Thursday, March 01, 2007

ThinkFilm Thoughtless?

I'm now reading reports that the US R1 DVD of Tideland from ThinkFilm has been cropped from the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio to 1.85:1. This would be tantamount to butchery.

Please check carefully - and not just on reatiler websites - before you shell out. If you have the disc, please confirm or deny these claims in the comments below. And if you have a copy from another publisher in another territory, could you please let us know how yours has been formatted?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see what may confuse, the film starts with a Gilliam intro in 1:85:1 but then the film goes to 2:35:1. So all is well in the land of dvd...for now anyway.

Anonymous said...

Brendon,
It is true. Live in California, bought mine yesterday and was blown away that it was cut back from it's orignal aspect ratio.

Anonymous said...

well...i feel dumb now...the intro is 1:85:1...then a production company logo is 2:35:1...but then the movie is 1:85:1....eash...

Anonymous said...

Looking at the ThinkFilm DVD of TIDELAND, it is indeed NOT presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The packaging lists "16:9 Anamorphic Full Frame" - clocking it in at a
1.77 or 1.85 aspect ratio presentation (depending on your set up).

I cannot believe that they would do this without Gilliam's approval -
and the film was shot in Super35, which would make it "matted" for
theatrical presentation and "opened" for this home video presentation.

The framing looks good - so I think we're seeing "more" than we would
in a 2.35 presentation.

Anonymous said...

since the images on the DVD all look beautifully composed and balanced, and since Gilliam has in the past shown a preference for a narrower frame (both Brazil & Munchausen for example were 1.78:1), I'm inclined to trust what I see on the DVD unless Gilliam himself comes out and says it's wrong.

Brendon said...

There are plenty that would argue that the images on the DVD do NOT look beautifully composed and balanced.

Including, it seems, Nicola Pecorini.

Gilliam shot this film for 2.35:1 so that was his preference for this subject matter. The UK release, which he was very hands on with, is in that aspect ratio. All of these dooms the other, botched, releases.

The Gilliam statement is coming... he'll put an end to this.