Page 1 of Misframing on other DVDs

This misframing on BTFF also occurs on my region 1 version of Apollo 13 (it resembles the P&S version I taped off the TV, but with black bars top and bottom), but I assumed there was some good reason.

I think it`s outrageous that a studio should just do that for seemingly no good reason.

Has anyone else noticed this problem on Apollo 13 or any other discs, and is there anything we can do about it?

This item was edited on Saturday, 21st December 2002, 18:40

Appolo 13 was shot in Super 35, meaning that portions of the frame were never intended to be seen theatrically and were also absent when it was presented on DVD. When the film was shown on TV it was presented with minimal panning and scanning from the original Super 35 frame, but it would still appear to contain more picture information than the widescreen 2.35:1 transfer. For a better explaination than I could offer here, take a look at this page:

http://www.technosound.co.uk/homecin/widescreen/widescreen.htm#smatte

For me, any Super 35 transfer framed at 2.35:1 is something of a rip-off anyway (BTTF was 1.85:1 on video). I`m well aware that the majority of films are MUCH improved by using a 2.35:1 ratio on the DVD (Ghostbusters and Die Hard for example), but IMO any film shot open-matte would actually look better at 1.85:1. That way you get all the necessary image area from all sides without chopping off feet/heads and without the need for panning or scanning. You can forget all that crap about boom-mikes etc, as a re-framed 1.85:1 could be specifically tailored to avoid that kind of thing, while still retaining a `wider` aesthetic..