Marlon, the original film was shot in 1.85:1 (widescreen) as well as 4:3 (fullscreen). The theatres obviously showed the widescreen version. If you have a television that supports widescreen, then you will see no black bars, and I must say it looks great. The black bars come from TV's that aren't widescreen; they give it the illusion that you are watching a widescreen TV. One thing I can say is that while you lose a little from the top and bottom, you see more on the sides, and the picture is less distorted. If you compare the widescreen DVD versions with the AMC or Bravo versions, you will see what I mean. The fullscreen versions make everyone look short and fat. They made the right choice. I personally do not own 1 fullscreen DVD and never plan on it. A widescreen plasma HDTV is a necessity for a film student like myself, and I cannot go back to the fulscreen format, it is a bit archaic to me now.