Route 66 - Season 1, Vol. 2by Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

March 13, 2008: “Route 66” is one of the most brilliant television dramas ever made, shot entirely on location all over the U.S., as the weekly episodes follow two young men in a Corvette roadster, looking for what life has to offer. It is especially fascinating to watch the shows today and see the way this country looked back in the early ‘60s, as these guys travel back roads and highways through small towns, big cities, desert ranches, seaports, and America’s heartland. Never studio bound, the fictional dramas are filmed in real streets, parks, diners, motels, bars, barns, and boarding houses. There has been nothing else like it before or since... That is why, sadly, this “Volume 2” set from Roxbury/Infinity is such a disappointment. Someone in charge of the film transfers made the terrible decision to crop the bottom and top of the picture, trying to create a fake “widescreen” effect. The result is to lose some 25% of the original photography, needlessly throwing away some of the ‘60s Americana scenery that has always been a vital part of this show. Even close-ups shots of people suffer on these DVDs, which chop off necks and the tops of heads, giving the photography an awkward look.... “Volume 1” of this series retained the full 4:3 aspect ratio, but was transferred from poorer quality prints. Even so, the slightly darker, softer images of “Volume 1” are highly preferable to the butchering that has taken place with “Volume 2.” Infinity Entertainment has attempted to rationalize their action by saying they were “optimizing” the picture with a High Definition transfer. Unfortunately, Infinity fails to comprehend that the term "High Definition" refers to the resolution of the transfer and has nothing to do with the shape of the image. If an owner of a wide "16x9" television wants to fill the screen with a vintage TV show, they can simply hit the “zoom” button on their remote! So there is absolutely no excuse for this "or any" DVD producer to butcher the original photographic compositions like this when transferring the film to video... So, buyer beware! I do NOT recommend “Volume 2” of this series as it stands now. If Roxbury/Infinity remaster this volume with its full image, as originally photographed and shown on TV back in the ‘60s, then I will retract my negative review. Let’s hope that Volume 3 fares better.