"No Black Bars" sticker on new Sound of Music disc (1 Viewer)

[Phil Florian]

Widescreen sales of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter outpaced those of the P&S. If that doesn't show a bit of hope, I don't know what will.

Phil

 

[Dean Cooper]

Why should those who want to see the whole film be forced to endure what this guy admits will be "arbitrary cropping" of the film? Let him buy a special DVD player that will automatically MAR (and I do mean MAR) movies to fill his 4:3 TV. (Or let the studios figure out how to use user-selectable player-based Pan-and-Scan.)

This is already part of the DVD Standard, it always has been. Studios just aren't using it, because nobody is asking loud enough. Pan and Scan on the fly would work on all anamorphic discs, which is majority of them now. We need to be pushing for this feature to be used guys. Its the only way to get the P&S people on our side, give them what they want while getting what we want as well.

Dean

 

[Jerry Gracia]

The worst example of film purity gone mad is VHS-Widescreen.

That's your opinion.

For a time, before I got into DVD back in 1998...widescreen VHS was my only source for movies on video in their proper OAR (I didn't get into Home Theater in time for the LD era). The selection and variety were few, but I got by. Once I became aware of film cropping/altering in 4:3 I avoided full screen tapes like the plague.

This practice is maddening. How could someone choose to have their movies altered for the sake of filling their TV screen?

I could never understand it and never will.

Only people who care more about their display devices can come up with bullshit excuses.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Hey Dean,
Actually, the P/S on the fly feature only works with *1.78-1.85:1* anamorphic transfers.
I agree with you that this is the obvious solution that should be used. It would have worked great for Muppet Treasure Island!!!
Only caveat...you can't to "open matte" 4x3 presentations using this method for "flat" films...so some studios are reluctant for that reason. But M.T.I. was a literal P/S transfer :frowning:
-dave

 

[David Susilo]

A quickie: funny thing happened at Blockbuster yesterday. They only have P/S version of Showtime DVD. I grabbed it by accident since that particular Blockbuster exclusively carries WS when available.
So 10 minutes later I drove back and wanting to demand for an exchange. To my surprise, there were 4 other people in front of me, ALL of them exchanging Showtime DVD due to the lack of WS, while waiting in line, another 2 renters asked what's the difference between WS and /PS, I explained it to them, and they went back and put those movies back on the shelf!.
What a day, Blockbuster just lost 7 rentals (total) due to it's lack of WS version!

 

[Jerry Gracia]

What a day, Blockbuster just lost 7 rentals (total) due to it's lack of WS version!

Haha!
I love it!

 

[SteveK]

David- Asking for an exchange is even better than putting it back on the shelf. After all, there is no way Blockbuster can monitor how many DVDs are put back on the shelf -- much less the reason why they were put back -- but they can certainly track the number of exchanges and know why the customers weren't happy.

I wish people would start doing this at Movie Gallery. My local Blockbuster has always carried widescreen only, but the local Movie Gallery only carries fullscreen when a choice is available.

Steve K.

 

[David Susilo]

Albeit true, I can't 'ask' for more when two people, after at once fully understood the benefit of WS, to be part of our crusade. Baby steps.

As an aside, I went to that BB branch, and from all of their Guaranteed-or-Free lineup, the one that remains virtually untouched is the Showtime title. The rest of their Guaranteed-or-Free lineup titles are almost totally rented out.

 

[BarryS]

I'm afraid that they may beat us on this issue by sheer force of numbers, both interms of the number of J6Pers & the Studios catering to them because of their sheer weight of numbers.

Fear not. I'm reminded of the eloquent quote by Mark Twain, of which I have made sort of a personal credo for myself:
When you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.
Couldn't have said it any better.
I too was disgusted to see this sticker on a Mrs. Doubtfire DVD at Wal-Mart. At first, I laughed hysterically, then I really began to realize just how dumb most people are. I have no doubt that this sticker is the direct result of retailers getting many calls from unhappy customers bitching about the black bars. Of course, Fox has to bow down to the almighty Wal-Mart, so they release this butchered version and schlepp this sticker on it so the morons out there only have to read a few blunt words to know which version they're getting.
I suggest a new name for Fox's full-screen DVDs: THE CLETUS THE-SLACK-JAWED-YOKEL VERSION.