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http://psp.ign.com/articles/603/603345p1.html

Cursed and Hostage, Day and Date
Buena Vista's two thrillers terrorize DVD and PSP together.

April 11, 2005 - If you are afraid to be scared, there won't be anyplace to hide this summer. Buena Vista gave us further details on its plans for UMD Video releases (these are video discs that play DVD-quality movies on the new PlayStation Portable game system), and as one of the earliest companies on the format, the company is aggressively pursuing UMD attacks with two videos to debut on DVD and UMD at the same time.

The recent Wes Craven horror flick, Cursed, and the taut thriller Hostage will bow on both DVD and UMD Video on June 21. Cursed is penned by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson, about kids who find a curse haunting their waking minds. Hostage is still playing in theaters, and stars Bruce Willis as a police negotiator who is blackmailed into choosing between his own family and another family trapped inside a mansion.

Buena Vista's full stale of PSP UMD Videos include a few titles releasing in just over a week, with more titles to follow. Below is BVHE's current slate for portable UMD video plans:

April 19
o Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
o Kill Bill Vol. 1
May 3
o National Treasure
o Hero
June 21
o Cursed (day and date)
o Hostage (day and date)

Look for Buena Vista Home Entertainment to expand this line-up of PSP-compatible videos in the coming weeks.

 

[Schmo Florez]

Kill Bill baby. anything over 15 bucks is idiotic.

 

[TAJ]

Oh, boy... more P&S shit. Yippee!

 

[Andy787]

If they want it to sell anything, they have to say "coming soon to DVD and Universal Media Disc for the Sony PlayStation Portable system." or something to the effect, when they advertise it. Or at least promote it in some way. Put the UMD logo next to the DVD logo on advertisements, put a box of the UMD version next to the DVD box in advertisements, something.

 

[Mrbob]

Oh, boy... more P&S shit. Yippee!

What.

 

[TAJ]

>>>Oh, boy... more P&S shit. Yippee!

What<<<

The only current UMD release that I know of is Spider-man 2, and it's pan and scan.

 

[Amir0x]

wake me up when they announce Kill Bill Volume 2 because that is stupid as shit to only have the first part so far

 

[Mrbob]

Kill Bill Volume 2 will be out in the fall most likely.

>>>Oh, boy... more P&S shit. Yippee!

What<<<

The only current UMD release that I know of is Spider-man 2, and it's pan and scan.

Really? I only watched a couple minutes and didn't compare it to the dvd. Why the hell would the PSP version, which is a widescreen unit, use a 4:3 aspect ratio?!?!

 

[Nerevar]

The only current UMD release that I know of is Spider-man 2, and it's pan and scan.

Huh? It's not really "pan and scan" in the traditional sense of the phrase ... it uses the full aspect ratio of the PSP screen.

 

[TAJ]

Pan and scan means altering the aspect ratio from the OAR to the aspect ratio of the target display, with the intent of completely filling the screen. In the case of Spider-man 2, this meant cropping from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1. People have complained for years about HBO HD panning and scanning scope movies.
Chopping the top and bottom off of Academy ratio movies to fill a 16:9 target display would be P&S, too.

 

[Wario64]

So what, the movie now pans up and down to view the cropped area?

 

[TAJ]

>>>So what, the movie now pans up and down to view the cropped area?<<<

If they released something like Gone With The Wind on UMD, yes.
Spider-man 2 is the side-to-side variety, just less than the 4:3 P&S.

 

[vatstep]

Oh, boy... more P&S shit. Yippee!

Someone on another thread confirmed that Spider-Man 2 (obviously the only UMD movie released so far) is open matte. Meaning, nothing was cropped, but rather added to fit the PSP's aspect ratio. I wouldn't be surprised to see some other UMD movies use this method.

 

[CamHostage]

Someone on another thread confirmed that Spider-Man 2 (obviously the only UMD movie released so far) is open matte. Meaning, nothing was cropped, but rather added to fit the PSP's aspect ratio. I wouldn't be surprised to see some other UMD movies use this method.

How many films are filmed for open matte, though? If you shoot for scope, your boom is always hovering at frameline. (And why are they producing CG for open matte, that's got to cost a few.)

In any case, the purists are going to bitch -- you're getting more bastardization is all you're getting more of! Or not. Honestly, PSP video isn't exactly broadcast standard stuff here, it's just a portable version of a flick. And it's got a supervised transfer, p&s that's a lot less brutal than typical back-and-forth...I agree to a point that a film should be preserved at its optimal aspect (though I've watched enough films with friends and family who hate "those damned black bars taking up all the danmed screen" to appreciate a p&s that's done well), but there are times when compromises are part of the process.

 

[cvxfreak]

So far, the movies I'm getting are BioHazard, BioHazard 2 and Kill Bill 1.

 

[Sho Nuff]

Someone on another thread confirmed that Spider-Man 2 (obviously the only UMD movie released so far) is open matte. Meaning, nothing was cropped, but rather added to fit the PSP's aspect ratio. I wouldn't be surprised to see some other UMD movies use this method.

Holy shit that is insane! All the effects shots were open matte!?!?

 

[Shin Johnpv]

I saw Helloboy, XXX, and something else today on sale at Toys R Us for 17.99 still too much IMHO and then I saw behind the counter House of Flying Daggers for 29.99 are they fucking insane, does the DVD even cost that much, and on EBs website they're listing Kill Bill Vol 1 as 29.99 also