The Third Man reissue is picture-boxed!
 

According to the DvdBeaver comparison , Criterion has once again decided to picture-box their reissue. Why do they keep doing this? However, they have cleaned up the print, but as noted in the review, it is also slightly cropped.

The transfer doesn't even look that much better.

Oh well, it's still worth the double-dip so I won't be canceling my pre-order.

Wow, after studying those comparisons, I'm not nearly as excited about jumping on the re-issue. It's really a mixed bag; the new one looks brighter, and in some shots makes the original look kind of flat. But then the re-issue in some shots doesn't have the nice deep blacks that the original does, and almost looks a tad washed-out. And they're framed slightly different, too - it's moved down a little in the re-issue.

To the re-issue's credit, it does look a bit crisper and definitely cleaned up. I have no idea how that window-boxed image will look on my new widescreen tv, so I couldn't comment on that.

I'd probably buy it for the extras alone, I missed that "Shadowing the Third Man" doc when it was on TCM. But I can wait for a DDD sale after seeing this review.

Wow, glad I read this. I'm definitely keeping my current version and will be in no hurry for this double dip. I can wait for the 20% sale as well.

Actually looks about the same, but smaller. If I owned the first version, I wouldn't "upgrade".

This looks like it was a pretty unnecessary reissue. The original transfer looks fine when compared to the new one. I wish that hadn't wasted their time on something like this and instead put out a new edition of Andrei Rublev, The Samurai Trilogy, Walkabout, or some of the old titles that are actually in need of some work.

I'd like to hear the Soderberg/Gilroy commentary, but this is certainly not a disc that needed any sort of reissue.

Has anyone ever seen a rational explanation for Criterion's refusal to stop doing this? I just don't see how this can be a good thing...
Their defense seems to come down to "well, CRT monitors have overscan - we want to make sure that older technology doesn't elminate any of the image, even at the expense of the viewing experience on current standards"
All sarcasm aside, it just seems completely at odds with what the Criterion brand is supposed to be about...

This new edition has much more added special material, so it is a definite buy for me.

They may even be sorry that they started letterboxing, because it will be difficult for them to go back. It just does not make any sense. Some upper management decision, obviously.

The only thing Criterion have done here is to contrast-boost the image which is a direct port of the Studio Canal print. As Studio Canal in France are not producing picture-boxed discs one alternative would be to look for that disc, either way given the anticipation the Criterion presentation is, as already echoed above, a letdown. On a somewhat brigther note I also received their release of Army of Shadows and exactly the same thing has happened: they have ported the Studio Canal print and boosted contrast/brightness. Which this time around I consider a plus as they stayed away from the "correcting" of the colour-scheme as they did with previous Melvile discs.

So, a mixed bag these are!

Pro-B

I'll still be wanting this.

Windowboxing = NO SALE!
 

Sorry, Criterion. With your obstinancy in continuing to force upon your fans a loss of resolution and concomitant reduction in picture detail on modern-technology sets, I refuse to buy any more of your product.

A great company at one time-- Criterion needs to start embracing modern technology.. There are 704 horizontal pixels in the digital Standard definition frame, and they should *all* be used for the best picture quality possible.

Actually, this re-issue looks WORSE than the older transfer. I'll be hanging onto my original release.

Hope some heads will start turning up in the corporate offices, Criterion.

Is this the third time they've released this on DVD? Single disc, two disc and now remastered two disc? Or am I thinking of M?

This is the first reissue, but M was also remastered and and got a new two disc release.

I'm fed up with windowboxing as well. I want the extras, but may just rent them since I probably only want to watch them once.

picture-box, schmicture-box...this is a great movie, with incredible cinematography and stellar performances! more extras, cleaner print...it will be mine!!

I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about overscan. Most people aren't even aware they're missing a little image on the edges. I've known about it for a while, but I've never thought "gee, I wish they would shrink this image down to a lower resolution so I could see it all on my TV."

Since I couldn't find the out-of-print previous issue, I definitely will pick this up during DD's 20% off or its Criterion sale (40% off).

Or, do you guys have other better candidate for this movie? Region 2/4?

I did mention it above: What criterion did is run the French Studio Canal master. As far as I know the R2 is NOT picture-boxed!! So, perhaps you could look into it.

Indeed, very upsetting! It hardly matters what extras they may or may not include with such a treatment!!

Pro-B

I read about the picture-boxing on "Kind Hearts & Coronets" review but I still don't get it. How does picture-boxing affect widescreen TV viewers?

I know that I miss a lot with my tv... I hate it. I always notice it on older european movies when I can't see the entire name of cast members during the opening credits.

Eh, I'll pick up the new one ( i am trying to find a way to get rid of the old one, as i am not a fan of too many artifacts which this title does espeially on a big screen) also i haven't noticed any loss of picture detail on other criterion window boxed dvds (virgin spring)

You lose resolution. It is not a lot, but it is still irritating. The reason they do this is almost as stupid as the reason they wouldn't make widescreen movies anamorphic for years.

Criterion is the ultimate company to appeal to the high end buyer, yet they slighty cripple releases with SD 4:3 TVs in mind.

I can live with this, but the problem is I own the current version. If the only reason I'm upgrading is the extras I can definitely wait. Especially at the prices Criterion charges.

is there a way to not have that black border around the image? can some TVs overlook those and fill up the screen?