I think you meant your question rhetorically, but to state the obvious it looks much better.

Some years ago I even saw a comparison of....I think 7 Brides For 7 Brothers...in which they showed the pan-and-scan version aired on TV and the original widescreen version.

The difference was quite astounding.  They also showed a few other examples of how narrowing the screen ruined a few other movies, but that's the one I remember.  The pan-and-scan was more like 3 or 4 brides for 3 or 4 brothers.

Very few scenes actually lend themselves well to portrait views.  A burning skyscraper might be one example, but can you imagine if they had filmed The Towering Inferno in portrait mode?