jtoms3

I'm sure someone can help with this. I know that the widescreen format was not used until 1956. Having said that, films such as Robert Redford's The Candidate, The Field w/ Richard Harris, Mountains of the Moon, Fort Apache, the Bronx, and on and on are listed as being "full screen". My question is this since I prefer to see films in letterbox when available and loathe pan-and-scan (used on most TV channels): if I watch these films in their "full screen" format am I seeing the entire image shot by the director (though not widescreen, presumably) or are they truly pan and scan and I'd be better off waiting for an eventual letterbox release? Thanks to all in advance.

Max Bottomtime

According to IMDB, The DVD for The Candidate is pan-n-scam, The Field is anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1, Mountains of the Moon is letterboxed 1.85:1 and Fort Apache, the Bronx is pan-n scam.

jtoms3

It would appear you are correct about a couple of those. I was originally going by what was listed on Amazon and Netflix, of which I'm a subscriber. Amazon does now indeed list The Field as widescreen although I know it used to say "full screen". Netflix still lists it as full screen. They also say that Mountains of the Moon is full screen even though it clearly says "widescreen edition" on the picture of the disc case. I guess I'm just out of luck on the other two. Why wouldn't they be letterboxed as well?

68ShelbyGT500KR

The Field is showing to be Full Screen not wide in both studio releases.
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.c...94&promotion=y

UPC Codes
012236124948 Artisan Out 1.0 4:3

013023011397 Pioneer Discontinued 2.0 4:3

jtoms3

I guess contradictory info like that is why I'm a bit confused. It would appear that the only place listing it as widescreen is Amazon.

68ShelbyGT500KR

the site has a downloadable region 1 list
http://dvdlist.kazart.com/DVDList2.php
It shows both versions as full screen (you can look it up in the search field)
dvdpricesearch.com shows it being full screen
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/...04/a/Field.htm
shows full screen

....but
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=4070

Shows the region 1 as widescreen
Region 2 & 4 as full screen....

dvdprofiler shows widescreen

I tend to believe that it is full screen unless someone has a copy to confirm the AR

Jah-Wren Ryel

Mountains of the Moon from Artisan has a box that says foolscreen but the disc is actually non-anamorphic widescreen. The box may have been updated, it is has been while since I bought my copy -- or netflix may be showing you the box for the earlier, and now OOP, Pioneer release which was labeled widescreen. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that the transfer on the Pioneer and Artisan discs is the same.

OldBoy

I have "Fort Apache, the Bronx" and it says it's Letterbox. 4:3 Letterbox, but still.

Drexl

To answer one of your questions, virtually every time you see "Full Screen" it means it fills a standard 4:3 TV. Often this does mean pan and scan or open-matte, but it's possible to see it on a release that's supposed to be that way, such as a typical TV show or old film shot in the Academy ratio. If you see "Full Screen Edition" on a banner on the front of a case, there's probably a widescreen version available, as the banner is used to distinguish the two versions. If you don't see the banner, be careful, as occasionally movies are available in separate fullscreen and widescreen versions and have a banner to indicate the widescreen version but none on the fullscreen version (Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, Willy Wonka).

One odd case is Stir of Echoes, which is labeled "16:9 Fullscreen" and fills a 16:9 TV (and is OAR or close enough, despite what it says at the bottom of the back of the case). I don't think we'll see a disc labeled as "16:9 Fullscreen" again until they start cropping films to fill widescreen TVs.