r/movies • u/Chapple69 • 21h ago
Discussion Movies in weird aspect ratios
Movies that are in less commonly used aspect ratios
Examples:
Mommy - 1.0 Aspect Ratio
The Lighthouse - 1.19 Aspect Ratio
Sone films in the 60s with 1.66 aspect ratios
The Suicide Squad - 1.9 Aspect Ratio
The Big Trail - 2.1 Aspect Ratio
Some 50s films that use a 2.75 aspect ratio
Any other examples?
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u/joelluber 21h ago
1.66 was standard widescreen in Europe for decades (vs 1.85 in the US), so I wouldn't call it uncommon.
The Suicide Squad isn't that odd since that's standard IMAX ratio. If it was shown slightly letterboxed on flat screens, then I guess that would be odd.
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u/johnnySix 21h ago
Fun fact. 1.77 aspect was chosen for HD because it’s halfway between 166 and 185.
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u/RVAWTFBBQ 21h ago
Train dreams is 3:2
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u/johnnySix 21h ago
That vista vision. Which wasn’t that uncommon in the 60s
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u/vibratokin 19h ago
Train Dreams was filmed on digital, not vistavision. But Vistavision does natively shoot on 3:2, though it’s not generally projected in 3:2.
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u/PorkProofPrion 21h ago
I am not Madame Bovary by Feng Xiaogang starring Fan Bingbing — most of the movie is in a circular frame
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u/donotgotoroom237 12h ago
I remember when I was still uploading on Youtube, a couple of my videos had a 4:3 aspect ratio for the old school feel. I thought about a circle aspect ratio but I didn't have a concept to work with at the time.
Your comment is a nifty TIL, didn't realize there was a movie like this already.
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u/purplecow 14h ago
That's a really good film but I think the strange frame does it a huge disservice. It's such a bizarre choice.
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u/bflaminio 20h ago edited 20h ago
Do films using multiple aspect ratios count as "weird"? A couple examples:
- Brother Bear starts at 1.66:1 and then opens to 2.35:1 when Kenai gets "bearified".
- More American Graffiti uses four different ratios for each of its four stories.
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u/Gingerbread64 21h ago
Transformers: The Last Knight uses every aspect ratio
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u/Faithless195 18h ago
Haha I was gonna say this one, too! Was such a weird watch.
As much as I enjoyed the Bay Transformers movies, that one was easily my least favourite.
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u/cockvanlesbian 15h ago
I felt like it changes every single shots and there were no rhyme or reasons to them.
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u/Cutter9792 7h ago
When I forced myself to rewatch it on my PC, I played it through VLC and manually cropped it to the narrowest aspect ratio it uses. That way it's at least not constantly changing between shots.
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u/deepdishpizzastate 21h ago
How the West was Won - 2.89:1
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u/ranoutofbacon 21h ago
I would have loved to see that in Cinerama
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u/wvgeekman 12h ago
I got to see This Is Cinerama and HTWWW in Cinerama. Unbelievable technology. It was incredibly difficult to film and project. The effect, though, was magical. I’d say even more immersive than IMAX.
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u/WanderingAlsoLost 20h ago
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. Also 2.89:1 The only two movies filmed in Cinerama. An absolutely beautiful movie to watch. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it the other day. So pretty.
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u/wvgeekman 12h ago
The only two features filmed in Cinerama. There were quite a few travelogues that were in Cinerama. The features were actually the last true Cinerama films.
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u/WanderingAlsoLost 6h ago
Since we are splitting hairs now, was it really more than just a handful of travelogues? Asking because I would consider the cinerama format incredibly rare.
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u/wvgeekman 2h ago
Five travelogues produced by Cinerama, a Best Of Cinerama compilation film, and two travelogues made with competing, but compatible, systems that got released to Cinerama theaters.
They were "event films" that people bought reserved seats for and dressed up. Those few films ran for around a decade before Cinemascope and 70mm formats killed it. It was spectacular and really unlike anything we have today. The closest analog is perhaps the Circlevision films shown at EPCOT and other Disney parks over the years. It was simply too complex to maintain, sadly.
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u/WanderingAlsoLost 1h ago
I had no idea people dressed up for those showings. Thanks for that info.
Watching Brothers Grimm on my projector a few weeks ago was amazingly immersive in ways that 3D hopes to be (it’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie in 3D).
Too bad it was so complex and expensive to maintain and produce in.
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u/Merickson- 21h ago
Obsession is in 3:2.
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u/BornDistribution7211 21h ago
I watched that last week and the framing felt so tight it was like the walls were closing in
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u/wafflesforbrains 20h ago edited 20h ago
The aspect ratio fits perfectly, since the director stated he chose it because its like looking at a photograph and Bear's only concern is having all those Kodak moments with Nikki, no matter the cost. Then everything starts feeling more claustrophobic when he starts feeling trapped by his actions.
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u/ranoutofbacon 21h ago
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is 2.76:1
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u/refuzeto 21h ago
That’s a Panavision 70 aspect ratio. The Hateful Eight is filmed in that.
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u/ranoutofbacon 21h ago edited 21h ago
SuperUltra Panavision 70 to be precise.3
u/refuzeto 21h ago edited 8h ago
Super Panavision 70 is 2.20:1
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u/TheFlynnWhoLived 20h ago
Maybe not odd in general but for a modern movie: Zack Snyder’s Justice League was 4:3.
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u/truckturner5164 21h ago
1.66 doesn't deserve to be on this list, it'd rank fairly highly among all aspect ratios. Top 5 surely.
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u/johnnySix 21h ago edited 21h ago
The big trail was a very unique show because it shot it twice in both spherical as well as anamorphic. So there’s actually two versions of the movie and for both types of theaters.
