Non-Anamorphic releases - why do they bother?

[WeaselFierce]

You wonder at the mentality of studios who insist on releasing material in a mediocre format. Given the rise in widescreen TV usage you'd think anamorphic widescreen would be the standard for all DVD releases. But, no, the idiots putting the discs out there know better.

What's worse is when you wait ages for a classic film to finally make DVD and the package they've put together is absolutely ****e.

2 examples out recently are 'Black Rain' and '2010'. Both with a RRP of £19.99. Both movies sporting some spectacular visuals and yet both are released in a non-anamorphic format. And to top it off, neither has any real extras.

Just what exactly is it that's supposed to tempt us to buy a film again in a format that's already redundant? The T2:UE is brilliant example of how to repackage a classic title and the sales figures they've had shows there's definitely a market for a job well done.

How long do we have to wait before other distributers cotton on?

[Skeeve]

2010 actually has an rrp of 15.99 which if you look at all the warner brother releases equates to no extras. Personally I'd have much preferred an anamorphic picture but the lack of extras doesn't bother me for a film like this.

While its not very good of the studios to just release stuff like this its hardly reasonable to expect an ultimate edition for every old film. The sales of such editions would be very poor for the majority of films as people wouldn't be prepared to pay over £20 for many films. If you are going to wait for other distributors to catch on I'd recommend you don't hold your breath.

Incidentally if you are going to make a point about classic movies deserving better treatment from the studios you should choose better examples e.g. blade runner than the 2 you did as they are decent but nothing special. ;)

To call a non-anamorphic dvd a redundant format is also quite clearly ludicrous, the audio and video quality of even a basic non-anamorphic picture is far superior to vhs.

[WeaselFierce]

I take your point about the extras and I agree. I would much rather have the best picture possible for the movie than most extras.

But, if you have a widescreen TV, a non-anamorphic release doesn't offer you the best picture possible. And, while there is no question the picture and sound far surpasses VHS, there's no real reason why they couldn't release the movies in the optimal available format.