan's that are shown in this thread are from a PC which should have no overscan. Most TV's have some overscan so you might be missing 5-10% when you watch a movie anyhow. Unless of course your TV has 0 overscan.

 

[John Hodson]

Oddly enough, the Smilebox screencaps look 'truer' to me; it's three (or more) years since I last saw HTWWW in all its three-panel glory, but they certainly do capture the spirit.

 

[RolandL]

When How the West Was Won had its roadshow run, it was at Cinerama theatres only. You paid top dollars - (up to $3.50 a ticket!) to see it on a large deeply curved screen and seven channels of stereo sound. They had only two showings a day. It was reserved seats only and you got dressed up - (most men in suits and women in dresses). You were escorted to your seat by a uniformed usher.

After its run at Cinerama theatres (in London it played for three years at the Casino Cinerama Theatre), it was shown at your local theatre. It was on a flat screen, played continuously, you could dress as you like and your ticket was probably 70 cents.

If you want to see it the way it was shown at the local flat screen 70 cents per ticket theatre then the flat letterboxed image is the way to go. If you want to see how it was shown at a Cinerama Theatre, the smilebox version is for you. You decide.

 

[Jon Martin]

But does the smilebox version really give you an illusion of depth? You are watching it on a flat screen after all.

That is what I don't understand. I know how Cinerama works, but how does this smilebox work?

 

[BillyFeldman]

Unfortunately, we can't decide, those of us who have not gone Blu-Ray. Thanks to Warners apparently incredible business sense, they have precluded the majority of their customers from being able to decide. And I say hooey to that.