It's a good thing this wasn't always intended for the Disney Channel, as then we probably wouldn't have gotten
a widescreen presentation on DVD.
This version offers
the widescreen presentation on a single - layer disc, with 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio (English) and Dolby Surround 5.1 (Spanish / French).
Not exact matches
The film looks spectacular
on Blu - ray and the
widescreen presentation just makes sweeping glances of the varied sea and jungle horizons.
On the «Enthusiast» disc, over the
widescreen presentation, you get a Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as a DTS 5.1 track.
Many of the live action films in Disney's catalog have been subjected to a compromised
presentation on DVD; they were filmed for
widescreen exhibition, the DVDs reformat them for 4x3 television dimensions.
Free To Rock is presented
on standard definition DVD with an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track, the
presentation here is fine for DVD and includes archival footage, interviews, and Sutherland's voice pushing the story forward.
Undoubtedly, the 1.85:1
widescreen presentation handily bests the non-anamorphic transfer
on Disney's original DVD and I'd suspect the gains over Echo Bridge's own, in - print, 16:9 - enhanced DVD are also evident.
Disc One features a nice, solid, rain - streaked 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer that shows the wear of its origins (a Spanish / Italian production
on minimal funds and with time and subject limitations) yet acquits itself quite nicely and is arguably more lustrous than the Anchor Bay
presentation.
This fall, to mark the 50th anniversary of Kermit the Frog's first appearance (
on NBC's Washington, D.C. - based network WRC - TV's «Sam and Friends») and capitalize upon the holiday season, Disney is re-releasing their two Muppet films (with
widescreen DVD
presentations to finally appease widely - disappointed fans) and putting their recently - acquired Muppet Movie and Great Muppet Caper back onto the home video market for the first time under the Disney label.
THE DVD Innerspace is available
on DVD from Warner Home Video in a
presentation that contains a 1.78:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer of the film along with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound likely based off the six - track mix that accompanied 70 mm prints.
Though this
presentation is touted as «family - friendly
widescreen»
on the sequel's official website, it is actually in the aspect ratio being employed for all of DisneyToon Studios» direct - to - video features today and 16x9 can be considered the original dimensions of the cartoon.
On Blu - ray, though, I can't think of a single instance where a
widescreen film has been treated to a 1.33:1
presentation.
Harpoon isn't a handsome film, but it looks fine (if a little soft and big
on interlacing) in the disc's 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen presentation.
Release Date: 23 March 2010 Fantastic Mr. Fox releases to DVD (single disc) with the following extras: -
Widescreen presentation of the film
on DVD - From Script to Screen - Still Life (Puppet Animation)- A Beginner's Guide to Whack - Bat Fantastic Mr. Fox also releases in a Blu - ray / DVD Combo edition.
THE DVD Fox releases Dying Young
on DVD in a vanilla 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen presentation long
on Schumacher's over-saturated colours and short
on subtlety, which is, of course, not the transfer's fault; its softness — that impression that the lens has been smeared with Vaseline, «Glamor Shots» - style — is something you can't really win by being faithful to.
THE DVD Blue Underground, gaining momentum
on Anchor Bay in the area of extensive catalogue cult releases, offers The Final Countdown in an astounding, THX - certified anamorphic
widescreen presentation that preserves the picture's original 2.35:1 Panavision aspect ratio for the first time
on DVD legitimately.
Miracle
On 34th Street (1994 Version) releases to Blu - ray disc in a
widescreen presentation.
