Info: List of movies with variable aspect ratio — Page 2

Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been 100% confirmed to have the switching aspect ratio on Blu-ray.

Forum favourite Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior opens with academy credits and prologue, then widens to 2.35:1 for the first chase.

CatBus said:

You_Too said:

Life of Pi had different aspect ratios, and on top of that it had some stuff move out over the black borders sometimes!

I'm kinda torn on if this qualifies, personally. If there's content outside the frame, then it's not really fair to call that the frame, is it? Yeah, it's a bit of a pedantic distinction, but still...

Not that it wasn't a neat effect (and a reminder that 2D depth effect tricks can still be more effective than stereoscopic ones). Ang Lee has tried before to bring comic book inspired visual tricks to the big screen, and this effect worked out much better than most of the things he did for Hulk IMO.

 Life of Pi was an extreme example, but a lot of 3D movies do this. They're called "floating frames." Usually, there is a very small black border around the image which allows for the 3D effect to be seen at the edges of the screen. But unlike Life of Pi, it's usually so subtle that you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it.

One movie that probably would qualify, one way or another, is G-Force. It was shot in 2.39, and presented that way in 2D. But for 3D, the file was technically 1.85, with a 2.39 image letterboxed inside of it. This allowed for the 3D effects to leave the frame, theoretically producing a more immersive image. Of course, if it was being shown in an auditorium with common-height masking, the image was only a fraction of the size it could be. But what can you do?

Glad to hear about CATCHING FIRE.

As far as OAR preservation is concerned, I guess it should be noted that all of the Imax footage from THE DARK KNIGHT and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is presented in the original 1.44 ratio as a supplement on the box set. In the movies themselves, the Imax footage is cropped to 1.78.

Also, in the weird Imax ratio department, the Imax footage in STAR TREK IN2 DARKNESS was cropped to 1.66 theatrically, despite being shot in 1.44.

IIRC, More American Graffiti had a different 'look' for each of the time periods including different aspect ratios.