list of DVD/BDs cropped/stretched into widescreen

[Richard_Manri]

DISCLAMER: THIS ONLY INCLUDES PRE 1953 FILMS, TV SHOWS, AND FILMS COMPOSED FOR 4:3. This WILL NOT list films that have an open-matte version (e.g. National Lampoons Vacation, Point Break).

Titles I've complied:

Niagara - HKLV - DVD R0 - 1.74:1 (some shots)

Anna and the King of Siam - Golden Princess - DVD R0 - 1.85:1 (titles stretched while main feature matted)

Gulliver's Travels - Koch Vision/E1 Media - R1 DVD & BD Region A - 1.78:1 (cropped and stretched)

Dragon Ball Z "Orange Box" sets 1-8 - Funimation - R1 DVD - 1.78:1 (cropped)

Dragon Ball Z Kai sets 1-8 - Funimation - Region A BD - 1.78:1 (cropped)

Steven King's IT - Warner Home Video - R1 DVD - 1.78:1 (matted)

Lady Vengeance - Tartan - R? DVD- 1.74:1 (stretched vertically)

The Maid - Tartan/TLA - R0? DVD - 2.35:1 (stretched)

Keep 'em coming!!

Got any more? I know releases in other countries can differ in terms of AR.

[Alister_Manson]

Stephen King's IT was matted to 1.78:1 on the DVD release.

[Eric_Cotenas]

The standard version of LADY VENGEANCE in the Tartan US box set is a 16:9 transfer incorrectly flagged as 4:3 so it plays back squeezed to non-anamorphic 1.74:1 letterbox.

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

It's a helluva list, actually. I can put thousands titles right now.

[Eric_Cotenas]

Tartan/TLA's THE MAID was a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 master stretched to 16:9 so it looked like it's 2.35:1.

[Richard_Manri]

TNX, guys!

Oh, and Jim. Can you give me the ones you know off the top of your head?

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

Full Metal Jacket BR. Cropped as hell.

[Hamish_Towgood]

Dragon Ball Z Kai sets 1-8 - Funimation - Region A BD - 1.78:1 (cropped) ?

Dragon Ball Z Kai on Blu-Ray is presented in OAR of 4:3. It was only shown in Widescreen on network/cable television.

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

Black Jack, all DVDs with WS transfer.

[Hamish_Towgood]

Here is a whole bunch of Australian Blu-Ray releases that are cropped or open matte

Cropped Releases

22 Bullets (Roadshow) - French version is OAR - Canadian version is OAR
A Lonely Place to Die
And When Did You Last See Your Father? (Icon) - only released in AU
Astro Boy (Sony/Hoyts) - US version is OAR
Assassination of a High School President (All Interactive Entertainment) - German version is OAR, need confirmation
Awake (Icon) - US version is OAR
Black Death (Eagle Entertainment) - UK version is OAR
Bran Nue Dae (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
Buried (Icon) - starts off as 2.35:1 but then changes to cropped - US version is OAR
Butter
Brooklyn Rules (Icon) - German version may be OAR.
Carriers
Cedar Boys (Sony) - only released in AU
Centurion (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
Death Defying Acts (Icon Home Entertainment) - German version is OAR
Doghouse (Eagle Entertainment) - UK version is OAR
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (Reel Entertainment) - US version is OAR
Elephant White (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
Everything Must Go (Madman) - US version is OAR
From Paris With Love (Sony) - US version is OAR
Forever Strong (Eagle Entertainment) - only released in AU
Gun (Eagle Entertainment) - US version is OAR
Hesher (Universal) - US version is OAR
I Love You Too (Roadshow) - only released in AU
Home of the Brave (All Interactive Entertainment) - US version is OAR
Human Contract (All Interactive Entertainment) - only released in AU
Killing them Softly
Larry Crowne (Pinnacle Films) - US version is OAR
Mother's Day (Reel) - UK version is OAR
Powder Blue (All Interactive Entertainment) - US version is OAR
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Pinnacle Films) - US version is OAR
Strange Bedfellows (Icon) - starts off as 2.35:1 but then changes to cropped - only released in AU
Stone (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
Surveillance (Warner) - US version is OAR
Tamara Drewe (Roadshow) - US version is OAR - UK version is OAR
Ten Canoes (Madman) - only released in AU
The Adventures of Tintin (Madman) - cropped from 4x3 to 16x9
The Blair Witch Project (Icon) - cropped from 4x3 to 16x9 - US version is OAR
The Code (All Interactive Entertainment) - US version is OAR
The First Grader (Roadshow) - Cropped/ Reframing. Depending on the Scene, there was either heaps of info missing from the Left or the Right
The Hitcher (Icon) - Canada version is OAR
The Lookout
The Maiden Heist (AI Entertainment/Pinnacle) - Canada version is OAR
The Other Man (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
The Red Baron (Eagle Entertainment) - UK version is OAR
The Resident (Roadshow) - US version is OAR
The Sorcerer and the White Snake
Thunderbirds (Reel) - cropped from 4x3 to 16x9, but more info on left side
War, Inc. (All Interactive Entertainment) - US version is OAR


