Originally posted by: eros
which is a high quality 16:9 format.

'Bout died when I read this. Super 35 is anything but high quality. It now approaches acceptable quality thanks to finer grain film stocks and greater lens use flexibility, but the quality is actually closer to matted 1.85:1 AR films. Cameron chooses to use this format because of its flexibility and video-conversion friendliness. Same with Peter Jackson and the LOTR films.

Quentin Tarantino used a modified version of Super 35 for the Kill Bill films, which is a 3 perf 2.0:1 native AR, converted to 2.35:1 for theatrical release and widescreen DVD. The graininess particularly shows in the B & W segments, but is part of the look of the film.