The Sting SE on 09/06/05 See Post #133 (1 Viewer)

[Mark-W]

Funny this is being mentioned here. Based on the "plot twists" thread in the "Movies" section, I took this DVD to my relatives for the weekend, since they have a widescreen television. (Like many of you, this is the only time I bought a MAR'd film on DVD because as bad as MAR is, open matte atleast allows me to see the film as intended (if I apply mattes), whereas pan-and-scan doesn't.

Anyway, on my brother-in-law's television, I actually got exctied to see the film zoomed to an AR of 1.78:1 and I immediately noticed how much more "composed" the whole film looks over the open-matte version.

Sad that Universal hasn't treated this title with better respect.

 

[Shane_Anthony]

I like eevrybody else loved this movie. Robert Shaw(RIP)was one of my favourite actors. Redford and Newman are great too!


Why are Universal so inept when it comes to dvd product??

It's too bad we the public have no say in the matter

 

[Jim Dalton]

THANK YOU!!!

My wife and I were about to buy this but since it is NOT widescreen, you can forget it!

You hear that? All you movie companies out there? RELEASE MOVIES IN THE FORMAT THEY WERE FILMED!

Anything less is a disservice to us, the people who keep you guys in business, and we are sick of it!

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

I bought the R4 letterboxed Sting for less than $10

For a company that seemed to be releasing all their old P/S laserdiscs letterboxed in the mid-to-late 1990s, their VHS and DVD department is headed by morons . . .

I worked at a video store and regularly met with a Universal sales rep. She fully convinced me that Universal was the pits of DVD production--and four years later, that hasn't changed.

I wish they'd just license out their films.

Notice Universal UK did a 2-disc special edition of Deer Hunter last year. Maybe they'll do some more . . .

 

[EdgarNazaretyan]

universal didnt do the 2 disc special edition of deer hunter. deer hunter is owned by wb in uk and is released under the 2 disc special edition banner thus its not universal, thus making universal still a horrible dvd company.

 

[Tony Scello]

I get pissed every time I see this on the shelf in a store. This is such a great film but Universal has done nothing to give it the proper treatment(OAR, supplements, etc.) on DVD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember that this was released in it's OAR/widescreen on VHS at one time. Why can't we at least get that for a new DVD release?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Same thing goes through my mind everytime, too!
Especially now when I see those new gold (Academy Award) covers they're packaging it in--replacing those cheap-looking white covers that look like they were done on a budget photocopier. I still find myself picking it up.... just to be sure they didn't finally come to their senses and release it OAR.

Along with Ragtime (which is finally coming out on DVD later this year!) this is probably the title I'd most like to see properly released.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Whoa... what other great R2-only WB 2-Disc SE's am missing because I don't own a region-free DVD player???

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Note to Universal: I love this movie, and if you release it in anamorphic widescreen then I guarantee you I will purchase it on its release date. Until then, forget it.

Judging from the number of responses in this thread I am not alone. This is not a "niche" title. For crying out loud, it won Best Picture at the 1974 Oscars and it's currently listed as #61 of the greatest films of all time on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com).

C'mon, Universal. Get with the program!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

This is one of the greatest films ever made, and it deserves better treatment - including OAR and extras. I am stuck with the fullscreen DVD I bought many years ago and I've watched it many times already... but c'mon, Universal - get with the program. This should have been given a SE for last year's 30th Anniversary....

 

[Sean A]

TCM always shows this letterboxed. Why can't Universal get their act together ?

 

[Matt Butler]

I want this title really bad. Im having issues on whether to bite the bullet and buy the open matte DVD, Hunt down a ws VHS or wait some more not knowing when Universal will get off their ass and do a proper release.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

I think Bela Lugosi said it best...

"Those bastards at Universal!"

 

[dannyB]

I wish Warner had this title, if so I think we can all agree that a nice 2-disc SE (Nils' specialty )would have appeared at some point.

Universal continues to prove they're run by a bunch of monkeys.

 

[Jim Barg]

I do the same thing every time I'm in a video department at a store. "Hey, look... The Sting has some new packaging, maybe it's an SE." Flip it over, and not only is it featureless, it's full-frame. Damn shame. Wouldn't it be great to have a Newman/Redford commentary for this?

 

[BobAZ]

It's on TCM tonight at 8PM EDT, which is about 45 mins from now.

 

[BarryRR]

And I taped it because I figure a proper DVD release seems beyond the pale at the moment--and a Best Picture release too! What gives?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I now have my own widescreen DVD copy of this great film, thanks to TCM and my Panasonic E80 DVD recorder.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

???

Actually what you now have is a very low resolution letterbox NTSC broadcast copy with a grossly compressed audio track and no production notes, talent bios, and trailers.

You would be far better off with the open matte DVD and simply mask it for 1.85:1 which besides avoiding all the additional MPEG2 compression artifacts that occur when copying off broadcast signals - even masked you'll have a resolution that is nearly 150% greater than the copy off TCM (280,080 Vs. 114,080).

Certainly not convenient, but the PQ and sound is more than enough to make it worth while!

Universal apparently released an anamorphic German R2 version of this DVD, so another possibly better choice would be to buy a region free DVD player.

Frankly, for anyone who truly is concerned in watching this film in the best possible presentation with its original aspect ratio, watching a letterboxed broadcast copy may be one of the worst possible scenarios. I suppose the non open matte full screen VHS version is hands down the worst.

So unless you want to go region free, and don't want to wait for an eventual so-called OAR anamorphic R1 SE release - your best choice is still the open-matte R1 release and mask the top and bottom.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Nils,

I understand that my timeshifted copy from TCM is less than optimal quality. However, I will not spend money on a non-OAR disc. This way, I can enjoy a film I like without resorting to spending money on a disc that is not correct.

I actually record quite a few films from TCM to my Panny DVD recorder. The quality is acceptable, and I can check out some classic films that I've never seen that may not be available on DVD. Also, using the scaling function of my Panny RP-91 for playback of widescreen recordings, the picture quality is better than the original broadcast.

It doesn't beat a quality DVD transfer, but it's better than nothing.


I have done this in the past (the scaling feature of the Panny RP-91 essentially masks an open matte transfer to 1.85:1). It works, but I would rather spend my money on proper DVD transfers, not ones with improper aspect ratios. If/when Universal decides to release a proper widescreen version of The Sting, they will get my money then.