The Wire: The Complete Series (2002-2008)

[octagon]

Universal is releasing the original Battlestar Freaking Galactica in two aspect ratios.

Universal. Battlestar Galactica.

Is there a mic drop emoticon?

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I'm pretty sure there are examples of this happening before. I know X-Files made two masters, one 4:3 and one 16:9, when they remastered it for HD.

Did you pick that up from the reports by Bill Hunt and Robert Meyer Burnett? If you heard that from a third source, I'd love to hear about it.

Originally Posted by octagon

Universal is releasing the original Battlestar Freaking Galactica in two aspect ratios.

Universal. Battlestar Galactica.

Is there a mic drop emoticon?

It's definitely encouraging. I can't help thinking though that the larger number of episodes would make putting both ARs on the same release prohibitive.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Chareth

It's definitely encouraging. I can't help thinking though that the larger number of episodes would make putting both ARs on the same release prohibitive.

I dunno, I'm not really all that encouraged at this point. If there were even whiffs of a possible OAR release I can't see David Simon going to such lengths to explain his...I don't know...grudging acceptance?...of the reformatted version.

I would certainly love to be wrong though.

(edit: just to clarify, the mic drop comment was to indicate my utter bemusement/bafflement at the fact that Universal can get something like this right and HBO - who has practically been the home video gold standard for so long - seems to be cutting a fairly significant corner. It's a world gone mad, I tell you)

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by octagon

I dunno, I'm not really all that encouraged at this point. If there were even whiffs of a possible OAR release I can't see David Simon going to such lengths to explain his...I don't know...grudging acceptance?...of the reformatted version.

I would certainly love to be wrong though.

(edit: just to clarify, the mic drop comment was to indicate my utter bemusement/bafflement at the fact that Universal can get something like this right and HBO - who has practically been the home video gold standard for so long - seems to be cutting a fairly significant corner. It's a world gone mad, I tell you)

In reply to one of the comments wanting 4:3 and why, Simon says 'that would be nice'. Granted, that could mean 'would be nice, but I know it's not happening', but it could also mean that Simon simply doesn't know.

Despite his involvement in this remaster, in previous replies on the topic Simon didn't seem to get that HD and 4:3 were not mutually exclusive, and expressed his thanks to a commenter who subsequently laid it all out for him. He freely admits that he's not totally savvy on these matters, so he may not pursue the matter as doggedly with HBO as other showrunners might.

And between this and the apparently underwhelming work done with the early Sopranos negative, HBO seems to be losing a bit of their lustre in this regard, surprisingly.

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

Hopefully they update the HBO Go version

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Chareth

He freely admits that he's not totally savvy on these matters, so he may not pursue the matter as doggedly with HBO as other showrunners might.

Yeah, it's also possible that he's not legally in the same type of driver's seat that maybe David Chase or David Lynch might be. Some show creators retain a lot of control over their properties, some shows the network can do pretty much what they will.

Originally Posted by Chareth

And between this and the apparently underwhelming work done with the early Sopranos negative, HBO seems to be losing a bit of their lustre in this regard, surprisingly.

That was very much on my mind while I was thinking and reading about all this. HBO has a great reputation for doing the right things with their properties and - in my eyes at least - that reputation has taken two fairly significant hits in the past few weeks.

[Kosire]

Originally Posted by JeffTheMovieGuy

Hopefully they update the HBO Go version

Did you read the OP?

Last line:

All 60 episodes will also be available in HD on HBO GO starting December 26

[LPMA]

I would have gladly upgraded for an OAR blu release, but I think I'll pass on this.

[Egons Ghost]

Originally Posted by chronoclast

David Simon has put up an excellent blog post today about The Wire in HD. He's okay with the change to 16:9.

He's written some older blog comments about a UK hi-def 16:9 broadcast and he was not very positive about it.

I think he's being diplomatic - he said (in the comments on this new blog post) HBO wants to reach a wider audience, they paid the bills for 5 seasons of something they didn't have to. So he supports what they want to do.

Personally I find it disappointing about it being 16:9. The ****ing screen doesn't have to be filled.

[Drewbee87]

I've watched a few episodes and liked what I saw. I might get this, glad it's in 16:9.

[Ronin48]

Originally Posted by Illy Scorsese

The Greatest thing to ever air in the History of American Television...

