Am I the only one here who absolutely HATES movies that are not presented in letterbox format preserving the original cinematic aspect ratio?

I cannot stand it when movie companies butcher movies and destroy the cinematography by cropping the damned thing or doing pan and scan. They should NEVER destroy a movie by cutting anything from it...

Have you ever noticed how much picture is missing when you see a "standard" picture versus a cinematic aspect letterbox picture? There is so much picture missing on some of them that it destroys the feel of the scene.

For those of you who love movies and buy DVDs, please support the director's vision and do not buy butchered copies... I will ONLY buy LETTERBOXED editions if they are available and often times I will not even buy a movie if it is not released in letterbox format.

Anamorphic Letterbox movies that are enhanced for 16:9 televisions are my favorite, as I have a 65" 16:9 HDTV.

All the DVD signals are sent through a Faroudja de-interlacer, line-doubler as well.

Who is with me on this?

EDIT: Aspect ratios below

Here are examples of aspect ratios:

Standard 4:3 TV:



1.33:1



1.85:1



2.35:1

Widescreen 16:9 TV:



1.33:1



1.85:1



2.35:1
...
[This message was edited Wed Oct 16 19:41:16 PDT 2002 by IceNine]

Letterbox only if available!

rdhull said:

You are a damned good man and don't think that I haven't noticed!



FUCK STANDARD FORMAT!

Letterbox by far.You get to see the WHOLE movie.The little details that get lost on the edges in standard format.The only letterbox that sux to me is Blade.It's a tiny bar down the middle of the screen.It's much smaller than any other letterbox i have seen.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 16 18:54:18 PDT 2002 by 4LOVE]

4LOVE said:

Blade had a cinematic aspect ratio of 2.35:1 which is pretty wide.

Blue Velvet is also at 2.35:1... there are a number of movies with very wide aspect ratios... this just shows how much you will lose if you crop it to 4:3 standard.

Most widescreen movies are 1.85:1, and that is the standard for anamorphic widescreen.

IceNine said:

I know there are different tv aspects US 352x240,Japan and Eurpoe 352x288.Why was the widescreen made in a different size format?Does it have to do with where it was filmed?

Good information on anamorphic enhanced DVDs:

http://www.smr-home-theat...rphic.html

More good information on aspect ratios:

http://www.flyingpictures...creen.html

Moved to initial post...
[This message was edited Wed Oct 16 19:41:35 PDT 2002 by IceNine]

I'm all the way with you on this Icenine.

I only buy movies that are in their correct aspect ratio as the director intended. I hate cropped films, you miss so much picture.

Anormorhic letterbox for me.

Whichever one it is that makes the Ya-Ya Sisterhood look shapely.

These animated GIFs show the lost information on Standard/Pan and Scan DVDs versus Letterbox:

I vould choose zee letterbox.

letterbox, baby.

I'm pushing the envelope into the letterbox!

So... does anyone on here actually like Pan and Scan/Standard aspect movies?

Letterbox all the way!

IceNine said:

My favourite Pan and Scan moment was when they panned left-to-right across the subtitle!
(I think it was a TV showing of Return of the Jedi.)


I only wish they had added a `bouncing ball` across the top of the words...

Letterbox everytime!

I work in music retail, and it's depressing how many
stupid people there are out there who don't like
widescreen because of the black bars top & bottom of
the screen, and to cap it all, they often think that
those black bars mean that some of the picture's
missing!

I've lost count of the times I've tried to explain
screen ratios to customers who just don't get it,
and prefer buying pan & scan so they will get the
'full picture' on their TV's.

I got yer pan & scan Harry Potter right here!



(And yes, I prefer subtitles to dubbing as well.)

BorisFishpaw said:

You mentioned Harry Potter... what kind of purchasing trend have you noticed on that disc, since they put out two different versions?

What percentage would you say buys widescreen and what percentage buys pan and scan?

With popular mainstream films like Harry Potter
it tends to be about 80% pan & scan, 20% widescreen.
Sad but true.

The percentages head in a much more healthy direction
the closer you get to 'classic' or more 'grown up' films.

IceNine, I share your pain.

BorisFishpaw said:

That is a VERY sad and scary thing, as the studios might decide that the demographics of sales dictate that they butcher all films...

I worry about that.

ian said:

It is painful to see a movie butchered with Pan and Scan isn't it?

IceNine said:

So do I.
That's exactly why they practically stopped making widescreen video.

BorisFishpaw said:

I hope that HDTV and 16:9 widescreen televisions really catch on... that will help keep movies in their cinematic aspect ratios.

I wish that there was a way to really educate the public on this issue... or that directors would REFUSE to allow their movies to be butchered.

IceNine said:

I second that!
If the directors only allowed the films to be released in thier original format ratio, people would soon get used to it, and hopefully would never go back.
(but I fear that monkeys may fly out of my butt first)

I only buy movies that are letterbox...except I was sooo excited when Grease came out (so WHAT? LOL)... I ran to and bought it (it was labeled Full Screen)...like a deer in headlights, I didn't THINK, bought it, placed it in my DVD player...

The rest is history...

IceNine said:

You are SO not alone here! Pan & Scan absolutely BLOWS, it's incredibly distracting & detectable. And there's NO excuse for Standard Format in 2002. Letterbox or nothing (which is why I still don't own PR on DVD).

Another thing: WHY is the Goodfellas DVD, one of the best films of all time, double sided??? i.e., you have to turn the bitch over to see the second half of the movie... WTF is wrong w/ the folks who put out DVD's???

CalhounSq said:

I am with you on the "flipper" thing... that really annoys me. They might get it together and make a dual-layer edition with the film on one side of a disc. They finally released "Amadeus" in a non-flipper edition a few weeks ago, so maybe they will get it together on some other great movies.

AND

I am glad to see that everyone on here that has responded sees how horrible pan and scan and standard format are... there might be hope for the letterbox format yet!

LaVisHh said:

Do you have a widescreen, 16:9 television?

I REALLY hate watching standard format movies on my 16:9 screen... damn, it sucks.