Full Screen Woes

[Bonegavel]

I am so careful it hurts. I scan every inch of every DVD I purchase for the words "Wide Screen" or anamorpho-somethingish 16:9-istic whatevers formerly known as letterbox.

I want to watch the movie the way it was filmed and viewed on the big screen. It is one of those things about which my wife can tell you in addition to the fact that I hang all my shirts in one particular direction in the closet — without exception.

So what is up my ass? I broke down tonight and finally purchased The Big Lebowski (the latest special edition one). Never saw the movie but now that the new DVD is out, I figure I'll buy it now because I'm sure I'll like it but it was one of those movies where people I despised raved about it so much that I refused to watch it just because of that. Yes, I'm petty.

Anywho, I get the movie home, rip off the shrink-wrap, toss it in the player, sit back and begin enjoying the introduction by Mortimer Young, head of "Forever Young Film Preservation," and I already know I'm in for a real treat.

The counter turns to 00:00 and right before the movie starts I see,


This film has been edited to fit your screen
or somesuch nonsense.

I panic. I shut off the movie not wanting to see another second. My eyes are as wide as a woman's with facelift surgery gone bad. I grab the case. I peer at the bottom. I see the dreaded words—

FULL SCREEN EDITION

— I swear as loud as I can knowing that my 5 year old daughter is in the next room.

I cannot believe I did this. I always look. I always check. I must have seen the special edition tag and interpreted that as Wide Screen.

I hope beyond hope that Best Buy will let me swap this. They can be bastards, but I will try.

[Joe]

foolscreen sucks

[Hurst2112]

that sucks.

i am always leary of asking for dvds this time of year. i make it a point to send links to widescreen versions from best buy, amazon..etc. my mom used to not get it until i sat her down and taught her.

[WrongWay]

Does anyone know if some DVD players play widescreen movies at full size on their own? Can a DVD player tell what type of TV you have?

I belong to an monthly club and some of the DVDs I get say Widescreen on them, but when I put it in my DVD they play as Fullscreen

[Hurst2112]

is it a dvd that has 2 sides? is the zoom feature activated when you start the movie?

[Bonegavel]

Does anyone know if some DVD players play widescreen movies at full size on their own? Can a DVD player tell what type of TV you have?

I belong to an monthly club and some of the DVDs I get say Widescreen on them, but when I put it in my DVD they play as Fullscreen
The first dvd player i purchased years ago defaulted to some sort of 4:3 or whatever full screen is and I thought the DVDs i purchased were wrong.

The setting was buried in some setup menu and I had to switch it to 16:9 IIRC.

[WrongWay]

No, the DVDs are single sided and say widescreen edition on them. It is from a club so all you have is the white sleeve that comes in their envelope.

[Raiders Army]

Does anyone know if some DVD players play widescreen movies at full size on their own? Can a DVD player tell what type of TV you have?

I belong to an monthly club and some of the DVDs I get say Widescreen on them, but when I put it in my DVD they play as Fullscreen
The Xbox does.

[Raiders Army]

Dola, this whole situation sucks. I have had to train my wife repeatedly to look for the Widescreen versions instead of the Fullscreen.

[stevew]

I hate foolscreen, and i can't stand arguing the merits of a widescreen movie with a fool screen loving mongaloid.

[JeeberD]

My fiancee' used to insist that we watched movies in fullscreen when we first got a DVD player, but I think I finally got her to see the light over the past year. Or at the very least she doesn't bitch anymore when I put the movie on widescreen... :D

[Bonegavel]

Best Buy let me swap no questions asked!

[MizzouRah]

I do the opposite, I look for full screen. :)

One of these days I'm gettin one of them thare widescreen HDTV's, yep.

[ThunderingHERD]

I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish.

[Bonegavel]

I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish.
hehe, just finished watching the movie. As whacked out as I was hoping it would be.