Dr. Strangelove 40th Anniversary Edition on DVD: Bombs Away!?!

***bump***

Well....so far, an interesting remaster.

The good news: the ad does live up to its '5.1 from mono' hype(not much going on, though, except isolating certain aspects, like the sound of the plane's interior, or the clattering echo of the war room), and that's in DD and DTS....thankfully, a mono track is also included(center speaker, natch), but at least we didn't get screwed out of that.

Visually, pretty good, though some blemishes remain(check out the deterioration seen as the movie ends, just before The End appears). In 1.66:1 aspect, typical non-anamorphic british aspect.

 

Wha? I have seen a few different DVD packagings of this title, some stating 1.33:1, and others I thought 2.35:1/various.

I realize there are varying aspect ratios throughout the film, but they're definitely not anamorphic?

 

Well, not 2.35:1....this one is 1.66:1 throughout.....

No, not as in CinemaScope or Panavision widescreen...fairly standard british aspect ratio, which varies from 1.66:1 to 1.75:1, generally....like the first three Bond films, many others from that time, a little more or less depending on the film.

 

Ed, aren't there some scenes in the movie that are 2.35:1?

So, we'll have a 4:3 picture with matted bars on top and bottom depending if the image is 1.66:1 or 1.75:1? Total bummer for those with 16:9 sets.

 

There's nothing 2.35:1 in "Strangelove" - never was.

The ratio for this set is consistently 1.66:1 enhanced for 16X9 sets. Not a bummer at all for those with 16X9 sets - there's no 1.33:1 part of it.

 

Miracle Mile is a great great movie. Highly Recomended if you have never seen it. Its on DVD now...I had the VHS version for years.

 

OK, yeah I was confused about the 2.35:1 ratios (or lack thereof).

The reason I said it was a bummer for those with 16X9 is because Ed sez it was non-anamorphic when it apparently is enhanced for 16X9. Saw it today at Best Buy, but it was full price, $24.99

EDIT: Maybe Ed meant it was 1.66:1 non-anamorphic in that the film didn't use an anamorphic lens or scope. But now it seems clear the DVD transfer is anamorphic.

 

Sam,

That's what I meant! It wasn't shot anamorphically...my interest is generally in the Original Aspect Ratio, and tend to forget the 16:9 transfer.

 

Actually, list price is $35 - $25 is about 30% off!

 

I just picked this up yesterday and watched last night instead of (or because of!) the election. Very nice remaster, and the soundtrack is surprisingly effective. The surround for the plane scenes was driving my dog crazy, as he kept looking around him with a look of concern on his face.

John K.