I am the only one who finds these countless pan-scan outrage threads really boring! (1 Viewer)

[Paul_D]

Every other day there's a new thread expressing the outrage over some new pan-scan release, I mean ultimately how much new discussion can be prompted from a thread about the existence of a pan-scan A.I.? As far as I can see, as long as theres an accompanying widescreen version (and I know there have been a few notable examples without this necessity) whats all the fuss about. I mean, what do you care if the average movie-watcher wants the picture to fill his screen... sure it isnt the 'right' way of watching a movie, but then again, what do you care how a home-theater-layman cares to watch his flicks?

It just seems like a BIG waste of time, energy and thought! So long as widescreen sales are good, and its been shown countless times that even though widescreen doesnt always beat fullscreen, its always high. Because of this, widescreen DVDs will ALWAYS be available, so if your constant complaints are in fear that eventually full will beat out wide, rest assured that this will never happen, and just cut out the whining!

I'm sure i'll get some hostile replies to this, but on some level that hostility will be like that of those that angrily complain that there are black bars at the top and bottom of their screens - i.e. a lack of thought or understanding on the part of the hostile parties!

 

[Joe_C]

Release the hounds!
(It's too late for me to even bother trying to put together a coherent string of words...save this one I just wrote.)

 

[alan halvorson]

Yes, they are boring, but people do like to vent. Do as I do - ignore them.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Well, I do think there are legitimate concerns over any increases in the rate of P&S DVD releases, including...
1) Availability of Widescreen versions for rental / purchase at local shops. ( In other words, will online rental / sales become the only way to obtain OAR releases in the coming years? Personally I doubt it, but who knows? I do agree that as long as a demand for Widescreen exists, the studios will supply those releases. Although Cats & Dogs and Willy Wonka give me pause. )
2) Dual releases on single dics / packages taking room that could have been used for either a higher bitrate or additional supplementary content.
3) Perpetuation of the practice of butchering films to placate the uninformed or indiscriminate viewer.
I guess the question is - Does 'preaching to the choir' here at the HTF really accomplish anything? Maybe, maybe not. It's not like anyone is twisting your arm to read those threads, and if others want to belabor the point it really isn't wasting your time or energy.
Another question might be - Is there a more effective way of focusing the efforts expended in those threads to ensure that Widescreen releases remain the de facto standard for DVD?
Also - Do the enthusiasts, despite their prodigious spending habits, really influence the burgeoning DVD market these days?
I certainly don't know the answers. I just continue to support OAR releases and try to proselytize the benefits of OAR to my friends and co-workers.
- Walter.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Paul, to live a happy life, follow the following tenets:

(a) pan and scan is the Mark of the Beast - all movies must be shown in their OAR

(b) Star Wars films are the greatest movies ever made, and they should all be on DVD now, ahead of e.g. Wild Strawberries, Zero de Conduit et al, which in any case are 1.33:1, black and white, and don't have a 5.1 remix

(c) everyone can hear PAL speed up (and the lower resolution of NTSC doesn't matter)

 

[Peter Overduin]

I think we should have one super-thread where we battle out the folowing lame topics:
Would you buy a DTS pan 'n scan instead of a widescreen DD? I love polls!
If a pan 'n scan release is in DD-EX, is it still a DVD, even if its non-OAR? Any advice would be appreciated as long as you tell me what I want to hear.
If Star Wars doesn't have DTS, is it still okay to buy as long as it's widescreen, even if I never saw the original movie in theatres because I wasn't born yet and probably still don't know what I'm talking about, even if I think I do, especially since I won't know what the DD-EX theatrical sounded like because I never heard it, but I know its okay as long as its widescreen even if that doesn't mean its anamorphic? Thanks for your help.
I'm really pissed because IMAX movies aren't widescreen and I know they all should be because I am a member of the HTF and sign every silly little petition that's launched here even if I rent from Blockbuster anyways. Please sign my petition.
Widescreen movies sound better than pan 'n scan movies. Why is that?
Actually, DTS always sounds better than DD, even if it hasn't come out yet and I never had laser disk becuase it wasn't home theatre anyways, since they weren't anamorphic and were way too expensive and my mom wouldn't raise my allowance? Mom...?
Bring it on!!!!!

 

[David Lambert]

Look, guys...if you don't want to see it, turn the channel. That's all. Noone's forcing you to read the threads you consider "lame", okay? Thassit.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

I mean ultimately how much new discussion can be prompted from a thread about the existence of a pan-scan A.I.?

Amen.

 

[Anthony_H]

And not even to mention that the support of OAR above all else is part of this site's mission statement... at least the last time I checked. Following that train... I dont think it unusual that you will see a great deal of posts here related to OAR.

A.T.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yeah, we're going to 'do it to death', and then some. You are across the pond, and the P&S realeses are nearly non-existant there, because the tubes are all wide to begin with, but the good 'ole U.S.A. is doing everything backwards, or something like that.

We are seeking a solution, and discussion hopefully will help, although I do see your point about the number of threads, and I am surprised that the moderators haven't been combining them, just like the new releases in the movies section.

