# 20th Century Fox **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123 "2004-07-08T15:39:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/1 "2004-07-08T15:39:21Z")
Going through Target the other day, I went by their cheap, under $15 DVD display. I noticed “Office Space” and picked it up. I quickly put it down once I saw the “Fullscreen Version” on the top of it. That’s when I noticed the sticker. “Modified to fit \*your \* television screen! No more black bars!” :mad: They didn’t even carry the widescreen version in the store! What the living fuck is wrong with this world?!? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/2 "2004-07-08T15:44:11Z")
[Here ya go.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305508550/qid=1089301340/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6182863-7608855?v=glance&s=dvd) And only fifteen bucks! Who’da thunkit? They’re just marketing to the drooling idjits who think it’s a good idea to watch movies in 4x3. There is a significant market for the correct versions of most movies, and we intelligent people can continue to buy them and marvel at our superiority. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/3 "2004-07-08T17:08:47Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Going through Target the other day, I went by their cheap, under $15 DVD display. I noticed “Office Space” and picked it up. I quickly put it down once I saw the “Fullscreen Version” on the top of it. That’s when I noticed the sticker. > > “Modified to fit \*your \* television screen! No more black bars!” > > :mad: > > They didn’t even carry the widescreen version in the store! What the living fuck is wrong with this world?!? Are they lying if you guy a widescreen TV? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/4 "2004-07-08T17:15:27Z")
That strange sound you hear coming from underground is my father turning over in his grave at the concept that butchered fullscreen is somehow _better_ than widescreen. (Though, for Office Space, I’m not going to make a fuss over having the fullscreen version. It’s still damn funny.) Particularly if you are talking about, say, the Lord of the Rings movies – I can’t figure out for the life of me why they put out butchered versions of _those_. He’d have _looooooved_ widescreen DVDs. Absolutely loved them. And HDTVs. And DVD recorders. This was a man who at one point had a laserdisk player, anybody remember those? And widescreen **ANYTHING** was a good thing. It used to be a whole lot harder to find such versions of movies. Downright impossible, as I remember. Fucking morons don’t know a good thing when it’s right in front of them! ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/5 "2004-07-08T18:25:29Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Going through Target the other day, I went by their cheap, under $15 DVD display. I noticed “Office Space” and picked it up. I quickly put it down once I saw the “Fullscreen Version” on the top of it. That’s when I noticed the sticker. > > “Modified to fit \*your \* television screen! No more black bars!” > > :mad: > > They didn’t even carry the widescreen version in the store! What the living fuck is wrong with this world?!? At the risk of sounding non-Pit-worthy, it may be a situation where there’s a backlog of these - perhaps produced back when fullscreens were the prevalent type. Or not. But if it is, then it’s actually not a half-bad little sticker. I mean, you’d have to be a moron to stop and go “wow, this version is perfect for my TV”, but my guess is there’s plenty of morons out there. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/6 "2004-07-08T18:32:10Z")
And you have Fox as your Pit title instead of Target…why? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/7 "2004-07-08T19:00:33Z")
Because 20th Century Fox produces the DVD, and I’d guess they’re the ones that put the sticker on it. 'Course, I’ve been wrong before (twice). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/8 "2004-07-08T19:23:55Z")
Do you like to fish, **Munch**? If not, you’ll need to find something else to with that [big ol’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248992&highlight=widescreen) [can of worms](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250113&highlight=widescreen) you’re holding. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/9 "2004-07-08T19:30:32Z")
:eek: 1. Man, those were _way_ better rants than mine. 2. I hate stupid people. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/10 "2004-07-08T19:52:54Z")
:mad: Daniel small-televisioned stupid person ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/11 "2004-07-08T19:59:45Z")
