NEWS
31-Aug-01
Greetings, readers! You're looking at the debut installment of what hopefully will turn into a series of regular updates, or ""editorials."" This will quite simply be a bunch of random thoughts and notes on movies and DVDs, including information on which titles are being announced for release. WSR will continue to post selected announcements as ""news items"" in the DVD Release News section, but this section will provide an opportunity to discuss many additional DVDs that are slated for release. Two years ago, WSR's Editor-In-Chief Gary Reber asked me to write an editorial such as the one you are reading, but I was reluctant to accept at the time. Not sure why. In any event, here's an opportunity to ""personalize"" our Web site for you, the reader. I hope you will enjoy reading these editorials, and if you do not, please let us know why. I always encourage email feedback from our readers because this Web site is just as much yours as it is ours. Primarily, this editorial feature will allow me an opportunity to discuss any pertinent issues related to DVD, which includes what the industry is doing in terms of trends as well as what titles are actually being prepared for release. And occasionally, controversial topics will be discussed, though I've tried to shy away from controversy and perhaps that's why I have avoided editorial, ""first-person"" articles of this nature in the past. Oh well, let's give it a shot! I had hoped to get this installment posted last week but we were extremely busy (we're a small operation, you know) wrapping up Issue 53. So here it is, though some of the items aren't newsworthy anymore. I had also prepared some comments on the ""Willy Wonka"" situation, but in the time since then a new development in that saga has taken place...more on that in a moment. Issue 53 From Issue 53 of the print edition (which should reach subscribers and newsstands by the middle of September), some of the reviews already posted include ""Blow"" (New Line's latest Infinifilm offering), ""Enemy At The Gates,"" ""Forrest Gump,"" ""The Goonies"" (which sports a great commentary track), an early review of MGM's new Special Edition of ""The Terminator"" and ""Exit Wounds."" And by the time you read this we should have a review of ""Memento"" posted -- definitely worth seeing. I had an odd reaction to ""Enemy At The Gates"" when I first saw it theatrically earlier in the year. You have British actors portraying Russians and Americans playing Germans; some with accents, some without. I found that very odd. Not entirely distracting, but odd. Not once have I ever been distracted with a movie in that regard prior to seeing ""Enemy At The Gates."" Whether you notice this or not, the movie is worth checking out. Episode I Lucasfilm Ltd and 20th Century Fox graciously invited a handful of journalists up to Skywalker Ranch last month and WSR was among those chosen, so be on the lookout for an article on ""Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace."" Episode II And speaking of ""Star Wars""...by now you may have heard that Lucasfilm has announced the title of the next installment: ""Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack Of The Clones."" I know, I think it sounds lame too. I had a similar reaction a couple years ago when ""The Phantom Menace"" was announced as the title for ""Episode I."" I thought that sounded more like a ""Scooby-Doo"" episode. The best title Lucas ever came up with was never even used: ""Revenge Of The Jedi."" We all know that a couple months before the May 1983 release, Lucas changed the title to the much wimpier ""Return Of The Jedi."" Oh well, I guess as long as the movies are good they can call them whatever they like (never judge a book by its cover...). From ""Star Wars"" To ""Star Trek""... Paramount has finally officially announced the DVD release of the first of the big-screen ""Trek"" adventures: ""Star Trek: The Motion Picture."" Due on November 6, this two-disc release will sport a new cut of the film supervised by director Robert Wise as well as some spruced-up visual effects. (Hasn't anyone learned anything from the 1997 ""Star Wars"" experiment?) Wise has gone on record ever since 1979 as feeling that the film was never completed...they simply ran out of time to fully finish the movie, and since Paramount was unwilling to push back its Christmas release, they simply put out an unfinished film. A few years later, some additional footage was added into the film for TV broadcast, making the boring movie even more boring. That's just my opinion; I know the film is loved by many. Anyway, I'm curious to see if this latest example of revisionist filmmaking will be worth it. (I am somewhat disappointed in learning that of all the tweaks made to the film, they didn't bother to get the cast out of those lame pajama costumes!) Get A Second Job A lot of DVD fans are gonna go broke this fall with the number of big releases coming out. ""Star