Whats your favourite aspect ratio?

[chriharr]

I love Cinemascope, that is all.

[RiseDarthVader]

OAR when watching movies. But if I was the director I would film it in 2.40:1

[nathanp]

1:85, I just love it when that 60" screen is working from corner to corner.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by nathanp

1:85, I just love it when that 60" screen is working from corner to corner.

Same here & I agree

[Big Daddy]

I only like 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) such as Lawrence of Arabia shown in a fully equipped movie theater. Anything else is inferior.

[kslee]

1.85:1 to suit my HDTV.

[jawsfan1975]

2.35:1 for me.

[Quake1028]

2.35:1 or 2.40:1.

[Crimson King]

My favorite AR is the one intended by the director!

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by RiseDarthVader

OAR when watching movies. But if I was the director I would film it in 2.40:1

I concur wholeheartedly.

[mjbethancourt]

2.89:1 on a curved screen... I'd love to see a comeback for Cinerama.

[Trogdor2010]

What is a proper theme for the shape of the picture AKA aspect ratio. If you have a large view of the city, a field of soldiers (Lord of the Rings, 300) or what gives viewing of an area with more horizontal view. A play is perfect for "scope" (2.35:1) viewing. If you want to experience the height of things (Jurassic Park) or to give the image a clausterphobic feel (Elephant) to it, you use a more narrow image like "flat" widescreen (1.85:1) or academy (1.37:1). Its the way the cinematography is made for the image.

One note, I do find the black bars now distracting ever since I used a CIH (Constant Image Height) screen and I couldn't watch "scope" movies the same way again. I even intended the new theater to be designed with the pulldown to accomodate both the larger 16:9 screen and a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with the use of the anamorphic lens to not only get a brighter picture, but also to get rid of the black bars. You guys really do NOT know what you are talking about until you see your favorite "scope" movies on a CIH screen, you will hate yourself internally for not watching movies this way .

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

OAR - that's my favorite for any movie.

If I was making a film, it would probably be in scope(2.35:1), unless I wanted to accentuate the vertical nature of some scenes or characters(ala Speilberg in Jurassic Park).

I agree completely. I prefer the look of scope material but would never crop 16:9 material.

Originally Posted by nathanp

1:85, I just love it when that 60" screen is working from corner to corner.

1.85:1 will have little black bars on a 16:9 tv, as a 16:9 tv is 1.78:1.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I only like 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) such as Lawrence of Arabia shown in a fully equipped movie theater. Anything else is inferior.

What about imax.

[Show spoiler](yes, I know what film imax uses. )

[Atreyu]

My favorite aspect ratio is each film's original aspect ratio. Case in point. Dr. Giggles on laserdisc was 2.35:1 and the stadard dvd and blu are 1.85:1. So the dvd and blu releases are probably not the correct AR and why Warner did this I will never know!

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

What about imax. (yes, I know what film imax uses. )

Don't forget that there's two versions of IMAX. The newer version, which critics call "Lie-MAX" is digital and not very good. And even in the original version, film is quickly disappearing to be replaced by a double digital projector.

I never really liked IMAX anyway. Image was TOO bright so that in bright scenes you can see all the seams in the screen and I think in the stadium seating setup you're sitting too close to the screen. OK for museum type attractions, but not for narrative films.

There are those who long for Cinerama (and I loved it as a kid), but the reality is that most Cinerama films really sucked with the possible exception of "2001: A Space Oddysey" and that wasn't really a Cinerama film - it was a 70mm film shown on the Cinerama screen.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

There are those who long for Cinerama (and I loved it as a kid), but the reality is that most Cinerama films really sucked with the possible exception of "2001: A Space Oddysey" and that wasn't really a Cinerama film - it was a 70mm film shown on the Cinerama screen.

Was it the choices of available titles that you didn't care for, or was it the presentation itself?

[BluBrown]

I'm torn here....in the case of my 52" lcd I've always preferred 1.85:1 over the look of the 2.35:1 scope movies. But now being just a couple weeks into having my front projection home theater setup I'm starting to wish I would've went with a cinemascope projector screen. I guess I've decided what my next big upgrade will be.

[john page]

Can anyone tell me why the aspect ratios of so many British Zone 2 Blu Ray Discs are altered from the original panavision 2.35 : 1 to 1.78 : 1 e.g. Brothers, Sexy Beast, Creation, Donnie Darko etc. Its very annoying and destroys the films original image.

[Marcus Wright]

1:33/1

Ok, seriuosly I dont care, I like both 2:4/1 and 1.78 equally.
Both have their strengths and weakneses.