Uurgggg! Accidentally purchased the "full-frame" A.I. at CC! (1 Viewer)

[Qui-Gon John]

Or how about this:

"Widescreen - See this movie the way it was shown in the theater!"

"Pan & Scan - See the version of this movie that was chopped up and cut so it would fit on your square TV!"

 

[Ric Easton]

AI has a fullscreen banner on the front of the box. How hard is it to read the front of the box before purchasing?

This happened to me twice. With AI and Jurassic Park 3, both were gifts from my wife. I didn't discover it with JP3 til it was playing! With AI it was right after I opened it. She felt horrible about JP3, so I didn't bother mentioning it with AI. I just quietly went back to FYE and they did the swap for me.

-Ric

 

[Malcolm R]

My father purchased JPIII for me at Christmas. I clearly wrote "widescreen version" on my wish list, yet he first ended up with the FS version. Fortunately, as he continued shopping, he saw another store's display and noticed the difference between the two covers. Realizing his mistake, he bought the WS version and did give that to me as a present, later returning the FS version.

 

[ReggieW]

Wow! I never expected this thread to get so many responses. I thought that when I started this thread that I would receive three or four responses. I guess it's great to know that I'm not the only "dummy" here Anyway, I managed to swap my copy at Circuit City with no problems, and will definitely be more attentive of these details in the future (at least when I buy from a major studio). This thread proves that studios should take steps to provide completely different color schemes so that it catches your eye immediately (sorry, I disagree with those who say that the A.I. scheme is that obvious - it's not imho). Hell, if studios want to pander to the J6P crowd, they should make it as easy as possible for them to find their "modified to fit your screen" films.
Reg

 

[Joshua Clinard]

NO, I am GLAD that the studios don't make it so obvious. Let the stores mix up product, so as Mmany J6P accidently buy the widescreen version as possible. Many of them buy it thinking that is all there is, and don't bother to return it, thus leading to more widescreen sales in the long run. I was in Wal-Mart yesterday, and they had four stacks of A.I. About 10-12 widescreen copies in each, with 2-4 PS copies mixed throughout. I hope this practice continues, as it is easier to pick up a WS copy if it's like that.

 

[Andrew Hintz]

Well, just to add to the anecdotes - I did the same thing buying A.I. at Best Buy. Got it home, opened the packaging, and didn't even notice until the disc was in my player and I saw those lovely black bars on the sides of the screen. The worst part is, when I went into Best Buy to try and exchange the disc for the widescreen version, I got the run around! The first clerk didn't want to let me exchange it and when her supervisor OK'd the exchange she had to give this warning that they were making a "special excpetion - just this once." Oh well, the trials and tribulations of buying DVDs at B&Ms.
--Andrew

 

[Mark Fontana]

My wife and I rented AI and found it was the full-frame version. We were initially disappointed and were expecting the whole film to be cropped. However, we noticed that in general, the shot composition seemed like it was designed to work for the 4x3 aspect ratio (unlike obvious crop jobs from within a widescreen frame).
Maybe the film was indeed shot open matte / Super35 and the full-frame transfer shows more of the picture than the widescreen version. Has anyone compared them?
Shooting and/or releasing for the 4x3 aspect ratio might have been something Kubrick had desired (as it was his preference on other films) but I'm not sure that would have necessarily influenced Spielberg's decisions from a cinematography standpoint.

 

[Ric Easton]

I think part of the problem is that we were becoming so used to the fact that 99% of DVDs were widescreen that we don't expect studios to be releasing Full Screen versions. I'm all for releasing the pan ans scammed and the widescreen versions on the same DVD. Then everyone can have what they want. I remember when DVD was first coming out, this was one of the selling points. IMO not enough studios are doing this.

-Ric

 

[Jason Quillen]

Here in Delaware whenever I but a DVD at Best Buy they always ask me "Do you know thats the widescreen version?" So that this little mistake is avoided. Which is nice of them, it saves me a trip back if I were to accidently pick up the P&S version.

JQ

 

[Robert Spalding]

Hey Mark...it's talk like that that will get you kicked out of this forum!