As for the solution, everybody seems to be pointing fingers at everybody else, and no one is taking the responsibility. We are all sure that all of the studios know what is going on, and they could easily 'fix' it by releasing OAR only disks, yet they do not. With 280 million people here, it is hard to get the word out to people that just don't understand, or don't care.

All this whole fiasco needs is some good airtime on TV news. It would be nice having someone like Julia Roberts annouce an all out war on P&S, but the celebs apparantly aren't reading here.

Glenn

 

[Jim A. Banville]

3) Perpetuation of the practice of butchering films to placate the uninformed or indiscriminate viewer.

You mean those viewers with 16:9 TV's that watch the butchered 16:9 version of a 4:3 OAR film (SuperSpeedway)?

We all know that we can skip the boring, endless WS vs. P&S threads by the widescreen fanatics. I think a lot of us get tired of SEEING them. Can members pick out "keywords" ( such as "P&S", "pan & scan", etc.) that will make this bulletin board program delete those threads with these "keywords" in the header?

By the way, I prefer to see movies in their OAR, but it isn't my life's mission to eliminate P&S, or to "convert" people that are perfectly happy with it.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Eh Paul...it's mainly because most of us cannot afford to buy... nor want to buy every film. I'd like to Rent AI but it's probably not a film I would buy Outright. But these dual releases are ensuring us of one thing. When we go to rent it there'll be nothing but the P&S on the shelf.

Does that clear things up?

 

[Tom Brennan]

If the threads don't interest you, don't read them and don't participate! I feel the P&S issue is a very important one and don't care how many threads there are about it.

 

[TomF]

Hey Peter Overduin,

Thanks man!
I guess find it easy to gloss over any threads that don't interest me, so no big deal. Regarding dual WS/P&S releases, I have the same frustration with P&S being the only rental option no matter where I go.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't mind P&S vs. LBX threads that much (I am an OAR supporter.), but a lot of threads end up being Chicken Little threads.

People were outraged that Neverending Story (I and II), Cats & Dogs, Lord of the Rings, and some other titles would be pan & scan only.

It's not really these people's fault. The websites that report that a title will be P&S only when it isn't should be getting better info.

I still think it was funny that a few hundred people cancelled orders for the above mentioned titles because of false information.

Ignoring is a good idea since one thread stated that Hans Christian Anderson was pan & scan on DVD. I'd like to know how a 1952 movie not filmed in Cinerama was filmed in widescreen. This shows just how much thought is put into some of these threads (No offense, all movies should be OAR, but open matte is very different from pan & scan.)

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

Speaking as someone who has no way to order DVD's online, and hence must rely on the local B&M's for my fix, I appreciate people's outrage on the whole pan-and-scan issue. It took my local B&M's (Best Buy, Suncoast, Wal-Mart, etc.) 6 weeks after release to get me a widescreen Cats & Dogs, and I just found a widescreen Willy Wonka last week. If both P&S and WS are available simultaneously in stores, then cool... but that hasn't been the case, and it seems as if studios are unfairly stacking the deck to pad the numbers. Suncoast, in fact, still doesn't even have SKU numbers in their catalogue for the WS versions of either of those titles, and aren't receiving any from their distributor.

So if you aren't outraged by this or you can't see how detrimental this is to DVD, then that's fine... skip the threads and get on with your life. I'll be in those threads raising hell if I can't get a widescreen version on the release date, especially for a big title like A.I.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I'll be in those threads raising hell if I can't get a widescreen version on the release date, especially for a big title like A.I.

Your choice, but you won't be accomplishing much other than filling up bandwith. A more effective use of time would be to write polite but firm letters -- letters, not email -- to studios and stores expressing your views as a customer.

M.

 

[Paul_D]

Wow, I've got plenty of things to reply to! Here goes...

Walter...

I think we should have one super-thread where we battle out the folowing lame topics.

Excellent idea!

 

[David Lambert]

People were outraged that Neverending Story (I and II), Cats & Dogs, Lord of the Rings, and some other titles would be pan & scan only...I still think it was funny that a few hundred people cancelled orders for the above mentioned titles because of false information.

After personally speaking to Josh Sabaro at Warner Brothers, I can tell you for a fact that the Widescreen version of Cats & Dogs was not going to happen until everyone spoke up and cancelled orders. Even in the wake of the Wonka situation!
NeverEnding Story did indeed turn out to be a false alarm, but LoTR was on the cusp of going FS-only as well. It was reaction to Wonka and C&D that turned the tide, together.
As you can tell by Pokemon 3 - laugh if you will - the world of WB still isn't safe from MAR. When I called to ask about Watership Down, I got a "relax, we already are getting out word that it's widescreen" answer (not Josh; I didn't get the name of the gal I spoke to). That news hit 2 sites, and consequently here on HTF, the same day. No matter what Rain thought about it being mature themed, it sounds like it was on their minds to pan-and-scan it!
Myself, I will only cease worrying about OAR issues when either they A) give us nothing to worry about, or B) they pry the remote out of my cold, dead hands!

 

[chris c]

So, what's it like being unique?