Matted Widescreen?
I got this today on DVD and its in "matted" widescreen... ugh. Who the hell thought this was a good idea to chop off the top and bottom of the movie to make it a fake widescreen???
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MovieChat Forums > V (1983) Discussion > Matted Widescreen?
The two-part original V mini-series and three-part "Final Battle" mini-series were filmed in 16:9 widescreen, they're intended to be seen in that format. Nothing is cropped, the only cropping happens when footage from the mini-series is converted to 4:3 fullscreen, sacrificing width to fill up the screen of standard televisions. This is pointed out on the DVD commentary by Kenneth Johnson, the mini-series stories were unique back in the 80s for being filmed for television, yet intended to be seen in the widescreen format.
"Just tell the minister, I'm gonna be a few minutes late". *Cue John Williams' Superman theme*
That is definitely not the case, SilentDues. I have both of the V miniseries on VHS, and just recently got my hands on DVD copies of both. To see if you're correct, I looked at both my VHS copies, and DVD copies last night.
The picture available on the 4:3 VHS has definitely been cropped/matted-out on top and bottom to create the 16:9 widescreen DVDs.
And I have a difficult time believing that the matted-out 16:9 picture size, is what was intended in the first place, as it has resulted in the tops of people's heads being chopped off in a rather unsightly manner. I know what Kenneth Johnson says in the commentary, but I just don't buy it. I suspect he's doing more in the way of making excuses for there being picture material missing on the DVDs.
Here is an idea for you, why not make a compairison video (VHS vs. DVD) and upload that clip to YouTube, so that people can see the differences you are talking about ?
Just wondering my self about how much chopping that has been done.
Only thing I can say is that the Spanish DVDs of Original miniseries and Final Battle are true full 16:9 widescreen. No chopped heads, no upscaling, no stretching, nothing. They are dated 2008 and feature the original English audio, the Spanish dubbing, and the italian dubbing, and subtitles.
Also, it makes sense that there are true 16:9 transfers, since the miniseries and the final battle were shot in 35 mm film. However, the DVDs of the latter series are 1:33 'cause they were shot in video.
Here is a screencap of my DVD: http://oi47.tinypic.com/301j2j8.jpg
The 1983 mini was framed for 16:9 - that I do remember, but I don't recall reading, seeing, or hearing the same case for TFB...
The same people who rant in the Star Trek Next Generation remastering project forums that TNG should be matted/reframed in 16:9 as well...
16:9 could work for V and TFB, but - depending on how they were framed when filmed, a lot of scene editing would have to be done to get around issues like heads being clipped by the matting, etc...
It's nice having the full wide screen filled, but not when you're losing vertical detail. I'll prefer the pillarbox effect for now...
V was filmed with the possibility of overseas theatrical release in mind, hence the matted widescreen. They shot safety both ways, and both aspect ratios are correct, at least as far as Kenneth Johnson and Warners are concerned.
shareI just noticed this too on www.blu-ray.com. I sold my VHS tapes on eBay years ago hoping to upgrade to DVD some day. Now I see the aspect ratio listing as 1.85:1 and I am going bonkers as to why.
Tell Warner Bros. to do a Blu-ray right.
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