Wars."" ""The Godfather."" A Special Edition of ""The Terminator."" A Special Edition of ""The Princess Bride."" ""Forrest Gump."" ""Citizen Kane."" ""Snow White."" ""Doctor Zhivago."" ""The French Connection."" ""The Simpsons: The Complete First Season."" And it hardly ends with those. There were never this many desirable titles coming out all at once during the LaserDisc days. Redux Later this year (announcement soon!), ""Apocalypse Now Redux"" will be issued on DVD. In the meantime do yourself a favor and see this newly extended edition of Francis Coppola's visionary Vietnam tale in a theatre. It opened on August 3 in L.A. and New York, and expanded to a handful of other cities in the weeks since. Reaction of course, is mixed, but this is certainly a theatrical experience that should not be missed. Fans of the film and anyone even remotely curious should definitely check this out. I was fortunate to have attended an advance screening held at the Motion Picture Academy back in July and can't wait to see it again Willy Wonka Controversy Well, the ""Willy Wonka"" saga has taken a few twists and turns. This title was released back in 1997 among the earliest batch of DVDs released to the public and contained both 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 versions of the movie on the same disc like many early releases before supplements took over. Flash forward to a couple months ago when Warner announces a new Special Edition version promising audio commentary with the Wonka kids as well as a newly produced retrospective documentary. Okay, great. Except that when the discs started arriving in reviewers' mailboxes, we realized Warner had pulled a fast one and released the disc with a 1.33:1 version only. Now, I don't have the original press release handy as I write this and I cannot recall if it actually stated specifically the technical disc details such as picture and sound formats (as press releases often leave off). WSR and the other Web sites and forums might have just assumed the disc would have a widescreen version. In any event, this decision kicked off a wave of anger and disappointment directed at Warner Home Video. Threads on the many DVD forums quickly heated up on the topic, so much so that an online petition to release a widescreen version was initiated. This petition reportedly generated over 10,000 signatures inside of a week. I had originally intended this editorial to get posted more than a week ago but got caught up in some deadlines for our print edition. The following passage was prepared then. At that time, Warner hadn't yet re-announced ""Willy Wonka"" in a widescreen version. Here's a portion of what I had prepared: By now, many of you have heard that Warner's August 28 DVD Special Edition release of ""Willy Wonka"" And The Chocolate Factory"" will NOT be issued in a widescreen format. Which is too bad, because they've assembled an excellent package of extras to supplement the classic movie, and now many enthusiasts simply won't purchase the disc out of principle. It seems that the powers-that-be at Warner Home Video elected to issue the title on their ""Family Entertainment"" label and that their research has shown that family titles sell better in full frame. I'd like to see their research. Where and how was it conducted? I wasn't ever consulted for it, and neither has anyone I know. Do kids really dislike watching widescreen-format programs? I think studios make assumptions in this area. I don't know about you, but I really don't think it is kids who complain about those ""annoying black bars."" The reality is, in my estimation, that it's the adults who do the complaining. Why? Because they bring ""baggage"" into the equation. Kids, say, ten or twelve years old or younger, on the other hand, have never known a world where there wasn't letterboxing. Let's face it, everywhere you turn, TV is inundated with music videos and commercials presented in letterbox, albeit often only for stylistic or cosmetic reasons (and some cable channels do show a healthy amount of letterboxed movie presentations). This has all become a part of the visual vocabulary of programs children watch. I could go on and on with this topic, but you probably get the point. In the meantime, sign the online petition (see first link below) and write letters, sending a message to Warner saying you have elected not to purchase their upcoming ""Willy Wonka"" disc because they aren't offering it in the movie's original aspect ratio. Warner Home Video 4000 Warner Blvd. Burbank, CA 91522 818.954.6000 Let them know you want all of their DVD product offered in its original aspect ratio! I guess we should breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't botch ""The Goonies"" (also recently released on their ""Family Entertainment"" label) and I'm told THAT almost did happen. Amazing. Back to the current editorial: Warner has several other ""Family Entertainment"" DVDs on the horizon, including the two ""NeverEnding