"Forbidden Planet" has been available on laser disk in its original cine-
mascope format (hence the letterboxing) for a year or two.  Its unlikely
it will ever appear on VHS this way.  Only a few films are letterboxed
on VHS--mostly foreign or CLASSICS like "Lawrence of Arabia" (and
"Spartacus").
 
In contrast, a great many films--and a good deal of science fiction--are
letterboxed for laser disc release (now more and more simultaneously with
their "defaced" version in ordinary video format).
 
Surprisingly (given Turner's insistence on colorization) TNT has been a leader
in showing letterboxed films on TV and may be the only commercial station that
does so.  Some are beginning to appear on AMC and Encore.
 
In fact, the TNT print of "Forbidden Planet" looked to be even a bit wider/
narrower than my laser disc copy which still pushes the edges sometimes.
 
                        Jesse Kalin   Vassar