Zack Snyder’s Justice League is 4 hours instead of 2, story changes, new scenes and… a new format ?!
Zack Snyder’s vision is more than a darker version of Justice League. The 2017 movie contains quite a few nuts that allowed Joss Whedon to make a movie that the studio agreed with. However, the effects turned out to be quite meager, as critics, fans and viewers were not satisfied with what they saw in theaters, and as soon as we found out that Zack Snyder’s version existed, the hashtag #RealeaseTheSnyderCut caused an avalanche of events culminating in last week’s premiere. Before it happened, however, we knew that the director had to finish a large part of the special effects, record a few additional scenes, and use a completely new track and music in the film.
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However, little media attention was paid to the situation related to the image format, which on March 18 could have been quite a surprise for viewers. At the very beginning of the screening, they found out that viewing a 4/3 movie is not a mistake, but it is an action in line with Zack Snyder’s vision. In the case of the premiere on the Polish HBO GO, there was an additional comment, for which Fakes Forge on Twitter is responsible – applause, bows, chapeau bass. Very accurate comment.
The 16/9 and 4/3 formats are time exchangable
— Fakes Forge (@FakesForge) March 20, 2021
Watching a movie or series in 4/3 picture format is immediately associated with productions broadcast on television years ago. Some of them have been digitally reconstructed and have returned in a wide-screen format – such as “The Law of the Street” or the Polish “Extradition”. In the case of the return of the first of the series, “The Wire”, there were also voices of dissatisfaction, because the fans of the title got used to one right thing format and could not imagine any tampering with it by HBO.
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For balance, some viewers embraced the new version with open arms, as it is better viewed on modern televisions. The source material, however, was so universal that the people working on the remaster could cut it to a widescreen format without significantly losing the frame content. Polish “Extradition”, to my great surprise and great satisfaction, returned to TVP VOD not only in HD, but in two versions to choose from: 4/3 and 16/9, so the viewer can decide what he sees.
Why Zack Snyder’s Justice League is in 4/3 format
Zack Snyder’s Justice League reveals in the title that we are dealing with a film that is to be the director’s final vision. HBO MAX (Warner) left the entire project in the hands of Snyder and allowed him complete artistic freedom. Due to the fact that the material was shot with the intention of showing in IMAX cinemas, the aspect ratio of the image is 1.33: 1. The screen in IMAX is much higher than in ordinary cinemas and in order to fill it completely it is necessary to adopt such a standard. This is done, among others, by Christopher Nolan, who from film to film (“The Dark Knight”, “Interstellar”, “TENET”) tried to use heavy, large and expensive IMAX cameras more and more often, also in circumstances where no one before him he dared.
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With such source material, Snyder decided that instead of framing the shots, he would prepare the whole in 4: 3 format, most likely hoping that one day the new “Justice League” would hit cinemas around the world. The film will then be ready for screening, and the chances of the studio letting me tinker with the production again were rather slim (although we are allegedly also going to release the film in black and white).
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In the end, “Justice League” is on HBO Max / HBO GO in 4: 3 format, because that way, without losing some frames, Snyder was able to show everything he shot. You can see what would happen in the selected scenes in the attached pictures and as soon as I see them, I am convinced that Snyder made the right decision. Besides, this is not the only film in recent years that was shot and distributed in 4/3 format, and although they were not blockbusters like “Justice League”, since the Snyder version was talked about from the beginning, or actually asked for it over the years, we should come to terms with this director’s vision. And instead of the stripes at the top and bottom of the screen, which accompany movies and series in other formats (e.g. 2: 1 or cinema 2.35: 1), this time during the screening, black stripes on the TV are on the sides.
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