"Widescreen" UK VHS of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS

Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

I recently came into possession of a VHS transfer of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS, converted from a UK VHS tape which was apparently part of a special-edition series called "Maverick Directors" and is presented in widescreen. Only trouble is, the film was shot in 2.35 : 1, and the videotape is only letterboxed to 1.85 : 1, except for the credits, where the image zooms out to the correct aspect ratio.
Now, this is obviously an improvement over the pan and scan version available in North America, but I have to wonder: why the half-measure? Was there a rule in the UK that said videotapes should never be letterboxed past the 1.85 : 1 ratio, perhaps because the resulting image would be considered too small?
Is a puzzlement...

djprobed

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Amplified Parts

Topic - "Widescreen" UK VHS of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS - djprobed 12:51:44 02/25/04 (1)

Re: "Widescreen" UK VHS of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS - rico 13:29:59 02/25/04 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.