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Topic: MGM Widescreen DVD Class Action Lawsuit

Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 01-17-2005 12:51 PM

Is this really about "widescreen" DVD's of "flat widescreen" motion pictures that aren't wider than the "standard" versions?

MGM DVD Class Action

quote:
Eallonardo, et al. v MGM, et al., Claims Administration Website

Welcome to the MGM DVD Settlement Website

You are a member of the proposed settlement class if between December 1, 1998 to September 8, 2003, you purchased certain MGM widescreen DVDs (DVDs for films shot in the aspect ratio of 1.85 to 1 or 1.66 to 1).

STANDARD: Modified to fit your screen.
WIDESCREEN: Theatrical release format.

From one of the listed DVD's:

quote:
... is offered in the widescreen format, enabling you to experience the picture exactly as it was originally shown in theatres. Depending on how the film was shot, the widescreen format presents up to 50% more image to the left and right of the screen than the standard "pan & scan" process, thus preserving the director's vision of each scene. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format.

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James R. Hammonds, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 931
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 01-17-2005 11:05 PM

I don't have anything to comapre full frame vs widescreen, but if this claim is true, I wonder if they are really cropping an already cropped 4x3 image or if the 4x3 images are really the original camera negatives with no cropping whatsoever.

I looked at the list of dvds, and I know that the dvd for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a 2.35:1 transfer.

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Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 01-18-2005 07:43 AM

The settlement is $7.10 for each DVD, or pick out a new one. You have to return the "defective" DVD.

I did some hunting around, and I think I understand this a bit better. To my understanding, this guy is claiming that MGM took Pan & Scan masters, slapped on black bars and proclaimed them to be "letterbox" In this case, you did actually lose picture, as the left and right were cut off by the P&S, then top and bottom cut off by the black bars.

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Eric Webb
Film Handler

Posts: 40
From: Atlanta GA
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 01-18-2005 07:22 PM

Where is the list of the 325 DVDs that you can choose from if you have a MGM DVD that is part of this lawsuit?
pdf of the lawsuit

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 01-18-2005 07:46 PM

quote:
...enabling you to experience the picture exactly as it was originally shown in theatres.

eh? do they want another lawsuit?

carl

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Wayne Keyser
Master Film Handler

Posts: 272
From: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Registered: May 2004

posted 01-18-2005 08:57 PM

Want my guess?

Explaining "letterbox" as a concept to the general public (not counting those who, like us, are already "sold") has proven confusing and difficult. They have that one simple "wider on each side" explanation for the whole concept, and they are not about to confuse the issue by going into 1.85 matting of films that should be projected that way but were shot full-frame.

Such films represent the director's vision, and have the same black bars top and bottom, but do not show "a wider picture on each side", they show a full-frame image matted top and bottom - and those delightful lawyers jumped on it.

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Tao Yue
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 209
From: Princeton, NJ
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-18-2005 09:38 PM

I agree with Wayne, all the legal text is consistent with a suit over soft-matted films' presentation on DVD. Mark, where have you read that the suit was about double-cropped DVDs? (first to 4:3 P&S then to 16:9) All I found with a quick web search was some uninformed bulletin board speculation.

(And, as to be expected, the list of eligible titles includes hard-matted films like Silence of the Lambs.)

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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-19-2005 12:46 AM

Elmer would say "There's something scwewy here..."

Is the same contention made about all the titles on that list?

I've got "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" on DVD, & there's a cool long shot in it (cool at the theater, tiny people on the TV) with dialogue between Joseph Cotten at the extreme left & Vincent Price at the extreme right of the frame; & unless my memory is incorrect, the couple of times I saw that shot P&S on TV they just cut back & forth between the two actors on dialogue. I'd guess the DVD is pretty close to the original format & framing.

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Adam Wilbert
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 590
From: Bellingham, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 01-19-2005 01:19 AM

quote: the pdf
The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ Complaint is that certain representations on the label and package
insert of MGM’s widescreen DVDs are false and misleading because MGM’s widescreen DVDs for films shot in the 1.85 to 1 aspect
ratio have the same image width as MGM’s standard screen format DVDs.

Wait a minute... all of my dvds have the same image width whether they were shot in 2.35:1, 1.85:1, 16:9 or 4:3. They all go fully to the left and right edge of my SD TV, no more or less. Only the height varies. Thems some crafty law-talking-guys. [Roll Eyes]

Also, I wonder how they singled out just 5 retailers (Best buy, blockbuster, target, amazon.com, and Columbia House) out of all of the stores out there?

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