Question about "The Adventures of Robin Hood" DVD review here

[incubus0]

The review written up here (LINK) has the aspect ratio listed at 1.85:1 and anamorphic along the right side, but in the body of the review it lists the aspect ratio as 1.37:1

Is one of these off, or is this an anamorphic presentation with bars along the sides for 16x9 screens?

[Doctor_Mabuse]

This is not a WS film. It was made in 1938. The Academy ratio is the correct one.

[Dehrian]

Widescreen didn't even exist until the '50s, so it's not possible for it to have been a widescreen film.

[disclover]

This is a goof on the part of the web site. I have seen this happen before, where incorrect technical specs get listed alongside the review. The information given in the review itself is correct.

By the way, did anyone else who read this review get major-league excitement? I think I am going to have to have the box set of all these new Warner SEs. If they approach the Robin Hood one in terms of thoroughness of supplements and care of production, this is going to be one awesome batch of DVD releases.

[papibear]

Originally Posted by Dehrian

Widescreen didn't even exist until the '50s, so it's not possible for it to have been a widescreen film.

Welll.....actually that's not entirely correct. Various widescreen film formats WERE in existence before the 1950s, as far back as the 1890s. A number of films from the late 20s/early 30s were even released in widescreen (most notably one of John Wayne's first films, The Big Trail, which was more widely released in Academy standard 1.33:1 AR (two different negatives, one widescreen, one standard; the recently released DVD is of the standard edition). The problem was popularity and financing, mostly. Seems people just didn't dig the widescreen images too much (and besides, sound was so much more interesting in that era). It wasn't until the dawn of the television age and its deleterious effect on cinema attendance figures that the need for theatrical film to distinguish itself and bring audiences back came about, and the tremendous popularity of This Is Cinerama in 1952 was no doubt a major reason for the shift into widescreen. The introduction of 20th Century-Fox's Cinemascope in 1953 then blew the widescreen doors open and we've never been the same since.

Anyone interested in film and DVD should bookmark Martin Hart's American Widescreen Museum website. It's truly a treasure trove of widescreen film technical information and history.

[THXHEYNOW]

1

[incubus0]

Originally Posted by THXHEYNOW

The specs on the right also say its in 5.1 was it remixed?

It also doesn't mention anything about that in the body of the review.

A little clarification would be nice.

[THXHEYNOW]

I used to always be emailing the reviewers that have the specs listed at 5.1 that were mono or wrong aspect ratios. I used to subscribe to the Laserdisc DVD newsletter and they whould always review discs with no problems to report and but then when everyone got them they whould be missing a channel or have some major defect that they somehow didnt notice.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by incubus0

A little clarification would be nice.

I've sent a link to this thread to the DVD reviewer, in this case, so they might be reading your comments.

Peace...

[THXHEYNOW]

1

[incubus0]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I've sent a link to this thread to the DVD reviewer, in this case, so they might be reading your comments.

Peace...

Thank you

[lostwire]

I just picked it up today & I'm really excited to watch it... haven't seen it since I was a kid

[disclover]

Originally Posted by lostwire

I just picked it up today & I'm really excited to watch it... haven't seen it since I was a kid

Lucky you to get it early! If you get a chance to watch it soon, let us know if it's really as awesome as it sounds!

[jonathan_little]

This goof seems to happen too often with the DVDFile reviews where the right hand info does not actually correspond to the movie being reviewed. This is a 4:3 film with mono sound.

Also note that the score to Adventures of Robin Hood has been recorded again in a more complete form than the Varese Sarabande version mentioned in the review. It will be available 'soon' from Naxos/Marco Polo on DVD-A (with DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks for DVD-V player compatibility.) This re-recording is also available on CD but it's taking forever for Naxos to get both the CD and DVD-A versions to the USA for some reason.

[lostwire]

Originally Posted by disclover

Lucky you to get it early! If you get a chance to watch it soon, let us know if it's really as awesome as it sounds!

It was fantastic! I'm in awe how a 68 year old film could look so good. The colors were stunning... so lush & vibrant! Just a few shots here & there were blurry but overall the picture was full of detail & you'd be hard pressed to guess it was filmed so long ago. I must add it's been years since I saw it last & I was really impressed with the production & all the leads (Flynn was the man!). It's too bad the audio doesn't match the quality of the picture but it was fine really, no big complaints. Also the wardrobe was simply beautiful, but the merry men could have used a bit of dirt after spending all that time in the forest

Oh, Olivia de Havilland was a babe!

[Dehrian]

Oh, I had a big crush on Olivia when I was a kid. Her and Joan Fontaine. Didn't even know they were sisters, so it's rather ironic.

[disclover]

Thanks for the comments lostwire. I can't buy any DVDs this week (cash shortage ), but I will be picking up the Warner Legends box sometime in the next two-three weeks. You've really whetted my appetite for these releases.