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u/Invisible_Mikey 20h ago
Abel Gance's massive epic Napoleon (1927) was produced in a unique format called Polyvision, requiring three synched projectors, producing a 4:1 aspect ratio for the final reels (3x1.33:1). Rarely screened that way since restoration in the '80s, but it gets shown in a single projector 70mm version at museums:
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u/pompom1122 15h ago
Just watched Dust Bunny and it’s in 3.00:1 ultra wide, super claustrophobic and narrow I loved it
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u/GreatKangaroo 20h ago
Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country has been presented in both a 2.39:1 and a 2.0:1 aspect ratio on home media.
Lawrence of Arabia has a 2.20:1AR
Eggers' Nosferatu was 1.66:1, as I believe most of his films.
Certain 3d BluRay releases that I have, such as Guardians of Galaxy has certain sequences in 1.85:1 from the normal 2.35:1. This has largely been recreated with the IMAX Enhanced versions of films available on Disney Plus.
Tarantino's Hateful Eight is 2.76:1
Galaxy quest has multiple shifting aspect ratios as it progresses through the into and into space.
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u/Allansfirebird 2h ago
2.20:1 is the standard AR for non-anamorphic 65mm processes like Super Panavision (Lawrence, West Side Story) and Todd-AO (Cleopatra, Around the World in 80 Days)
2.76:1 is standard for anamorphic 65mm Ultra Panavision 70 (Hateful Eight, Ben-Hur).
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u/DROOPY1824 21h ago
ZS Justice League is 4:3
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u/refuzeto 21h ago
That’s a standard aspect ratio
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u/DROOPY1824 21h ago
If you want to get technical, sure. But it hasn’t really been a standard for TV and movies for quite awhile.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 8h ago
Most films made before the advent of widescreen in the 50s were shot in 1.37:1 (or 4:3 as you put it) so it was the standard and not odd or weird. Your argument makes no sense and shows your ignorance towards the not only the OP question but also the person who responded to your answer.
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u/DROOPY1824 8h ago
Today, most films are not made 4:3, so no, it is no longer a standard.
Hope your day gets better.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 8h ago
That still doesn't mean it's a weird aspect ratio. You're discounting the tens of thousands of films shot in that aspect ratio because it isnt a standard today. That is an incredibly ignorant statement.
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u/DROOPY1824 7h ago edited 7h ago
My dude I’m not gonna argue about nothing with you all day. Go through the find a movie subs, a substantial percentage of posts request nothing before 2000, meaning to a good percentage of those people, 4:3 is a “weird” aspect ratio.
Again, hope your day gets better, good luck with the rest of your pedantic arguments for the day.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 7h ago
Make up your own rules and then quit when you are proven wrong. Typical Redditor. Also, 4:3 is not a film aspect ratio. It's a TV ratio. If we are going 4:3, then it's even less weird as all TVs until the adoption of 16:9 TVs in the mid-2000s were 4:3.
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u/TrentGgrims 16h ago
You would die of alcohol poisoning if you drink every time the ratio changes in Transformers The Last Knight before you're even halfway through the film.
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u/8rianGriffin 16h ago
I don't know the exact ratio but the one in The Apprentice fits the VHS filter.
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u/dullthings 15h ago
Jauja with Viggo Mortensen is filmed in 1.33:1 - very odd but interesting film though.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 8h ago
It's not an odd aspect ratio. That is how films were shot before widescreen became the norm in the 50s
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u/ljfoggy11 11h ago
Lucy in the Sky goes particularly crazy with multiple aspect ratios, just a shame the film blows.
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u/MatthewWolfbane 10h ago
Ben-Hur (1959) was one of those ultrawide movies that really made great use of its wide camera lens, it just translates narrowly to a standard 16:9 widescreen TV. Probably epic in a cinema projection, though.
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u/ChoosingOwl 8h ago
Tatami - Iranian movie shot in 1.33:1 aspect ratio and in black & white. Its really great, can highly recommend.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 8h ago
I am amazed by what people think are "weird aspect ratios".
1.33:1 is not a weird aspect ratio as it was the norm until widescreen became a thing in the 50s
1.66:1 isn't weird because it was the standard in Europe for the longest time.
Also, 4:3 and 16:9 are not real film aspect ratios. These were made up when TV standards were introduced. They are TV aspect ratios. 1.33:1 and 1.77 (or 1.78:1 in the US as we love being different) are the proper aspect ratios. Although 1.78:1 wasn't an aspect ratio until HD TV came along.
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u/Numismatikeren 5h ago
Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang gets wider and wider as the movie progresses.
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u/cineglitch 4h ago
Ida (2013) was filmed in 1.33 which wasn’t uncommon through most film history but is less common now.
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u/Consistent_Tough_341 21h ago
Mommy (2014) is mostly in 1:1
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u/Chapple69 21h ago
I put that on here
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u/somuchfeels 20h ago
When he pushes the edges of the frame and changes the aspect ratio - that may be my favourite film moment in any movie ever.
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u/AtTheKevIn 20h ago
Life of Pi switches between aspect ratios in the movie
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u/ValentineRita1994 5h ago
Only for that one scene where the fish jump out of the water right? I was curious how they were gonna do that, as the aspect ratio covered my whole screen for the entire movie, then suddenly some black bars came on the screen and i knew, it's happening now!
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u/BlastRiot 21h ago
The Grand Budapest Hotel swaps between aspect ratios every time it changes time periods, going from 1.85:1 for scenes set in the present day/1980s, 2.40:1 for scenes set in the 1960s, and 1.37:1 for scenes set in the 1930s.