Upcoming "Bushwhacked" DVD — pan & scan only? Say it isn't so! (1 Viewer)

[cafink]

I know it's cheesy, and I know it's not "Citizen Kane," but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Daniel Stern comedy "Bushwhacked" ("Hey mister, I gotta make a dookie!" has even become a running joke between my brother and me).
I like to catch it whenever it comes on television. The only real problem is that it is, of course, always a pan & scan transfer. It is an especially distracting problem in that the film's opening credits are letterboxed at about 2.35:1. When the film proper starts and the transfer jumps to the cropped formate, it's a real painful moment for me.
So of course I've been waiting for years for this fine comedy to be released on DVD, hoping that I'd finally be able to see a properly-framed version.
My heart raced a little when I was checking DVDfile.com this morning and saw "Bushwhacked" listed as an upcoming release! Alas, the next sentence went on to describe it as featuring only a pan & scan transfer.
I thought that perhaps it was incorrect or incomplete information. However, DVDfile.com also mentions "Lucas" in the same sentence, and explicitly lists it as 16:9 widescreen, which doesn't give me much hope.
"Bushwhacked" is scheduled to be part of Fox's "Family Favorites" line of titles. I own only a single title from this line ("The Sandlot"), but hasn't Fox been pretty good at releasing such titles in their proper aspect ratio? I'd hate for them to start a terrible trend, let alone with a title that's so important to me.
"Bushwhacked" is short, and with no significant supplemental material lined up for the DVD, there's no reason that a widescreen transfer can't be included in addition to the pan & scan one if not in place of it.
Also, I hesitate bring this up, but hasn't Fox's Peter Staddon stated in the past, on this very forum, that Fox would always release titles in their original aspect ratio, with a commitment to pan & scan as a secondary release only? I hate to put him on the spot — I know he is very committed to film in general and that any decision to release a title in pan & scan only would not be his own — but I hope he realizes what a terrible mistake this would be and also that he's not the only one at Fox to feel that way.
Finally, I have just one more question for anyone who might know. Has there ever been a properly-framed release of "Bushwhacked" on home video, in any territory? If the upcoming DVD is indeed pan & scan only, I'm afraid that we'll probably never see this title treated properly on our favorite disc-based video format.
Here is a link to DVDfile.com's report on the "Bushwhacked" DVD: http://www.dvdfile.com/software/dvd-...002/12_03.html
Bet you thought you'd never see a post this long about "Bushwhacked," didn't you?
Thanks in advance to anyone with any information.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Carl, I rarely agree with you, but I will agree with you now.
My best friend and I have been fans of the movie since our days in elementry school. I've even used the line "Hey mister, I gotta make a dookie!" during an improv game one day during Theater class (of course, nobody got the reference). I would buy the DVD, but only if it is in widescreen.

 

[GlennH]

Here is a quote from Peter Staddon chat last night:

{peterstaddon} First on the OAR support, I can only talk from Fox's pov but we are unwavering in our support for OAR. That does not mean that we will [not] release Pan and Scan versions as well, but OAR will always be available.

I added the [not] that was clearly omitted in the transcript.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

This was widescreen on laserdisc- I kept meaning to pick it up when it was cheap but never got around to it. The theatre I worked at when this was out never played it so I've never seen the movie, the trailer was funny though.
All the titles released under the "Family" banner so far have had both widescreen and pan and scan.

 

[Dean Kousoulas]

"I gotta take a dookie" is a classic line.

Dean

 

[Drew Mertz]

funny movie, I`m glad I picked up the laserdisc a few years back. Especially since it seems the dvd will be worthless...

 

[cafink]

Well, I'm very glad to see that I'm not alone on this issue!

Glenn, thanks for providing that quote as I wasn't able to participate in last night's chat. It's reassuring to hear that Fox is still committed to presenting films in their original aspect ratios.

Still, that doesn't explain what the deal is with "Bushwhacked." Since there's a widescreen laserdisc, they obviously have a usable transfer. Of course I'd love a brand new 16:9 transfer, but I'd be more than happy to take a recycled laserdisc transfer if it's the only way to get a properly-framed DVD. I'm sure Fox can't afford to spend very much money on a title like "Bushwhacked," so I'll take what I can get.

Anyway, I'm still crossing my fingers in hope that a mistake's been made.

Thanks for the support, everyone.

 

[Tim Glover]

Bushwhacked is very funny and it's a shame it won't be offered in it's OAR. I have the vhs version which is pan and scan and the quality is pretty bad.

I know this movie didn't tear up the box office but deserves better treatment. This sounds negative but this title being released next year with the other family titles won't be big sellers. These non big titles that were released many years ago won't make Wal-Mart, Amazons or BB top seller list. Thus Fox will take the cheapest route to dvd.

I'm upset about it, but can hardly blame the business decision.