Imax and ROTK...horrible

Shad R · 12-22-2003, 02:54 AM

I saw the very first midnight showing on the Imax screen in Denver. I had anticipated it all week. When the previews started, the front speakers started to rattle, especially during Spiderman 2. I thought maybe it was preview reel, but it did it ALL THROUGHOUT THE MOVIE! Also, the high-end of the audio spectrum kept cutting in and out, and it sounded like the digital signal kept switching to analog. I wasn't the only one who caught this, because I heard someone else commenting on it on the way out of the theater. My friend was mad too. The rattle was OBNOXIOUS! and distorted. Man, last time I saw a movie on the Imax (Lion King) it sounded amazing. I thought they'd check their equipment, I mean, this was Lord of the Rings, for crying out loud. Anyone else have this happen at an Imax showing?

Kevin Porter · 12-22-2003, 02:57 AM

The IMAX showing in Houston went perfectly fine. The projection was slightly crooked but no one could tell. Other than that it ran without a hitch. Sorry to hear about your experience Shad.

Sean Laughter · 12-22-2003, 10:08 AM

Well, "The Lion King" was a DMR processed print, that was actually an IMAX 70mm print playing through the IMAX projector, whereas ROTK was a 35mm print playing on a 35mm projector and whatever sound processing that have for that purpose. Did anyone complain about it? Depending on how often that theater actually shows 35mm prints, they may not have been aware of the problem (I'm not sure how much the projectionist in a flat-screen IMAX - I'm assuming you were at a flat-screen - can hear in terms of physical rattling of the house speakers).

JoshGroetsema · 12-22-2003, 11:49 AM

We saw ROTK at the IMAX in Lincolnshire, IL and I have to tell you that we had the EXACT same problem

For the first half of the movie, every few minutes one of the speakers would suddenly produce a distorted noise for a second or so. And this would happen in some of the quietest scenes. Also, there were problems with the color as well. In certain scenes there were very noticable changes in the color scheme on the screen.

I was very disappointed with the theater but, of course, by the time we left the theater at 12:30 in the morning, there was no one to complain to.

Perry Jonkheer · 12-22-2003, 01:33 PM

How was the picture quality compared to The Matrix Revolutions??

**HTF Ads**

Dennis Pagoulatos · 12-22-2003, 04:25 PM

Matrix Revolutions is a DMR processed film projected through the IMAX projector...so it's bound to look a lot better, and brighter, than 35mm blown up on an IMAX screen does. It should be a night and day difference...

Why they don't remaster the LOTR films for IMAX is beyond me...I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing both IMAX DMR releases of Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. You simply can't beat the quality, and brightness of the image, short of filming in actual IMAX format from the get-go. And the sound is spectacular at any IMAX auditorium worth its salt (The Sony Metreon in San Francisco is quite good).

I had an annoying buzzing sound and various DD sound drop-outs throughout my viewing of ROTK in a "normal" theater, extremely distracting and just about ruined my experience...I wonder if there are a lot of damaged prints that have been shipped out to exhibitors? It seems that a lot of people have complained about issues like this already (a few here and a couple of other forums as well).

-Dennis

Sean Laughter · 12-22-2003, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Why they don't remaster the LOTR films for IMAX is beyond me...I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing both IMAX DMR releases of Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions.

Because the platters that hold IMAX films are not large enough to hold the film without an intermission. Even the IMAX print of Star Wars:AOTC had cuts made to the film itself to widdle it down to fit on an IMAX platter. The theater I work in got the upgraded reel units when we played Fantasia2000 (at IMAX expense I believe), and I highly doubt they want to be doing free reel unit upgrades anytime soon to make the platters any larger (if it's even physically possible to make them larger without risking damage to equipment).

Gary->dee · 12-22-2003, 11:21 PM

ROTK is a loud ass movie, probably the loudest I've seen in a theater yet. I wouldn't doubt that certain speaker systems have problems playing it. I saw it as a regular DTS theater and there were a lot of times during the movie in which I was close to covering my ears, especially during any scenes featuring the Nazgul. Yikes! This one's probably going to blow the HT speakers when it finally arrives(extended edition of course, I don't do the theatrical cuts at the crib- I'm snobbish).

Jason Harbaugh · 12-29-2003, 05:26 PM

Shad R,

I was at that same screening and noticed it right away too. It was very distracting especially during the singing, or any theme music that held a note longer than 2 beats which is nearly every theme. The bass was definitely there, and the picture didn't look too bad, although that particular Imax screen has some problems, especially with reflections. Add in that it is dirty in some spots and there is actually a hole the size of a baseball near the middle.

Sean Laughter · 12-29-2003, 11:02 PM

Are flat screen IMAX screens actually cloth-like material (or whatever screen material is termed)? Because dome IMAX screens, at least all of the ones I see are metal, so not exactly prone to tearing or hole damage. In fact, whenever we have a helium balloon stuck at the top of the dome (happens occasionally when there are events at the museum, regardless of how hard we try to keep them out of the theater), we have to shoot paperclips at it with rubber bands