It's a DVD Summer

[flippyshark]

I watched the Blu- Ray of How The West Was Won, which, on its second disc, features an interesting virtual recreation of the three-camera, curved- screen Cinerama experience, in what they call Smilebox. On my hi- def monitor, the image was astonishingly crisp and clear, and the illusion of Cinerama in miniature was persuasive. The movie is an overstuffed three ring circus of meodramatics, folk somgs, stunning views, impressive action scenes and the most awkward staging of actors I've ever witnessed. The cast of name stars apparently hated working with the bizarre mega wide angle format, and it's easy to see why. The hapless stars are often stranded at the center of this huge vista apparently talking to the air, or off to the side gazing off into the widescreen void. Still, this is a fun, nearly overwhelming roadshow spectacle of the type they just don't make anymore, and likely never will again. Comes with a feature- length documentary all about Cinerama, with lots of great "smilebox" clips of those big big travelogues that I was born exactly a year too late to see. note that the really cool stuff (smile box version and nifty doc) are only on the Blu- Ray edition. Netflix won't get you these goodies.