Sir Roger Moore Dies

Sir Roger's best Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, is on ITV this afternoon, which actually appears to be a total coincidence as they're currently showing the films in order and it was already scheduled to air on this date.

Yeah, but being itv, it's bound to be shown in 16:9, instead of the original 2.35:1

France 2 are showing A View to a Kill tonight. (Being the film which is partly set in Paris).

Are they ever not showing the films in order?

Just explaining the context as to why it's a coincidence that that particular film is on today.

The last time ITV 2 broadcast Casino Royale and Skyfall (earlier this year) they were both 2.35:1 which was a huge surprise as when they went out on ITV previously they were cropped. Maybe they have obtained new prints again?

When Skyfall went out in 16:9 it won't have been cropped - someone mentioned on here before that ITV used the IMAX version, which has a different aspect ratio and so can fill the entire screen when broadcasted on TV without cropping lots of the picture.

Yes, I keep meaning to check if they still show it that way, but certainly when the first showed it Skyfall was the IMAX version which is open matte and shows extra picture at the top and bottom. If you have the Blu-ray, it's letterboxed. ITV always go the extra mile to ensure their movies fill the entire screen, I'm not sure why since other channels happily show them letterboxed.

Some low quality pictures from another forum:

Does that also apply to the gunbarrel opening? Does it exist in a 16:9 version which shows more of it than the 2.35:1 version?

My understanding is that the IMAX version is the full frame - 1.90:1 I believe. The 2.35:1 is a crop of this as you can see from the pictures.