Bobby Henderson
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2001
- Messages
- 165
In terms of 70mm movie-going I was in hog heaven when I lived in New York City 30 years ago (mid 80's into early 90's). Manhattan alone had dozens of screens equipped to show 70mm. At least a dozen of those venues played movies in 70mm on a frequent basis. Some really big releases placed 70mm prints in Brooklyn, Queens, out on Long Island, in New Jersey and even Staten Island on some occasions.
The Ziegfeld was my favorite place to watch movies, many of which were in 70mm there. The Loews Astor Plaza was also great. It was built underground and had an even higher seat count than the Ziegfeld (around 1500 IIRC). The Gemini Twin and Cinema One got a lot of shows in 70mm. I watched a few shows at the Gramercy Theater on 23rd Street; it was close to my college. I saw "The Untouchables" in 70mm at the Loews New York Twin. I saw a few shows at the 34th Street Showplace, such as "Black Rain" in 70mm and an early 35mm Dolby SR release: "Robocop."
When I left NYC I figured that was it for 70mm movie-going. But I ended being able to see a few good shows in Dallas. The General Cinemas Northpark 1-2 was my favorite theater there. I was hooked on my first visit ("Jurassic Park" in 35mm DTS). I did see a few 70mm shows at the UA Plaza theater nearby (it had four out of eight auditoriums equipped with 70mm). In terms of sound quality for theaters in that era, I was blown away by the sound quality at the GCC Northpark 1-2 in Dallas. The #1 screen was a real THX house. Not only that, but it was one of the original half dozen or so screens in LA and Dallas that Tomlinson Holman worked on in advance of the release of "Return of the Jedi" and debut of THX. The crew at the Northpark 1-2 would re-tune the sound system for every movie that played there. Compare that to most theaters not getting sound systems re-tuned at all. Anyway, "Titanic" in 70mm DTS on the Northpark #1 screen was pretty incredible. It's a real shame that theater got demolished. I think LOOK Cinemas in Dallas was the last place in the DFW metroplex showing movies in 5/70mm; the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic helped put that theater out of business.
Out of theatrical venues in operation today, there's nothing within driving distance to me that's open to the public that I find truly impressive. I wasn't very impressed with where I watched "The Hateful Eight" in 70mm: an AMC 24-plex in Oklahoma City. They had the BL&S UP70 setup installed in a mid-sized house with a HDTV-shaped common width screen. At least the screen had vertical masking. It seems all the IMAX 15/70 equipped houses are pretty much removing 70mm capabilities in addition to the 5/70mm places that have all but vanished.
The Ziegfeld was my favorite place to watch movies, many of which were in 70mm there. The Loews Astor Plaza was also great. It was built underground and had an even higher seat count than the Ziegfeld (around 1500 IIRC). The Gemini Twin and Cinema One got a lot of shows in 70mm. I watched a few shows at the Gramercy Theater on 23rd Street; it was close to my college. I saw "The Untouchables" in 70mm at the Loews New York Twin. I saw a few shows at the 34th Street Showplace, such as "Black Rain" in 70mm and an early 35mm Dolby SR release: "Robocop."
When I left NYC I figured that was it for 70mm movie-going. But I ended being able to see a few good shows in Dallas. The General Cinemas Northpark 1-2 was my favorite theater there. I was hooked on my first visit ("Jurassic Park" in 35mm DTS). I did see a few 70mm shows at the UA Plaza theater nearby (it had four out of eight auditoriums equipped with 70mm). In terms of sound quality for theaters in that era, I was blown away by the sound quality at the GCC Northpark 1-2 in Dallas. The #1 screen was a real THX house. Not only that, but it was one of the original half dozen or so screens in LA and Dallas that Tomlinson Holman worked on in advance of the release of "Return of the Jedi" and debut of THX. The crew at the Northpark 1-2 would re-tune the sound system for every movie that played there. Compare that to most theaters not getting sound systems re-tuned at all. Anyway, "Titanic" in 70mm DTS on the Northpark #1 screen was pretty incredible. It's a real shame that theater got demolished. I think LOOK Cinemas in Dallas was the last place in the DFW metroplex showing movies in 5/70mm; the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic helped put that theater out of business.
Out of theatrical venues in operation today, there's nothing within driving distance to me that's open to the public that I find truly impressive. I wasn't very impressed with where I watched "The Hateful Eight" in 70mm: an AMC 24-plex in Oklahoma City. They had the BL&S UP70 setup installed in a mid-sized house with a HDTV-shaped common width screen. At least the screen had vertical masking. It seems all the IMAX 15/70 equipped houses are pretty much removing 70mm capabilities in addition to the 5/70mm places that have all but vanished.