I recently discovered one of the first DVD I bought in 1997, it was the Anamorphic Dudley Moore DVD "10" still wrapped in a Warner Bros., made by Orion Pictures in 1979. Although it was Monaural, I was on a buying streak after the 1996 showing of a DVD at a nearby Mall from a Travel agency in Allentown, PA


What was the first commercially available Anamorphic DVD for sale in 1997?

Blade Runner

Awe Shucks I thought I had the very first one, I do have that Blade Runner DVD with my Priss AKA Daryl (Mermaid costume poster) Hannah.

Okay where down the line in 1997 was mine in the number of Anamorphics for sale, please?

this is off the subject of first anamorphic, but anyone know what the first two disc SE released was. I've been just trying to remember the first two disc set that i owned but i have no clue, sorry to get off the subject but i've been wondering that forever.

I think mine was The Abyss 2 disc set 2.35:1 OAR, BTW welcome to wonderful world of Danol wants to know DVD information.

My first two-disc set was the Halloween Limited Edition from Anchor Bay. I followed that one up with the three-disc Brazil set from Criterion.



Andrew

I believe that Warner Bros was making anamorphic discs right from DVD's introduction. At least, all my Warner discs from 1997 are anamorphic.

I think my first one was the Army of Darkness limited edition discs. Thats the one i can think, of. I guess i need to start a new thread dedicated to this since i've never seen one about first two disc sets.

Hey danol, maybe the list at (here) has the information you are seeking.

I think Batman was part of the initial batch of DVDs, and was anamorphic. Although the print is terrible - lots of specks & dirt. This deperately needs a new release.


Danol - The Abyss is not anamorphic.

I have some of the DVDs that were available at launch in May 1997, and many of them are indeed 16X9 enhanced. INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, GOLDENEYE, etc.

Meanwhile, that first generation player is LONG gone!

What were they, like $ 800.00 back then. The players!

I think the Sony S7000 was the first DVD player released back in '97? If you bought it early, it came free with "In the Line of Fire" which was anamorphic.. and some Sesame Street disk, Tony Bennett unplugged and Fly Away Home..

I think warner had like 6 titles in the first few weeks.. Blade Runner(16x9), Eraser(16x9), Fugitive(16x9), Mask, ..????

I don't remember what the first 2 disker was but I do remember the first RSDL disk: T2

--mike

Wasn't Armageddon: CC the first two disc set released? Seems like I remember hearing that somewhere.

I paid $849 for my Pioneer DVD / Laser Disc Combo Player in early Sept. 1997.

The Mask was NOT anamorphic when first released in 1997.

Among the first anamorphic titles was Twister, Eraser and Batman.

Warner and Columbia/Tri-Star had anamorphic realeases...so whichever batch was first released with the players was it. I bought Twister with my good ol' Pioneer DV-500 a few weeks before the scheduled roll out here in Ohio. Still have the player hooked to my old 27" Sony. What a workhorse that player has turned out to be.

My first player was a Toshiba and it cost me just under $500. This was in May 1997.

I paid 900 for my DVL-909 in July of 98, and that was with my Sears discount. But i remember looking at dvd players in September or October of 97 on a break at sears. I think the cheapest they had was 500. My first one was 400, and that is the cheapest they were at the time. That was in april of 98.

Just to clarify and consolidate a few points...

The first region 1 DVDs (from major studios, at least) were officially released on March 25, 1997, although most retailers broke street date and sold them on the 24th. All of these titles were released under the Warner umbrella (Warner Home Video controlled the early DVD releases of New Line and MGM). There were 33 titles in the first batch:

• Batman (Warner)
• Birdcage, The (MGM/UA)
• Blade Runner: Director's Cut (Warner)
• Bodyguard, The (Warner)
• Bonnie & Clyde (Warner)
• Bridges of Madison County (Warner)
• Color Purple, The (Warner)
• Eraser (Warner)
• Exorcist, The (Warner) *
• Fugitive, The (Warner) *
• Get Shorty (MGM/UA)
• Glimmer Man, The (Warner)
• GoldenEye (MGM/UA)
• GoodFellas (Warner)
• Interview With a Vampire (Warner) *
• Lethal Weapon (Warner)
• Mask, The (New Line)
• Midnight Cowboy (MGM/UA)
• Mortal Combat (New LIne)
• Raging Bull (MGM/UA)
• Rain Man (MGM/UA)
• Road Warrior, The (Warner)
• Rocky (MGM/UA)
• Se7en (New Line)
• Singin' in the Rain (MGM/UA)
• Space Jam (Warner)
• Species (MGM/UA)
• Streetcar Named Desire, A: Director's Cut (Warner)
• Time to Kill, A (Warner)
• Twister (Warner) *
• Unforgiven, The (Warner)
• Wizard of Oz, The (Warner)
• Woodstock: Director's Cut (Warner)

The titles in bold were released at that time in anamorphic widescreen. Those bold titles marked with an asterisk[*] have since been either discontinued or replaced by newer editions.