Warner Announces Kubrick Films for Blu-ray, HD DVD

[480i4ever]

Aargh! That really sucks about Barry Lyndon not being redone for HD. I worship at the alter of Kubrick, and that's my favorite film of his. The dvd version was a disappointing, soft, non-anamorphic mess.

[Kid Banana]

Aargh! That really sucks about Barry Lyndon not being redone for HD. I worship at the alter of Kubrick, and that's my favorite film of his. The dvd version was a disappointing, soft, non-anamorphic mess.

Are you referring to the 1999 edition or the 2000 re-master?

The 1999 edition is awful but the 2000 version is decent for a DVD, although it is non-anamorphic.

[480i4ever]

I have the more recent version. I've heard the original was even worse. Non-anamorphic is unacceptable. Can anyone name another Warner title from the same year released in non-anamorphic format? I smell a conspiracy.

[Josh Z]

I have the more recent version. I've heard the original was even worse. Non-anamorphic is unacceptable. Can anyone name another Warner title from the same year released in non-anamorphic format? I smell a conspiracy.

Unfortunately, Warner was releasing non-anamorphic discs as recently as the 2003 Special Edition of "Giant". Their policy was that movies of 1.66:1 or narrower ratios wouldn't benefit from anamorphic enhancement.

They were wrong about that, of course. 1.66:1 movies should be slightly pillarboxed and anamorphic.

[480i4ever]

[/QUOTE]
They were wrong about that, of course. 1.66:1 movies should be slightly pillarboxed and anamorphic.[/QUOTE]

Yes, losing vertical resolution and then having to scale the image is not cool. My dream is to someday discuss issues such as this with the people responsible for making such idiotic decisions.

[John Groshko]

I'm pissed Barry Lyndon is not in the set too. That's retarded.

[Jared]

I'm pissed Barry Lyndon is not in the set too. That's retarded.

Well, technically it's not a set since they are all individual releases, so there is still hope for Barry Lyndon at a later date. More confusing, however, is that Barry Lyndon is being released in a new remastered edition on standard dvd only on the same date, October 23. Perhaps past sales figures show that a hi-def version of that particular film is too much of a risk this early into the life of hi-def?

[BluRayDvd]

Will the Shining be in wide screen format?

[Krycek7o2]

Yes, it will be widescreen.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Yes, it will be widescreen.

Is was shot 4:3 wasn't it? So Warner at matting it against Kubrick's wishes...?

Wow, that's just so intelligent.

[Spideybat]

Is was shot 4:3 wasn't it? So Warner at matting it against Kubrick's wishes...?

Wow, that's just so intelligent.

It was matted for the theatrical release. He only did this because he hated what happened to his films when shown on TV. So it is very intelligent to preserve the theatrical experience.

[parabola]

Is was shot 4:3 wasn't it? So Warner at matting it against Kubrick's wishes...?

Wow, that's just so intelligent.

It was shot 4:3, but shown theatrically 1.66:1 in Europe and 1.85:1 in the US. Nobody really knows what Kubrick wanted, but I think all of his "4:3-movies" (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) look better masked to widescreen than the open matte versions on DVD.

He probably protected for 4:3 TV's in mind, so that TV and VHS versions of his movies wouldn't be butchered like 2001 was.

[theonlyjp]

It was shot 4:3, but shown theatrically 1.66:1 in Europe and 1.85:1 in the US. Nobody really knows what Kubrick wanted, but I think all of his "4:3-movies" (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) look better masked to widescreen than the open matte versions on DVD.

He probably protected for 4:3 TV's in mind, so that TV and VHS versions of his movies wouldn't be butchered like 2001 was.

I looked at the composition of the shots from the open matte, then to the widescreen, and I agree.
The movies look much better.

[Blondie-Wan]

Coupled with the recent announcements regarding Blade Runner and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the latter portion of '07 is shaping up to be a really sweet time for Douglas Trumbull fans. All those classic effects should look glorious in hi-def.

[Marvin McMurphy]

As happy as I am that 2001 shall be remastered and released in the theatrical format I'm still a bit afraid that the colours and picture quality won't be the way they should. But I'd be more than happy if that doubt will swept aside by the release, but until then I'm holding back so that I can't be disappointed by a "not do stellar" version.