I like when people preach widescreen only until the widescreen version cuts out some nudity. then its all about the "they should have included the fullscreen version too" quotes.

just watch and see. Mischief with Kelly Preston is coming out soon and I bet AB will do widescreen only and some of the goodies won't be visible in the widescreen version. then the complaints will start.

Excentis, this is one area I can agree with you on. That was a ridiculous statement, and I hope it was made in jest.

"Right" may have been the wrong word. But I have a strong desire to watch films the way the director intends them to be seen. I don't really care if someone else wants to watch a movie in full screen. Their desire to watch films the way they want is no stronger than mine is to watch them the way I want. I am not arguing that we should take away the privilege for others to watch movies in full screen. I am arguing that the studio's should not impose someone else's preference on the entire market, by ONLY releasing a film in full screen. There is room in the market for both versions to co-exist, but sometimes the studios do not think the market is large enough for ceratin films, especially family films, to be released in widescreen. So I would like to make sure that the market for OAR films increase, so all films are released in widescreen. There is nothing wrong with telling someone what OAR is, and why it is important. We aren't forcing them to buy the widescreen version if they don't want to, are we? Of course not. We are just letting them know why it is done. So, if some DVDs released in full screen as well, that is perfectly acceptable. It is never acceptable if full screen is the only option.

Now, to address you second point. I agree that most films being made today are crap. But I don't see how anyone on this forum can "fight" that war, except to spend our money wisely. That is why I choose to spend my money only on films that I believe are good. I don't go see bad films at the theater, and I don't buy them on DVD.

Why did I think the UK was widescreen heaven? Huh... So it sounds like that the UK is probably about the same 1.78:1 to 1.33:1 ratio as the US.

Yes, up to 40% or 45% more depending on the film. Check out Joshua Clinard's site: http://widescreenadvocate.org/

Oh, I am....

I argue that the full screen "right" should be taken away all the time. As your website points out at the top of every page -- "pan-scan is just television|OAR is theatre!" -- I've been saying this for years! A movie is NOT television! The people who insist on having their pan & scan crap should stick to recording movies from HBO and Showtime and leave the people that appreciate the art of the cinema alone....

Oops! What fantasy world was I in? Oh, yeah, the one where corporations don't run things based ONLY on the bottom line and the desires of the lowest common denominator.

Total BS. Get a clue. I've never had to pass on a DVD of a film I wanted to buy because it was only available in full screen. Thus the people who insist on pan and scan aren't bothering me, and the corporations aren't catering to the lowest common denominator. They're releasing two versions to please both markets, and I see absolutely no problem with that. Everyone's happy.

I haven't read every post on this thread--too many--so if this has already been said, sorry!

My sense is that for a lot of people who prefer fullscreen it's a psychological thing. The image fills the entire tv screen, so they feel like they're getting the full picture, so to speak, even after it's explained to them that they're actually missing part of the picture, as it was in theatres.

I have a friend who, like me, is big on the Lord of the Rings movies. In fact, we got together a few weeks ago and watched all three extended versions back-to-back-to-back (and it was great!). I explained to her the difference between the widescreen and fullscreen versions but, even knowing she'd be missing some of the image, she prefered the fullscreen versions of all three films (the theatrical versions), and all other films she buys on DVD, because, she said, she just wants to have the picture fill the whole screen--it feels better to her that way. I think it's because she's used to having the tv screen filled with the image, whether she's watching a tv show, a VHS tape or a DVD. As I said, for her it's mostly a psychological thing, and I suspect that's true of a lot of folks. If the image isn't filling the screen, I think a lot of these people FEEL like they're being short-changed, even if they know intellectually that's not the case.

I'm not happy. Here's a partial list of the DVDs I would buy if they were available in their OAR. Unfortunately the studios really have catered to the lowest common denominator by releasing pan 'n scam versions only.

