I can't find a forum heading for this topic so will try here. Yesterday I bought the "Horse Soldiers" dvd only to find it is in full screen despite it saying letterbox on the pack. The same thing happened with "Romeo is Bleeding" and "Its A Mad Mad Mad Mad World" they are not even pan and scan so you have instances where a charachter is speaking out of shot and you're seeing the other character listening. I'm going to take this dvd back to HMV and ask if they can complain to MGM about their false representation. The only thing i'd like to clear up is am I doing anything wrong. If a film is widescreen it automatically plays that way when you put it in the dvd player, right? Or do MGM dvRAB need tweaking? Say, setting the tv to widescreen? Can't imagine you'd have to.
Non Widescreen Mgm Dvds. Peeve.
- Thread starter l.t.
- Start date
DeadDrop12
New member
Most R1 MGM dvd's have 4:3 on one side and widescreen on the other.
Shall I ask the obvious question?
If they are R2 then are they quite old as releasing something like Its A Mad Mad Mad World in 4:3 is not something that would happen today.
Checked out PLAY who list the R2 as anamorphic widescreen.
Am I right in thinking you have the R1?
Shall I ask the obvious question?
If they are R2 then are they quite old as releasing something like Its A Mad Mad Mad World in 4:3 is not something that would happen today.
Checked out PLAY who list the R2 as anamorphic widescreen.
Am I right in thinking you have the R1?
famousbusinessguy
New member
I've just played a little bit of Waterloo and Lawrence of Arabia, both letter box on a wide screen TV. I'd have thought that the 'Horse Soldiers' would have been one of those big cinemascope epics that they knocked out in the 50s and 60s. What is the aspect ratio given on the box and what is your TV aspect ratio setting and if its got one, the output aspect ratio on your DVD player? Are you getting letter boxing with any other films?
[[bubbles]]<3Aaron
New member
That's odd my Region 2 copy is in anamorphic widescreen and, as far as I know, only ever been released in this flavour.
i just played the Horse Soldiers dvd on my pc and it plays in widescreen which is very puzzling. It means I have to change the settings on my tv to watch it in widescreen. This is not the case with dvRAB by any other company you just pop them in and they play in widescreen, why are MGM so bleedin' akward?. But at least I can finally watch my Mad Mad Mad Mad world dvd in full glory. (Possibly the most irritataing film title to have to type?). The only trouble is I tried to find a widescreen setting for my tv last but no luck. Thanks for your assistance.
▲▼ßððĝiз▼▲
New member
A widescreen tv is 16:9 which equates to about 1.77:1.
Any film wider than that will have black borders top and bottom ,even on a widescreen tv.
If you are able to zoom in to remove the borders you will lose image and the film will be in the wrong ratio.
Most of the Bond films and hundreRAB of classic movies were made in 2.35:1 so borders will be the norm.
Ben Hur is about 2.66:1 so the borders are quite big.
IIRC Lawrence of Arabia was wider than 2.35:1 aswell
Any film wider than that will have black borders top and bottom ,even on a widescreen tv.
If you are able to zoom in to remove the borders you will lose image and the film will be in the wrong ratio.
Most of the Bond films and hundreRAB of classic movies were made in 2.35:1 so borders will be the norm.
Ben Hur is about 2.66:1 so the borders are quite big.
IIRC Lawrence of Arabia was wider than 2.35:1 aswell
I hate it when new DVD's are released and they are either not in widescreen or are only widescreen on the 2 disc special editions. Disney is a big culprit for this.
Also, I hate the fact that Warner Bros either don't release their films in widescreen at all or put the full screen version on one side and the widescreen on another? What the hell is the point in that?!?
Why in America are films released in 2 versions, either full screen or widescreen format? Are Americans too stupid to set their DVD players up correctly according to their TV size or something? We don't have that nonsense over here. It's such a waste of time and money producing two copies of the same movie in different screen formats! Madness I tell you.
Paddy
Also, I hate the fact that Warner Bros either don't release their films in widescreen at all or put the full screen version on one side and the widescreen on another? What the hell is the point in that?!?
Why in America are films released in 2 versions, either full screen or widescreen format? Are Americans too stupid to set their DVD players up correctly according to their TV size or something? We don't have that nonsense over here. It's such a waste of time and money producing two copies of the same movie in different screen formats! Madness I tell you.
Paddy
I'm not sure what dvd's you have been looking at,but there are virtually no dvd releases of widescreen films that are not in widescreen .
I have dozens of Warner titles and apart from 50's oldies ,they are all in widescreen.
Disney UK have always treated their buyers as kiRAB whereas Disney US understanRAB that a large part of their sales are for adults.
Thats why titles like Lady and The Tramp were widescreen in 1999/2000 on R1 while R2 was 4:3.
