I have had Anchor Bay's 1998 release of Quatermass and the Pit in my DDD wish list for a few months. This has long been a favorite of mine from the very old days when it used to play on TBS pretty frequently. I noticed a couple of days ago that it was removed, which I took to mean it was going out of print. So I checked on Amazon.com, and it looks as if this was re-issued in a two disc set with Quatermass 2 in July, 2004. Of special interest to me was that QatP is listed as a 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer, while the 1998 release was non-anamorphic (the main reason I had been holding off purchasing it).

Here's DVDSavant's review of the 1998 release:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s141qpit.html

However, one thing led me to believe that the anamorphic spec for the new disk might be an error ... I saw that Amazon listed the old release as anamorphic; several reviews state specifically that it is not. So I wondered if the old, incorrect information had been carried forward.

I haven't been able to find a review of this 2-fer, just of the original individual releases for the two titles separately. Can anyone confirm that the 2004 release has an anamorphic (and presumably new) transfer, and more generally, provide any links to reviews of the new two disc release? (The other title has an OAR of 1.37:1 and is listed as non-anamorphic full frame). And perhaps to some of the other AB Hammer 2-fers that appear to have been released about the same time? Thanks.

I have them all, but have yet to watch that particular title.

So here comes the stupid question. How can I tell if it's anamorphic on a regular (non-16x9) television?

I can confirm that the 2-disc set contain the exact same discs as the individual releases. It's not a new transfer and it isn't anamorphic.