It was on ITV about 3 weeks ago.

If I did see it, it was much further back than that. I'm guessing it premiered in cropped format, then ITV quietly updated their print for re-runs.

(Unless otherwise indicated, all films in the following list were projected at 2.35:1 prior to 1971, and at 2.39:1 thereafter)

* = May not be screened in all areas (check your local listings).

Scope and 3-D movies across the Freeview platform for the coming week (27 April - 3 May):


Saturday (27 April)

• Eclipse (Film 4)
• Just Wright (Film 4)
• Last Holiday (Film 4)
• The Libertine (C4)
• Matilda (Movie Mix)
• The Matrix Revolutions (5*)
• Never Been Kissed (Film 4)
• The Number 23 (Film 4)
• Public Enemies (ITV 4)
• The Quest (ITV 4)
• Road to Perdition (More 4)
• Street Fighter (Movie Mix)
• Up Periscope (C5)
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (5*)


Sunday (28 April)

• Blue Thunder (Movie Mix)
• Cheaper By the Dozen 2 (C5)
• Failure to Launch (E4)
• The Fifth Element [Le Cinquième Élément] (C5)
• Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (ITV 1)
• Harry Brown (C5)
• Hot Fuzz (ITV 2)
• The Hunt for Red October (Film 4)
• L.A. Confidential (ITV 4)
• Legend (Film 4)
• Marmaduke (C4)
• Matilda (Movie Mix)
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (ITV 2)
• The Phantom (C4)
• Twister (ITV 2)
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (5*)


Monday (29 April)

• Another Stakeout (Film 4)
• Escape From New York (ITV 4)
• Hell and High Water (Film 4) [CinemaScope] [2.55:1]
• Iron Man (Film 4)
• Showgirls (Film 4)
• Sleepers (ITV 4)
• Street Fighter (Movie Mix)
• The Time Machine (5*)


Tuesday (30 April)

• The Aviator (BBC 1)
• Blue Thunder (Movie Mix)
• Cheyenne Autumn (Film 4) [Super Panavision 70] [2.21:1]
• Dark Blue (5 USA)
• Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (Film 4)
• The Long Kiss Goodnight (5 USA)


Wednesday (1 May)

• The Conqueror (Film 4) [CinemaScope] [2.55:1]
• Die Hard 4.0 [Live Free or Die Hard] (Film 4)
• Franklyn (C4)
• In Too Deep (Movie Mix)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (E4) [3-D] [1.85:1]
• Michael Clayton (BBC 1)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Film 4)


Thursday (2 May)

• Blood Alley (Film 4) [CinemaScope] [2.55:1]
• The Hunt for Red October (Film 4)
• Last Night (Film 4)
• On Deadly Ground (C5)
• Public Enemies (ITV 4)
• Rollerball (Movie Mix)
• Supercop [Police Story III - Super Cop] [警察故事III超級警察] (Movie Mix)


Friday (3 May)

• Animal Kingdom (Film 4)
• Dark Water (BBC 1)
• Eclipse (Film 4)
• Escape From New York (ITV 4)
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (ITV 1)*
• Felicia's Journey (BBC 2)
• Hot Fuzz (ITV 2)
• Manhunter (ITV 4)
• Never Been Kissed (Film 4)
• The Patriot (5 USA)
• The War Wagon (ITV 1)*
• The X Files (More 4)

That was the premiere about 3 weeks ago on ITV,I did mention it a few pages back

A definite scope print.

Thanks as always, I have put the films I want in my planner as usual.

Really?!! You could knock me down with a Sherman tank, and no mistake! Perhaps I'm getting mixed up with another film starring Leonardo DeCapitate, or something...

Nurse, me pills!

Can't believe I forgot HARRY BROWN was screening last night on C5. Anyone know if it premiered OAR?

Yes it did. I caught sight of the first few mins. I'll watch it at some point, but not via C5 where I can't view it in HD and a huge DOG obscures the picture.

Ta very glad, much appreciated.

In fairness, Channel 5's DOG has recently got smaller, more transparent and is right in the corner of the screen now. The HD DOG from what I saw of it has also been modified, so shouldn't be as bad as it once was. It's also nowhere near as bad as say The History Channel HD, a big coloured opaque DOG and it's even further in the screen than the 4:3 safe zone requires it to be (even though it should be in the 16:9 safe zone as it's a HD channel!)

