Raiders of the Lost Ark: The IMAX Experience (1 Viewer)

[Mark-P]

Panavision, CinamaScope or if there were other widescreen formats, were simply referred to as "Scope" and everything else was "Flat". We would adjust the picture through different aperture plates and how wide curtains were opened on the screens. I honestly never knew until now that Panavision, etc. were already anamorphic, was always told they were widescreen films "squished" to run on a 35mm projector and when shown through the proper lens returned to the correct format.
Interesting to know, but by now obviously a bit dated.

Since we were talking about Raiders which was shot in Panavision, then yes that movie was anamorphic from the start. But undoubtably there were also movies that you projected that were indeed converted to anamorphic from a spherical source, and that process is known as "Super-35." Movies like Top Gun and The Abyss were shot in Super-35.

 

[questrider]

I just called the local real "classic design" IMAX theater in my area to find out the format of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was told they no longer have a 70mm projector and it was swapped out recently for a digital projector. (Is this what all IMAX theaters are doing?) And then they couldn't even tell me the technical specs of the projector or what kind of format Raiders was going to be presented in. Now I never expected it to be cropped to the IMAX OAR of 1.43:1 and fully knew it would be 2.35:1 on an IMAX screen. However, after that phone call I'm afraid they're just going to spin the 1080p Blu-ray and project it onto the giant IMAX screen. And charge me the premium IMAX price for the privilege.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I just called the local real "classic design" IMAX theater in my area to find out the format of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was told they no longer have a 70mm projector and it was swapped out recently for a digital projector. (Is this what all IMAX theaters are doing?) And then they couldn't even tell me the technical specs of the projector or what kind of format Raiders was going to be presented in. Now I never expected it to be cropped to the IMAX OAR of 1.43:1 and fully knew it would be 2.35:1 on an IMAX screen. However, after that phone call I'm afraid they're just going to spin the 1080p Blu-ray and project it onto the giant IMAX screen. And charge me the premium IMAX price for the privilege.

If it's the standard digital IMAX presentation, it'll be two overlapping projectors. Most current digital IMAX theaters use overlapping 2K-resolution Christie DLP projectors, however IMAX is transitioning to using two overlapping 4K Eastman Kodak laser projectors.
I think I read somewhere that the rule is supposed to be that if the screen is wider than 70 ft, the theater uses a 70mm projector. If the screen is narrower than 70 ft, the theater uses digital projection.

 

[Tino]

Seeing this Saturday morning. Can't wait. Will never get this chance again in my lifetime I reckon.

 

[TonyD]

I'll be up near Warrington Pa tomorrow so wife and I will take in a 1PM showing of this.
Wouldnt normally pay $20 a ticket to see a movie but I had
$24 in fandango dollars so that makes the hit a bit less painful.

 

[gregstaten]

I just called the local real "classic design" IMAX theater in my area to find out the format of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was told they no longer have a 70mm projector and it was swapped out recently for a digital projector. (Is this what all IMAX theaters are doing?)

The IMAX theater nearest me in Tomball Texas (Santikos Silverado) did the opposite early this year. They have been digital IMAX since opening nearly four years ago and just added a 70mm IMAX projector to the booth (for Dark Knight Rises). Not sure what format they'll use for Raiders, but will find out in a couple of days when I go see it.
-greg

 

[Todd Erwin]

Tony, it's only $15 at the box office with your Crown Club card.

Originally Posted by TonyD /t/323010/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-the-imax-experience#post_3971404
I'll be up near Warrington Pa tomorrow so wife and I will take in a 1PM showing of this.
Wouldnt normally pay $20 a ticket to see a movie but I had
$24 in fandango dollars so that makes the hit a bit less painful.

 

[Wayne_j]

Just saw it in Albany, NY. Looked good, just like anamorphic 35mm film. Got a free Raiders movie poster.

 

[TonyD]

I wasn't offered any discount.
I bought the tix on fandango using my fandango dollars and my regal crown card.
As for the movie it was great seeing it on a big screen.
Sound was amazing.
The pq not so great.
Most noticeable near the beginning when him and Molina had the spiders on
Their backs. Very blurry. Maybe the two projectors weren't calibrated, I don't know.
Much of the movie looked great though especially close ups and scenes that didn't have much
Movement.
Also after Indy get in the plane to get away and there was a snake in there it was very blurry.
Then the end when Indy and Marion are on the steps it was pretty blurry too.
Certainly not worth the standard $18 IMAX fee though and again if I didn't have $24 in fandango cash we wouldn't have gone.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Went tonight. The ticket price was outrageous -- $17.50 for the digital faux-IMAX. I'm still glad I did it. After all of the years, the movie's still a crowd pleaser, and having that boulder coming at you even on a 58-foot screen is a whole different ball game from a 42 to 50-inch TV screen.

