Old movies widescreen ratios/cropping ....

[Son Of A Gun]

When it comes to some or most dvds of 70s/80s/90s movies not showing us the full width of image that was captured and probably projected in the cinemas back in the day,...... is it because they are trying to hide things like that purple line? Or is it because they just don't want to release movies in 2:40:1 ratio and opt for 2:35:1 ratio instead?

am I being fussy by wanting to see the extra half inch either side?


Ignore the fact that Yuen Biao's head is chopped off in the bottom screen.
They just matted it badly.

[Killer Meteor]

Often old scope films are slightly zoomed in to hide the lens distortion on the edges of the frame.

[Son Of A Gun]

Shame, I like that look.

And oops, it seems I posted this in the wrong section. I meant to post it in the general discussion forum.