Mixed aspect ratios in the menu domain!

[r0lZ]

I have noticed that the DVD "The Big Lebowski" PAL, zone 2 and 4 (French, Netherlands and English), sold in Europe in 1999 by Universal, has a very strange menu with mixed aspect ratios!
It's a dual aspect ratio DVD (and that's extremely rare in Europe) with a language selection menu and an aspect ratio selection menu.

The two movies are in different VTSs, with the right aspect ratio flags, but the whole menu is authored in VTSM 1, with the 4:3 aspect flag in the IFO and all VOB cells. However, when the user selects the 16:9 aspect ratio, GPRM 1 is modified. Then, that GPRM is used later to jump to menu PGCs in the same menu domain, with a video either in pure 4:3 or to PGCs obviously with 16:9 video, despite the flags. Those "false 16:9" PGCs are authored with only one group of buttons, and one subpicture stream in the VOB.

When played with a software player in 16:9, the "false 16:9" PGCs are used, but they appear in 4:3 and distorted, of course. Same thing on my Sony and KISS players.

I guess that it's a BIG authoring error, but I would like to be sure. Is it legit? In this case, how is the player supposed to "understand" that it should switch to 16:9 when playing those "false 16:9" PGCs? And how does it handle the button highlights?

[setarip_old]

@r0lZ

Hi!When played with a software player in 16:9, the "false 16:9" PGCs are used, but they appear in 4:3 and distortedI can only tell you that the R1 (released in 2005 - I believe 1998 is the date the movie was released in theaters) version has the same options of "Standard" ("Altered to fit your television screen") and "Widescreen" - and both formats display properly on three different software players and several different standalone players (including a SONY).

Sounds like something got fouled up in the creation of the R2/R4 version.

I noticed that the 2007 release of the "Collectors' Edition" comes only in either widescreen or fullscreen. I wonder if that had anything to do with what you've encountered?

BTW - I wouldn't recommend going bowling with John Goodman ;>}

[r0lZ]

Thanks for the precision. As you know, my version is very old, and I suppose newer versions doesn't have the problem, including for the R2/4 regions. (BTW, the copyright of the movie itself is 1986/1987, so I suppose that the movie has been released in theaters in 1987.)

Obviously, in 1999, the producers of the DVD were not very confident in its success, as it's a poor release, with still menus without audio, no bonuses, and a poor encoding. (2/3 of one layer for a 1:52 movie in 16:9 with 2 AC3 audio tracks is not enough!) That can explain the authoring error.

[setarip_old]

1) Although it's not important regarding your observation about your DVD, please see the official release information at IMDB (The Coen Brothers would have been far too young in 1987 - and "Fargo", which is referred to, came out in theaters in 1996) :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/

2) The earliest DVD release date appears to be November 5, 2002

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007ELEL/imdb-button/

**EDIT** I believe I was mistaken about BOTH the earliest release date and the date of the version I have (which appears to be the same as yours). It appears that the ONLY time a dual version (widescreen and Pan&Scan) was released was on October 27,1998Release: October 27th, 1998
Widescreen Edition/Pan & Scan Edition DVD

http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/release/58/15658/releases.php


3) Mine is somewhat fouled up as well, in that the first menu to show up is the silent and still menu "choose standard or widescreen" - and you can only get to the main menu by letting the actual movie begin and then again selecting menu. At that point you see an active screen with audio and an option to select (albeit pathetic) "Special Features" ("The making of", "The cast", and a trailer).

Is this possibly what you're being confronted with as well?

[r0lZ]

You're right. According to this filmography (http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/coens.html#film), Lebowski was released in 1998. Blood Simple, their first film, was released in 1983.

The 2002 release is not my DVD. It has a completely different cover. And the copyright of my DVD is 1999. I love this movie, so I bought the first release immediately, but I don't remember exactly when.

BTW, the label of the DVD is "BIG230299B". (B stands probably for Belgium.)

The navigation of my DVD is different. It shows the Universal logo, then a still menu to select the language (Netherlands, English, French) and then the same menu background is shown again, but now you have the choice of "4:3" or "16:9" (those two menus are already in "false 16:9!) Then, you see the usual copyright notice (without any possibility to skip it with the remote, and again in false 16:9) and finally the main menu is displayed. There are no bonuses.

[setarip_old]

1) Please see my "**EDIT**" in my previous post - as well as #3

2) The Coen Bros. are older than I realized ;>}

[setarip_old]

The navigation of my DVD is different. It shows the Universal logo, then a still menu to select the language (Netherlands, English, French) and then the same menu background is shown again, but now you have the choice of "4:3" or "16:9" (those two menus are already in "false 16:9!) Then, you see the usual copyright notice (without any possibility to skip it with the remote, and again in false 16:9) and finally the main menu is displayed. There are no bonuses.Sounds like your version is FAR more botched up than mine!

Since you're obviously really fond of this movie, you might want to purchase one of the more recent "premium"/"collectors" versions - available as either "widescreen only" or "standard only"...

[r0lZ]

... or fix the menu problems with PgcEdit, and keep only the widescreen version. ;)
That's what I did, and I'm happy, although the quality of the video is still somewhat low.

[setarip_old]

although the quality of the video is still somewhat low.That's why I was suggesting you consider purchasing the recent "collectors" widescreen-only release. I've got to believe the video quality is higher...