Story"" movies, the animated ""Lord Of The Rings,"" and ""Cats & Dogs."" Review copies have not yet arrived and from correspondence with the studio as well as surfing the net, there doesn't seem to be an agreement or any confirmation of those discs' picture formats either. And the ""NeverEnding Story"" movies, by the way, are scope films and therefore, would look horrible in cropped format. There isn't any ""extraneous"" top/bottom imagery to use in a video transfer to offset any horizontal cropping...not that that should happen anyway. From what I can tell, those discs aren't loaded with extras and don't have very long running times, so there's no reason both 2.35:1 and 1.33:1 versions can't be on the same disc. But then, I really wish studios would just do away with 1.33:1 versions all together (except for genuine 1.33:1 material...but then an argument could be made that even they should be transferred in widescreen with the sides matted since they'll have to be shown that way sometime soon anyway). The future is high-definition widescreen. Help make it happen today. It's not that difficult to grasp. Widescreen Review and the many other DVD and home theatre-related magazines and Web sites have worked too hard over the past several years trying to educate consumers on this very simplistic (to me, anyway) aspect ratio concept. Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about it, this ugly situation has arisen. Oh well, in summary, Warner has announced a widescreen-format version of the ""Willy Wonka"" Special Edition DVD, and it is scheduled for release on November 13. What exactly does a DVD producer do? And since we're mentioning DVD producers, back in July there was a panel discussion at Comic-Con in San Diego. This panel included David Prior, J.M. Kenny, Alita Holly, Mark Rance, Charlie de Lauzirika, and Van Ling, all among the leading DVD producers working today. Readers of WSR should recognize those names as we've provided ample coverage of their work (I think...let me know if you want more coverage). The panel was moderated by Bill Hunt (of The Digital Bits, and who also contributes a column in our print issues), and anyone interested in the role of the DVD producer, please take an opportunity to read the Digital Bits' transcript (see second link below). Fox Chat Similarly, our friends at the Home Theater Forum recently hosted an on line chat with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. These chats are always informative and are worth reading (see third link below) Öand participating in. Where are the missing audio channels? We received a copy of ""The Next Karate Kid"" recently (which we'll be reviewing soon). What's going on here??? First, Columbia TriStar releases the first ""Karate Kid"" movie (the good one) in 1.33:1 (another ""family"" thing...). Now, the sequels have all been released in their original ratios...great. This latest release, however, only sports a 2.0 soundtrack...but it was released theatrically in SDDS, and in 8-channel, no less. Where's the 5.1 track for the DVD? I hope this isn't another ""family"" thing. You know, ""children aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate discrete digital soundtracks, so let's save time and money by eliminating worthwhile features on the disc."" Just a thought -- perhaps Columbia TriStar had a good reason to not issue it in 5.1. Perhaps the only discrete printmaster available is in the 8-channel configuration, and they didn't want to create a new 5.1. But they've done it for other titles: ""Last Action Hero""...""In The Line Of Fire""...""Fly Away Home"".... Similarly, I think consumers were shortchanged in regards to the soundtrack for a couple other recent DVD releases: ""Annie"" and ""Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon."" Both releases feature Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround tracks (both from Columbia TriStar...coincidence? -- sorry Sony, I didn't intend for this to appear that you're being picked on). However, both films were reportedly mixed for 70mm six-track release. Now ""Annie"" most definitely was released with 70mm blow-up prints. ""The Last Dragon"" on the other hand...well...who saw that one in 70mm? (For more on the peculiarities involved with 70mm and its soundtrack formats, see WSR's ""Movies in 70mm"" feature.) Either way, both should have had locatable six-track mixes that could have been used to create a 5.1 Dolby Digital track or used as the basis for a remix. In addition, MGM has announced a DVD for the little seen film ""Kansas"" (due October 2) with a mono soundtrack, yet, according to Dolby, this was another film mixed in six-track. What's going on here??? For those interested in ""controversial"" topics, our next print issue will include an article by Shane Buettner concerning his reaction to the latest Stanley Kubrick DVDs as well as the growing practice of including 1.33:1 pan-and-scan versions on DVD. DVD Release NewsÖ Did