"Battle of the Bulge" was one of a handful of movies filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 (or other similar 70 mm process) and "presented" in Cinerama. Cinerama initially used three cameras and three projectors to present a 146 degree image on a huge, curved screen - the widest ever in movie history, and which revolutionized movie-making.

The three camera/projection system had a series of nasty flaws that were never corrected: two obvious seams; three jittery images; and often, three panels of slightly different colors. Other than a handful of travelogues, only two actual dramas were filmed in that process: "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm," and "How the West Was Won."

Movie directors hated using the Cinerama camera because of its bulk, and the fact that zooming in and out were impossible to do, as were any closeups. The first so called "single-strip" Cinerama movie was "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," which, like "Battle of the Bulge," used a 70mm print, and an anamorphic lens to spread the image clear across and up and down the huge Cinerama screen. It worked beautifully, though didn't yield the depth, or 146 degree scope of the original 3-strip process.

Still, there was nothing like it, nor has there been anything like it since. Seeing "Battle of the Bulge" on the Cinerama screen was a movie event, not to be realized anywhere else. Perhaps the most famous film presented in this manner was "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Recently, a remastered version of the first 3-strip Cinerama film, "This is Cinerama," was released on DVD using what's called the "Smilebox" process. This actually gives the illusion of having a deeply curved image on a TV screen, though unless you own a fairily large flat screen TV, and sit fairly close to your set, it won't look too impressive.

Too bad "Battle of the Bulge" wasn't released in the Smilebox format. THAT would have been something!