From Dusk Till Dawn anamorphic ?

[Malte Schmidt]

Hi!

Anyone got the "From Dusk Till Dawn" Special Edition yet ?

After all the confusion, can anyone confirm whether it's anamorphic or not ?

Malte.

[clortho]

It's been delayed, supposedly just until October, and according to BV, it no longer includes a new anamorphic transfer.

Pardon me, but whats the fuckin point of re-releasing it without a new transfer? ARGH!

Clortho

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[Jay M]

From everything I've heard and read both FDTD and the first Scream film in the upcoming box set will NOT be enhanced for 16:9 displays. I know a lot of folks get upset about forced adds, but IMO, that's small potatoes compared to Disney/BV re-releasing discs like these with the same transfer used a couple of years ago that were pretty much the same as the LDs. We're going into the fourth year of the format and HDTV is beginning to make inroads into consumers' homes and BV is still too cheap to do a new transfer so that we really get something for our hard earned $$$.

Just means I'll be spending my disposable income on other titles by studios that seem to understand that the movie is what comes FIRST. Fox, Universal, Dreamworks, Anchor Bay will all be getting a lot of my money over the next couple of months. About the only thing I'm getting from Disney/BV is the Toy Story set and that has more to do with it coming through Pixar. I din't upgrade to a 16:9 HD ready RPTV for this shit. There's absolutely NO excuse for BV to not do a HD transfer that incorporates anamorphic enhancement for ALL re-releases that are natively widescreen.

Are we gonna have to wait 5-10 years when (if?) HD-DVD comes to market before we get DVDs from BV that are worth buying? Sure seems that way. And I'd bet that they'll (Disney/BV) will be at the forefront of those co.s blocking any plans of introducing a product like HD-DVD to the market when the time comes.

The greed of this co. and their lack of respect for their customers is beyond my comprehension.

Sorry about the rant, but I would've bought both these titles, even after already having them from a couple of years ago, if they had been done right.

Jay M.

[Malte Schmidt]

Hi!

Jay, I agree with you completely. The minute I learned that even the new FDTD DVD will not be anamorphic, I cancelled my order. I am NOT going to buy the same non-anamorphic transfer twice. Not even for the Bonus disc.
That's also why I didn't preorder the "Nightmare before christmas" SE, although I absolutely adore that film.

BTW - is it true what they say over at dvdreview.com that the disc (N.B.C. I mean) will feature a dts track ?

Clortho: I think that only the 4-Disc boxed set was delayed and the SE of the first film ist still set fopr 9/26.
After all, DVDEmpire has a cover scan (including the back) online since this morning. And they usually get their DVDs a couple of days before the official street date in order to get them to their customers in time.

Malte.

Just gotta say something about the rumoured delay; over at http://www.dvdtimes.org.uk - a UK forum, someone recieved his copy of FDTD today from America, although I haven't got mine yet.

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www.electronicreality.co.uk

[Jay M]

Malte,
Remember when the Halloween H20 DVD was first put out. BV actually had the nerve to have "DTS" as one of the extras on the disc, along with commentaries. Neither feature was on the DVD, but unless you follow this stuff on the net you wouldn't have known until after buying the disc. Now I'm not saying that's the case for N.B.C., but it does make me doubt in a DTS soundtrack until I've heard so from a reliable source.

Right now Disney/BV is, IMO, the most DVD unfriendly studio in the business. Even their commercials imply a lie- "on video and Disney DVD", like they helped to found the format. My purchases from them will likely be few and far between.

I sure hope they get their thing together before it's time to release The Lion King.

Jay M.

[BathTub]

I cancelled my pre-order of Short Circuit the moment I found out (through the review on this site) that it wasn't anamorphic

if it ain't anamorphic widescreen, why bother?

[Malte Schmidt]

Hi!

BathTub: Well, non-anamorphic DVDs are still better than crappy VHS tapes. Especially when they've got 5.1 sound.
It's still the best way to watch the movie when there's no anamorphic DVD available.

But it's disappointing nonetheless, considering what an anamorphic transfer would look like. :-(

Malte.

[Malte Schmidt]

Hi!

Jay: I hope that the announced "Platinum editions" of their ten premium titles will be 2-disc-sets like they did on "Tarzan". That was a really great set. "A Bug's Life SE" was great, too. And it looks like "Fantasia" and "Toy Story" will also be pretty good releases. Let's hope for the best.

It's just a shame what they're doing with their so-called "Gold Collection".

BTW: It's the other way around with MGM. My latest 3 MGM-DVDs feature a better movie presentation than it said on the original announcement AND on the back of the DVD case:
"Henry V" was anamorphic although it didn't say so. And "Spaceballs" and "Moonraker" have 5.1 sound. "Fargo" too, I think.

Malte.

[This message has been edited by Malte Schmidt (edited 09-24-2000).]

[Jay M]

BathTub,

While I agree, with both you and Malte, that having anamorphic enhancement is of extreme importance, if a movie that is one of my favorites is put out with a reasonably good transfer and I can get more pleasure out of it than on any other format, I'll add it to my collection even if not enhanced for 16:9.

This is the FIRST time that Short Circuit can be viewed in it's OAR. The video transfer is decent, a Hell of a lot better than either VHS or LD. The remastered soundtrack is very good as well. And I doubt that this title will be revisited before a better format is introduced (especially since this is classified by Image as a "SE"), probably a decade away.

When my wife and I watched it, we cued up the trailer before watching the film itself. Scared us both, since NO attention was given to the trailer's quality. We looked at each other and at the same time said, "Hope the movie looks better than this". Thank goodness it does. It's a bit dark and colors are sometimes oversaturated. There is a bit of overenhancement to edges. But overall, not just watchable, but rewatchable. Much like the Princess Bride (which I'll probably rebuy when it's put out as a "SE").

If you want to see Short Circuit look better than it's ever looked before on the "small" screen, give the DVD a try.

Malte,

As to Disney's treatment of Tarzan- I agree, one of the few they've done right. Since they announced the 2 disc set well before the stripped version came out I was able to use a little bit of delayed gratification and hold out for the better set. If they do something similar for they're other classics, I'll be a buyer.

Just so ya'll know what type of equip. I'm using for comparison- Pioneer Elite Pro-510 53" HD-ready RPTV, Sony 530 DVD player- component connection using AudioQuest cables, calibrated using both AVIA and VE.

Take care,
Jay M.