Letterboxing is over-rated
So I had a friend of mine go off just the other day. It seems that my selection of Godzilla movies offended his sensibility. "Dude, they're not letterboxed!" he proclaimed! "How can you stand it?"
Yeah it would be nice but if it comes down to having the movie full framed or not having it at all, as in the case of Godzilla (or my Mexican wrestling movies or my old school kung fu movies), then give me the full framed. I've got tones of flicks that will never see the light of day in a letterboxed aspect ratio, so I refuse to get excited about it. Anyway, that's part of the charm with kung fu movies, too. Along with the dubbing. *Feh* This kind of snobbery really bugged me. If he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to watch, now does he? |
If that's the only way the movie comes and ever will come, then I see your point. If there's a choice and you're picking P&S, then I'd agree with your friend.
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widescreen nazis are everyone, esp. on this board.
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Originally posted by renaldow If that's the only way the movie comes and ever will come, then I see your point. If there's a choice and you're picking P&S, then I'd agree with your friend. |
Originally posted by Dabaomb widescreen nazis are everyone, esp. on this board. |
I'll watch a Godzilla movie anyway I can get it. Now that I have a widescreen TV, I would love to watch G on DVD. I wish Toho would release the new movie on region 1.
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It's not just letterboxing anymore.. people 'round here want 4:3 movies and tv shows modified to widescreen.. see the sig. Widescreen is so trendy!!
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KILL THE NON-BELIEVER!
But seriously, a lot of shows/movies are actually being filmed in widescreen, only to be presented in full screen. If something is filmed in full frame, then sure, I can understand that putting out a full frame release is the only way to do it (director's intension). But if something is filmed in widescreen, and is only released in full frame, then how is that right? The director's intension was for the film to be viewed in widescreen, not full frame. I have held off on buying some movies because of lack of a widescreen option (I had to give in with some of the Muppet movies... its the Muppets!). |
Originally posted by joshd2012 But if something is filmed in widescreen, and is only released in full frame, then how is that right? The director's intension was for the film to be viewed in widescreen, not full frame. I have held off on buying some movies because of lack of a widescreen option (I had to give in with some of the Muppet movies... its the Muppets!). |
I'd rather not see a movie than compromise the OAR. Purchasing p&s dvds only helps to ensure more of them.
OAR only. OAR always. Even if it's 4:3 :rolleyes: |
Originally posted by Rockybalboa I think you mean educated movie watchers, right? In anycase, Letterbox is not always the intended visual to watch.. thats why I go with OAR as my choice. I want to see it as it is intended to be seen.. if it's 4:3, 16:9 or whatever else. as long as it's the way it was suppose to be seen in. |
Originally posted by Painkiller I'd rather not see a movie than compromise the OAR. Purchasing p&s dvds only helps to ensure more of them. OAR only. OAR always. Even if it's 4:3 :rolleyes: |
The only 4:3 DVD in my collection is Stephen King's The Stand, because it was filmed in 4:3 as an ABC mini-series. And I will only own other 4:3 DVDs if they were originally filmed in 4:3 and there isn't a quality matted widescreen version available.
There, I've said m'piece :) |
Originally posted by Painkiller I'd rather not see a movie than compromise the OAR. Purchasing p&s dvds only helps to ensure more of them. And what if it's not the studio's fault? In some instances, the widescreen masters no longer exist (such as the Mexican wrestling or old kung fu movies) or that it's at the request of the licensee (such as Toho and the Godzilla films). If it comes down to never EVER having these movies, why shut yourself out? |
In the original 1954-75 Godzilla series; the first and second entries were academy ratio, while everything from KING KONG vs GODZILLA was 2:35 to 1 widescreen. Now that widescreen versions are available for most of them, I wouldn't want to go back to the cropped versions.
