Ok, I really loved Hot Fuzz and since the US DVD release was today I was rather excited and figured I'd go ahead and go down to Wal-Mart to pick up when I got up this morning. I get there and see they have a 2-pack, the same price as the movie by itself, with the second DVD in the pack apparently having a lot of extra bonus features. However, they only had it in full-screen. I can't stand pan and scan, and there was no one around to ask if they had others in stock, so I decided...there's another Wal-Mart not too far, so screw it, I'll go there. So I get to the other Wal-Mart, and same deal, only full-screen versions of the 2-pack. I actually see employees at this one so I ask one if they have any wide-screen ones in at all. He says no, that's all they're getting, and I asked why they wouldn't have a wide-screen at all because that makes no sense to me. His answer was simply "Wide-screen used to be more popular, but now full-screen is the most popular."

Uh. I don't know about that. Personally, I call bullshit, and figure that if they really are releasing those sets only in full-screen that maybe it's an effort to move those versions as perhaps they're not selling quite as well as the WS ones? I mean just a few weeks ago I bought Reno 911! Miami from there, the 2-pack set, and it was wide-screen. It doesn't really add up to me.

So yeah, have I missed something, is full screen really "taking over" or whatever? I'm not buying it.

That's pretty shit.

I know nothing about how well full-screen movies sell. I don't ever touch them. It's been at least five years since I bought one that wasn't wide-screen.

And I as far as I now, that's the consensus for most people Prak, only people with the ridiculously tiny like 13 inch screens buy full-screen. There's no way in my mind that full-screen is suddenly so popular that Wal-Mart is saying F off to wide-screen. Just doesn't make sense.

Full-screen is ridiculous, there's just no way

That's pretty shit.

I know nothing about how well full-screen movies sell. I don't ever touch them. It's been at least five years since I bought one that wasn't wide-screen.

You have to consider the biggest demographic that Wal-Mart appeals to.

Old people and rednecks.

I know one person that refuses to buy widescreen because they "don't have a wide screen television and don't want those fucking black bars on the top and bottom of their screen".

EDIT: And they're probably putting the fullscreens in the 2-packs because they never sold them, clearing out old inventory and all that.

I rarely see the difference, really, Wide or full just sit back and enjoy the movie. I only have a 27 inch tv, it might be weird for big screen tv users.

There is a huge difference

The most common type of full-screen is pan and scan, where they show only parts of the frame in order to fit the 4:3 ratio, and often use a horrifc fake camera pan effect to compensate for things like actors talking to each other from opposite sides of the frame. You'll see it widely used in televised versions of films such as Ghostbusters. It's rarely the ratio directors intend their films to be viewed in, as 4:3 is almost never how they're filmed, and the full-screen versions can really take away from the aesthetic value.

I said it before, and I'll say it again: First thing I'll do when I go to the US, is visit a Wal-mart

I said it before, and I'll say it again: First thing I'll do when I go to the US, is visit a Wal-mart

Are you a redneck or old person

BY THE WAY

From Edgar Wright's Myspace blog (director of the movie)

"Am getting to the bottom of the Wal Mart conspiracy. Apparently there are Widescreen versions of the 2pak, but Wal Mart order 65 percent fullscreen editions.

Hopefully the WS version will show up on their website.

Have been on the case with Universal so will let you know.

Edgar"

Some finally got through to Wal-Mart, as they've put the elusive WS 2-pack online! Edgar Wright mentioned trying to get this done, I wonder if he had anything to do with at all

Either way, if you also wanted this and can't find it at your stores, here you go:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6527776

I accidentally bought The Mummy in fullscreen( it was either my first or second dvd i think^^) Still enjoyed it though. :) Also older(and some new) miniseries and t.v shows are fullscreen( Flash, Merlin, The Odyssey, Seaquest and the list goes on) sexpot

Well when things are shot for fullscreen it's fine. But when it's a widescreen ratio altered for fullscreen...oh hell no

That's right, I went Will Smith on ur ass

I don't bother with fullscreen either unless it's all they have. My dad doesn't like the black bars on the top and bottom of the screens, though.

A nifty new feature of Wal-Mart Online is now you can have the product you want that is only available through the website sent to the Wal-Mart store nearest to you so you just pick it up there and pay for it. No shipping fees, w00t!

thats not new, it is a great feature though.

A nifty new feature of Wal-Mart Online is now you can have the product you want that is only available through the website sent to the Wal-Mart store nearest to you so you just pick it up there and pay for it. No shipping fees, w00t!

Doesn't apply to all items unfortunately

The whole "THERE BE BLACK BARS THAT AM BAD" argument for widescreen is silly. People that say that seem to think they crop what was shown in theaters or something, but fullscreen shows so much less of what was shot and initially shown in theaters. It can really ruin shit

Only when a film is shot in super 35, or specifically in 4:3 ratio will fullscreen look worth a damn aesthetically

I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to washingmachines, refrigerators, and other immense items.

I'm thinking of buying a projector, so that fullscreen movies have a real movie feel.

The most common type of full-screen is pan and scan, where they show only parts of the frame in order to fit the 4:3 ratio, and often use a horrifc fake camera pan effect to compensate for things like actors talking to each other from opposite sides of the frame. You'll see it widely used in televised versions of filmsI always wondered why movies on TV looked so different.
When ever I would see a movie, I always thought "I don't remember those (cheesy) pans the first time I saw this movie" :eye:

My sis is the same way, she hates widescreen.
I've tried explaining many times, but she doesn't listen :notgood:

When I was younger, I didn't like the black bars and wondered why it was there. Then I realized that the movie is to be played on a wide-screen television and the black bars will either go away or be reduced significantly. So I started buying full-screen movies and didn't have a problem with them. I still don't but now, I prefer wide because you can see more of the picture. I used to get annoyed with the black bars but not anymore. It's just a matter of preference really. Some people don't like the black bars, some people have wide-screen TVs, or the ones who don't aren't bothered with the black bars. If you have a problem with them, then don't buy them and get wide-screen.

And as far as full-screen being more popular, that's untrue. I don't shop at Wal-Mart so I don't know how their DVDs are standing on that issue, but the places I shop at for movies have mostly wide-screen.

Well, personally, I tend to prefer widescreen DVDs. When I was young, I wasn't really bothered about the black bars or detail loss. But then, when I entered my teenage years and my geek senses started to develop, I began to read up on these technicalities and started to realize that there are lost details involved. When I got into my college years, I began to appriciate lost details (hence I started messing with my TV set to make it overscan by means of modifying a hidden factory OSD that my mom taught me how to access, and I had this rule that states that when using a CRT monitor, there must always be a 1CM black border around the visible image - just because there can be a color border using that location) and at the same time I started to appriciate the widescreen format more.

Right now, I'm in the midst of switching to LCD. While it is technically impossible to overscan (and the need is not there), I much prefer watching my DVDs in widescreen format with black bars than with pan and scan when on a standard display. Not only I can assure myself that I'm not missing anything, but it also makes it convenient that I can have the progress indicator visible without obstructing the videos. When going for widescreen display, tho, I guess I have to improvise, tho the specification allows for that as well (1200 vs 1080 - the extra 120 pixels was, according to specifications, originally meant for the progress bar).