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Lord of War: 2-Disc Special Edition 1/17 (1 Viewer)

Elijah Sullivan

Supporting Actor
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Jun 18, 2004
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665
Just watched this film, a pretty good one. The DVD presentation, tho, is outstanding. The video is very, very nice... lots of EE, but still damned good...

The DTS-ES track on this disc is absolutely incredible.

A solid hit in presentation, I think.

As for the film... a good effort. I'm glad Lions Gate gambled on this project (as they did with Crash this same year) to help try to get a very political, very revisionist message to the mainstream audience. I hope millions more people see this film now that it's on DVD, because weapons trade is a major issue. And as the movie states... the United States is the biggest offender on the planet, and has been for half a century.
 

Joel C

Screenwriter
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Oct 23, 1999
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What's the aspect ratio? I read on another forum that this was cropped from the 2.35:1 theatrical to 1.78:1.
 

Rhoq

Supporting Actor
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Mar 1, 2004
Messages
734
I saw this in theater and can't wait 'til Tuesday to pick it up (I could of had it Christmas weekend, but I didn't want to settle for the single disc version). Excellent film both in it's message and how it plays out as a dark comedy.
 

Marcel H.

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Dec 9, 2005
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@Joel

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to post any links until I've posted 15 times here. So look at the axelmusic homepage. There you can find a back cover scan of the DVD that says that the ratio is 1,78:1
 

Elijah Sullivan

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
665
It is 1.78, but there is no pan-and-scan action that I saw. It is 16x9 enhanced. If anything, I would suggest that it was improperly screened in theaters. At 1.78 the compositions are quite spacious, with no hint of that pan-and-scan stuff.
 

Mike Heenan

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Messages
405
How could it have been improperly screened at theaters, when that's the aspect ratio the director and cinematographer chose to release it in?
 

Mark Lucas

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Messages
497
This is a 2.35:1 Super 35 film. Maybe it was decided to open up the mattes for home video but i'll believe it when I see it.

I think I'll wait for the HD-DVD/Blu-ray release of this.
 

Jon Martin

Senior HTF Member
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Sep 19, 2002
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2,218


That is most likely the case, that it is open matte. Same thing Robert Rodriguez did with ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO.
 

Nathan V

Supporting Actor
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Jul 16, 2002
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960
That is disappointing news. I will not be purchasing this title. The 2.35 compositions in the theatre (in which I saw the film twice) were gorgeous. I actually thought it had some of the best compositions of the year. This is a real shame for me, esp as a photographer.

Regards,
Nathan
 

Joel C

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 23, 1999
Messages
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I guess if the director wants it that way I can't complain, but it is odd. Great looking film, all but ignored in theaters despite a few good reviews (for some reason, Entertainment Weekly's Owen G. gave it an F, and I usually like him).
 

Elijah Sullivan

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
665
Wait til you watch the DVD, guys. Looking at it on DVD gives me the impression it was composed for 1.78 from the beginning. At least give it a shot. This certainly is the OAR... you may be arguing personal preference over the director's...
 

PaulP

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Oct 22, 2001
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Well if the intended AR was 1.78:1 why not exhibit the film in 1:85:1, and not 2.35:1.
 

Shane Martin

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Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
Very difficult situation regarding what really is the OAR. I'm a bit torn on it myself because I too really liked this underappreciated film.
 

Shane_M

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
232
I haven't gotten into the extras yet. That's tonight, but I watched the movie last night and it looked and sounded great. The EE was fairly low and hardly noticeable.
 

Jon Martin

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Sep 19, 2002
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I think it has to do with making it look the best for the future. They probably shot it 2.35 for theatres, since that looks the best on the big screen. But, had the safe zone, knowing the video version would be 1.78, which looks the best for HDTV (for many, I don't have a problem with 2.35). Nothing is lost, so I'm not really bothered by it. You can always create your own masking if it bothers you so much.

I liked the film, but so few saw it theatrically, they probably realized more people will see it on DVD than in theatres, so geared the DVD for them.

It is funny that this is the second Bridget Moynahan film to have this happen to it. The same thing happened with THE RECRUIT, 2.35 in theatres, 1.78 on DVD.
 

PaulP

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2001
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Which is the same as good ol' pan-and-scan.

Shane, when you go through extras, try and see if the director mentions anything regarding this on the commentary.

According to DVDActive, the UK R2 disc features a 2.35:1 transfer...
 

Andrew Bunk

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 2, 2001
Messages
1,825
Geez, now I guess I'll have to check OAR on widescreen films before blind-buying them.

I'm going to watch this in the next week and since I did not see the theatrical exhibition, hopefully I'll be objective when judging the framing.
 

Mark Lucas

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Messages
497
I think we'll see a 2.35:1 picture. If R2 is getting it then we'll get it. Someone was either misinformed or had their tv set up the wrong way.
 

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