the problem in opening movies is a common thing for hd tv channels like hbo. films like alexander, troy are shown open matte. while this gives you more vfx on top and the bottom you loose around 5% on the sides total. not much but still sucks not to see the original intention of the film makers...
the movie is cropped. you don't see any more information on top and/or the bottom. i saw the film in 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it looked very fine that way. here is a comparison taken from the trailer and the r1 dvd trailer r1 dvd as you can see, you loose around 20% of information...