I am about to start a petition online to send to Fox about releasing Silver Streak in widescreen. Can someone with some writing skills please help write a petition statement that states that we have heard that Silver Streak MIGHT be released in Full Screen according to specs posted on online dvd retailers websites and info given to distributors so far. I think the statement should tell them that a release in fullscreen at this point in time is completely ridiculous and will be boycotted. I am not a very good writer or I would write it myself. I just think the petition statement should sound as professional as possible.

Hmmm, that's a pity. I loved the hell out of this movie when I was a kid, and buying it would have been a no-brainer for certain. However, this is one of those movies that is framed so that it really gets ruined by the P&S (not that most movies aren't also - just that this one tended to use the edges of the frame a lot).

Oh well - I got plenty of other fish to fry.

FXM is the Fox Movie Channel. They air their films in WS & P&S on a regular basis. I recall some P&S Silver Streak showing,which I avoided and then caught a WS showing. Since I wanted to see the film in WS finally.

I think it has shown on TCM as well once in awhile,and in WS of course.

On the HD front excuse of dvds looking like 'dookie' on large screens. I think that is all just assumption. Since only the hardcore techies really have the largest sets available. Most people myself included have 25 inch through 30 inch sets and are fine with them. So viewing WS dvds on these screens is no problem at all. They look great,and if someday I bought a projector(which I plan to). I am sure I won't have any problems with the dvds I own.

Some people panic over the slightest trace of natural film grain. I don't,so I am sure I can accept the quality on a larger screen.

Unless the disc is beyond terrible, that it looks like crap even on a standard set. The previous Born on the Fourth of July being a perfect example. Then yes I would upgrade it too a better transfered release. Yet so far Born on the 4th is the only dvd I ever upgraded based on terrible quality. I won't upgrade that yet again on HD.

I can't afford to rebuy everything I own and see no need to. So I doubt HD will take off with the mainstream as quickly as dvd. It is still too soon for a formate change. + the comparision between CD & SACD sales is a good estamite. CD is still around,while SACD is pretty niche.


The panic tactic of 'my god,the studios are going to just dump all their catalogs onto subpar dvd releases now,to make us rebuy them in HD!' is pretty paranoid. There is no truth in that pressumption. In fact,with he millions of films that have yet to be released on dvd. It would be impossible for studios to just 'dump' them onto dvd in the next couple years.

So I think we have nothing to worry about. Enjoy your dvds

It's not an assumption. I own two 40+ inch HDTV screens and they do not look nearly as good as they do on my bedroom tv which is a 25inch tv. I know that most people have 25 inch to 30 inch televisions, but when people go out and buy new tvs most are going to be much larger than the average tv today. A 40 inch tv would not be uncommon at all by the beginning of 2007. In terms of projectors, most dvds look a fraction as good as they do on a standard 35 inch crt tv. We have a very expensive projector at my studio and dvds don't look horrible but they look like a vhs. HD-DVD will be able to hold enough data so that a projector playing the hd-dvd could almost duplicate the resolution of film. Film is still much more detail than any dvd, it takes a lot of space to hold the exact information that a frame of film would.

I like the grain of film, the problem is when the dvd picture is blown up to fit a large film screen it is not grain you are seeing it is digital artifacts of where information was.



I agree completely with you on the fact that I also can't afford to rebuy everything I own just because newer formats come out. I am in the music business and I still use cds as well. SACD and CDs are not a good comparision because SACD can not greatly improve what cds have improved when it comes to older recordings. Old recordings dependent on the equipment used when recording can only have so much fidelity that can be improved. When it comes to new records it can so much better because today people record in 24 bit audio and soon even higher than that. SACD also is a music disc and there are thousands of independent music labels that Sony and Philips would have to make deals with to press the labels music in SACD format. Whereas a video optical disc manufacturers like Blu-Ray (Sony etc.) or HD-DVD (Toshiba) can lock down deals with 3 major studios and have enough clout in the home video market to make people switch or make them want to switch to the newer format.


The Film industry has way more clout, political power and money than the music industry.

well if my memory serves me correct, isnt SILVER STREAK a open matte film? So yes, it should be released in it's OAR, but is isn't Pan and Scan (I am just a snob about the difference between open matte and pan and scan difference) (

Just a slight correction here: Fox Movie Channel hasn't been called "FXM" for at least four years. They do, however, make every effort to show both widescreen and fullscreen versions of movies whenever possible, the idea being that this should keep everyone happy.

If anyone hears back from Fox about this, please post.

What a shame. Hope it turns out that this will actually be released in wide screen, but I'm not holding my breath. FF definitely equals No Sale.

FXM (I assume that's what you're asking about) is the old name for the Fox Movie Channel, now named FMC.

Indeed there is a nice widescreen version that they play. I have a copy sitting on my ReplayTV now. (It is internet sharable, should any of you ReplayTV people want it.) Silver Streak is in the top 5 of my DVD most wanted list. If this release does turn out to be a friggin' P&S or Full screen, no sale.

A fullscreen-only version would just be pure laziness on the part of the studio. After all, a widescreen version of the movie DOES exist on laserdisc.

I still can't believe widescreen is treated like a "niche market" considering how everyone is buying widescreen TVs.

Has anyone spoken with Fox regarding this release? Seems odd that we have no real specs on this so close to the release date.

Just one of the reasons I keep my LD player around. I just can't believe the complete stupidity in releasing this film FS.

I wrote Fox Home Video about this and got a reply (surprised the hell out of me). Here's the exchange:

Me:
I see you are releasing a "most wanted" DVD in December, the true classic "Silver Streak".

Please tell me that the online DVD retailers who say this will be a FULLSCREEN release are in error. If it is 4:3, it will be a travesty (and a no-sale for me).

Even the Fox Movie Channel broadcasts this movie in 1.85, so you've already gone to the trouble of transferring it properly to widescreen.

Fox Reply:
Hello,

This title will also be available in wide screen. Thank you for contacting us!

Thank you,
Fox Consumer

Joy!

That is GREAT news. Thanks Rob for finding that out. I was definitely bummed about that until now.

Score!

thank goodness!

"Duck Soup" is unedited and "Silver Streak" is widescreen!

Life is good...

I've had Fox reply to my emails before as well. They seem to have a good customer service department.

Good news overall! This is back on my must buy list. I must have watched this movie a dozen times or more growing up.

This is good news. I would have been surprised if it had been full screen only because Fox has always been one of the best studios when it comes to releasing things in their original aspect ratios, even when it comes to their TV titles. Happy to see the trend is continuing.

case in point----------oc not--------wide

Which, of course, was released by Warner Bros., not Fox. Care to elaborate on your point?

As Mr. Salty said, even though O.C. aired on the Fox network, it was not released on DVD by Fox.

Wow, two pages of bitching an moaning on the internet based upon a lack of facts, stunning.

Next thing you know, The Grid will be in widescreen.

:-)

fitprod

quote:<hr>Wow, two pages of bitching an moaning on the internet based upon a lack of facts, stunning.
<hr>

Not to take this more off-topic, but are you stunned by the lack of facts or by the bitching? BTW, the facts weren't lacking...most or all of them existed but have been just plain wrong, according to my email from Fox.

BTW, like many here, I am quite relieved by what Fox told me, but I'm reserving my "yipee"s for when I see public facts stating the release will include an OAR version.