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I prefer the version that fits my TV. When I get a wide screen TV, I’ll prefer wide screen DVDs. Until then, the black bars are an annoyance. All those pixels that could be busy showing part of the picture are doing nothing- I hate wasting electricity on idle pixels. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/12 "2004-07-08T20:07:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Maybe I’m in the minority, but I prefer the version that fits my TV. When I get a wide screen TV, I’ll prefer wide screen DVDs. Until then, the black bars are an annoyance. All those pixels that could be busy showing part of the picture are doing nothing- I hate wasting electricity on idle pixels. You’re saying this on purpose, aren’t you? Just to annoy me. Wasting pixels? Full-screen versions _distort the picture_. They’re squashing the picture, or deliberately cutting off the edges of what you’re supposed to see. Making it wrong on purpose! Wrong! On purpose! Wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/13 "2004-07-08T20:21:47Z")
> [@Francesca](#): > > You’re saying this on purpose, aren’t you? Just to annoy me. Wasting pixels? Full-screen versions _distort the picture_. They’re squashing the picture, or deliberately cutting off the edges of what you’re supposed to see. Making it wrong on purpose! Wrong! On purpose! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Directors already cut the film down to size to get the theatre ratio; modern directors often just cut a different frame from the film for the fullscreen version. Read the previous threads for tons of examples. It’s fucking entertainment; there’s no right or wrong about it. Leave us in peace to enjoy it the way we want, and we’ll leave you in peace to enjoy it the way you want. Jesus Christ. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/14 "2004-07-08T20:26:59Z")
I must admit, I didn’t do my research. If you’re right then I do feel a bit sheepish. I’ll leave you in peace then. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/15 "2004-07-08T22:10:33Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! My god, who pissed in your Cheerios? > [@](#): > > It’s fucking entertainment; there’s no right or wrong about it. Leave us in peace to enjoy it the way we want, and we’ll leave you in peace to enjoy it the way you want. The only one blowing up about this is you. I could understand if this actually _meant_ something, but you are blowing up at someone for… not liking a certain way of showing movies? Not sharing your little pissant vision of the joys of 20th Century Fox? My god, but you are a piece of work. Here’s a little game plan for you: Go outside. Really. Get away from the computer and get into the real world. Find a real human being (no, not someone you need to inflate, and not someone who talks to you with text on a screen) and _make a friend_. I understand this will entail social skills. I’m guessing this is not your strong spot, but try to tough it out. Act like your favorite movie character and try to avoid running away from the scary, scary 3-D people. If someone talks to you, try to refrain from disagreeing with them and telling them they are wrong. After all, you are the newcomer here. Try to act human. Then, after months of hard work, you might actually have a comfortable place in the world around you. You might actually have something few people of your kind enjoy: A life. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/16 "2004-07-08T22:32:12Z")
WTF Derleth? I think, for once, Daniel’s response to a rant is more than proper. Once a quarter we go through this with the black bar-ers and the squashers brawling it out and it gets tiring. If people only have the want to see a movie in 4:3, let them fucking see it! If you absolutely must jack off by rubbing a widescreen version of gladiator over your body, then so be it! No need for your rant about his behavior or social graces, especially in the pit. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/17 "2004-07-08T22:43:31Z")
Don’t worry, Daniel - I’ll be your friend. You can come watch DVDs on my largish tv screen. Maybe F9/11 will be out and we can freeze frame on pictures of Bush and laugh at how much he looks like a monkey. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/18 "2004-07-09T01:20:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Maybe I’m in the minority, but I prefer the version that fits my TV. So does my aunt. I’m going to start carrying one of my panoramic photographs around in my car. The next time she extolls the virtues of pan and scan I’ll take it out, cut it in half, and ask her if she thinks it looks better that way. ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/19 "2004-07-09T01:43:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > When I get a wide screen TV, I’ll prefer wide screen DVDs. Yeah, but it’s not like every widescreen movie is in the same aspect ratio. What will you do when you have something like Lord of the Rings? The widescreen movie is wider than a widescreen TV set, and the fullscreen movie is narrower. Then again, if WS TVs ever become popular with the mainstream, studios could start making “formatted to fit your widescreen TV” releases or something. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123/20 "2004-07-09T01:57:00Z")
Frankly, I wish more studios would put a sticker on the DVDs that clearly says “fullscreen” or “widescreen.” Most of the time it seems like the format info is in teeny-tiny print on the back somewhere. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox/254123.md?page=2)