Ace Ventura
Air Bud
Annie
Arthur
Bank Shot
Big Fat Liar
Bridges Of Madison County
The Candidate
Can't Buy Me Love
Chariots of Fire
Child's Play
Death Becomes Her
Doc Hollywood
Fatal Instinct
Fearless
First Kid
Forever Young
Frantic
Funny Farm
Galaxina
Galaxy of Terror
George Of The Jungle
Grumpy Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
Guilty By Suspicion
Heavyweights
Honeymoon in Vegas
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Honey I Blew Up The Kid
The Jerk
Johnny B Good
Karate Kid
Kickboxer
A Kid in King Arthurs Court
Kindergarden Cop
Mad City
Magic Christian
The Man with Two Brains
Man of The House
Matilda
Midnight Clear
Moonstruck
Mr. Mom
My Blue Heaven
My Fellow Americans
New York Stories
Night Crossing
Nothing But Trouble
The Paper
Repossessed
Real Men
Remo Williams
Return to Snowy River
Saturn 3
Savage Sam
Scarlet Letter
The Shadow
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Snowball Express
Spies Like Us
Split Second
The Sting
Stand and Deliver
Taking Care of Business
Three Men and a Little Lady
Timecop
Tom and Huck
Twins
Vision Quest
Wrongfully Accused

You would really buy most of those DVDs? Some awful stuff on that list.

I should have said most. I have varied tastes in films. I'd rather watch Kindergarten Cop than Pulp Fiction or the Godfather any day.

Most of the titles on Max's list were released in the first three or four years of the format. Since then the major studios have been doing an excellent job of phasing out "fullscreen"-only releases. I'd bet that in the last two years less than 1% of all titles released have been modified aspect ratio only.

the customers at the Tenlyetown DC Best Buy location - oh my god there were so many holiday shoppers buying fullscreen DVD's left and right, it was really sad

Well I have, most recently in November when Universal released Colossus — The Forbin Project in Pan & Scan only. I have been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD for many years (I enjoyed it when I was in college and would like to see it again). But Pan & Scan? No way. This is simply not true. I wish it was.

Except for those Columbia-Tri Star rereleases that omit the widescreen side of a two-sided disc in favor of fullscreen only, sometimes without changing the packaging.

And sometimes we've seen studios announce a fullscreen-only version only to backtrack after public outcry (Willy Wonka, Castle Keep, etc.), and sometimes they don't even backtrack (Once Upon a Crime, etc).

There is a list of 243 Pan & Scan ONLY DVDs @ Widescreen Advocate. Take a look at that list, and tell me if there isn't one or two films that you'd like to have. If there's not, then your lucky. But the rest of us aren't so lucky. The list of titles that I want is below.

My Neighbor Totoro
The Karate Kid
Matilda
My Girl
My Girl 2
The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
The Secret of NIMH
Beethoven
Kindergarten Cop
Blackbeard's Ghost
Blank Check
Ernest Goes to Jail
George of the Jungle
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Max Keeble's Big Move
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Muppet Treasure Island
Tom and Huck
Forever Young
Grumpier Old Men
Grumpy Old Men
Follow That Bird

Thank you! I was just going to mention this. And I too have been waiting and waitng to by this as a widescreen DVD.

Nope. I don't see a single one on that list that I have any interest in owning. Guess I'm just lucky in that regard.

A Midnight Clear
Honeymoon in Vegas
Mr. Mom
All Of Me
Fierce Creatures
The Sting
The Paper
The Jerk
Muppet Christmas Carol
Muppet Treasure Island
Ace Ventura
Arthur
Clean and Sober
Grumpy Old Men
Man With Two Brains
My Blue Heaven
Police Academy (Box Set - won't buy it with 4/5 in FS)
Spies LIke Us

...would all be instant sales for me. The amount of classic Steve Martin on that FS list sickens me.

I think everyone here still using the term "Fullscreen" shows their lack of knowledge of current video technology. "Fullscreen" is an obsolete term because there are now two types of
screens being sold, both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio screens and most of them are now 16:9. If you are still calling DVDs
"Fullscreen" it is unclear what the hell you are taking about because an anamorphic
widescreen movie with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio are "fullscreen" on the newer 16:9 TVs but still widescreen movies! The correct terminology to use NOW is 4:3 non-letterboxed not "fullscreen" for what you are talking about.
the hifisapien

It's not unclear given thatn 99% of 4:3 DVDs are labeled "Fullscreen." Find something better to do with your time than argue semantics on an internet message board.

