I love the film, but I've decided to skip the Arrow release because of this aspect ratio issue. To me, it's more important to honour the wishes of the director than the cinematographer, since it's the director telling the story visually. And judging from the screen-captures at 'DVD Beaver', Storaro has also made major colour corrections to the Arrow release; the film now looks closer to the washed-out monochromatic look of Saving Private Ryan, with none of the 60s colour and vibrancy of the original release.
I'm not sure why Arrow decided to go along with this, since their DVDs for Deep Red, Phenomena, Opera and The Card Player are all very good. Their release of Inferno is fantastic.
If you have a region-free DVD player try and track down a copy of the Blue Underground release, which from the review, seems to be the best looking, visually.
Here's the link to the 'DVD Beaver' review if you want to read it in more detail and judge for yourself: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/dvdreviews44/bird_with_the_crystal_plum age_blu-ray.htm
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OliverBagshaw
12 years ago
I bought the Arrow release from HMV for £5 and I didn't have anything against it. Although, I hadn't seen the film before I purchased it (I had clearly heard of it and was curious - for £5, I wasn't going to complain) so I'm not sure if the image differs on the Arrow release as opposed to others. I have no complaints about it though.
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mlock76
12 years ago
I recently purchased the Arrow version of the film, but strictly for the features. I already "have access" to a copy of the BU transfer, but not the features. Kinda like having the best of both worlds. :)
"I am alone, I am not lonely"
HEAT (1995)
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