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Widescreen is Better!


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amazing how many people refuse to believe that,

"i don't like the bars.

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Letterbox all the way, but for some reason I think you are being sarcastic, Neil. I can't put my finger on it.

That's nothing compared to that original Back to the Future disc.

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You prefer lettrboxed widescreen against anamorphic widescreen?

Well may be those small additional edges add something to your emotional experience. But there are missing visual information in between. What about overall resolution?

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You prefer lettrboxed widescreen against anamorphic widescreen?

Well may be those small additional edges add something to your emotional experience. But there are missing visual information in between. What about overall resolution?

My bad, I meant anamorphic. Just a habit from years of VHS.

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It's still substantially more image than if it were presented in 1.33 :roll:

Tell that to Harrison's left hand and Chewbacca's head! :wave:

Neil

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Hmm. I am able to get some more picture by adjusting my hdtv margins. But I'll check to see if I can get as much image as in 1980

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Yet another reason not to buy these DVDs it seems. I managed to resist buying them in the first week, despite every impulse in my body wanting to fork over the cash and clutch the box in my hot hands immediately. I was a little concerned about reports I'd read and heard from several sources about the sound quality. I'm glad I held out now. The initial thrill of the release is over and I find myself in no hurry to purchase this set. My VHS tapes still have a little life left in them. Oh, and they have Han shooting first.

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Deliberate creative decision?

I'm certain that Lucas wanted to zoom in a little. Otherwhise newer audiences might complain about the "distance" of the actors in the frame. Today, actors are placed in the foreground more than in the Seventies.

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Alex Cremers

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Deliberate creative decision?

I'm certain that Lucas wanted to zoom in a little. Otherwhise newer audiences might complain about the "distance" of the actors in the frame. Today, actors are placed in the foreground more than in the Seventies.

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Alex Cremers

They reckon people would actually complain about that sort of thing? :?

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One of my favourite examples of a letterbox presentation is Jaws - Spielberg was masterful at filling the entire scope of the frame! :wave:

A shame he always shoots 1.85:1 these days. Minority Report was a refreshing change at the time.

- Tim, who used to hate the TV broadcasters fake panning from left to right before the availability of widescreen videos were finally made available!

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They reckon people would actually complain about that sort of thing?

Well, if you're used to see actors being closer at you, the difference when seeing Star Wars might be noticeable. I've also heard complaints about how small actors appear on letterboxed versions. Zooming in makes the actors bigger and closer to the audience.

Remember, Lucas wants to "update" his movies. A subtle zooming in on the events could very well be a part of that.

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Alex Cremers

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I've never seen Jaws in fullscreen luckily, but the first time I saw it I saw it on TV and it was matted to 16:9 (the sides were matted of course, not the top and bottom of a 4:3 scan). Yet even in that format there was some panning required on the boat scenes. I strongly prefer a 16:9 scan over a 4:3 one of course, but the original format should always be the way to go.

What annoys me more is that a lot of TV shows are filmed in 16:9 these days, yet so many Dutch networks still broadcast them scanned to 4:3. This includes all HBO shows, all CSI's, 24, and a lot of other stuff. As an excuse they say that they're afraid people won't watch it when there's "black bars." This alone is rediculous enough, but at the same time an increasing amount of the networks' own programs is shot and broadcast in 16:9. Perhaps it's the distributors who are still afraid of it, but it still annoys me.

Luckily widescreen is still on the rise. It's not as good as it should be, but it's been getting better. I was very happy when I taped the original Planet of the Apes off TV a while ago and found out the entire film had been broadcast in its original Panavision aspect ratio.

As for the screenshot presented in the first post, this is just another example of the incompetence and sloppiness that went into the creation of this DVD set. The most anticipated DVDs of all time are poorly framed, mixed and colored. Bah!

- Marc

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How could I forget about my brothers at the OT.com forum? You're the only folks that view Star Wars the same way I do.

Neil - who can't wait to some day watch it in mono with the original titles :wave:

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When I used to manage the video store that I worked at when I lived in Atlanta, me and the other manager being the big film geeks that we were insisted on carrying each new release that was avail on VHS in widescreen (when we could get it). We also carried laserdiscs (one of the few stores that ever did), and I was sooooooo tired of hearing people bitch and moan about not being able to get the "big" version. We had a little snipped taken out of some video magazine that did an article about widescreen and had an example of a cropped version, and the WS version. Whenever someone complained, we just directed their attention to the article that was posted on the counter, and then told them that they were missing some picture on the "big" version.

The same happened when I moved back to NJ and managed a video store here. Right when DVD's started coming out. Back when DVD's were for the avid movie lover/collector and not intended (as of yet) to be as mainstream as they are now. Which is another rant for another day.....( now everyone has a DVD player from the millionaire up the road, to the white trash down the road)... and again, it was .....always.....the same people (or type of people) complaining about it.

I'm so glad I don't have to deal with these people anymore who like to argue about which is best.

I REFUSE to watch a movie that is not in widescreen. I just.....cannot.....bring myself.....to....do it.

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Has anyone seen the hack job that is the pan-and-scan version of The Phantom Menace? Take a look at the scene where Sabe (as the Queen) recognises Artoo's bravery after the escape from Naboo. Immediately after when Padme says "We are brave, Your Highness" (or something like that) she isn't even in the picture properly! I'm amazed that wasn't caught before it left the factory. Oh well. Just goes to show that even garbage like Phantom Menace needs to be seen in widescreen.

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I REFUSE to watch a movie that is not in widescreen. I just.....cannot.....bring myself.....to....do it.

What a shame. That means you'll never see The Third Man, or Citizen Kane, or City Lights, or The Gold Rush, or Gone With the Wind, or The Thief of Bagdad, or.... :wave:

James (who knows exactly what Johnnyecks meant, but couldn't resist it...)

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I don't care wether the movie is wide screen or not, it just happens that all the tvs in our house are widescreen so I'm kinda used to that format. The only dvds I have in the 4:3 format are Harry Potter 1 and Austin Powers.

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I'd like to see some other comparisons, though. Is only Empire affected? Is it throughout? How bad is it, really?

- Marc, who has a strong loathing for incorrectly framed films.

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Widescreen rules! Except don't get my some of my movies on Region 2 (UK). The Birds, Marnie, Topaz and Frenzy are all in 1:33 Full Frame as opposed to my usual 1:85 Anamorphic. Go, go..Region 1 DVDs.

Hitch

43.jpg

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I'd like to see some other comparisons, though. Is only Empire affected? Is it throughout? How bad is it, really?

- Marc, who has a strong loathing for incorrectly framed films.

as long as it doesn't hinder the experience, all is fine I guess...

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So far I've only noticed it on the shots looking into the Falcon's cockpit. It's very odd. ROTJ seems to have less headroom on the new disc.

Neil

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I'd like to see some other comparisons, though. Is only Empire affected? Is it throughout? How bad is it, really?

- Marc, who has a strong loathing for incorrectly framed films.

as long as it doesn't hinder the experience, all is fine I guess...

But to me, misframing often does hinder the experience. Pan & Scan sucks big fat donkey balls in all formats, and theatrical misframing annoys me too. There'll be constantly too much headroom, and you may even see a boom mic popping up.

In this case it hardly bothers me, because I thankfully haven't bought this set yet. I'm hoping a corrected version will come along once all six movies are out on DVD.

- Marc

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