Dr. Strangelove aspect ratio on DVD

[MS]

Hi,

I've had Dr. Strangelove on DVD for a few years and have always been
annoyed by the fact it is a full screen version. Recently I rented a
different (newer) edition of Dr. S. which said the aspect ration was
'1.66:1 Anamorphic widescreen'. I was disappointed to see that this was
-for all intents and purpose- full screen as well.

The 'technical specifications' listed for Dr. S. on the IMDb are as follows:

1.37 : 1 (negative ratio, partly)
1.66 : 1

Now I'm not very up on aspect ratios, and have no idea what the 'negative
ratio' bit means, but the 1.66:1 is the same as was listed on the DVD I
rented. So I got a ruler out and accurately drew a rectangle of 16.6 cm
along the width and 10 cm along the height, the result was a rectangle
which I would describe as 'widescreen' and would not fit in a square on my
TV. Now 1.66:1 is not as wide as 1.85:1 -which seems to be the commonly
used aspect ratio these days- but it is wide and not square and certainly
wider than the shape I'm getting on my widescreen TV regardless of playing
around with the TV's aspect ratio settings.

I noticed that on amazon.com (I'm in the UK) that in the USA there are 2
versions of Dr. S., a 'special edition' and a 'special edition 2 disk'
DVD, both list the aspect ratio as 'widescreen'.

Can anyone, who has one of these DVDs, tell me if they are in fact a
widescreen picture? If so which version do they have -- I'm thinking about
ordering a copy from the USA so I can finally see Dr. S. in the intended
aspect ratio.

Many thanks and regards, etc..

[Jack Lefton]

Post by MS
Can anyone, who has one of these DVDs, tell me if they are in fact a
widescreen picture? If so which version do they have -- I'm thinking about
ordering a copy from the USA so I can finally see Dr. S. in the intended
aspect ratio.

Kubrik intended it to be 1:33 to 1, though it was shown in theaters at 1:66
to 1.

[Lincoln Spector]

Post by Jack Lefton

Post by MS
Can anyone, who has one of these DVDs, tell me if they are in fact a
widescreen picture? If so which version do they have -- I'm thinking
about ordering a copy from the USA so I can finally see Dr. S. in the
intended aspect ratio.

Kubrik intended it to be 1:33 to 1, though it was shown in theaters at
1:66 to 1.

That's a myth. Kubrick asked that the video transfers not be letterboxed,
because he felt it played well at 1.33 and he didn't like letterboxing, but
he would have had to be technically ignorant (which he wasn't) to intend it
to be projected that way when he shot it.

As was standard practice in the early '60s (and still is standard practice
today), most of Strangelove was shot full-frame, meaning that the image on
the negative is 1.33 (hence the "negative aspect ratio"). However, it was
shot with the knowledge that the top and bottom would be cropped off in
projection to achieve a wider screen. In Europe, the standard then was 1.66;
in America, 1.85 (which it still is--I'm not sure if Europe still uses
1.66). In other words, it was framed to look good cropped both to 1.66 and
to 1.85.

Some shots were hard-matted to 1.66, meaning that the top and bottom of the
frame were masked off in the camera--essentially letterboxing on the
negative. I don't know why he did this, but it seems inconceivable that
Kubrick originally wanted that masking visible. Far more likely he didn't
worry about it because he knew it wouldn't be visible on screen.

During it's initial theatrical release, some theaters showed it at 1.66,
some 1.85 (and probably some in all sorts of horrible ARs). I know that
Kubrick requested theaters show Clockwork Orange (and all subsequent Kubrick
films) at 1.66, although many theaters just showed it in whatever AR they
supported. I don't know if he made such a request for Strangelove.

When Strangelove was first broadcast on TV, it was full-screen. The
hard-matte shots were slightly panned and scanned. This is also how the
first home video versions were done.

When Criterion prepared their laserdisc version, they initially did a 1.85
transfer. But Kubrick objected, and requested they do the film full-frame,
meaning that most of the movie was 1.33, and the hard-matted stuff was 1.66
with soft edges. That's how all subsequent video versions came out until the
recent wide-screen DVD.

