The forgotten history of the 45box format

💡 This post is a work of fiction.

Everyone's forgotten about the VHS collector's edition format from the late 1980s called "45box". With this format, one movie was split across two VHS tapes (or, in the case of 2-VHS sets like Titanic, four) each one containing approximately 45% of the film frame. Half of the original wide screen-formatted film, minus a combined 10% from the middle to accommodate the TV bezels. This gives you approximately a 7:3 aspect ratio display, or 21:9, exactly the same as theatrical wide-screen Cinemascope projection. You're missing a little bit from the middle, but these are the sacrifices we must make for exquisite at-home cinemaphile-caliber experience.

Of course, the soundtrack used VHS Hifi (available c. 1984) and also included in the box set is a stack of 7-inch stereo records to be played concurrently at 45RPM (the other "45" in 45box!) on a separate sound system behind the viewer. While not able to match the theatrical sound system, it still gives the viewer a kind of limited "4.2 surround", with two stereo channels (one from each VCR) in front and to the side of the viewer, and 2 channels behind.

45RPM records were chosen for their enhanced sound quality over 33 1/3 RPM records, and ease of automation: one side of a 45RPM record can hold 11 minutes of audio, so for a 90-minute movie, one need only stack 9 on a contemporary home record changer for uninterrupted playback. (a small interruption is necessary between each record change, but as the rear audio is purely auxiliary its short absence should not be noticed by the viewer.)

Side B of the records, of course, contain the director's and/or actors' commentary track.

Synchronizing the audio and video tracks couldn't be simpler: rewind both tapes to the beginning and press play. With one remote control for each VCR in each hand, pause the tapes as soon as the 45box logo appears. (If you have a prosumer VCR with a "frame advance" feature, this can make this process much easier. Leave both tapes paused on the first frame.)

Set up the nine records on the changer. Use the remote controls to unpause both tapes simultaneously. A 10 second countdown will begin on both screens. At precisely "0", place the needle at the beginning of the first record. The records have been recorded with "time skips" calibrated to exactly the amount of time it takes to change to the next record, to ensure the audio stays in sync.

The first movie released in 45box format was 1985's Return to Oz, a move many describe as the last nail in the 45box format's coffin, as it was also the last 45box release. Its 113 minute runtime meant eleven 45rpm records were necessary for the rear soundtrack. Since no home record changers could accommodate that many discs without modification, this necessitated a second calibration in the middle of the film. Additionally, few buyers were interested in collecting Return to Oz, particularly not in 1987, two years after the film's box office flop and well before the film was old enough to earn "cult classic" status. The two VHS/eleven record box set cost $279.

After the 45box catastophe, "widescreen" became a dirty word among the cinema-going public for decades. Indeed, the consequences of this blunder are still being felt. Hollywood quickly reverted to filming all future movies in 4:3. Movie theaters, hedging their bets, covered the left and right edge of their screens with opaque panels to accommodate the new old format. Any time an executive hinted in an interview that it might be time to return to widescreen, the backlash was strong and swift. "So you want us all to buy two TVs and two VCRs? Forget it!" As flat LCD panels became cheaper and more widely available, Sharp and Sony tried to introduce "2 in 1" televisions, with two 4:3 panels seamlessly side-by-side in the same chassis, but the public wasn't interested. And that was that.