You talking mostly OLD DVDs before 16:9 TVs were available. The term "Fullscreen" USED to make sense when everyone was using 4:3 screens but it is really OBSOLETE now. Thats my point. This isnt semantics, this is reality of today. And there are tons of 4:3 DVDs that are not 4:3 aspect ratio because they are letterboxed 4:3.

Actually if you think about it, with a new 16:9 TV ( I am assuming most DVD enthusiasts would be using those for a number of reasons) , 4:3 non-letterboxed DVDs
( what you are calling "fullscreen" ) do NOT display fullscreen without cropping or distortion on a 16:9 set so they are not "Fullscreen" anymore are they???? Actually a 16:9 anamorhic DVD with 1.78:1 aspect ratio is "Fullscreen" now on a modern state of the art new 16:9 TV, not the 4:3 non letterboxed DVDs you are talking about here.

"Fullscreen"
is meaningless in the 16:9 and 4:3 TV world we now live in so butch up and get up to date. "fullscreen" is a dead and totally obsolete term. This is 2005 not 1997 when DVD was launched. I am belaboring this point because there are times when you have to stop using old terms with new technology and this is clearly the case here.
the hifisapien

It's hard to blame someone for that. The good news there is that theyre buying DVDs in widescreen, even if they aren't watching them in the way the director intended them to be seen. If they're buying widescreen movies then a time will come when they can watch them in proper OAR, or close anyway, when all the stupid 4:3 sets are off the market and they have to buy a new TV. I have a rear projection widesreen set and it's fairly common knowledge among videophiles that you have to take care pertaining to image burn-in for the first 300 or so hours of use. Therefore on many DVDs not widescreen enhanced I have to resort to either a slight zoom or expand of my picture. Do I like it? Nope, but I'm certainly going to do so for the next several months rather than ruin my purchase....and yes, there are LCD and plasma WS sets on the market where this is not a concern. There are also alot of wealthy members here in the forum who would be quick to tell others less fortunate to spend more money. I'm an average guy making an average income and when it comes to a purchase such as this I spend what I can in proportion to what I earn, not twice that amount.

There are some great titles on that list IMO.

One enouraging thing I've noticed in the last few months comes from as simple a place as my local rental store. They're the only game in town and have a huge base of customers.....on any given night it's a struggle getting in and out of their parking lot. I try to stop right after work on tuesdya release dates if I know there is something that has just hit the street I'd like to watch. They tend to get 50-60 copies of the bigger releases, and the FS/WS ratio seems to be split right down the middle. I can walk in and see 25 of their 30 WS copies of Troy already off the shelf at 3 in the afternoon, but that number is reversed on the FS end. People are changing their viewing habits and sooner or later numbers like that make their way to the manufacturers.

There are LOTS of movies released here in pan and scan only. Remo has been brought up in this thread several times. Yeah, if I want to I can order the Japanese or Korean widescreen version of Remo from another region, but thats not the point. The point is, I shouldn't have to spend more money and order from another country to get the widescreen version.....that apparently was offered as an official release to other countries by MGM but not the country the movie was made in! I can't walk into Best Buy and have a choice in the US, and I should be able to buy any DVD release in its OAR regardless of the title.

^^^ Here's the problem, Josh Hinkle -- this is what I mean by the "lowest common denominator" -- people just buying anything they can find and the studios get those BIG sales numbers for 4:3 stuff and decide that other than major releases, they don't need to worry about 16:9 so much because people will buy anything as long as it's on a shiny disk.

And, although hifisapien is belaboring the point a bit (since I don't think that members of DVD Talk really are going to change the present industry terminology), I have begun to see packaging marked "16:9 Full Screen", which requires a double-take at first and then is clearly what he's talking about.