"Big Release" Films on the Bigger Screen?

[duchess of malfi]

I am lucky in that a few miles up the road there is one of those great big movie theaters that is state of the art. Something like twenty screens, fantastic sound system, the comfie reclining seats with the cup holders, all that stuff.

If I had more time to actually go out and watch more films, it would be great.

Well, they have been in the process of ripping out several of their screening rooms and replacing them with a huge IMAX theater. That will be opening soon, and for the most part they will be showing big budget big release movies there rather than the usual made-for-IMAX documentary stuff I usually see playing at IMAX theaters.

Has anyone here seen a "regular" movie on an IMAX screen? Do they show the same print, or is there a special print made for that format? Does it add anything to the film to see it on a gargantuan scale?

[[Syl]]

The only regular movie I've seen on IMAX was Northern Express, but that was in 3D. Still, it was pretty cool. Just don't sit up front.

[matrixman]

We have IMAX here. I had really wanted to see the special version of Apollo 13 reformatted for IMAX, but I don't think it was ever shown here.

Other IMAX-resized films have played, but I wasn't interested in going to them: Attack of the Clones, Matrix Revolutions and Batman Begins.

So, I can't tell you how they look, but I'm pretty sure that these are special prints of the films made to fit the whole IMAX screen. Before the advent of this new-fangled digital reformatting process, our local IMAX did sometimes show past Hollywood hits, but only on the regular print. Thus, a 70mm widescreen epic that is supposed to look huge in regular theatres ends up on the IMAX screen as this wimpy strip of film running narrowly across the centre. It was like watching widescreen movies on a TV with the black bars above and below.

[dANdeLION]

I want to see Deep Throat on IMAX.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I want to see Deep Throat on IMAX.

And in 3D.

[Cail]

I've got a pretty kick-butt home theater, so I only go to the theater for the blockbuster-type films.

[dlbpharmd]

I saw AOTC on IMAX when it was first released. To me it's not that big of a deal.

[Cail]

Put it this way.....I thought "History of Violence" was the best film of last year, but I didn't see it 'till it came out on DVD. Far, far better than that tripe that was "Crash". But I never know 'till it comes out on home video. That sort of film never gets seen on the big screen.

[onewyteduck]

Never been to one! The closest one is in Birmingham at the Science Center and they usually just do documentaries, such as that. Just not worth the I-20 suicide run.

[wayfriend]

I have heard from several people that a movie can he harder to view in IMAX because you can't see the whole thing, you can only look at one side or the other and you miss stuff.

[Cail]

I have heard from several people that a movie can he harder to view in IMAX because you can't see the whole thing, you can only look at one side or the other and you miss stuff.

Depends on where you sit.

I prefer a good THX-approved regular movie.

[duchess of malfi]

I have heard from several people that a movie can he harder to view in IMAX because you can't see the whole thing, you can only look at one side or the other and you miss stuff.

I was actually sort of wondering about that.

At the Detroit Science Center they have this huge theater with a screen that I think might be even bigger than IMAX called OMNIMAX. They show nature documentaries there. It can be hard to try to see eveything.

[danlo]

They're showing The Wizard of Oz on the big screen at an old movie house here. Great experience for the kids! (In fact for big kids too who want to alter themselves and sneak their I-pods in with Dark Side of the Moon set to play )

[duchess of malfi]

Supposedly when this thing opens up later this month the first movie they will show will be the remake the Poseidon Adventure. Now if it were a reformatted Lawrence of Arabia I might be tempted... Or Wizard of Oz. Or really - any of the old classics that were made on a grand scale...

[matrixman]

I agree, duchess. My IMAX-format wish list would include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and the original Star Wars trilogy. (And if it had been the original Matrix that had been re-done for IMAX and not Revolutions, I would've gone there in a heartbeat.)

I think the whole point of IMAX is to immerse you in picture and sound as much as possible. I think you'd need a set of big insect eyes to see every detail of an IMAX film as it's being shown. You could simply get IMAX on DVD to enjoy the whole picture in more manageable fashion, but that defeats the purpose of IMAX.

[wayfriend]

And if you sit far enough back, it defeats the purpose.

I agree that the IMAX immerses you more. The OMNI even more so, as it's actually bent around you.

The trouble is, movies need to be be made for that format. Where the action is in the center of the screen and the edges are all about environment.

[matrixman]

The trouble is, movies need to be be made for that format. Where the action is in the center of the screen and the edges are all about environment.

I agree. I should've made it clearer in my post that I was talking about original, made-for-IMAX films.

[duchess of malfi]

Well, the new theater is set to open this afternoon. They are actually showing a free 3-D movie all weekend long to celebrate its opening. Unfortunately, the movie they are showing is NASCAR 3-D, which I don't even want to see for free.

[matrixman]

NASCAR 3-D. Wonderful, a film where you get to tilt your head left all the time. No offense to Nascar fans, but if Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman couldn't bring me out to see a movie about stock car racing, this sure won't.

Nope, I wouldn't see it for free either.

[Marv]

I want to see Deep Throat on IMAX.

That would definately involve a '"BIG" release'