Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Well, after too much Internet gossip and anticipation, we can finally enjoy the DVD version of this great trilogy. Actually, nothing needs to be said about the story or the fantastic crew that made it happen, everybody knows it (and if not, you're a caveman amongst other cavemen...or cave-women...). The DVDs have many extras you'll enjoy and then some... Probably the most-talked about issue of this release is the product's interpretation of the soft matted original cut. If you dig deep enough in Internet sources, you'll read a mixture of positive and negative responses. Fact is, on this 1.85:1 version, you will see less picture information in height, and more in width than the 4:3 version. This movie was shot in soft-matted format, which basically means that the original prints were in a kind of '4:3' format, where in the upper and lower regions there is information that needs to be covered (the microfone syndrome...), and was not intended to be part of the screening of the film. This is done in theaters, and again with every video/ld/dvd release. This in contrast to 2.35:1 movies, or otherwise matted films and formats, in which case the widescreen format is 'directly' converted to DVD, and will give a much more complete film than the 4:3 viewing. But that's not the case here. What all this means is that with the Back To The Future DVDs, a new matting has been applied that has converted the original soft-matted material to a new 1.85:1 format. This means that, like I stated earlier, when you compare the 4:3 VHS (that everybody knows) to this release, the 4:3 has some extra film top and bottom, and this DVD has some extra film left and right. This is what the 'confusion' on the Internet is all about. Some people, rightfully, indicate that they are missing peaces of the film (Marty's sci-fi jacked is f.i. not fully displayed in the DVD whereas it was on ld and VHS), but other information is added on the DVD (the hard matted special effects sequences). Thus, some people are inclined to say that this is not the original movie version. Actually, being a soft matted presentation in theaters in the mid '80's and later, it probably differed each time it was presented, with a different projector setting each time, resulting in a different matting and screening each time. This DVD version is just another interpretation of matting. And everybody has something to say about this one! To make a long story short, please enjoy this classic and its many extra features, with or without the knowledge that in every different media format, there is a different viewing of this wonderful peace of family entertainment.