Back to the Future DVD

[Super Scooter]

Hey, guys! The reason BTTF2 and BTTF3 appear "cropped" is because they were filmed in Super38! (the crappy film that TMM was filmed in that causes you to see heads, arms, and boom mikes. Various other objects THAT ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SEEN) So, it will appear as if it's cropped, but it will be the way it's supposed to be seen (not that ugly pan and scan stuff. I think I've grown to used to widescreen. I can't stand watching TV anymore! Although, I do anyway. Those little black bars grow on you)

If you still want to get rid of your copy, don't let me wtop you. Just thought you might like to know this.

 

[anathema]

Yup. This looks like an open-matte foul-up. The pan/scan VHS contains the full 35mm frame, whereas the cinema would have shown a cropped-down version, which is normally regarded as the 'correct' image. Having just checked, I can confirm that the UK DVD release looks the same as the US one. The UK widescreen VHS release is similar to the laserdisc images on Scott's site, but it looks to be at a ratio of 1.66 rather than the correct 1.85.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the DVD framing is *wrong* per se, it may very well be the way the film was framed for the cinema, but I've no way to check this unless someone can lend me a DeLorean

The full monty on film ratios and framing can be found here:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/FilmToVideo/

 

[sarah_yzma]

does anyone have a link to a universal site of something that says that???? i tried to tell my dad but he is very skeptical and wants to see an official site of some sort....weird

 

[Gonzo]

I didn't really like 2 or 3....they're not anywhere near the caliber of the first one...

My opinion.

 

[frogboy4]

anathema

I enjoyed reading your link. Very descriptive. I could have used a little of that help in my MC article last fall. It was intended to be simple, but I really enjoy how this issue has been thoroughly explored.

 

[beaker]

Originally posted by Gonzo
I didn't really like 2 or 3....they're not anywhere near the caliber of the first one...

My opinion.

I'll agree with you on 3...that is just a straight up abomination...but two...well, that perhaps best sums up my ideas for the future, as well as my staunch celebration for the late 80's.
Man, I wish America looked like it did in BTTF 2's vision of 2015, as well as had 80's cafes!

 

[anathema]

Re: anathema

Originally posted by frogboy4
I enjoyed reading your link. Very descriptive. I could have used a little of that help in my MC article last fall. It was intended to be simple, but I really enjoy how this issue has been thoroughly explored.

Glad you found it helpful! I find widescreen to be a badly misunderstood topic, so the more articles there are explaining it, the better. I don't know if you have this problem to the same extent in the US, but pretty much every time a TV channel screens a letterboxed movie over here, someone will write one of those oh-so-hilarious letters complaining that they're paying their license fee for a full picture and demanding a refund for the black borders on their screen.

Anyway, if you're looking for a collaborator for future articles, or just looking for additional information, please feel free to ask. I don't claim to be an expert , but I've done some of this stuff professionally, and I keep myself up to date.

 

[Bulldawg]

well as long as i know that its just a few scenes and not the entire movie...im ok with that... i merely got the dvd set for all the extras and the commentaries cause ive seen the film many many times

 

[WiGgY]

One of the scenes that is cropped wrong in BTTF2 is the hover board scene in 1955 where Marty is hanging off of Biff's car. You can't see the hover board! All you see is a shot of Marty's backside. There are other scenes where it just looks too weird. I'd wait until febuary to buy the DVD's.

Now as for BTTF2 I think that movie ruled! Mostly because we got to see like 4 different time lines in one movie! First 1985 (the good one) then 2015, then 1985 (the bad one) this was creepy but still cool, and then 1955 again! We got to see all the best scenes from BTTF, and some really cool new scenes.

Now I am going to expose a secret that you may or may not know about the scene where Biff comes back to 2015....get ready
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well aparently when the old Biff came back to 2015, he collapases just off screne. What we don't see in the movie is that he is actually being erased from the new time line he created. This was removed from the movie because when the movie was previewed, the audience didn't get why that happened. You see, when old Biff gave his younger self that atlas, he changed the time line. Apparently, some time between 1985 and 2015, Loraine shot Biff and killed him! When Old Biff got back to 2015 and was back in the time line, but he didn't exist anymore, and so he was earsed. This would have been a really cool scene but I guess the audience back then wasn't as into the movie as people now. That whole Biff coming back and collapsing thing really bugged me until my friend told me what was suppose to happen.

 

[scarecroe]

Originally posted by WiGgY
Well aparently when the old Biff came back to 2015, he collapases just off screne. What we don't see in the movie is that he is actually being erased from the new time line he created. This was removed from the movie because when the movie was previewed, the audience didn't get why that happened. You see, when old Biff gave his younger self that atlas, he changed the time line. Apparently, some time between 1985 and 2015, Loraine shot Biff and killed him! When Old Biff got back to 2015 and was back in the time line, but he didn't exist anymore, and so he was earsed. This would have been a really cool scene but I guess the audience back then wasn't as into the movie as people now. That whole Biff coming back and collapsing thing really bugged me until my friend told me what was suppose to happen.

Huh? The only version I've ever seen is the one where Biff gets erased from time.