What was the FIRST movie you ever watched in WIDESCREEN? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Innerspace.
I thought it was cool because it looked like theater picture.
I think I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail matted on Comedy Central around that time as well.

 

[Mark-W]

Star Wars Trilogy.
I was so excited that I left my own birthday party
early to go home and watch all three tapes.

Mark

 

[Sean Moon]

Innerspace on VHS. It is widescreen only, or has been for as long as I have known. That and Gremlins 2 were widescreen. The first film I got in widescreen after knowing the benefits of it was the Star Wars Trilogy that came in the big hologram box with the fourth tape and book as well. My parents got that for me for christmas one year, it was like $150 and I was 15 at the time.

 

[Matt Stone]

Empire Strikes Back...on vhs quite a long time ago.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Star Wars... on Widescreen VHS back in 1995 (the last release of the Old Trilogy on tape)

 

[Brian W.]

I'm showing my age -- the Criterion CAV "2001: A Space Odyssey," back in the mid-eighties. Unless it was "Manhattan" -- it was one of the two.

 

[Scott Bourden]

Last of the Mohicans
I was only knee high to a grasshopper "way back then" and completly hated it... I was maybe 10 at the time, and it was a VHS from the local small town rental store (came out in 92)?
None the less, I've grown to accept the error's of my youth

 

[JonBarnhill]

Pulp Fiction on widescreen VHS. Wow, that was a while ago.

 

[CameronS]

I'm pretty sure mine was The Karate Kid Part 3.
While it seems lke it was ages ago, the VHS we rented was actually in widescreen. At the time I had no idea what the hell widescreen was, but I understood that they did it for a reason because of the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie (something like due to the director's wishes...OAR...).
This was right around 1990, and I was about 11 years old. If a simple disclaimer can allow an 11 year old boy to accept and understand widescreen, at least to understand that it was done for a good reason, why is it such a difficult concept for J6P?
I have little sympathy for their ignorance.

 

[Jason Whyte]

Cameron,

This was right around 1990, and I was about 11 years old. If a simple disclaimer can allow an 11 year old boy to accept and understand widescreen, at least to understand that it was done for a good reason, why is it such a difficult concept for J6P?

Very well said, because that is when I got into widescreen as well. There was an "At the request of the filmmakers" disclaimer on the old laserdisc for "Innerspace" and the picture started in full frame, then zoomed outwards, revealing more picture information at the sides. At TEN years old, I got it, I understood it. I just wish more people these days would understand as well.
Jason

 

[Marty M]

[Manhattan] they chose to use GRAY bars at the top and bottom instead of black.

If I recall, this is the way this movie was presented in the theater. I might be wrong. Can anyone remember for sure? I think the first movie I saw in widescreen was Ben Hur. Actually, TNT only showed the chariot race in widescreen at that time.

 

[Nate Anderson]

Jaws. Th original widescreen release VHS, for 20th anniversary. I'd seen the film so many times before that I could tell immediately what had been missing before. I was a convert from then on, buying widescreen versions whenever possible.

When DVD came around, I was incredibly excited at the prospect for widescreen on all releases. I just hope it STAYS THAT WAY!!!!

 

[Kevin M]

The first film I can recall seeing in letterbox was Forbidden Planet via' the 1980 NBC pan&scan broadcast of Halloween (albeit the frame for Forbidden Planet, that was playing on the creature feature as Lindsey watched, was cropped slightly on the sides).
After that it was 2001: a Space Odyssey on PBS in 1986/87, I had no idea what the hell it was but as it was during a pledge drive when they interrupted to beg for cash they explained what letterbox was & why it was truer to the directors original vision.

 

[Travis D]

I was watching the Sci-Fi channel (God Bless SCI-FI and their widescreen) presentation of the Star Wars Trilogy and I watched the whole thing in widescreen and didn't get it... until something happened.
The VERY last shot of ROTJ where Anakin Skywalker fades into frame: I had always seen a pan to the left and NEVER seen him fading into frame. That was it, I understood right then and never looked back.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm not sure.....but I THINK it was a vhs copy of Oklahoma widescreen.

I already knew about widescreen. But, seeing that opening sequence where Gordon MacRae and his horse were not all squished vertically and chopped-off really made a big impresssion on me.

 

[MatthewA]

I think it was Home Alone, back in 1991, the year my family got a laserdisc player.

The first film I saw when I truly noticed the benefits of Widescreen was The King and I, in 1992.

 

[Bill Eberhardt]

I, too, first saw Jaws in widescreen VHS. But, sadly, it was on a 27" TV and I was not impressed. I felt I was loosing way too much picture detail vs. a full-screen image. IMO, VHS is a poor medium for widescreen.

Fast forward to April, 2001, and the delivery of my widescreen 55" HDTV. I had rented Gladiator that morning in anticipation. Since I'm "preaching to the choir", I'll spare you the details, but I've never looked back.