I was just about to pick up PDL, and in looking at the specs on the back, I noticed nothing to indicate whether it's anamorphic or not. I own a widescreen TV, so I'm not buying a 2.35:1 movie if it's not...even if I do have squeeze mode on my player.

Does anyone know about this for sure?

Thanks.

It is most definitely an anamorphic transfer.

Yes indeed, and it looks wonderful, just got through watching my copy. Not quite sure I "got" it first time round, will probably take a few viewings.

Great pic and sound, did'nt realise it was a hi def transfer. Colors are very important in this pic.

Interesting extras - no commentary or actual making of at all, no interviews. Just deleted scenes, a collection of alternate scenes set to music, and some "scopitiones". I have no idea what they are supposed to be.

What was the last major new release (non-catalog title) to be released non-anamorphic?

Monsoon Wedding from about 8 months or so ago was non-anamorphic. Though I wouldn't consider that a really major release though...

Speaking of Punch Drunk Love, I popped it in and just checked out the first scene and spotted some really ugly EE on the books on the desk there, then skipped a couple chapters forward to check out the rest of the disc and spotted the same bad EE on a bookshelf... I am planning to watch the movie tonight. Is the EE only bad in a few places or is it consistently bad throughout the whole film? I'm hoping the former, I'm so sick of EE.

Interestingly, the picture that greets you when you open the disc case after taking it out of the slipcase is riddled with bad EE particularly around Sandler's head...

FYI for those with a Columbia House membership---

They have a great discounted price on Punch-Drunk Love: $10.98 (MSRP: $28.95, which they have erroneously listed as $21.95). They also have the Coen Brothers' Fargo available for pre-order at $19.95. I got both & saved almost 45% off retail. The best part is--shipping is FREE right now.

You know what's weird? On the case, after you slip off the cover, the gatefold opens and it's a picture of Adam and Emily, but looks like it was captured from the DVD and blown up, since it has tons of jaggies and has AA. WOuldn't they have been able to get a hi-res scan of that from the actual film? Kinda ruins the very nice packaging to me (it'd look beatiful in hi-res). Obviously PTA had a lot of input on the cover as he has had with his 2 releases, but I doubt this was his fault, they just couldn't realize his vision and cut corners.

As for the transfer, I'll be watching it on my 90 inch HTPC tonight so I'll let you know how if it does have a lot of EE.

If you look through the insert, PTA has included instructions on how you need to change your video settings to experience the movie properly. IIRC, it involved making the blue very, very blue and taking the white to the point of bleeding and then some. You'll have to check the book to be sure, but that may help negate the appearance of EE if done properly.

That's strange, I'll check that out pete. Couldn't they have done it in the transfer itself?

If this was non-anamorphic, there would be numerous threads with tons of responses complaining about it.

EE? Can someone explain to me what that stands for?

EE stands for "edge enhancement". Exactly what it is I don't know. That stinks about having to set the set up specifically for the film. I'm still looking forward to picking this up during the "free shipping" from CH.

P.T. Anderson had the same sort of stuff written on the Boogie Nights' 2-disc set, to get the whites white, etc. Offhand I recall a feature on the disc that had color bars and such. I don't think they would make any difference in terms of whether or not EE is visible though. This isn't something you MUST do, just a suggestion.

That being said, I have not watched the movie. When I get a dvd I just like to pop it in quickly and check out the picture quality before viewing it. I just checked out the opening sequence and one a few chapters in. This very well may be the only sequences where EE is used in this way, that's why I asked if anyone could comment on the rest of the film. The books on Sandler's desk just stood out.

I can't wait to watch the movie though, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it.

The insert booklet was wonderful. When I heard the set would include a 12-page booklet I pictured loads of text. I was pleasantly surprised to find such beautiful pictures in it. Great work.

I think Columbia Tristar omits any note of an anamorphic transfer more often than they include a note. Even old Columbia Tristar releases seem to usually be anamorphic whether they say so or not.

And now, the average bitrate for Punch Drunk Love:
7.58 Mb/sec with a 95m runtime!

How does that compare to any other disc? Fairly good.
Adaptation. superbit is 8.40 (114m runtime)
Gattaca superbit is 7.48 (106m runtime)
Fifth Element superbit is 7.39 (126m runtime)
Panic Room "superbit" (and I use the term loosely and spit angrily when I say it) is 6.94 (112m runtime)

For some other major label comparisons:
Big Trouble in Little China (disc 1) is 9.13 (100m runtime)
Star Trek III The Search for Spock (disc 1) is 8.90 (105m runtime)
Predator dts is 8.84 (106m runtime)
A Simple Plan is 8.49 (121m runtime)

It's above average, even high, but not spectacular. The image itself looks great to me, though.

For reference, across 1050 discs for which I've got bitrates, the average is 5.94 and the average runtime is 105m (median runtime 99m). The median is 5.80, mode is 6.10, third quartile is 6.60. Even though nobody asked.

Ah okay. Thank you.

EE - Extreme Edition...

I always wondered what that meant... Boogie Nights looks great to me. Is that refering to turning up the contrast and brightness?

I think it was intentional, from watching some of those scopitiones because Sandler's image in one of those segments was zoomed in and of course blurry and pixilliated....probably a little symbolic of their relationship as well...but who knows?

See, this bothers me. GENERALLY, if it DIDN'T say "anamorphic" or "enhanced for 16x9 TVs" on the back, it was the case that it was NOT, in fact, anamorphic. If it was, it said so. Now they're leaving it off sometimes even if it IS anamorphic. It'd be nice if we could assume that all new (non-P&S) releases are anamorphic, but I'm not sure if we're at that point or not. Hope so.

The "Boogie Nights" DVD tells you to make sure you watch the color bars because there's a hidden easter egg after the bars. There's also an egg after the color bars on the "Magnolia" disc but there's nothing to indicate it on the packaging.

I, for one, appreciated this breakdown! Thanks!

I'm glad it was appreciated by someone.

so all that GLARE, Blue horizontal blur, etc. is part of the movie? [if it is, kinda annoying]...anyway first time waching PDL...WOW! fkn great movie...

and after watching the extras, I don't buy what PT said...It's pathetic. Worthless EXTRAS.. needed a commentery and a 30minute or so making of... THE ADAM SANDLER FILES!!!