THE DVD Fox checks in with a spotty 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer of Dunston Checks In on one side of a DVD and a fullscreen pan-and-scan version on the other.
The 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer looks as glorious, on occasion, as the all - digital Attack of the Clones (you'll swear you're watching a celluloid source during some scenes), but often the image is plagued by halos and other tape - to - film - to - tape artifacts.
Those like me accustomed to seeing the Indiana Jones films in the wonder of degraded pan-and-scan videocassettes should rejoice at the sight of these DVDs, which offer higher resolution and preserve the considerable frame width
in anamorphic widescreen transfers nearer to 2.35:1 than the 2.20:1 aspect ratios widely cited.
THE DVD The bare - bones 2 - disc set from Columbia TriStar, packaged in a dual - platter gatefold with a cardboard sleeve, contains a clean and vivacious
1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer of a digital video source.
is showcased in an excellent 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer so fine in its shadow detail that every pock on Burton's face is like a cave in a lunar landscape.
It plays under a crisply - detailed, well -
compressed anamorphic widescreen transfer that for no explicable reason dispenses with the Super35 film's projected aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in favour of its negative aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
THE DVD Warner has seen fit to remaster Beetle Juice for a «20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition» DVD, whose 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer sports crisper definition and brighter colours than the comparatively electronic - looking 1998 platter.
The 2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer restores the original «scope compositions to the b & w picture, revealing a newly convincing depiction of the post-apocalypse: shopping carts crowding a sliding door to a grocery store, bodies littering wide public stairwells; in its low - budget resourcefulness, it's as good as the process shots in stuff like Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire — which is very good indeed.
Sufficed to say I'm not going to assess the 2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer because I have no idea what consumers are getting for their ill - spent cash, though I can confirm that the DD 5.1 audio is suitably loud, with lots of rear - atmospherics that almost, almost get your heart pumping.
Laden with dull blacks and mild edge - enhancement, the «all - new digital» 2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer fails to show off the capabilities of the format while representing a minor upgrade from the previous DVD in terms of saturation and reproduction of flesh tones.
THE DVD Disney presents Twice Upon a Christmas on DVD in a Pixar - clear 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer complete with a surprisingly intricate (though not particularly expansive) 5.1 soundmix in your choice of Dolby Digital and booming DTS.
THE DVDs Released on DVD a few years back by DreamWorks in an «Awards Edition» now bundled as part of Paramount's «Best Picture: Academy Award Winners Collection,» American Beauty is crying out for a fresh run through the telecine (there's a hair in a couple of frames), its 2.37:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer conspicuously struck back in the nascence of the format.
The Night of the Iguana debuts on DVD in a 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer shot through with minor lines and other faults that manage not to leave much of a negative impression.
Not much to report on either end of the A / V spectrum here: the perfunctory - feeling, windowboxed 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer reproduces Kondo's muted colour palette with some fidelity, while music is the only thing giving the rear speakers any kind of workout as far as the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is concerned.
The mastering on this 2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer appears to have paid fine attention to colour saturation, but that doesn't mean the movie's Technicolor looks any more vivid than, say, an episode of «Emergency!».
The beautifully - modulated 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfers betray a 35 mm source that overemphasizes neither the plasticity of the Henrickson household nor the bland decay of the Roman Grant household the way a shot - in - HD incarnation of the series might.
The 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer renders the film's slate of greens, especially, with a verdant fidelity, while I could detect neither grain nor edge - enhancement after much scrutiny.