"Carry on" advice please

[gtp4all]

I want to get my hands on a bucket load of classic Carry on DVDs but am confused. They seemed to have been released in the UK but with a mixture of aspect ratios (1.33 and 1.66). Presumably all, or most were filmed open matte and then matted for the cinema to 1.66?

Firstly, what are the correct ratios? (To confuse matters more, my Camping DVD is in 1.78 but some of the opening titles are cut off at the side).

Secondly, is it worth waiting for any R1 (or R4) releases?

Thirdly, with exception of Camping, what is the quality like of R2? Are they anamorphic?

Can anyone help?

[John Nelson]

The Carry On films were all shot in Academy ratio for projection at 1.66:1, probably also protected for 1.85:1 projection for the American market.

The only decent DVD transfer is Carry On Camping, which as you know is 16:9 anamorphic. The titles being cropped at the side would be due to overscan on your TV (another title that suffers from this is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest). Try watching the DVD on a computer.

Most of the other transfers are either 1.33:1 (open matte) or non-anamorphic 1.66:1. Nothing special about the picture quality.

I don't know about a planned R1 or R4 release. The Carry-On films were a particularly British thing, I don't think other parts of the world would get the joke :(

-- J.

[Dagada]

I also believe that some of the films were trimmed by the BBFC when originally released. As far as I know, the new versions still have the cuts.

[Shoka]

The rights to the Carry on's are owned by two differant company's (cinema Club and Warner bros) that's probably why they are in differant ratios etc.

GTP4all - None of the carry on's are anamorphic (I think)

[GregB]

OOH MATRON.

Sorry couldn't resist but I'm sure carryonline will be along at some point with a more valid contribution to this thread

[jmoates]

To preempt Carryonline, the situation is as follows. All the Carry Ons were probably shot at something like 1.66:1 (being the European standard widescreen format). The movies released in that format are of course as good as it gets. None of the DVD releases are anamorphic, but you lose less of the picture (and the framing is better) on the 4:3 transfers over the 1.77:1 (or 16:9) transfers. To put the cat among the pigeons, Carry On Camping is actually a transfer masked down from 4:3 to 16:9, so in actual fact that's the movie you lose the most image of. I don't believe any new cuts have been made to the movies in recent years, so any cuts were made by the BBFC at the time of the original release.

Anybody is welcome to contradict.

[John Nelson]

I can confirm that Carry On Camping is definitely anamorphic. None of the others are though :(

-- J.

[carryonline]

Erm, what they said.

Anchor Bay is set to release the first 12 Carry Ons in October this year on Region 1 (although probably it'll be Region 0, knowing AB) and those should be anamorphic (so I'm told). There will be a limited edition box set released also which will contain the previously unavailable (on DVD) That's Carry On.

More info at www.carryonline.com

Andy