To be honest, the idea that broadcasters are still making concessions to 4:3 TV's in this day and age is ridiculous, since the vast majority of TV's bought and sold are now 16:9 (whether HD or not). Graphics which are clearly placed within the 4:3 area are especially egregious, as is the fact that most programming is still shot with cameras whose viewfinder allows the DP to gather all 'essential' info into the 4:3 area. In other words, they're not shooting for 16:9 - they're shooting 4:3 (with lots of arm-room at either side), rendering the concept of 'widescreen' broadcasts almost entirely redundant. And this is true everywhere, not just the UK...

Pleasantly surprised to see IN TOO DEEP being broadcast OAR on Movie Mix last night.

I have watched Twister, The Time Machine and The Aviator and none of them were shown OAR they were all 16:9 pan and scan! annoying! Oh and The Aviator on BBC1 wasnt in HD! even more annoying!

I hadn't seen the Aviator before, but it looked particularly bad.

OTOH, I would love the 16:9 version of Prometheus, which was used for IMAX, which was a combination of open-matte and cropped shots (such as filling the screen with Noomi's face in an early scene - you'll get the impact of this when you see it). Sadly, there's only the regular 2D/3D versions, at present.

I just saw the Blu-ray version of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES the other day and that alternated between 2.39:1 for the scope scenes and 1.78:1 for the IMAX material. Some people have complained about this, but they're full o'stuffing - it really worked for me, and I hope this becomes the norm for films which mix the two formats in this fashion.

Not sure I'd like to see PROMETHEUS given this treatment all the way through, since it was shot 35mm and blown-up for IMAX. I imagine it looked pretty magnificent on the HUGE screen, but it still represented a compromise of the original 2.39:1 ratio.

Each to their own, though.

(Unless otherwise indicated, all films in the following list were projected at 2.35:1 prior to 1971, and at 2.39:1 thereafter)

* = May not be screened in all areas (check your local listings).

Scope and 3-D movies across the Freeview platform for the coming week (4 - 10 May):


Saturday (4 May)

• 30 Days of Night (Film 4)
• Avalanche Express (C5)
• Basic Instinct (ITV 1)*
• Doctor Dolittle (More 4) [Todd-AO] [2.21:1]
• Dogma (Film 4)
• Fool's Gold (Film 4)
• G-Force (BBC 3) [3-D]
• Jaws 2 (ITV 4)
• Legend (Film 4)
• The Long Kiss Goodnight (5 USA)
• Premonition (C4)
• Rollerball (Movie Mix)
• Star Trek (C4)
• Twister (ITV 2)
• Vera Cruz (5 USA) [2.00:1]
• The X Files (More 4)


Sunday (5 May)

• 300 (ITV 2)
• Another Stakeout (Film 4)
• Bad Education [La Mala Educación] (Film 4) [2.39:1 and 1.85:1]
• Gulliver's Travels (C4) [3-D]
• Happy Feet (ITV 2)
• Inkheart (Film 4)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (E4) [3-D] [1.85:1]
• Peter Pan (ITV 2)
• Romance & Cigarettes (BBC 2)
• Seabiscuit (ITV 3)
• True Lies (Film 4)
• What a Girl Wants (C5)


Monday (6 May)

• Anastasia (Film 4)
• Anna and the King (More 4)
• The Bone Collector (C5)
• Die Hard 4.0 [Live Free or Die Hard] (Film 4)
• Flipper (ITV 2)
• G-Force (BBC 3) [3-D]
• Happy Feet (ITV 2)
• Multiplicity (Movie Mix)
• Night at the Museum 2 [NIght at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian] (Film 4)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (BBC 1)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan] (Film 4)


Tuesday (7 May)

• Blood Alley (Film 4) [2.55:1]
• Fool's Gold (Film 4)
• In God's Hands (Movie Mix)
• Manhunter (ITV 4)
• Rambo (5 USA)
• Rollerball (Movie Mix)
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Film 4) [Panavision and IMAX] [2.39:1 and 1.44:1]
• What Just Happened? (BBC 1)


Wednesday (8 May)

• Fast & Furious (ITV 1)*
• Goodbye Lover (C4)
• In God's Hands (Movie Mix)
• Multiplicity (Movie Mix)
• The Prophecy (Movie Mix)
• Red Cliff [赤壁] (Film 4)
• Soldier (ITV 4)
• Surrogates (BBC 1)
• The Violent Men (Film 4) [2.55:1]
• Volver (Film 4)