 

[Todd Erwin]

That scene has always been blurry, mostly due to camera movement.

Originally Posted by TonyD /t/323010/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-the-imax-experience#post_3971806
Also after Indy get in the plane to get away and there was a snake in there it was very blurry.

 

[dpippel]

I just got back from a faux IMAX digital screening here in Phoenix. Tony, I agree that there were a number of points in the film that looked like "double-vision", particularly the ones you mention. The most egregious scene was at the beginning of the film with the tarantulas in the idol temple. Hopefully this issue is a result of the IMAX conversion and will NOT be present on the Blu-ray release.

I have to say that even though I paid $15 to see this and it wasn't a true IMAX theater, I felt like a little kid again. It was just amazing to see this movie on a BIG screen with a BIG sound system. I loved every minute of it and it was worth every penny to me. Very, very glad I went and I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the Blu-ray set!

 

[TonyD]

That scene has always been blurry, mostly due to camera movement.

True, i forgot about that. not sure about the other scenes though.

 

[dpippel]

I've seen this film MANY times. There was definitely some funkiness going on in a few scenes, and I don't mean in a good way.

 

[questrider]

I wasn't offered any discount... Certainly not worth the standard $18 IMAX fee though and again if I didn't have $24 in fandango cash we wouldn't have gone.

It was $12 at the IMAX near me in the western suburbs of Chicago. I was surprised and couldn't remember if that is the standard IMAX ticket price at this theater or not.

As for the movie it was great seeing it on a big screen.
Sound was amazing.

Overall, it was pretty good. Better than I was expecting for a digital projection. (I still wish we knew what resolution the source of this presentation is.) It was great seeing it on the big screen again for the first time since 1981 when I was 12. After seeing this movie so many times over the last 30 years I still found myself getting the chills and being reminded just how good the movie is. I kept saying to myself, "Wow, they just don't make movies like this anymore." The sound was beefed up in a lot of sequences with great LFE enhancement. Can't wait to get this on Blu-ray and crank it up on the home theater system.

The pq not so great.
Most noticeable near the beginning when him and Molina had the spiders on
Their backs. Very blurry. Maybe the two projectors weren't calibrated, I don't know.
Also after Indy get in the plane to get away and there was a snake in there it was very blurry.
Then the end when Indy and Marion are on the steps it was pretty blurry too.

That's surprising because the exact same thing happened when I saw it tonight. There were lots of double images shifting and made it very blurry. Very distracting. At first I thought the same thing you did like the two projectors weren't calibrated to be synced up properly. I was about to get really annoyed by it when it stopped after the shot where Indy wipes all of the tarantulas off of Satipo with his whip. And then you're right, it did the same thing when the snake slithers up Indy when he says, "There's a big snake in the plane!" Since it happened to both of us in separate cities do you think this is an anomaly with the digital source? Do you think they could be streaming this off of a satellite and all of the theaters are receiving the same signal like when they do live events in theaters?

 

[TonyD]

Could be a problem with the digital file or it could be part of the print but it's been a while since I watched the DVD so I can't remember.

 

[Dave MJ]

How did the ark opening scene look and sound?

 

[Wayne_j]

I checked my 2003 DVD, the same problems with the image were there, they applied some EE to minimize some of the focus problem. I just took it that the particular panavision lenses they used had large image aberations.

 

[TonyD]

It must have only been certain shots. The ark opening looked fine, I did notice that Bellok's face was too wide during his closeups during the ark opening sequences so that must have been another lense too.
Anyone think the opening scenes in the jungle before they got into the tomb looked too brown during the IMAX presentation?

 

[TheBat]

I read from this following link that the imax for raiders was very impressive.. I was curious about the crowd and reaction? big or small etc etc? thank you. I am going tuesday night. I have a bit of a wait.
Jacob
http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/first-box-office-the-words-6-5m-cold-light-of-day-3-5m-for-terrible-moviegoing-weekend/