A Few Words About A few words about...™ This is Cinerama -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Vern Dias]

I've now watched all of the Flicker Alley Cinerama releases except for Windjammer (which is next up). I never would have imagined having these on home video. While it's far from replicating the experience on a huge curved screen, they're fun films. This is Cinerama does come off a bit creaky since it really is just a feature-length tech demo, but the Cypress Gardens/water ski sequence is quite impressive. The remastering work is usually gorgeous and the sound is astonishing. Not perfect, but the fact anything could be done with faded negatives (and faded prints for the subsequent titles) on such a low budget is amazing.

Now that I've seen all of them, I'd actually have to say that Cinerama Holiday and South Seas Adventure are my favorites. It's amazing how they went from "tech demo" to really taking advantage of the format by the next film. It makes me wish I had a projection setup to really get the most out of these.

The following screen shot is from a de-smileboxed version of the Niagra Falls sequence from "This Is Cinerama". It's really a shame that these were only released in Smile Box, because the format is very unkind to those of us with CIH projector installations.

 

[RichMurphy]

The following screen shot is from a de-smileboxed version of the Niagra Falls sequence from "This Is Cinerama". It's really a shame that these were only released in Smile Box, because the format is very unkind to those of us with CIH projector installations. View attachment 97387

Different strokes, I guess. I love how the Smilebox Cinerama films look on my Constant Image Height system. Perhaps it depends on how big your screen is.

 

[Vern Dias]

Different strokes, I guess. I love how the Smilebox Cinerama films look on my Constant Image Height system. Perhaps it depends on how big your screen is.

Viewing on a 53" high by 144" wide (2.66:1) screen from 8 1/2' seating distance.
Smilebox doesn't allow the use of at least a third of the width on my CIH screen (1.77:1 vs 2.66:1) without losing actual image area from the top and bottom at the sides.

The other side effect is the fact that anyone / object at the sides of the image is tall and skinny when compared with a comparable person / object at the center of the image.
Most probably would not notice this, but once they do, like many things in life, it can't be unseen.

When I attended the Cinerama films back in the day, my favorite seat was in row 3 to row 6. Some people preferred the last row, which in my mind is what smilebox recreates.

BTW, I actually worked as a projectionist at both the Denver and Minneapolis Cooper Cinerama theatres.

 

[RolandL]

Viewing on a 53" high by 144" wide (2.66:1) screen from 8 1/2' seating distance.
Smilebox doesn't allow the use of at least a third of the width on my CIH screen (1.77:1 vs 2.66:1) without losing actual image area from the top and bottom at the sides.

The other side effect is the fact that anyone / object at the sides of the image is tall and skinny when compared with a comparable person / object at the center of the image.
Most probably would not notice this, but once they do, like many things in life, it can't be unseen.

When I attended the Cinerama films back in the day, my favorite seat was in row 3 to row 6. Some people preferred the last row, which in my mind is what smilebox recreates. View attachment 97395 BTW, I actually worked as a projectionist at both the Denver and Minneapolis Cooper Cinerama theatres.

Ads, articles and pictures of the Denver and Minneapolis Cooper Cinerama theatres.

 

[RichMurphy]

Viewing on a 53" high by 144" wide (2.66:1) screen from 8 1/2' seating distance.
Smilebox doesn't allow the use of at least a third of the width on my CIH screen (1.77:1 vs 2.66:1) without losing actual image area from the top and bottom at the sides.

The other side effect is the fact that anyone / object at the sides of the image is tall and skinny when compared with a comparable person / object at the center of the image.
Most probably would not notice this, but once they do, like many things in life, it can't be unseen.

When I attended the Cinerama films back in the day, my favorite seat was in row 3 to row 6. Some people preferred the last row, which in my mind is what smilebox recreates. View attachment 97395 BTW, I actually worked as a projectionist at both the Denver and Minneapolis Cooper Cinerama theatres.

You got me beat screen-wise! While mine is the same height, it's "only" 2.35:1, so I guess you have more unused screen than I.

But having spent most of the younger days at DC's Uptown Theatre, I always thought the side distortions were part of the fun. (And I was often one of those first-row crazies.)

 

[Vern Dias]

You got me beat screen-wise! While mine is the same height, it's "only" 2.35:1, so I guess you have more unused screen than I.

But having spent most of the younger days at DC's Uptown Theatre, I always thought the side distortions were part of the fun. (And I was often one of those first-row crazies.)

I don't remember the side distortion being present at the 3 strip venues that I attended. I suspect that may have been because all 3 panels were projected head on using the same throw.

I would imagine, however, that some fudging of the head on position might have been required for some venues.

The major image distortion that I remember was the vertical curvature of the horizon line in some scenes.

Of course, that was better than a half century ago, so my memory may be somewhat fuzzy.

BTW, my wider screen is due to using a Cinema DLP 1.5x anamorphic lens.