What is the first film you saw in letterbox or widescreen (the theater doesn't count) (1 Viewer)

[Nicholas Vargo]

What is the first widescreen or letterbox film you saw on TV or home video? The first one I saw was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" when the Sci-Fi Channel aired it in letterbox. It made me appreciate more because the letterbox image made it look like I was at a theater. At the time, I didn't know what widescreen was, but I was only 11 at the time, so cut me some slack.

So what is the first widescreen movie you saw on TV or home video? Remember, seeing the movie thatrically doesn't count as the first movie you saw widescreen on TV.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Monti Python and di Holie Grailen.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

The Abyss

 

[Rich Romero]

Jaws my friend had a widescreen vhs of it. At the time I disliked widescreen. Amazing how now I'll only watch a movie in it's OAR.

 

[Chad R]

Woody Allen's "Manhattan."

At the time it was released it was only released in widescreen (early 80's) on VHS. It was the film that made me understand the idea of aspect ratio when I was 13.

 

[Chucky P]

Always

 

[Brian Kissinger]

The first I can remember, would have to be Glory.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

First - bootleg VHS of Star Wars in 1978-9.

First official - Manhattan on VHS in the early 80s (with the ugly grey bars!)

 

[Jack Briggs]

Peter: I saw that broadcast on commercial network television in 1981. I remember exclaiming to my then wife, "Linda, check this out--what a great idea!" Those were my exact words. I had only days before told the people at a local high-end audio store that this burgeoning video thing they were getting into was of no interest to me if I couldn't screen 2001: A Space Odyssey in its full widescreen glory. (Feels funny to actually post in this section; I usually just moderate this board.) JB

 

[Kevin P]

Innerspace - my first, and only, letterboxed VHS tape (I think it was only released that way). I thought it was a cool idea. Later on I noticed there was a "widescreen" section at the local Suncoast, but I never bought a "widescreen" tape since I thought you needed a "widescreen" TV to watch it! I didn't realize that "letterboxed" = "widescreen" until I got into Laserdiscs a few years later.

KJP

 

[AllanN]

Top Gun, also the first DVD I ever watched.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Star Wars on VHS

 

[Ken Garrison]

Oh man. I can't remember. When I was learning about DVD, I never paid too much attention to it. When my dad and my brother were at Wal Mart one day, they looked at a TV that happened to have a DVD player hooked up and running. My brother told me about it when he got home. He said something about Black Bars and I kinda cringed at that. Then he said that they were small black bars. So, I always thought movies would always be in that format. Then I built a computer with a DVD ROM drive in it, then I rented a DVD here and there to test her out. If I remember right, I noticed black bars on Bicentential Man and I found myself later watching the one I recorded off Starz onto VHS and I was looking at the top and bottom for anything getting cut off. I didn't pay close enough attention and didn't see much of a difference, although there was. I was basically turning into what used to be sort of a Joe 6 Pack into someone who can tolerate black bars. And now, I won't watch a modern movie unless I have my black bars. So, as you can see, I can't really remember what the first movie I saw in Letterbox was.

 

[Dan Smith]

Empire Strikes Back, then Top Gun

 

[Bernhard]

Terminator 2: Judgement Day on VHS...
At that time I knew nothing about widescreen and wondered why the picture was so small. But somehow watching this felt less 'claustrophobic' then the other movies I had on VHS. After being enlightened about widescreen I couldn't unterstand how one could butcher movies like that... :frowning:
And I haven't bought any non-OAR movie since then.

 

[Larry Geller]

Manhattan---the first film to EVER be released in widescreen on laser--thank you Woody for standing up to the studios & making all that has followed possible!

 

[Chad R]

I was under the impression that this is the only way this film can be presented on ANY format, TV included.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Actually, Federico Fellini's Armacord was the first widescreen video overall on the short-lived CED system.

Manhattan was released to laserdisc in OAR 8 months afterward. (and also CED)

CED also invented the supplement. The CED of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1.85:1, to boot) has the 30 sec added cut, plus the trailer!

 

[Bill J]

Lawrence of Arabia