KEY: 1.33:1 - Fullscreen; 1.66:1, 1.85:1, 2.25:1, 2.35:1 -
Widescreen ratios; 16:9 (or anamorphic)- widescreen presentation enhanced for 16 x 9 widescreen TVs OAR - Original Aspect Ratio (DVD maintains ratio the film was created for); DD 5.1 - Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; DD 2.0 - Dolby Surround; SRP - Suggested Retail Price; OOP - Out of Print Anchor Bay - Disney film released on DVD by A
Widescreen ratios; 16:9 (or anamorphic)-
widescreen presentation enhanced for 16 x 9 widescreen TVs OAR - Original Aspect Ratio (DVD maintains ratio the film was created for); DD 5.1 - Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; DD 2.0 - Dolby Surround; SRP - Suggested Retail Price; OOP - Out of Print Anchor Bay - Disney film released on DVD by A
widescreen presentation enhanced for 16 x 9
widescreen TVs OAR - Original Aspect Ratio (DVD maintains ratio the film was created for); DD 5.1 - Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; DD 2.0 - Dolby Surround; SRP - Suggested Retail Price; OOP - Out of Print Anchor Bay - Disney film released on DVD by A
widescreen TVs OAR - Original Aspect Ratio (DVD maintains ratio the film was created for); DD 5.1 - Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; DD 2.0 - Dolby Surround; SRP - Suggested Retail Price; OOP - Out of Print Anchor Bay - Disney film released
on DVD by Anchor Bay.
By the default FastPlay method, the fullscreen version plays and once it does, you'll have to go to the audio set - up page to select one of the tracks
on the
widescreen version to play the 16x9 - enhanced
presentation of the film in its 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio (which the case calls 1.78:1 family - friendly
widescreen).
Though Benji the Hunted has been available
on DVD in (non-anamorphic)
widescreen for some time now in a number of parts of the world (including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia), Disney has kindly bestowed the country it was made in with a fullscreen - only
presentation.
THE DVD by Bill Chambers MGM's DVD release of The Business of Strangers offers the film in slick 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen and unmatted
presentations on the same side of a dual - layered disc.
August Rush releases
on DVD and Blu - ray in both full frame and
widescreen presentations.
Also presented in standard definition with an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix
on the disc as well, the Shadowman
presentation is up to par with the format.
In a purely mathematical comparison, the video
on Carol's original DVD boasted an impressive average bitrate of 8.68 Mb / s, whereas this disc offers only a little more than half that for both the
widescreen (5.2 Mb / s) and fullscreen (5.6 Mb / s)
presentations.
Find the film
on the first disc in a 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer that adjusts every aspect of the bare - bones DVD's 4:3 letterbox
presentation — hues, saturation, contrast, framing — for the better.
Though favoring talking heads, The Guitar Hero relies
on a wide variety of material in its 1.78:1 anamorphic
widescreen presentation.
The Blu - ray
presentation on both films looks good in 1080p high - def transfer and both with
widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
Not really the type of movie you'd expect to see in 2.40:1
widescreen, Unaccompanied Minors arrives
on DVD in both this wide native theatrical aspect ratio and a 4x3 television - filling 1.33:1
presentation,
on opposite sides of a DVD - 10.
Disc Two boasts Bride of Chucky
on Side A, and this 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen presentation is what led me to suspect that the transfers
on this set were merely recycled: there's nothing offensive about it, but it's infected by a slight ghosting unique to DVDs circa 1998 - 99.
Included with the 2 - Disc Special Edition is a
widescreen presentation of the film and two documentaries: Chasing Planes: Witnesses to 9/11 examines the details of all four airplanes hijacked
on September 11, 2001, focusing
on the experiences of both military personnel and civilians as they responded to these acts of terrorism.
THE DVD Blue Underground reissues Zombie
on DVD in an apparently definitive 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen presentation; this is one of those transfers that won't be appreciated by newcomers to the film, but anybody who's had previous experience with Zombie
on home video will marvel at the clarity of the image.
The fact that this DVD preserves the original
presentation gives it some merit, but the
widescreen presentation — which is available
on the movie's Blu - ray release — should definitely be offered here too.
Also worth mentioning but not having a significant effect
on the viewing experience: the Blu - ray and new DVD's framing differs slightly from the original DVD's 1.66:1 «family - friendly
widescreen»
presentation, showing a little bit less height and a little bit more width, leaning ever so slightly in one direction depending
on the shot.
More than a simple port of Squaresoft's 1997 tactical RPG, The War of the Lions offered a fully - updated take
on the game, including new cutscenes, additional characters, new job classes, additional episodes, a fresh translation, and a new
widescreen presentation.