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any widescreen DVDs of 'The Time Travelers'?

posted 12 years ago by tgassen
4 replies | jump to latest

I was excited to see a DVD of "The Time Travelers" listed on eBay recently as "widescreen," only to find it appears to be a letterbox cropped 4x3 DVD.

Does anyone know of a true widescreen 16x9 anamorphic DVD version of this film?

FYI: We believe the film was actually shot in full frame in 1.33:1 (for future TV use) and then masked in projection to 1.85:1 for theatrical display. The 1980s studio VHS was of the full frame, and the only version I've ever seen on TV is the 1.33:1 full frame.

Has anyone ever seen this film on TV in 1.85:1 (widescreen)? If a true widescreen version has ever been transferred to video and broadcast in 16x9, then a bootleg anamorphic version could actually see the light of day!

But beware the currently erroneous eBay listings of a "widescreen" version...

[–] michaelwdark 12 years ago

Well , Ive ordered a widescreen version of this film and I'm waitng on its delivery from a trusted source that swears it is "the " widescreen version of the film...it is listed as being shot at 2.:1 aspect ratio so we will see..
I don't think this source would B.S. me about that as he knows I'm a fan of this film and have been looking like you for the best version I can find ..I will post the result of the purchase when it arrives...It's also supposed to be excellant quality...I will be able to tell if it is cropped as I have a cropped thorne/hbo vhs of this film which I transfered to dvd-r quite a while back...It should be pretty obvious when comparing the two...cheers

[–] tgassen 12 years ago

I look forward to reading your report!

The only DVDs I've found advertised as "widescreen" on the web are taken from a TCM broadcast from the last year or so, and eventually the sellers admitted that their version is a letterboxed 4x3 and NOT an anamorphic widescreen version.

My hope is that you have something different than the mis-advertised bootlegs I've seen for sale. Many thanks for sharing any info! :)

[–] michaelwdark 12 years ago

Ok , well just watched and I'm happy to report this is indeed the widescreen version it appears to be 1.85:1 and it looks great...it has an MGM logo in the right corner so I believe this is the broadcast copy from MGM....no commercials or breaks I can see so I beleive this will be the best until MGM gets this out on MOD or I hope a Blu ray ...It really deserves more respect than its gotten..

[–] 12 years ago

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