Totally agree, (and I'm a huge Breaking Bad and Walking Dead fan).

[RWoods]

Originally Posted by Ronin48

Totally agree, (and I'm a huge Breaking Bad and Walking Dead fan).

Same here.....I cant decide if I like The Wire more than Breaking Bad or not. But theyre #1 and #2 on my list.

[Kyle_g89]

UPDATE: Simon (via HBO) has since uploaded clips of two scenes—one he feels was improved by the 16:9 transfer, and one he feels wasn’t—so you, the viewer, can decide. Please note there is a 9-year-old SPOILER ALERT on the first pair of clips if you haven’t seen The Wire and are reading this because you like to keep current on aspect-ratio news.


Season 1 Pilot comparison scene (No spoiler here)

4:3 Original Aspect Ratio SD version Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DczM...ature=youtu.be

16:9 HD Remaster Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01mc...ature=youtu.be


http://www.avclub.com/article/hbo-fi...imon-is-212510


from what i can tell in season 1, very little image has been lost, almost pure gains. but this will obviously vary from scene to scene based on how much reframing they decided to do.

[BuckNaked2k]

Disappointed they are not releasing in OAR. I don't buy cropped releases. See World at War.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by BuckNaked2k

Disappointed they are not releasing in OAR. I don't buy cropped releases. See World at War.

And Prime Suspect. I bought that, but returned it to Amazon for a refund once I found out it was cropped, and also at the wrong speed (British TV shows shot on film were usually shot at 25 frames per second for PAL, but they now tend to be remastered at 24 frames per second for HD, for convenience - PAL-to-HD-speeddown).

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

Originally Posted by Kosire

Did you read the OP?

Last line:

I thought it said that it was able to be purchased digitally on that day, my bad

[septimus]

With no detailed specs for this release yet, I'm not quite ready to get out my pitchfork, but I hope the ambiguity of the announcement is cleared up soon. It would be great if someone from the site could reach out to HBO for an official word on whether this new, alternate version is the only one that will be making it's way to Blu-ray.

I realize that this was just announced, but it's frustrating to already see how many people are seemingly or explicitly indifferent about the potential loss of the original version of the show, especially people who should know better by now. If the general public doesn't care, why would HBO bother to put in the extra effort?

[Truewitt]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

And Prime Suspect. I bought that, but returned it to Amazon for a refund once I found out it was cropped, and also at the wrong speed (British TV shows shot on film were usually shot at 25 frames per second for PAL, but they now tend to be remastered at 24 frames per second for HD, for convenience - PAL-to-HD-speeddown).

In all fairness, there's really not much that can be done about the 25 frame issue.

[BuckNaked2k]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

....and also at the wrong speed (British TV shows shot on film were usually shot at 25 frames per second for PAL, but they now tend to be remastered at 24 frames per second for HD, for convenience - PAL-to-HD-speeddown).

Originally Posted by Truewitt

In all fairness, there's really not much that can be done about the 25 frame issue.

I wonder about this. My player displays 23.976, 24.00, and 25.00. I always thought I was getting the original image at proper frame rate and speed.

[Kyle_g89]

Originally Posted by septimus

With no detailed specs for this release yet, I'm not quite ready to get out my pitchfork, but I hope the ambiguity of the announcement is cleared up soon. It would be great if someone from the site could reach out to HBO for an official word on whether this new, alternate version is the only one that will be making it's way to Blu-ray.

I realize that this was just announced, but it's frustrating to already see how many people are seemingly or explicitly indifferent about the potential loss of the original version of the show, especially people who should know better by now. If the general public doesn't care, why would HBO bother to put in the extra effort?

from a business perspective, its unlikely there will be a separate blu ray release of for the same show (The Wire) based on at least these two if's:

if the remastering process was done post framing/cropping. (then they would have to go back and remaster parts of every frame again. - not gonna happen imo)

and two - it depends how well this sells. the wire was not a big contender regarding popularity in its day, its more of a cult show. so if this blu ray release (which is clearly aimed at the broader audience out there) doesn't make its money enough then theres no way HBO would release another box set.

but to be honest, even if the above two if's support another release, i still think its unlikely.

its more a now or never thing i think, but i hope HBO at least cleaned up all the frame on the negatives so that something in the future possibly 4k if that takes off.. is open to different framing options.