I think the point that the Digital Bits people are missing when they say, “It’s out in widescreen in other regions, so a lot of fans will be pissed and rightly so” is that in those other regions, Joss probably had very little say over how it would be released, and the people at the distribution/publishing places probably decided that if they didn’t release it in widescreen in their regions, it wouldn’t sell. I don’t think that will be the case here in the States, and I have to agree with Joss that simply putting bars at the top and bottom of a shot that was designed for the TV screen doesn’t really make any sense, or make it look any better.
I think the point that the Digital Bits people are missing when they say, “It’s out in widescreen in other regions, so a lot of fans will be pissed and rightly so” is that in those other regions, Joss probably had very little say over how it would be released, and the people at the distribution/publishing places probably decided that if they didn’t release it in widescreen in their regions, it wouldn’t sell. I don’t think that will be the case here in the States, and I have to agree with Joss that simply putting bars at the top and bottom of a shot that was designed for the TV screen doesn’t really make any sense, or make it look any better.
I think, moreover, what Joss is saying is “This is how I intended Buffy to be seen, and the studio has followed my instructions to that end.
Although when they get to seasons 3 and 4 of Angel, I imagine those WILL be letterboxed, for the same reason.