Still, it's evident that some amount of effort went into this restoration / remaster, as the 2.35:1, 1080p
widescreen image looks... appropriate.
Not exact matches
Looking at it from the perspective of an upgrade to the original PAN & SCAN release, this is the exact opposite; a
widescreen 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced
image that
looks incredible.
It's undoubtedly a handsome -
looking picture, slow of pace, with beautifully, even stunningly composed
widescreen images from cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi and a sinuous score from Max Richter.
Presented in
widescreen and fullscreen on the same side of a dual - layer DVD, the film's
image lacks depth here — there's a muted, Seventies quality to Barry Stone's cinematography that no doubt
looked smashing on the big screen and probably would've been marginally improved at home by dispensing with the fullscreen version (thus lessening the compromise of compression), which lops a significant amount of visual information from the right side of the frame (while restoring a negligible amount to the bottom — in one shot literally a pinkie toe).
Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, The Mothman Prophecies
looks splendid — those outdoor close - ups of Alan Bates are as intricately detailed as I've ever seen a DVD
image.
Maybe HiDef has distorted my perception, but the accompanying DVD's 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen image seemingly
looks blurrier and more smeared than it should.
The overhauled
image, now in THX - approved 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen (fullscreen alternative sold separately),
looks very nice, its clarity and strong shadow detail betraying every last weakness of the production's cheap design.
Warner's DVD version of McCabe & Mrs. Miller is unfortunately something of a disappointment in the technical department: the 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen image is too black for a film that was pre-exposed in order to decrease contrast, while digital video noise reduction
looks like it was rather severely applied to the intentionally gritty
images, resulting in a general lack of detail.
Certainly the central
image of the train is a fitting one for his flat,
widescreen visual style, and the Indian setting allows for great use of color, so if nothing else, it
looks freaking gorgeous.
The real news here is what a beautiful Blu - ray
image it presents, the
widescreen and the color
looking super-spectacular.
The same could be said of the display screen that acts as the gauges, although the ample space above and below its letterbox - like
image makes it
look like a
widescreen TV with the wrong aspect ratio selected.
I think if you're going to use
images, they should take up the entire screen or be in a «
widescreen» size, rather than a vertical picture that
looks cropped and centered in a square black screen.