anyone actually enjoy ""Pearl Harbor""? The movie, not the event. Well, for those who did, you will soon have a chance to own not one, not two, but three, count 'em three, DVDs. Buena Vista will be releasing two, two-disc Commemorative editions in December, as well as a three-disc Vista series edition in January. I'm not sure I can actually sit through this boring ""epic"" again, though I hear director Michael Bay asked David Prior to produce the DVD supplements. So if this disc is half as good as ""Fight Club"" or the recent ""Die Hard"" discs, then I may have to clear some time to actually give the DVDs a chance. Woody Allen fans will be pleased to know that MGM will be serving up six more of his mid 1980s films in November! Available individually or in a six-disc set, the scheduled titles are ""A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy,"" ""Broadway Danny Rose,"" ""Radio Days,"" ""The Purple Rose Of Cairo,"" ""Hannah And Her Sisters,"" and one of my personal favorites and long overdue on disc: ""Zelig."" You'll never be able to watch ""Forrest Gump"" the same way after watching ""Zelig!"" It looks like Disney's ""Tron"" has been given the deluxe treatment. Due on January 15, this looks to re-purpose some of the LaserDisc material while adding a batch of newly produced content as well. Can't wait! The first CinemaScope movie, ""The Robe,"" is coming in October. Looks like this will give us an excuse to review ""Demetrius And The Gladiators,"" which we've not reviewed yet. No word yet on if the ""Robe"" disc will also include the alternate 1.33:1 version of the film. That would be an interesting supplement as a comparison study. As many of you know, a number of the CinemaScope productions from 1953 and 1954 were shot twice, once in scope and again ""flat"" for protection in the event the scope process didn't go over well with the public. You may recall the last LaserDisc version of ""Seven Brides For Seven Brothers"" included both versions. Fans of classic monster movies will be pleased that Universal Studios Home Video has unleashed a new batch of DVDs this week. The releases include ""Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy"" and the following double feature DVDs: ""Dracula's Daughter""/""Son Of Dracula,"" ""Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man""/""House Of Frankenstein,"" ""The Ghost Of Frankenstein""/""Son Of Frankenstein,"" ""The Mummy's Ghost""/""The Mummy's Curse,"" ""The Mummy's Head""/""The Mummy's Tomb,"" ""Werewolf Of London""/""She-Wolf Of London."" Though not supplement-heavy, the discs are a good deal and should please fans of the genre. It appears that the DVD release of Robert Rodriguez's fun ""Spy Kids"" due on September 18 will not be the longer Special Edition cut that was re-released to theatres in few weeks ago. So, be prepared for yet another movie to be released, then released again... IMAX wide-screened? Widescreen movies are currently being shown on huge IMAX screens advertised as ""enhanced presentations"" (yeah, right) and now IMAX films are being turned into widescreen. I guess what goes around, comes around. Included in Image Entertainment's latest batch of DVD release announcements is word that two IMAX productions will be offered in widescreen format: ""Super Speedway"" and ""Adventures In Wild California."" Just wondering what everyone thinks of this practice. IMAX (aka 15/70) productions generally are projected in a 1.44:1 aspect ratio, which is much closer to the Academy and traditional TV formats than it is to any of the widescreen formats. Although it's been reported that a lot of the large-format films are composed very ""loose"" vertically, and others have been reframed for the video releases, I just wonder if anyone feels that these should stay in their original ratio. So much has been made of the importance of educating and informing consumers about original aspect ratio presentation, is it acceptable for IMAX shows to be reframed from 1.44:1 to 1.78:1? Can this be truly answered in a generalized fashion, or does this need to be addressed on a title-by-title case? If such productions were commercially exhibited at 1.44:1, should Widescreen Review review them if released on DVD in 1.78:1? Just curious? By the way, ""Michael Jordan To The Max"" was released this way earlier in the year. And finally, for those of you who check our Web site regularly, I'd like to mention that DOZENS of new titles have been entered into the database, including lots of new cover art! That's it for this initial entry. If you get a chance, let me know what topics related to DVD interest you and we'll consider some coverage for either the print magazine or the Web site, or both.
Read More:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?wonkadvd
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/comiccon/index.html
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/files/fox3.txt
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