Thursday (9 May)

• 30 Days of Night (Film 4)
• The Chronicles of Riddick (ITV 2)
• Jaws 2 (ITV 4)
• The Ninth Gate [La Neuvième Porte] (C5)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Film 4)
• The Tall Stranger (More 4)
• To Kill a Priest (Movie Mix)
• True Lies (Film 4)
• Vinyan (Film 4)


Friday (10 May)

• 300 (ITV 2)
• Along Came a Spider (More 4)
• Doctor Dolittle (More 4) [Todd-AO] [2.21:1]
• Firefox (ITV 4)
• In God's Hands (Movie Mix)
• Inkheart (Film 4)
• The Ruins (BBC 1)

I caught bits of DARK WATER and FELICIA'S JOURNEY, both showing in 16:9.

The original UK DVD of FELICIA'S JOURNEY, back in 1999, was 4:3 - and as the film was shot anamorphic, that means it was cropped. There was a new DVD in 2008 which I haven't seen, but a comment on Amazon suggests that's 4:3 as well. I have a Region 1 copy which is in 2.40:1. Egoyan does keep the characters within 4:3 bounds in his shots, but his use of landscape (Ireland and that not commonly used English city location, Birmingham) doesn't come across as well.

One I missed off my weekly listings: JEEPERS CREEPERS II was screened OAR on the Viva channel last night. No Saturday repeat, though.

Going to 1.78:1 is still only half way there though--on a proper IMAX TDKR opened out to the full 1.4:1--and (in Manchester) was about 25m high! The Blu Ray, whilst an exquisite picture, can't come near it. I agree it's better to have the 1.78 sections than not, though.

BTW are you only listing Freeview films here? If not, De Palma's Obsession was in OAR on The Horror Channel today (freesat). (Pity it had a huge DOG, so I skipped most of it.)

Indeed. The alternative is to have narrowboxed (or whatever it's called) 1.44:1, which would look at bit odd.


I think if all satellite/cable channels were included, we'd be here all day talking about them, as most are (on Sky, at least)

Oh, it goes without saying that the IMAX presentation will trump any other, and that the 1.78:1 BR version is a bit of a compromise from the original 1.44:1 (as DVDfever pointed out). But given that even the best home video version can never even approximate the theatrical experience (at least until 8K resolution on home video becomes a reality), the current compromise just seems to fit really well. The IMAX sections of TDKR didn't seem to lose anything on BR (top and bottom) due to cropping.


Yes. I'd love to be able to list everything on UK TV - Freeview, Freesat, Sky, etc. - but with the best will in the world, it just isn't possible. Freeview is available to the vast majority of viewers, whereas the others are 'minority' platforms (I put the word 'minority' in quotes deliberately!!), so virtually all of the films listed here on a weekly basis will be accessible to most of the UK readers who venture into this particular thread.


And it would effectively 'shrink' the image rather than make it bigger, which is the opposite of the intended effect! Viewed objectively, I'm sure the top and bottom sections of the IMAX frame would appear superfluous. It's just that when you're sitting in front of a C-O-L-O-S-S-A-L screen, you're so overwhelmed by the sheer size and scale of it, you don't notice what's superfluous and what isn't, if you see what I mean.

Yes, but just to underline, digital IMAXes only have a ratio of about 1.9:1, so there's not that much difference (except scale!) between that and TV. Grand theatres are a different beast.


Well, we're obviously speculating here, but I wonder whether a 65mm native IMAX image would look very different from a digitally captured image at these resolutions and viewing angles. At least, it would of course look like the image had been cropped at the sides if there is a constant display height. Would there be extra res to punch through? Who knows what a wall sized TV will look like...



I certainly do! It's the sheer extravagance of headroom and legroom (or whatever you call it), along with the massive amount of detail (and of course the scale) that makes it a unique experience bordering on a God's eye view.

I think it's best just to stick with what's on Freeview anyway, since they can vary, whereas Sky/cable are practically a given for original ratio content these days.


Does that mean that now the Manchester IMAX have "upgraded" from projecting in 70mm to digital, I'll only see 1.9:1 at most, and any 1.44:1 films will be cropped?

A Bullet for the General is on Movies4Men in a very decent 2:35:1 print, I mention this only due to the crossover with More > Movies and Freeviews Movie Mix. It may well crop up on the latter at some point.