Ah yes sorry 2.35:1, that's what I meant. If I'm not mistaken Lucas said in some audio commentary that 2.35:1 is the only format that preserves the original proportions. I never really investigated on it but I'm supposing that if Laserdisc has a different ratio (for example 1.85:1 or other) then it would necessarily have something cropped.
myscamore, I've got a little trivia about Italian 4:3 movies for you. Movies altered to fit into letterbox format often kept the ending titles in widescreen. I never understood why. Usually you would see the black orizontal bars coming in at the end of the film. The most noticeable I remember was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade because the ending credits roll in without cuts or fades to black so you see these two black bars squeezing the film. Was this procedure done also in other countries or did we only have the pleasure?