Open Matte or reframing

100 Feet (Icon) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
Arn: The Knight Templar (Eagle) - reframing - US version is OAR - This includes both the Australian regular and Collector's editions
Battle for Haditha (Eagle Entertainment) - open matte - more picture top/bottom and ~5% more on the sides in certain scenes
Brothers (Roadshow) - open matte - US version is OAR
Dear John (Roadshow) - open matte - US version is OAR
Faces in the Crowd (Roadshow) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR
Feast (Reel) - open matte - US version is OAR
Green Street Hooligans (Reel) - open matte & reframing - German version is OAR
I Melt With You (Universal) - US version is OAR - Majority of the film was Open Matte, But I noticed one scene was cropped . US is OAR.
New Town Killers (Eagle Entertainment) - open matte - UK version is the same, no OAR version available
Ninja (All Interactive Entertainment) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR
Planet Terror (Roadshow) - open matte (director approved) - German and US versions are OAR (as Grindhouse double feature)
Road Train (Pinnacle Films) - open matte - only released in AU
Smart People (Icon) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
Solomon Kane (Roadshow) - reframing - UK version is OAR
Stage Beauty (Icon) - open matte & reframing - only released in AU, more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
Tekken (Anchor Bay) - reframing - German version is OAR
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (Icon) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox) - open matte & reframing - director approved, all worldwide releases are the same
The Collector (Roadshow) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
The Evil Dead (Sony) - reframing (director approved) - US version is 4:3 OAR - top/bottom are cropped in reframing from 4:3 to 16:9
The Gift (aka Echelon Conspiracy) (All Interactive Entertainment) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
The Killing Machine (Icon) - open matte - US version is OAR
The King of Fighters (Eagle Entertainment) - open matte - German version is OAR
The Rebound (Roadshow) - open matte & reframing - UK version is OAR - more picture info on top/bottom, less on sides
The Reef (Pinnacle/All Interactive Entertainment) - open matte - US version is OAR
The Warrior's Way (Sony/Hoyts) - open matte - US version is OAR
Universal Soldier Regeneration (Revolution Entertainment) - open matte & reframing - US version is OAR

Source: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=167185

[Eric_Cotenas]

The UK release of THE AGGRESSION SCALE was cropped to 1.80:1 rather than opened up from 2.40:1 despite having been shot with a Red One.

[Jari_Kovalainen]

Full Metal Jacket BR. Cropped as hell.

Ah, the good old "4:3 vd WS" Kubrick debate. Full Metal Jacket - like many other films from Kubrick - was shown in 1.85:1 (or perhaps in 1.66:1) in the movie theatres. As you can see from these Beaver screencaps, there's plenty of headroom (some would say "too much" even) in 4:3, so the 1.78:1 framing looks mostly just fine. And you actually get a bit more image on the sides with 1.78:1.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... jacket.htm

Kubrick films are not really "cropped" in WS. They just keep the theatrical aspect ratio.

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

Ah, the good old "4:3 vd WS" Kubrick debate. Full Metal Jacket - like many other films from Kubrick - was shown in 1.85:1 (or perhaps in 1.66:1) in the movie theatres. As you can see from these Beaver screencaps, there's plenty of headroom (some would say "too much" even) in 4:3, so the 1.78:1 framing looks mostly just fine. And you actually get a bit more image on the sides with 1.78:1.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... jacket.htm

Kubrick films are not really "cropped" in WS. They just keep the theatrical aspect ratio.

Nah, I prefer 1.33 coz it gives more picture. And I don't care about intended ratio a bit. They should've kept 1.33 ratio.
Or give us 2 versions to choose. Hell, it's that simple, actually.

[Jari_Kovalainen]

Nah, I prefer 1.33 coz it gives more picture. And I don't care about intended ratio a bit.

Well, at least you're honest with your opinion. Many people believe that "more is more" and I can live with that.

The point still is that if people use the word "cropped" with these different home video releases, it usually means "cropped from the OAR". And with these selected Kubrick films (and e.g. many animations from Disney), the "theatrical aspect ratio" is 1.85:1 (well, or close - perhaps it was 1.75:1 or even 1.66:1 in some cases).

Below is a popular storyboard image from The Shining (another film where some people say that 4:3 is the OAR). It says: "The frame is exactly 1.85:1. Obviously you compose for that but project the full 1.33:1 area".

This is pretty much the whole point: Kubrick (and many other directors/DOPs working with 1.85:1 ratio) projected the 1.33.1 area so that he could release a 4:3 version, but he framed at 1.85:1.

[Alister_Manson]

Yeah, Kubrick wasn't a fan of letterboxing since it wasted space on a 4:3 screen. I'm quite certain he would approve of his films being released in 1.78:1 now that 16:9 screens are the norm, as opposed to the original DVD releases which came out when hardly anybody had them.

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

as opposed to the original DVD releases which came out when hardly anybody had them.

Yap, when those first Widescreen CRT TVs came on market, nobody was buying them.
They costed like 3 times more then any 4x3 TV, and there was no material to watch anyway.