Universal Home Video has announced a number of budget-priced catalog titles all making their DVD debuts. They include Charley Varrick, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, Iceman, A Kiss Before Dying, Once Around, Raggedy Man and Tank. Darkman III and A Kiss before Dying are anamorphic, while the rest are fullscreen. Retail is $9.99 each.
Man, I hope this is just an inaccurate report, but Amazon also says Charley Varrick is P&S. Someone needs to go to work on Universal with a set of pliers and a blowtorch. Good thing, though, they're making sure we get to see Darkman III: You Mean There Was a Pt.2? in its OAR.
And I wish they'd stop referring to pan & scan as "fullscreen". Calling it "halfscreen" would be more accurate and would probably stop confusing people as well.
planetaire
09-15-04, 03:28 PM
That is a damn shame about Charley Varrick, if true. It's been number two on my most wanted list (behind Ed Wood) for a looong time. I've refused to buy other discs based on P&S... guess that's not gonna change. :(
salamander2
09-15-04, 03:28 PM
ICEMAN will be pan and scan, but CHARLEY VARRICK will be open matte
Duality
09-15-04, 03:43 PM
Full Screen, Pan & Scan, blah, blah, blah. This format isn't VHS! I will be skipping these titles too.
No OAR = No sale
Sunday Morning
09-15-04, 07:45 PM
2 more dvds to not get. thanks universal.
wm lopez
09-16-04, 02:09 AM
Yeah, CHARLIE VARRICK is one dvd I would have bought if it was widescreen.
Gerry P.
09-16-04, 02:24 AM
Both titles were a must-buy for me.
Not anymore.
John Hodson
09-16-04, 09:41 AM
Originally posted by salamander2
...but CHARLEY VARRICK will be open matte
Interesting; can you tell us where you got that info?
marty888
09-16-04, 10:05 AM
My mantra >>>> <b><i>NO OAR = NO SALE</i></b>
salamander2
09-16-04, 07:22 PM
Originally posted by John Hodson
Interesting; can you tell us where you got that info?
I have the widescreen LD, and I have compared it with my VHS, and it is clearly filmed open matte, but still it is not OAR to release it open matte.
laserdogg
09-16-04, 07:29 PM
Charley Varrick was released in '96 on laserdisc as a Universal Encore Edition double feature in its OAR of 1.85:1
Other feature in the set is Madigan, also OAR at 2.35:1
I own a copy and the picture quality is good.
I would have liked to upgrade to a nice anamorphic transfer but I'll live with the LD even if the DVD is open matte.
shill66
09-17-04, 06:27 PM
Iceman is one of my favorite movies. I had the pan and scan laserdisc, and upgraded when they released it in widescreen. I'm very glad I still have it.
Shame on you, Universal. Shame.
icruise
09-17-04, 08:40 PM
Damn, I've been waiting for Iceman.
prince_of_saturn
09-17-04, 09:24 PM
Originally posted by shill66
Iceman is one of my favorite movies. I had the pan and scan laserdisc, and upgraded when they released it in widescreen. I'm very glad I still have it.
Shame on you, Universal. Shame.
Thanks God I just bought a LD WS edition for $1.00 at a used book shop!
fitprod
09-18-04, 03:38 AM
Give Universal another month or so... These titles street in December, and their marketing department almost never releases the correct specs on thier web site, initally.
fitprod
skipnet
09-18-04, 11:46 PM
So, I trust everyone here has emailed Universal and expressed their displeasure. I did.
Skip
SergioM
01-14-05, 04:16 PM
Charley Varrick was one of the DVDs I was looking forward to until I saw that it was full frame. At first I thought it was a mistake, but it's not, unfortunately. Hopefully, Universal will do what Columbia did with Castle Keep on DVD. That is, realize what boneheads they are and release the proper letterbox version of Varrick.
Buy: