Interesting comments in Evil Dead review...
#1
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Interesting comments in Evil Dead review...
Right over here ...
Primarily, because of this...
Anchor Bay has opted to present "The Evil Dead" in a director-approved widescreen (letterboxed) format rather than in the
full-frame format (in which the picture fills the entire screen of a traditionally shaped TV). In theaters, of course, "The Evil Dead"
would have been seen in widescreen; but the movie was shot full-frame, and that's how it has been presented on video in the
past.
The result of letterboxing is that the black bands at the top and bottom of the screen that create the widescreen dimensions for
this new edition eliminate key visual information from time to time.
It's interesting to see a review that points out what was lost due to the widescreen transfer. We can only hope that the same reviewer would find fault with most any other film being transferred to full-frame...
Primarily, because of this...
Anchor Bay has opted to present "The Evil Dead" in a director-approved widescreen (letterboxed) format rather than in the
full-frame format (in which the picture fills the entire screen of a traditionally shaped TV). In theaters, of course, "The Evil Dead"
would have been seen in widescreen; but the movie was shot full-frame, and that's how it has been presented on video in the
past.
The result of letterboxing is that the black bands at the top and bottom of the screen that create the widescreen dimensions for
this new edition eliminate key visual information from time to time.
It's interesting to see a review that points out what was lost due to the widescreen transfer. We can only hope that the same reviewer would find fault with most any other film being transferred to full-frame...
#2
DVD Talk Legend
I am, as many here know, rather passionate about the correct aspect ratio of movies. Some may even call me a letterbox nazi.
I bought the original Elite SE knowing that this was full frame, but under the impression that this was intended since it was a low budget film, most likely meant for an arthouse circuit or something.
When I heard about this "reframing" project, I was initially reassured by the fact that the director, and then star/producer would be overseeing the reformatting. It made sense that some letterboxing would probably be an improvement to the framing. But I was thinking more along the lines of 1.66, not 1.85. Not a lot of difference, but here apparently a critical one.
I'm usually one to scoff at people who complain about info covered up by letterbox mattes, since 9 times out of 10, it's not supposed to be seen anyways. But if the filmmakers are referring to them on the commentary track, then I'm thinking they're supposed to be there.
I'll be keeping my 4:3 Elite version. I wonder if the producers weren't snowballed into this decision by Anchor Bay, so 16x9 owners wouldn't be complaining about the black bars on their sets.
If a Book of the Dead happens to fall into my lap, I'll probably keep it; that packaging is pretty sweet. But I'm not going to go out of my way. I now consider my collection complete with the Elite ED1, Anchor Bay THX ED2, and Anchor Bay AOD LE.
I bought the original Elite SE knowing that this was full frame, but under the impression that this was intended since it was a low budget film, most likely meant for an arthouse circuit or something.
When I heard about this "reframing" project, I was initially reassured by the fact that the director, and then star/producer would be overseeing the reformatting. It made sense that some letterboxing would probably be an improvement to the framing. But I was thinking more along the lines of 1.66, not 1.85. Not a lot of difference, but here apparently a critical one.
I'm usually one to scoff at people who complain about info covered up by letterbox mattes, since 9 times out of 10, it's not supposed to be seen anyways. But if the filmmakers are referring to them on the commentary track, then I'm thinking they're supposed to be there.
I'll be keeping my 4:3 Elite version. I wonder if the producers weren't snowballed into this decision by Anchor Bay, so 16x9 owners wouldn't be complaining about the black bars on their sets.
If a Book of the Dead happens to fall into my lap, I'll probably keep it; that packaging is pretty sweet. But I'm not going to go out of my way. I now consider my collection complete with the Elite ED1, Anchor Bay THX ED2, and Anchor Bay AOD LE.