LOTR-FOTR in HD 11/7/04!!!!!!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[James L White]

no thread about this??? :b

http://www.thewb.com/Shows/Special/0...196758,00.html

 

[Ron Reda]

I just viewed the first few minutes of the WB's (Atlanta, GA) HD broadcast of the Lord of the Rings: FOTR and I must say that I'm disappointed. From what I remember, the film is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, yet the WB decided to matte it to 1.78:1 for the HD broadcast. This was a chance to display what HD had to offer with an excellent movie that had great technical merits and they blew it. IMO, the film looks a lot better on DVD in the correct aspect ratio than it does chopped for HD. I was really looking forward to this event, but I guess I'll have to wait some more.

 

[Matt Stone]

Like most HD flicks, cropped to 16x9. My WB doesn't broadcast in HD, so I didn't get a chance to see it anyway.

 

[TonyD]

i watched for 15 minutes because thats when the first commercials came on.
too bad it was cropped.
also directv's guide said this was the extended version.
it wasnt.

 

[TonyD]

oddly enough there are aring it in widescreen on analog.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

All 3 films have been on Starz! HD already and they were OAR

 

[Matt Stone]

Return of the King has already been on Starz? When was it on?

 

[JasonB]

Anyone else notice the audio was WAAAYYYY off? Or was it just me? I was watching on Comcast HD.

 

[Craig S]

This presentation reminded my why I like DVD so much, and why I haven't watched a film on broadcast TV in over a decade. Like Tony, I watched the Prologue & then bailed.

1) Commercials every 10-15 minutes
2) Cropped to 1.78:1
3) Damned WBug in the corner

Three strikes, you're out!

 

[Jerry Hostler]

Big disappointment. All the things Craig said plus I wouldn't say the PQ was any better than the EE DVD.

I was watching TNT-HD last night and they had a commercial saying LOTR:FOTR will be shown on Dec 10,11,12(?), with the message "In High-Definition where available". Hopefully they show it in the OAR.

Jerry

 

[Raasean Asaad]

I remember an ad for all 3 films showing in one night in October.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Starz! HD showed the Extended Editions of FOTR and TTT, followed by the theatrical cut of ROTK about a month and a half ago, IIRC.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Posted this on the AVS forum yesterday and just found this thread here. Will repost here for the Sacramento CA area.

It would be much more affective if the people in the KQCA 58.1 Sacramento CA area, would send an e-mail to protest the 16x9 "Pan and Scan" broadcast of The Lord of the Rings. - Showing that many of us are committed to quality broadcasts.

The address I used:
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/1675042/detail.html
Department of the General Manager.

My Email:

 

[Ron Reda]

I noticed this as well.

Ditto what Craig and Jerry said. While I wouldn't have watched the entire thing on TV (why bother with commercials when I have the EE?), I was very curious to see how it would look in HD (for free, not on Starz).

 

[Travis Hedger]

My DirecTV guide had it pegged at 2 hours 7 minutes. The original running time is over the 3 hour mark isnt it?

 

[Matt Stone]

They split it into 2 nights.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

That's iffy considering it's TNT. I don't watch TNT-HD often, but I did watch a few minutes when it was airing In the Line of Fire...cropped to 1.78. I wouldn't bank on getting it in OAR on TNT.

Bruce

 

[Lance_R]

Jason, I watched some last night WGN OTA in chicago and the sound was off., I thought the image quality was very good. I will put the DVD in and see if I see any difference.

 

[Adam Tyner]

How would KQCA be able to show a high-definition 2.35:1 version of the movie if that's not what the network was offering? The WB is the one at fault.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Uh, if you're gonna do that, why not also complain about how every FRAME of EVERY show is ruined by onscreen logos? That station is forever on my shit list because they were the first in the area to use their own bug on non-network shows. It amazes me how people continue to put up with that practice. I think channel 10 is the only station left that doesn't have its own bug.
It's a shame all these new networks have come up and displaced all the independent stations- those would have taken full advantage of HDTV. If independent stations were still around they'd be running uncut movies in HD every night. When stereo came out Channel 40 ran a lot of movies like "2001" that took advantage of it. That was a great station til the Fox network came along and ruined it. I heard the WB network has now consumed KTLA in Los Angeles, they used to have prime-time movies with only TWO commercial breaks in the whole movie.
So they showed LOTR in 2 parts? How 80's. I remember watching Superman and they had Part 1 end right when Lois Lane was about to fall out of the helicopter, and had to wait a whole day to see if Superman rescued her!