Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Indiana Jones or Batman in IMAX next week?

I'm a litle confused. Does the author of the above linked article have the terminology correct? He says the theaters on his list are the only "real IMax" theaters. The list includes the theater at the Great Lakes Science Center here in Cleveland.

However, this theater is known as an OMNIMAX theater which shows films shot in IMAX. It has an enormous curved (domed) screen (79-foot-diameter, tilted, domed screen, six-stories-high) rather than the normal flat screen. It virtually fills your entire field of view.

I have seen several movies at this theater and the experience is breathtaking. BUT! I have never seen a conventional, Hollywood movie shown at our OMNIMAX. The current lineup comprises films which are documentary in nature, only 45 minutes in length, and are probably not shown at your local multiplex. By the same token, you probably won't be seeing Indiana Jones or Batman at the Cleveland OMNIMAX. The same might be true for the other theaters on the list, but I cannot say. Those films will be shown at IMAX theaters, with smaller, flat screens, rather than Omnimax theaters.

If those films are shot in 70mm IMAX, but shown on a smaller, flat screen, is it not a bit unfair to label them as "fake?"

Where is Craig (Spiffnme) when you need him???????

(For the uninitiated, Craig is a forum member who used to work for IMAX. During his nearly twelve years with the company he supervised the film recording of over 50 IMAX releases, including The Dark Knight, Avatar, and the Harry Potter series.)

EDIT: I see that the Dark Knight Rises WILL be shown at a few of the domed theaters. Now THAT would be cool.

Now I've been told that the domed IMAX screens don't always do well with Hollywood movies since they weren't shot to be shown that way and thus too much can end up in your peripheral view that should be right in front of gou. I've never experienced one in a dome before, but again, that is what I was told a few years back from some friends that went to a domed IMAX in Des Moines, Iowa...

Howdy...

"real" IMAX theaters as referenced by that linked article are FILM theaters that actually project 70mm/15 perf film on to large screens. Up until about 10 years ago, that's the only type of IMAX there was. Then they got greedy.

The first step in the dumbing down of the IMAX brand was to retrofit an "IMAX" theater into what was formerly two standard size screens. That may give you some room for a wider screen, but you still don't have the height. Many of these type of theaters may have screens as skinny as 2:1. They may be projecting 15/70 film, but there's little point in seeing The Dark Knight Rises in one of these retrofitted screens, as you won't get to see the full frame IMAX scenes full frame! (most of these theaters have been converted to digital by now anyway)

Then came digital. IMAX was in a real rush to get into digital before anyone else. They spent millions of dollars trying it as early as 2000. That original system failed, but eventually they got one that "worked". Alas, it's only 2K, and of course is limited by the chip size/shape to a 1.78 aspect ratio. (and don't let the two projectors "sub pixel aligned" BS fool you. It's 2K and it looks like 2K. The two projectors give them some more brightness, but the resolution simply isn't there.) The screen sizes are considerably smaller too, as there's simply not enough light coming out of the two digital projector to fill a huge 100' screen like a film projector can.

Dome theaters: Stay away. Yes, they're projecting 15/70 film, but through essentially a fisheye lens and wrapping the image around you. Great for the .0001% of films which were shot specifically for this type of presentation, but possibly the worst movie going experience you'll ever have if you try watching a traditional film this way. You've been warned.

Sadly the days of the huge screens showing 15/70 film are coming to an end. IMAX is converting theaters to digital at a feverish pace. Keeping up with which theaters are showing which format is not easy. I suggest you call your local theater and ask what type of "IMAX" their theater is. (if it's less than 10-15 years old it's very likely "LIE-MAX".

That said, IMAX is now working on a new digital projection system which promises upwards of 6K and enough light to fill the huge screens again. So perhaps, just maybe, IMAX can go back to being a premiere format worthy of paying a little extra for. Right now though...save your money unless you're lucky enough to live near one of the very few original huge 15/70 film theaters that are left.

It's worth noting that IMAX recently changed their slogan from "Think BIG" to "IMAX is believing". They don't want you thinking "BIG" at all, as the vast majority of their theaters aren't "big" anymore. Further...they don't want you "thinking" at all. Just "believe" you're getting a vastly better experience.

oh...and Raiders is ONLY playing in their digital theaters. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't see it in 15/70 film.

please tell me what the "15" means in "15/70".

15 perforations per frame.

See here. (I actually created this little comparison image for some magazine article for IMAX. It's all over the web now.) LOL.



You'll note 35mm has 4 perfs, IMAX has 15.

Lawrence of Arabia style 70mm, while 70mm only had 5 perfs. See below.

Craig, the link in Jack's post mentions 1570/DIG in some theaters. I understand what 1570 means, and I suppose "DIG" means digital. Why are they labeled this way?

Not sure. It's likely some of the new smaller film based theaters that have added a digital projector but kept their film projectors as well? Don't really know.

This is likely your very best source to find out if your local IMAX theater is real or not. As I noted before though, any theaters opened after 2000, even if they project 15/70 are still likely conversions and not full size.

http://lfexaminer.com/theaUSA.htm

What is frustrating too on top of all of that is that I was watching a video online which included people from IMAX, talking about all of the conversation of Raiders of the Lost Ark to 15/70 FILM. No mention of digital, but they kept saying "70mm IMAX film."

I guess I will find out tonight about the one here. After looking at Spiff's link above this, it shows 1570+DIG. Looks like it was just opened 17 months ago (although other web information would lead one to believe it is a little older than that), so I am concerned. I tried to call the New Roc City Regal theater, and the person answering the phone was of little or no help, and I am technically here for work, so I didn't want to stay on the phone call longer than needed since I am set up in a temp location for my visit with zero privacy.

I am seeing comments like "Of those, ONLY the Regal New Roc City...are TRUE, BIG-SCREEN IMAX theaters."
Maybe there is hope.