There are many classic Disney titles like 20000 Leagues Under The Sea,The Love Bug,Pollyanna and The (original)Parent Trap that are bare bones here but released on r1 as 2 disc sets full of extras and commentaries.
The Walt Disney Treasures tins are an annual event on R1 but there are only a few out on R2.
I suspect Warner release 4:3 versions of big movies as enough sales are generated on R1 to support them.
MGM in the US still do double sided versions of some older films with 4;3 on one side.
If a single format version of a film is released its not always possible to have a 4:3 version on screen even if your dvd player is set right.
The aforementioned 2.35:1 films cannot play as 2.35:1 on a wide tv and then play as 4:3 on another set.
Some discs that have been produced to alter playback depending on your setting include You Only Live Twice and Spinal Tap.
YOLT was 2.35 and can be presented on a 4:3 set as 1.77 with small borders,whereas Spinal Tap was about 1.85 so the player can adjust to fill the screen.
Of course ,in either case,you lose picture info off the sides and discs that enable this type of playback offer a centre cut out rather than P&S (even though most players will call the setting by that name) so with a superwide film you could have invisible actors cut off on either side
I have dozens of Warner titles and apart from 50's oldies ,they are all in widescreen.
Disney UK have always treated their buyers as kiRAB whereas Disney US understanRAB that a large part of their sales are for adults.
Thats why titles like Lady and The Tramp were widescreen in 1999/2000 on R1 while R2 was 4:3.
There are many classic Disney titles like 20000 Leagues Under The Sea,The Love Bug,Pollyanna and The (original)Parent Trap that are bare bones here but released on r1 as 2 disc sets full of extras and commentaries.
The Walt Disney Treasures tins are an annual event on R1 but there are only a few out on R2.
I suspect Warner release 4:3 versions of big movies as enough sales are generated on R1 to support them.
MGM in the US still do double sided versions of some older films with 4;3 on one side.
If a single format version of a film is released its not always possible to have a 4:3 version on screen even if your dvd player is set right.
The aforementioned 2.35:1 films cannot play as 2.35:1 on a wide tv and then play as 4:3 on another set.
Some discs that have been produced to alter playback depending on your setting include You Only Live Twice and Spinal Tap.
YOLT was 2.35 and can be presented on a 4:3 set as 1.77 with small borders,whereas Spinal Tap was about 1.85 so the player can adjust to fill the screen.
Of course ,in either case,you lose picture info off the sides and discs that enable this type of playback offer a centre cut out rather than P&S (even though most players will call the setting by that name) so with a superwide film you could have invisible actors cut off on either side
Allergic To Eggs
New member
Yes I had a look at the remote and have now set the dvd player to widescreen but it still doesn't explain why every other film company dvd plays in widescreen automatically but only MGM require you to set the dvd player to widescreen. Does it mean that my other dvRAB will now play in extra wide widescreen? With regard to the Disney films, the classic cartoons were made in the 30s and 40s and, like Gone With The Wind, were made in fullscreen.
If your dvd player is not set to 16:9 then no anamorphic discs will display correctly on a wide tv.
A wide film will be displayed in letterbox format and after a few moments your tv would likely switch to ZOOM mode to fill the screen, but this is poorer quality compared to an anamorphic widescreen version.
Setting your dvd player to 16:9 will tell the player to recognise the WideScreen Switching flag on any discs that have it and to show the film squeezed.
Your tv should then receive the WSS and present the picture correctly and in the best quality possible.
A good number of MGM dvd's (and others) sometimes present films made in the almost 4:3 ratio of 1.66 :1 in non anamorphic mode.
Hammer's Hound of the Baskervilles and Vincent Price's Theatre of Blood are 2 that I have.
This type of presentation shows more image than if it was cropped to 1.77:1 but it does make it difficult to present the picture properly on a widescreen tv.
These non anamorphic discs will most likely say a 1.66:1 ratio on the back cover
A wide film will be displayed in letterbox format and after a few moments your tv would likely switch to ZOOM mode to fill the screen, but this is poorer quality compared to an anamorphic widescreen version.
Setting your dvd player to 16:9 will tell the player to recognise the WideScreen Switching flag on any discs that have it and to show the film squeezed.
Your tv should then receive the WSS and present the picture correctly and in the best quality possible.
A good number of MGM dvd's (and others) sometimes present films made in the almost 4:3 ratio of 1.66 :1 in non anamorphic mode.
Hammer's Hound of the Baskervilles and Vincent Price's Theatre of Blood are 2 that I have.
This type of presentation shows more image than if it was cropped to 1.77:1 but it does make it difficult to present the picture properly on a widescreen tv.
These non anamorphic discs will most likely say a 1.66:1 ratio on the back cover