# What is the most visually appealing aspect ratio for film?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 6, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907 "2017-08-06T11:47:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/1 "2017-08-06T11:47:44Z")
What do you feel is subjectively the most appealing aspect ratio for him?
1.33.1?
1.37.1 - The Academy Ratio?
1.66.1 - Hitchcock Widescreen
1.77 aka 16 x 9
1.85.1 - VistaVision
2:1 - The Univision Ratio
2:35 - Cinemascope
Or other?
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/2 "2017-08-06T13:09:09Z")
No love for 4:3?
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/3 "2017-08-06T13:30:48Z")
1.33 is 4:3
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/4 "2017-08-06T14:09:05Z")
1.85 for me. I am honestly very happy with 16x9, I think it has transformed TV into a cinematic scope, but there’s something about the extra wide (but not extra-extra-wide) of 1.85 that adds a majesty and scale. It’s an illusion, let’s face it, but it works.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/5 "2017-08-06T14:22:48Z")
It depends on the movie. Not every film needs to be in Cinerama, but some would be pretty cool in that format.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/6 "2017-08-06T14:25:40Z")
At least 1.77, but preferably even wider. I’m a still photographer, so I’m most intimate with more squarish aspect ratios, but, for moving pictures, I love them wide.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/7 "2017-08-06T14:52:25Z")
It was mostly a tossup between 1.85 and 2.35, but I picked 2.35.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/8 "2017-08-06T15:51:53Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> It was mostly a tossup between 1.85 and 2.35, but I picked 2.35.
Yeah, that’s what I ended up voting for in the end.
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### Author:  [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-visually-appealing-aspect-ratio-for-film/792907/9 "2017-08-06T20:55:54Z")
16 x 9 for me. Whereas I think Pillarboxes (like on a 4x3 film on a 16x9 screen) make a film look cheap, I think the letterboxing on Cinemascope films on a 16 x 9 screen makes them look more cinematic. I really hope 16 x 9 is here to stay, it’s perfect. I get to enjoy my flat widescreen films without any cropping, and enjoy Cinemascope films with the epic “theater” look with the bars.