the only dvd i've ever seen of this movie is fullscreen. who in their right mind would make a dvd and not even give you the option of seeing it as peter weir intended?
is there any version (foreign release?) that's on widescreen?
Unfortunately not. I live in Region 2 land (England) but I have a multi-region player so I've been waiting for a widescreen release of Fearless on DVD ANYWHERE in the world. At least I've still got my widescreen Laserdisc of the film.
shareActually, this movie was composed by DP Allen Daviau in 1.33:1 fullscreen (the image was matted to 1.85 for theater screens when it did a limited art-house theater run circa '93). There is the disclaimer that at the beginning of the DVD that it has been "modified to fit your screen" but that's not true in the purest sense -- it's only been modified from the theater version that had 25% of its image removed from the original ratio to play in widescreen.
If you'll notice, the precision of the compositions on the full-screen DVD are testament to the fact that is the ratio that Weir and Daviau actually intended. Remember this movie came out in '93 before DVD. So Weir and Daviau, foreseeing perhaps a limited art-house theater run, with a wider audience in the later TV and VHS market, protected themselves from pan-and-scan butchery by composing in 1.33 full-screen from the first. This is not like many Warner DVD's that were composed in widescreen and then butchered in pan-and-scan on the DVD version. Why Warner persists in doing this is beyond me.
I hope this explanation made sense and was helpful.
I want a proper anamorphic widescreen version as well!
shareThe following link is to an interview with the cinematographer on FEARLESS - Allen Daviau - he says the film was shot in 1.66:1 ratio to ensure the image was suitable for European venues - this is still a widescreen format - Pan and Scan is obviously 1.33:1
http://www.cameraguild.com/interviews/chat_daviau/daviau_fearless.htm
When are they going to release a good version of this on DVD??
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Same here, region 2 player (Germany) and no DVD version AT ALL anywhere near :(
shareDon't know why there is no DVD widescreen version of the movie. There was a 1:85:1 laser disc version. But we do know what the intentions were when it was shot. The following is excerpted from the november 1993 issue of American Cinematographer...
-Like every film Daviau has photographed since E.T., Fearless is composed in the Academy standard 1:85:1 aspect ratio, with a hard matte used to protect the image for the 1.66:1 format typically used in Europe.
"We discussed my preference for shooting this way, and Peter agreed," Daviau says. "I know there are excellent cinematographers who don't feel the same way, and I concede that you can record crisp pictures with today's anamorphic lenses. But I still have serious doubts about the sharpness of the projected anamorphic images in many theaters."-
By the way, I really highly recommend the laserdisc, it's very well-done! No extras, but the quality is pristine.
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