"Older" Movies on DVD

[D'Snowth]

You know what the problem is with older movies (pre 2000, I think) being released on DVD? They're only released in widescreen, which makes for a pretty bad viewing experience, since most of said older movies are actually shot in fullscreen. I just got a copy of Dragnet, hoping that IMDb would be correct that it was actually shot in widescreen, so I wouldn't loose any of the picture, but lo and behold, they were wrong, and the top and bottom of the picture have been cut out for those black bars.

Now my question is WHY? If a lot of these older movies weren't even filmed in widescreen in the first place, then why cut out the top and bottom of the picture, and pass them off as "widescreen" releases?

 

[Drtooth]

Because the 1:33;1 aspect ratio TV is becoming obsolete. No other reason. And if you watch these in wide screen, instead of having verrticle bars (like widescreen's horizontal bars) everything is stretched out and everyone looks fat and warped. As The Mighty Hamstinator from Earthworm Jim would put it... "It's all stretchy, weird, bad" (inside joke).

Not because I like to oppose you a lot, but on the flip side, I hate when DVD's AREN'T in wide frame. I have a small , crummy little 13 inch deal, and even still, I would rather see widescreen, because you lose the theatrical aspect... and I had a HORRIBLE experiance with the Ghostbusters VHS that soured me forever on full frame. they did the same stunt with Elmo in Grouchland.

Everytime a DVD that's available in both formats goes on sale, they ALWAYS put the FF one on sale, or package it with something Cool, while Wide screen, the better of the 2 mediums, always gets the shaft.

 

[D'Snowth]

Because the 1:33;1 aspect ratio TV is becoming obsolete.

Well that sucks! Seriously, THAT SUCKS!

Wide screen, the better of the 2 mediums

Hardly.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Either way you're losing some of the picture, so I'm just happy when they include both options.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm just happy when they include both options.

Hear! Hear! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: ALL DVDs should come with that option, instead of coming out with JUST "widescreen editions" and JUST "full screen editions".

 

[Winslow Leach]

You know what the problem is with older movies (pre 2000, I think) being released on DVD? They're only released in widescreen, which makes for a pretty bad viewing experience, since most of said older movies are actually shot in fullscreen. I just got a copy of Dragnet, hoping that IMDb would be correct that it was actually shot in widescreen, so I wouldn't loose any of the picture, but lo and behold, they were wrong, and the top and bottom of the picture have been cut out for those black bars.

Now my question is WHY? If a lot of these older movies weren't even filmed in widescreen in the first place, then why cut out the top and bottom of the picture, and pass them off as "widescreen" releases?

The OAR of Dragnet is 1.85:1, which is the standard for most theatrical movies, long before 2000. Even though it's not 2.40, 1.85:1 is still considered widescreen.

There's already a thread around here explaining various film ratios.

Personally, I prefer widescreen over pan & scan. The "black bars" never bothered me. And I have a 27-inch TV.

 

[D'Snowth]

The OAR of Dragnet is 1.85:1

Impossible. I've watched it on TV in full screen, and compared it to my widescreen DVD: the original aspect ration of Dragnet HAS to be 1.33:1!

 

[Drtooth]

Hardly.

Do yourself a favor. Rent a VHS of a full frame Ghostbusters video. You'll NEVER think so again. Shudder....

I will say it works better for movies, and not TV shows...

 

[karamazov80]

Do yourself a favor. Rent a VHS of a full frame Ghostbusters video. You'll NEVER think so again. Shudder....

I will say it works better for movies, and not TV shows...

That's funny you mention that, because one of my earliest recollections of seeing the black bars on a VHS tape was for Ghostbusters 2 at the beginning when there is text over the film's images, which then mysteriously disappear when the credits go away. I guess they learned their lesson from the wacky stretching that was noticeable, particularly at the end, of part 1. . .

Personally, I appreciate the bars allowing us to see films in their full glory. I had to special order Jurassic Park and Pulp Fiction when they were first released onto VHS so that I could see the whole thing, and I was really psyched that I did, despite the fact that my TV was about 15 inches or so at the time. However, I don't completely get the artificial bars sometimes placed on TV shows. If a show is shot in HD, that is one thing, but for the Justice League cartoons, black bars were added for style alone, and actually led to us seeing less of the show than was actually first produced, which I can only imagine happens on other shows as well.

If memory serves, the animators actually produced animation full screen, as this is how it was shown overseas, but they had to be careful to keep non-essential material out of the very top and bottom of the screens, because the U.S. distributer (cartoon network) wanted to show them in "widescreen format," which was just an attempt to keep up with perceived trends, I guess.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Heres how I see it. Movies are gennerally filmed for either widescreen, or fullscreen. Sometimes letterbox. Now, Since A movie can onlyt be filmed for one of the 2 formats, keep the format it was meant to be seen in.

Example, if a movie is shot in widescreen, you see the entire thing if you get it in widescreen. but if its transfered into fullscreen, you either lose the sides, or the picture gets all smooshed and warped. And its the same if its filmed in fullscreen. When it becomes widescreen, they usually chop off much more of the picture, and I would asume it be all sides so the picture would line up right, or the picture would become streted out.

I know that on the Incredibles dvd, the fullscreen version is all smashed together, and everyone is all skinny and sticklike. I couldnt stand it.

Usually if you watch a widescreen dvd on a widescreen tv, you dont see the lines as bad. I know if I watch a widescreen format dvd on my portable dvd player, there are no lines. But its annoying watching fullscreen dvds cause everything is stretched sideways.

I cant stand letterbox though. Spy Kids I think was in letterbox, with the really thick lines that take up half the screen themselves.