posted
The Widescreen version is Original Aspect Ratio. Almost never sacrifice to get Pan & Scan, which is a crappy way to watch almost any film.. while all films suffer from it (the best example of a film destroyed by P&S is oddly enough "A League of their Own" in which the P&S keeps rotating the image to make it nauseating to get main characters in frame). Because so many scenes are designed to utilize the full scope of the presentation, P&S looks like garbage.
Give me Original Aspect Ratio or nothing.
Posts: 202 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I got Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Christmas as well as Serenity and it didn't have an insert either. Maybe whoever's putting these out have decided that it's pointless?
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Joss is notorious for using all the space he can get from whatever aspect ratio he's shooting in... for example, in the pilot episode of "Firefly," he actually arranged one shot specifically so that it couldn't be reduced to a 4:3 ratio effectively, in order to force the network to show "Firefly" in widescreen.
SPOILER FOR "SERENITY":
One example from "Serenity" itself is the shot of River in Serenity's cockpit as she whispers "Miranda" and points at the planet on the screen. Joss purposely cuts her face in half on the left side of the frame, with the screen on the far right. Any attempt to chop out the sides of this image would result in the loss of either River's face or the video screen.
End Spoiler
So yeah, get the widescreen version if you can. The big battle looks waaaaaay too good to be wasted on pan-and-scan, anyway. Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
I just got the widescreen version and I watched some of the movie and I watched the extras. The outtakes were hilarious. Nathan Fillion is really funny. After Mal talked to Inara on the video screen and then Mal talked to the crew Mal: I take it y'all were watching? Kaylee: Yeah Mal: Did you see us fight? Kaylee: No Mal: ...TRAP!!!!!!
I jumped and then cracked up.
Posts: 2054 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
After having watched Serenity for the first time, I would like to take a moment to apologize for not going to see it while it was in theaters.
Posts: 2437 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Ummm, if you are getting LotR on DVD then you must get THIS VERSION. It had to be said.
There is rumor mongering about a super collector's version of Serenity coming out, though, isn't there? I'm holding out for that. I broke down and got all of the theatrical LotR movies, and now they just get dusty because I like the EE ones ever so much better.
Posts: 218 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Version lowdown: Joss had mentioned back before the movie's premiere that there would prolly be two version because he wanted the cast to do commentary/interviews but the studio wanted one out before Christmas. This was before the movie underperformed at the box office, dunno yet if DVD sales will warrant another version.
The UK and Australian releases have more stuff; a few more features on the UK, a whole other disc with more stuff on the Aussie one (and a tin collector's case).
There will not be a director's cut, he's said numerous times that the one on the screen is the one he wants.
And now you know what anyone knows.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Serenity is still #1 on Amazon, and Firefly is #3. It's probably safe to assume that it is selling at least decently in other places too.
Posts: 2437 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I was going to buy my dad a different DVD, but when I saw Serenity paired with The Hulk (and for the same price as Serenity by itself!) I got so mad I decided to make dad a Browncoat. How dare they package the great Serenity with the Crap-tastic Hulk!
Posts: 880 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Don't forget the easter egg: on the main menu keep clicking right until a panel on the right of the screen highlights.
On the version I rented, I had to click left, and not right. I got very frustrated clicking right about a hundred times and having nothing happen. Maybe the Canadian/American versions are different? Or did you mean left?
It is left. I have the American version (if there even is a difference between that and the Canadian) and on the Main Menu, I had to click left until a panel on the center part of the right side of the screen lit up. If the Play option is highlighted, you only have to hit left once.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
This morning's paper had two AP articles listing Serenity in their top 10 for 2005. First was a list of notable performances. Nathan Fillion made #9 for his portayal of Mal. The second article was top 10 DVDs of the year according to fans. Serenity made #8.
That made me happy.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chris, have you heard anything about what the actual sales numbers are...or how the compair to what was expected? Seeing it listed as #1 on amazon is good...but it would be interesting to see what the actual number are over all.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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According to this site it was #3 in DVD sales last week.
Kinda misleading, though, as many retailers ordered light and sold out. No telling what it might have done if everyone had ordered more. I'm just hoping it has enough legs to stay on the charts for awhile.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I saw a display at Best Buy two days ago. It wasn't empty, but dang it! We had the entire end of an aisle and a large cardboard cutout of River's head! Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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