Hollywood Video And Blockbuster Ordeal
A Letter To Video Retailers Dear Hollywood Video and Blockbuster: I live about four miles from a Blockbuster and a Hollywood Video which are located across the street from each other. I was angered and dismayed when I went to both stores to rent a DVD of The Mummy Returns. At both stores I was informed that I could only rent the film in a full-screen version which in reality is a panned-and-scanned version. The movie was shown in the theaters in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and watching it in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio will result in the loss of about 40 percent of the picture. At Hollywood Video the manager told me that they could sell me a widescreen version of the movie but could not rent me one. There are many like me who want to view the movies in the aspect ratio in which they were shown in the theatres, the one in which the director composed the picture and intended the film to be seen. Are you unaware that since the 1980s LaserDiscs have fostered the use of letterboxing which allows the viewer to see the whole picture and not miss up to 40 percent of it? DVDs continue to allow us to see movies in their correct widescreen ratios with higher video quality. We are now into the age of DTV, which not only will allow us to see HDTV—hopefully in the near future—but allows us to view movies specially mastered so that we can view them in widescreen with no loss of either the picture or resolution. Now, you have decided to take a giant step backward into the days of 1.33:1 aspect ratios and panning-and-scanning. Perhaps you don’t feel the customer deserves to see the whole picture in widescreen unless he is willing to buy the DVD from you. Why don’t you go the whole route and order your rental DVDs with Dolby Pro Logic® surround sound in place of Dolby® Digital or DTS®? Better yet, you could order your rental DVDs with only mono sound tracks and that way we could also miss 50 percent or more of the sound. I can assure you that I will not rent movies on DVD which are panned-and-scanned. I certainly will not buy movies from you even though you are willing to sell the widescreen versions. I have a video dealer who continues to rent DVD movies in their correct widescreen ratios. He has The Mummy Returns on DVD in widescreen for rental or sale. He may be further away from my home than you are, but I will patronize him or other video rental stores that continue to rent widescreen movies. If you people were running Widescreen Review magazine, your idea of modernizing it would be to change its name to Pan-And-Scan Review magazine. Dear Gary: Just a quick follow-up on the responses I received from Hollywood Video and Blockbuster to the letter above. The response from Hollywood Video actually mentioned the subject contained in my e-mail and said it was being forwarded to the proper corporate people for review. At least someone appears to have read the message. On the other hand, Blockbuster sent me a form response which is attached below. Note how they say that the studios are solely responsible. I hope somebody can get through to both of them. I know your magazine will do what it can. J. Jeppesen
John C. Jeppesen
mailto:bjeppes2@ties.k12.mn.us
Hollywood Video Comments:
Thank you for your e-mail. We take your questions and comments as a welcome show of interest and loyalty. Customer feedback is very important to us and we are glad you took the time to write. We do not edit or otherwise alter movies ourselves. We leave the methodology as to how ratings and the formatting is applied specifically and completely to the studios involved. We are retailers and not members of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), so we take no position on individual scenes or the overall artistic merits of a film. We are not in the content business. We are in the business of exceeding the expectations of our members and customers, and thus our goal is to offer the widest possible selection within our broad parameters of our “no NC-17 or X” standards. Blockbuster has always tried to provide our customers with a variety of choices while maintaining our family orientation. As you know, we will not carry “X” rated or “NC-17” rated films. However, there are unrated film titles we feel may contain content unsuitable for children, and we designate these titles with a “YRV” designation, for “Youth Restricted Viewing.” Although not pornographic, only members older than 17 are allowed to select these films. Thank you for letting us know how we can better serve your entertainment needs. We take your comments very seriously and welcome them, as a valuable tool needed to improve the quality of our service. We hope you will give us another opportunity to serve your entertainment needs. If you need further assistance, please contact your local Blockbuster store. Our employees are empowered, authorized, and expected to take care of customers. Sincerely, Blockbuster Consumer Services
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