Another Blown Opportunity: The WB Butchers LOTR

[borghe]

all petty bickering aside, again I have to say, what did we expect.

J6P doesn't like black bars (or so the networks believe). for 3+ years now every network out there, except for Showtime and HDNet, have cropped movies. And as J6P buys more and more HDTVs, networks will be inclined to keep with the current policy.

I hate to sound like a defeatest, but we never complained like this when HBO gave us 4:3 crop jobs for decades, or Showtime, or the networks, or even VHS. At this point it is just pretty ridiculous to hear "such and such a network cropped the movie." I mean they have been doing it for decades, why would ikt change with HDTV?

Our best bet is to just make sure we get out there and support the upcoming HD disc formats. Show them that there is a market for prerecorded HD content.

To me it isn't a shame that networks don't show OAR. It is to be expected. What would be a shame is if there was such a lack of support for the future formats that the message the studios got was "We are fine with OAR (SD)DVD releases and cropped HD network releases." THAT would suck.

[Mark Strube]

That would suck... although I'll admit it doesn't bother me quite so badly when the picture is simply opened up instead of cutting the sides off.

[Joseph S]

To me it isn't a shame that networks don't show OAR. It is to be expected.

Why? They have 7 years of DVD sales with Widescreen OAR domination over P&S. The pathetic thing is they showed it in cropped letterbox on SD. I'm sorry but they screwed up big time on a major opportunity.

Not only did they screw up the AR, but they had their incessant "branding" in the middle of the screen. It's bad enough for WB to be owned locally by the lead multi-prostitute solicitor of MD, David Denton Smith, but their own screwups take them further from any dream of being a real network.

[borghe]

DVD viewers != casual network TV viewers

You will never see consistent OAR on 2.35:1 movies on TV, and will pretty much NEVER see it on TV except for exceptional instances.

Anyway, the frustration is moot. Both HD video formats will be here next year and then we can stop complaining about TV showing cropped movies and just go back to complaining that they aren't out on HD-DVD/Blueray yet.

[StarvingForHDTV]

I remember ABC-HD showing more than one movie in 2.35:1 format.

[borghe]

Originally posted by StarvingForHDTV
I remember ABC-HD showing more than one movie in 2.35:1 format.

all movies ABC has shown in 2.35:1 were transfers done quite some time ago. Any transfer that ABC has done for the past 3+ years are 1.78:1.

It is the same thing with OAR showing up on HBO. They are pretty much all transfers done in 1999.

[Skipjack]

Not only did they screw up the AR, but they had their incessant "branding" in the middle of the screen.

And those pesky commercials popping up every 11 minutes!

Expecting a pristene HD presentation from network television is like expecting a gourmet meal from McDonald's.

For every person complaining about OAR, there's probably 10 J6P's that would complain about black bars on their HDTV.  I feel your pain... but, we're in the minority here.  Most HDTV owners out there bought their sets for the clear picture.  They're not concerned with OAR or station bugs.

I'm not saying you shouldn't complain about it, however.  My biggest fear is this phenomenon will spill over to the DVD market someday.  2.35:1 films will be released in 16:9 and still marked "widescreen".   So, voicing your opinions now will hopefully make studios aware that there are people out there who want to see these films the way they were meant to be seen.