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it's like this, if you don't mind non-oar then stick with VHS, the main reason I got into DVD was for OAR
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Originally posted by MartyMcSuperfly I mean it's good to have conviction and principals, but if it's not having an effect then why cut off your enjoyment? But I wouldn't be able to enjoy them if they weren't in oar. I don't think my not buying them will dissuade the studios from putting out p&s discs. However, I think if we ALL didn't buy them, that would dissuade them. |
Originally posted by Rehevkor The only 4:3 DVD in my collection is Stephen King's The Stand, because it was filmed in 4:3 as an ABC mini-series. And I will only own other 4:3 DVDs if they were originally filmed in 4:3 and there isn't a quality matted widescreen version available. There, I've said m'piece :) |
I think the whole Willy Wonka fiasco speaks for itself. Studios providing only one aspect ration because of "marketing trends". Kids movies tend to get released P&S and WW being a completely kids movie in the eyes of the studio makes me sick. The public spoke out and they did something about it. I agree with whomever said above, the best way to show the studios our disinterest is by not purchasing the P&S movies when available in Widescreen also.
It's about OAR, not the jump on everything Widescreen. I admit I enjoy seeing the bars on my movie as I'm watching on my 4:3 TV, because I know I'm watching it the way it was meant to be. But what really drives me nuts is something like the Vacation movies, A Christmas Story, and so on that are released not as they were in the theatre. Ever notice how you are dying for movies like this in Widescreen, but aren't as strongly opposed as other movies because you've been watching them in P&S for the last 20 years on Cable? One of my friends was watching Back to School Widescreen. He said it felt funny.. didn't seem as humorous and turned the disc over and watched it in Full Frame. Guess it gave him that nostalgia Sat Afternoon on TNT feel. :) |
I'm a casual Godzilla fan myself, but not so casual that I will accept modified aspect ratio releases. I made sure to get the Simitar widescreen discs awhile back, and I have not purchased any other Godzilla DVD that is not in widescreen.
Toho and Columbia Tristar are losing a lot of money on these, if you go to a Godzilla newsgroup or forum, there is constant discussion of multiregion DVDs or outright bootlegs to get the original uncut versions. |
I see a purchase of a Pan and Scan DVD as a vote for more of the same.
So I can't buy even movies that I like in cropped P&S versions. If I'm patient, they'll get the hint and release it again in Widescreen. In the meantime, there are a lot of other great films being released in OAR, 16:9 anamorphic, etc. I'll just watch those while I wait for studios like MGM to get their act together. -- Jough |
Originally posted by Rockybalboa I think you mean educated movie watchers, right? It's good to educate about OAR, but to impose your beliefs on ppl and to call ppl stupid cuz they don't feel the same way as you is plain ignorance. People need to get off of their highhorse and stop thinking that they're better than others just cuz they know the difference between widescreen and full screen. Ppl on this board always call ppl that buy full screen Joe 6 Pack and call him/her stupid. But fact is, 90+% of ppl on this board would never say that to someone's face cuz they have comfort in acting all big cuz they can attack ppl behind a computer and not have to face the consequences of gettin' the crap beat out of them, by "J6P" himself. Of course I prefer OAR, but if full screen is the only version that one of my favorite movies is released on DVD, then I have no problem owning it and upgrading when and if a widescreen version gets released. I mean almost all movies on TV are in full screen and I have absolutely no problem watching those movies. |
Originally posted by milo bloom Toho and Columbia Tristar are losing a lot of money on these, if you go to a Godzilla newsgroup or forum, there is constant discussion of multiregion DVDs or outright bootlegs to get the original uncut versions. As for the whole WS debate, what the hell if some folks prefer P&S? I figure it's their loss if they prefer that version. I think a lot of the non-WS snobs are just worried that if P&S does well the studios will wimp out and start trying to release all their films in that format only. Mind you, I'd be worried too if there were any sign of it actually happening (except for rare cases like Willy Wonka). Now that i've gotten used to WS, all I care about is that I can see the film or tv show the way it was shown onscreen originally. That means no P&S, and definally none of this 'cropping the top and bottom to make it LOOK WS' crap either. |
Originally posted by Canadian Bacon it's like this, if you don't mind non-oar then stick with VHS, the main reason I got into DVD was for OAR I figure it's their loss if they prefer that version. Now, don't get me wrong - I think that choice is a good thing. Offering up both keeps everyone happy. And given a chance, 90 percent of the time I'll go wide (the other 10 percent is like watching subtitled foreign films over dubbed. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for reading - and sometimes I'm not in the mood for bars). |
I'd like to own Godzilla, but there are more than 200 movies on my want-list. I can wait for a version that gives me the whole movie.
