if u had a widescreen would u rebuy films in widescreen

[slimpickins]

if u always had a normal tv so therefore had fullscreen films

and then u bought a nice widescreen tv, would u rebuy films in widescreen, is it important, how much would u guys in this situation say it effects u if alot of your films are in full screen but u have a widescreen

[yoda313]

I have bought 95% widescreen movies since I've owned a dvd player and I still only have a standard tv. I don't like the cropped pan and scan. For action/adventure movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings it sucks to miss the full view since its such beautiful artistry and scenery. Why miss an inch of it?

Now sometimes I've bought a full screen by mistake or got it used on the cheap. Whenever I do get hdtv I MAY buy the widescreen of those but probably not. I'd end up waiting for the next gen war to be decided and get the hd version of it.

[kirky99]

Same here. I only buy Widescreen movies, even when I had a standard TV. No need to rebuy

[garryheather]

I agree - I like to see a film as the director intended it. I never buy 4:3 pan and scans (or just plain butchered) versions unless there's no other choice.

Funnily enough there seems to be a US / Europe divide here - Americans feel hard done by if they don't use the whole screen where-as the European market think they've been ripped off if the studio couldn't be arsed with an anamorphic transfer. Very odd - no idea what that is.

[yoda313]

Americans feel hard done by if they don't use the whole screen where-as the European market think they've been ripped off if the studio couldn't be arsed with an anamorphic

Actually the best example of that not being that true was Blockbuster a few years back. When dvds first came out they started renting out only the FULL SCREEN dvds. Well after plenty of complaining they switched to widescreen.

[Prot]

Don't have to rebuy since I only buy widescreen versions, even though I only have a 4:3 television. As said by previous posters, I prefer to see the movie as it was shown in theaters, and black bars at top and bottom are a small price to pay. I find I can zone it out, and not notice them.

[ntscuser]

Yes and have done. When I had 4:3 TV I was perfectly happy with 4:3 movies. Since buying a W/S set a couple of years ago I've replaced them all with 16x9 versions. 4:3 movies look very peculiar on a W/S set even when the controls are set correctly.

[cd090580]

I have all the movies in 16:9. I can't find in Belgium the pan & scan versions, they are only released in widescreen

[hexxisoft]

my blockbuster always had all widescreen movies.

I remember because it used to piss off my ignorant friends and siblings that "the top and bottom of the screen is cut off."

retards.

[GilbyGood]

I have always felt that the movie is best viewed as the director envisioned it. So most of my DVD's are wide screened.

garryheather wrote:
Americans feel hard done by if they don't use the whole screen where-as the European market think they've been ripped off if the studio couldn't be arsed with an anamorphic

My dad would not watch a film that was in B/W because he had a color TV.

[BobK]

Don't have to rebuy since I only buy widescreen versions, even though I only have a 4:3 television. As said by previous posters, I prefer to see the movie as it was shown in theaters, and black bars at top and bottom are a small price to pay. I find I can zone it out, and not notice them.

I even find the black bars an advantage. My hearings's not perfect anymore and about 1 out of every 3 movies I can't understand what people are saying sometimes. After having to 'rewind' 3-4 times I'll turn on the subtitles- and about 75% of the time the subtitles show up in the black bar and don't block any of the picture.

[BobK]

I remember because it used to piss off my ignorant friends and siblings that "the top and bottom of the screen is cut off."retards.

My brother was the same way. He was always getting pissed because he had a 52" TV and he wanted the whole picture filled. Even after drawing him diagrams to show what he was missing with full screen, he didn't like widescreen.

[garryheather]

Actually the best example of that not being that true was Blockbuster a few years back. When dvds first came out they started renting out only the FULL SCREEN dvds. Well after plenty of complaining they switched to widescreen.

I stand by my original comment. Partly because when I buy region 1 discs I still have to be damn careful NOT to get the hack and slash version by accident (I have not seen a choice of two identical movies released in 2 different aspect rations as a region 2 title for a good few years now - in fact I can't actually remember the last time...), and partly because region 1 discs still get advertised like widescreen makes it a "special edition". There's nothing special about it at all - it's like trying to pass off chapter menus as "bonus features" in my mind. If they sold 4:3's as "Inferior Edition" I'd be more forgiving !

Personally I wouldn't consider the executive decision of one company as being definitive - if Blockbuster wanted to carry 4:3 versions of their movies then it was probably more likely that they were cheap - maybe because the studio think they're less likely to get copied on mass or get them at a reduced price to make up for the reduced content (here in the UK, we often see "rental only" titles that don't have all the bonus features, but they're still anamorphic widescreen transfers on the whole).

I used to work for a major Japanse company who always used to say that the European market - in particular the British market (when it comes to HiFi and video) were notoriously difficult to sell in to, hence these areas often having slightly different product ranges to cater for them. What takes off in one country often bombs in another, that's just the way it goes. Hollywood may be the biggest producer of mainstream movies and epics, but the European side seems to be more "purist" and demanding when it comes to actually buying the stuff. We also do silly things like try and find foreign movies in their native language and read the subtitles instead of trying to find the dubbed counterpart, which seems really odd to some people but foreign films - especially the arthouse movies - are having a surge in popularity again at the moment and are carried by most high street stores who often drive the market if given half the chance.

And before anyone asks, I often get region 1 discs in preference to region 2's sourced locally for a number of reasons, mainly because I think this region coding lark is a bit of a joke these days and there isn't the long gap between the release of American films in the US and its release in the UK like there used to be, but also because the US versions often contain more interesting content (to me, at least) in the way of making-of features and so on, where the European versions tend to sacrifice this to make space for all the foreign languages they support (plus, occasionally, licensing issues). Either that or we get 2-disc editions at 1.5 disc prices, which I try and avoid on principle almost as much as I avoid "full screen" versions. Incidentally, some titles are produced in true 16:9 (I seem to remember seeing The Incredibles as one such title that comes to mind) - so you could always argue these are "full screen" in a roundabout sort of way.

Actually, a silly question but one I'd like answered, is how many 4:3 TV's are still on sale in the Americas ? I ask because here in the UK widescreen televisions have the majority of the market share (I'm on about TV's, plasma / LCD in that grouping, my point is very few people except the hotel chains seem to be buying new 4x3 sets).

I am wondering if widescreen movies don't seem to be so widely accepted outside of Europe because the format of the TV's used to view them on isn't so favourable. If this is true, I can see HD being a bit slower in gaining ground than a few people would hope.

[yoda313]

Actually, a silly question but one I'd like answered, is how many 4:3 titles are still on sale in the Americas

I think you can generally get any movie in both versions still. I know at least Star Wars Episode 3 was availble in Widescreen and Full Screen. Actually I have Jurassic Park 3 in full screen (it was a gift and I was too lazy to exchange it for a widescreen copy). And I bought Matrix revolutions in full screen becuase it was on sale used so I got it.

If you go to a best buy or something you'll often see both wide and full screen next to each other. So you can still get either version.

[guns1inger]

Thankfully, over here, most releases are original aspect ratio only, so I don't have to rebuy anything when and if I get a widescreen TV.