Lincoln

[larry legallo]

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 15:59:01 GMT, MS

Post by MS
Hi,
I've had Dr. Strangelove on DVD for a few years and have always been
annoyed by the fact it is a full screen version. Recently I rented a
different (newer) edition of Dr. S. which said the aspect ration was
'1.66:1 Anamorphic widescreen'. I was disappointed to see that this was
-for all intents and purpose- full screen as well.
1.37 : 1 (negative ratio, partly)
1.66 : 1

Kubrick's aspect ratios are more complicated than when to move your
clothes down to the lower peg in John Cleese's class. The reason the
imdb listed those two aspect ratios is that there have been ideo
releases of Strangelove that alternate between the two from scene to
scene.

Post by MS
Now I'm not very up on aspect ratios, and have no idea what the 'negative
ratio' bit means, but the 1.66:1 is the same as was listed on the DVD I
rented. So I got a ruler out and accurately drew a rectangle of 16.6 cm
along the width and 10 cm along the height, the result was a rectangle
which I would describe as 'widescreen' and would not fit in a square on my
TV. Now 1.66:1 is not as wide as 1.85:1 -which seems to be the commonly
used aspect ratio these days- but it is wide and not square and certainly
wider than the shape I'm getting on my widescreen TV regardless of playing
around with the TV's aspect ratio settings.

1.66:1 is not as wide as a 16x9 TV. Therefore, you will see no bars
on the top and bottom of the screen. Depending on your TV settings,
you might see small bars on the sides (and you may not even see those
because of overscan).

1.66 is how the film was shown theatrically. It was Kubrick's most
common aspect ratio. Most of the video releases of his films are
presented in open matte full frame (1.33:1). This is not the same as
pan-and-scan or cropped "fullscreen" releases, in that you are
actually getting *more* picture than the widescreen version (including
the theatrical release) shows.

Post by MS
I noticed that on amazon.com (I'm in the UK) that in the USA there are 2
versions of Dr. S., a 'special edition' and a 'special edition 2 disk'
DVD, both list the aspect ratio as 'widescreen'.
Can anyone, who has one of these DVDs, tell me if they are in fact a
widescreen picture? If so which version do they have -- I'm thinking about
ordering a copy from the USA so I can finally see Dr. S. in the intended
aspect ratio.

Get the latest 40th Anniversary 2-disc version. It's in uniform 1.66,
which is as wide as you're going to get.

[MS]

Thanks for the info. everyone.

Post by MS
Hi,
I've had Dr. Strangelove on DVD for a few years and have always been
annoyed by the fact it is a full screen version. Recently I rented a
different (newer) edition of Dr. S. which said the aspect ration was
'1.66:1 Anamorphic widescreen'. I was disappointed to see that this was
-for all intents and purpose- full screen as well.
1.37 : 1 (negative ratio, partly)
1.66 : 1
Now I'm not very up on aspect ratios, and have no idea what the
'negative ratio' bit means, but the 1.66:1 is the same as was listed on
the DVD I rented. So I got a ruler out and accurately drew a rectangle
of 16.6 cm along the width and 10 cm along the height, the result was a
rectangle which I would describe as 'widescreen' and would not fit in a
square on my TV. Now 1.66:1 is not as wide as 1.85:1 -which seems to be
the commonly used aspect ratio these days- but it is wide and not square
and certainly wider than the shape I'm getting on my widescreen TV
regardless of playing around with the TV's aspect ratio settings.
I noticed that on amazon.com (I'm in the UK) that in the USA there are 2
versions of Dr. S., a 'special edition' and a 'special edition 2 disk'
DVD, both list the aspect ratio as 'widescreen'.
Can anyone, who has one of these DVDs, tell me if they are in fact a
widescreen picture? If so which version do they have -- I'm thinking
about ordering a copy from the USA so I can finally see Dr. S. in the
intended aspect ratio.
Many thanks and regards, etc..