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Originally posted by Tigger One of my friends was watching Back to School Widescreen. He said it felt funny.. didn't seem as humorous and turned the disc over and watched it in Full Frame. Guess it gave him that nostalgia Sat Afternoon on TNT feel. :) Shagrath |
Originally posted by Shagrath That's probably because it's matted widescreen, and all they did was stick black bars over a Full-Frame cut of the movie. I bought the same disc and was very very disappointed in that, as I love the movie and was hoping to finally see it in the OAR. http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_matted.shtml |
Originally posted by Panda Phil That means no P&S, and definally none of this 'cropping the top and bottom to make it LOOK WS' crap either. |
Originally posted by caiman I'm not sure I know what you mean here. With which movies has this been done? |
Originally posted by Dabaomb I think he was referring to movies like Back To the Future 2 & 3 where they took a pan and scanned version and then cropped the top and bottom to make it look like it's widescreen. Many movies are made by exposing the full 1.33 negative and matting the top and bottom to create the widescreen image. During filming, the camera's viewfinder has marks that show where the mattes will go. The picture at the top and bottom was never intended to be seen, so you're not missing anything that wasn't seen in theater anyways. |
Originally posted by Josh Z 1.85:1 is the OAR. You misunderstand the matting process. Here is an explanation: http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_matted.shtml |
I couldn't buy a P&S film, knowing that there is a widescreen version out there. That's why the only Godzilla DVDs I have so far are the Simitar discs and the Universe discs of G vs Megaguirus and GMK. (I would love to get the Japanese R2 discs, they look gorgeous, but no English subs and very expensive. :( )
But as for some of the older kung fu films, widescreen prints don't even exist anymore, so its P&S or nothing. :( |
I should probably stay out of this, but here goes:
I am staunchly in favor of OAR, but recently I have made two exceptions. The first was The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. Apparently, Disney movies of this vintage were shot to be diplayed anywhere from 1.33:1 to 1.85:1. I also figured that movies as minor as this may never be released again, so waiting for an OAR version would likely prove futile. The second was My fellow Americans. While this will likely see a re-release someday, it was available for $5.88 from Wal-Mart, so what the heck... When viewing both of these, I used the Theaterwide 2 mode on my widescreen Toshiba. This is the mode that zooms in equally and is the best mode for watching non-anamorphic widescreen. Guess what? Both of these looked fine when zoomed in, so I think it's safe to say they were both shot open matte. Also, the exisitng Christmas Story looks fine (other than the bad transfer) when zoomed in. I still will always fight to get OAR, but there are definitely cases where I find it worthwhile to make an exception. If a movie is open matte and does not contain much in the way of visual effects, it can probably be zoomed on a widescreen set to get OAR. You lose resolution, but you get the proper framing. |
Yeah, generally I'm a big OAR supporter, but I'll buy a P&S release if that's all there is.
In fact, there was even one case wherer I made a P&S purchase where a WS version is available (but relatively expensive and difficult to get). This case would be Happy Gilmore. Since I have a region-free PAL anamorphic capable player, I could've ordered the WS R4 Australian version for around $17 shipped, but I figured it wasn't worth the extra expense and hassle. Instead I bought the P&S version from CH for about $7. If Happy Gilmore ever gets released in WS format in the US, I'll gladly double dip on it, but for now I can live with the P&S version. After all, we're only talking about Happy Gilmore here, and it's not exactly considered the pinnacle of cinemetography. |
I dont think letterboxing is "overrated", as I always choose OAR when given a choice. But the rare times that I do buy a P&S/Full Screen disk is when it is not available in OAR & its a movie that I absolutely love...ie NL Vacation. And if you think this site is snobbish get a load of HTF!
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Buy a used P&S off ebay. That way you get "something" to watch until an OAR version is released. This way the studios can't get paid for it or count it as a sale and you can feel like a smarty-man for having beaten the system.
Next. |
Hey, didn't we have this thread last week?
And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before?....................................................... |
Originally posted by Spiky Hey, didn't we have this thread last week? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before? And the week before?....................................................... |
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