BBC2 showed this film last Friday night (early hrs of Saturday) stretched from it's original 4:3 to 16:9! I recorded it in HD but because of the stretching it looks awful! A real fun fare "hall of mirrors" special! I was so looking forward to a nice HD recording & I can see that if they hadn't messed it up it would've been a nice recording. Damn BBC!!
shareI am watching a recording I made from the BBC2 HD channel (from Friday 31/08) and I can assure you it IS in 4:3 and NOT stretched to 16:9. My recorder also recorded the BBC2 Transmission as well and that is also in 4:3 (black bars at the sides). All I can think is that you may have a wrong setting on your TV or Recorder.
shareJust to give you a heads up. 'Quatermass 2' is showing on BBC2 this sunday (22/09) at 00:55 am.
shareAnother heads up - 'The Quatermass Xperiment' and 'Quatermass 2' are about to be released (early October) on a single Blu-ray/DVD doubleplay set in Australia and is available for pre-order on some sites (will be interesting if the discs are region-coded as Australia is Region 4 for DVD but Region B (same as Europe) for Blu-ray.
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,
Thanks for the info on the Blu-Ray.
In the UK 'Quatermass Xpereriment' & Quatermass 2' are already on a single disc release from ICON. ICON10057. (Region 2). The cover and dvd menu say 'The Quatermass Experiment' but the print says Xperiment. There are no extras & the print of 2 is a bit dark (there is a disclaimer saying something like 'due to the nature etc...). Both are in 4:3 1.33:1. When the opening titles for 2 come onscreen the picture shrinks in a little bit but expands again when they finish. This set has been out for a couple of years now.
'Quatermass And The Pit' is on a Blu-Ray / DVD double pack through Optimum Classic / Studio Canal. OPTBD0631 Region B / 2. The Blu feature running time is listed on the box as 97 mins, the DVD feature running time is listed as 94 minutes (I have not compared times). This set has loads of special features.
Here's the link for the Australian 'The Quatermass Xperiment'/'Quatermass 2' Blu-ray/DVD combo set http://www.ezydvd.com.au/blu-ray/hammer-horror-the-quatermass-xperimen t-quartermass-2/dp/6143775. The idiosyncrasies of the print of 'Quatermass 2' you describe are the same as that which was shown last night on BBC2/BBC2 HD (not shown in HD, unlike '...Xperiment' a fortnight ago, which was). The two films were previously available in the UK as separate discs (including commentaries with Val Guest and Nigel Neale) by [now defunct] DD Home Entertainment, and together with 'The Four-Sided Triangle' and 'X: The Unknown' in the boxed set 'Hammer Horror: The Early Classics'.
I wouldn't waste your time measuring and comparing the different times of 'Quatermass and the Pit' on Blu-ray and DVD - the Blu-ray runs at the correct speed, 24 fps; the DVD -being PAL format- runs at 25 fps.
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,