not necessarily. that is true of "pan & scan" full screens. but some full screen movies are "open matte" (or "full frame") versions. in the case of open matte versions, you often see more than the director intended. if you have any mgm dvds with two versions of a movie on 'um, take a look at both sides and compare... there's a good chance that the full screen side is open matte.
example from anatomy of a murder:
widescreen (as shown in cinemas):
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare/anatomy/1.jpg
open matte (usually seen on tv or vhs):
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...2.28.10-r1.jpg
usually the area covered by mattes doesn't really contain anything interesting or important, and removing 'um can make a scene look a bit too wide-open and empty. but james cameron for example has said that he actually prefers the open matte versions of his movies "aliens" and "the abyss," instead of the widescreen versions.
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