On a thread dedicated to disappointment regarding the visual changes seen in the streaming version, Redditor u/magisterium_art mentioned that not only is the scope completely off, some of the shots are cropped so badly that the actors’ heads are cut off: “In the trailers and for the IMAX theatrical version they showed the film in the taller 16:9 aspect ratio they shot the film on with the Arri Alexa 65 camera system. In the version on Max, they cropped it to 2.39:1, which means so many beautifully framed shots are letterboxed. Tops of heads are cut off, the feeling of space and scope is constricted. Anybody else notice this? Why did they do this?”
Others in that thread noted that directors like Christopher Nolan — who, like Denis Villeneuve, is fastidious and precise regarding his film’s visuals — is released so that fans can watch it in larger aspect ratios, and Disney has IMAX versions of Marvel films on its service Disney+. Still, some noted that plenty of moviegoers saw a “cropped” version of “Dune: Part Two” if they didn’t see the original IMAX release, like u/discretelandscapes: “It IS the full film. IMAX is extra (not all the time, sometimes the widescreen version has more to the sides, but I digress). 98% of theaters were showing the film in 2.39:1 aspect ratio.”
