IMAX Showing of Matrix Revolutions (1 Viewer)

[Mark Kalzer]

Going downtown into Toronto to see it Saturday night! My first viewing of Revolutions! Seems to be an interesting pattern here, I first saw The Matrix on VHS (Ugh...back in the day, back in the day), later on DVD, (phew), first saw Reloaded in 35mm theatres, and finally, Revolutions in IMAX!

Also before leaving Ottawa I overheard two people behind me at a screening of The Station Agent who ALSO are coming to Toronto to see it in IMAX! The lengths we will go to for IMAX! (Course I'm here also for graduation...but Matrix as well!)

 

[david stark]

David, What Theatre did you try to book at and for what showing. I'm planning to go to the 7 pm show at the colossus tomorrow but I haven't booked yet. Now you've got me worried.

so you've probably been by now, but I tried to book at the paramount famous players in downtown toronto (john and richmond street). I went to see it in the end, but not on IMAX. Not too bothered I didn't see it on IMAX in the end and hopefully I'll never see it again.

 

[GerardoHP]

Will anybody say for sure what aspect ratio this movie was shown in in IMAX? Is it letterboxed to 2.35:1 or full aperture 1.33:1?

 

[Rives Elmore]

SPEEEEAAAAK [rumble rumble rumble]

That moment alone made it worthwhile to see it in IMAX

 

[Tino]

Gerardo

As I have previously mentioned, Revolutions is being shown letterboxed at the 2.35 ratio within the 1.44 IMAX frame.

It is NOT pan and scan.

 

[Chris Dugger]

MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS -

This print is a reconvert of the 35mm print using IMAX DMR technology.

Presented in 2.35 on the 1.44 screen.

Dugger

 

[GerardoHP]

Thanks, Tino and Chris. So, guys, other than much better sound, does it make any difference in terms of picture quality to see the film in Imax versus, say, seeing it on a very large conventional screen?

 

[Patrick Sun]

Judging on my viewing of the IMAX Reloaded, you should see a lot more detail with IMAX Revolutions as well.

I'll be seeing it on IMAX tomorrow.

 

[Nick Graham]

D'oh, I'm gonna have to wait till the 26th for it to hit KC.
Oh well, patience is a virtue.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Has anyone see it both in Imax and on a standard screen yet? I noticed with watching Reloaded on Imax that although it was much more detailed (Morpheus' face scared me) the overall film was much much darker. So you lost a lot of the detail in the shadows, and since Revolutions is nearly all taking place in the dark it will be a lot worse than Reloaded. Is this still the case with Revolutions, or did I just watch it at a bad Imax?

 

[ChrisA]

Almost quitting time! 10 p.m. showing is getting closer!!!

Wooo Hoooo!!!

Maybe King of Prussia has tactile tranduction also....

Ok, so I got a semi spoiler from this review: "SPEEEEAAAAAK!" I'll be sure to write something tomorrow....

 

[Felipe S]

Wednesday I saw it at a regular theater, yesterday on IMAX.
Here are the comparisons:
IMAGE
On the regular theatre it looked great! I went to the zero hour showing here in Toronto so that was probably the first time the print was shown. On IMAX it doesn't look all that different. I mean there is an improvement but not a huge one. There is more detail on the IMAX but considering that most of the movie takes place in the dark, differences are negligible. I preferred the IMAX showing over the regular showing. You can see many more little details (like Morpheus' face), the swarms of sentinels could be seen more clearly, etc.

Winner? IMAX

SOUND
I was totally blown away by both theatres. This is one amazing mix! I don't think I can easily pick a winner here because they both had their pros and cons. One pro for the regular theater was the low end/ sub bass. I felt more of an impact of explosions, etc from the regular theater. IMAX was good also but I didn't feel enough.. "ooomph!" The pro of watching it on IMAX is the channel separation/positional audio. WOW!!!!! Bullets, explosions, glass, thunder, rain, sentinels all around you from every possible direction. It was a VERY immersive mix. Moreso than the regular theater was. and when the machine says "SPEEEAAAAKKK!!!" I got chills down my spine sinse it sounded so good.

Winner? I'm leaning towards IMAX but they were both really good mixes.

I say, if you liked the movie and wouldn't mind paying the extra money for the IMAX showing, then watch it in both the regular theater AND in IMAX. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, make sure you pick the BEST theater in your city. This is one movie you can't afford to see in an 'acceptable' theater, it was made for BIG picture and BIG crystal clear sound.

 

[GerardoHP]

Thanks, Felipe.

 

[TonyD]

chris i saw spider-man there and last week alien in KOP.

THE print or the projecting of alien was awful.
not sure if that was due to shoing on an imax screen or not.
spider-man was not a pleasant experience either. it was way too big and cropped to fit in the entire screnn size, unlike alien which was shown proper aspect ratio and just had blank area on the screen.

hopefully MR will be better.

btw, chrisA i bought a jvc 7600 s-vhs vcr from you about 4 years ago. it still works great .
tony.

 

[ChrisA]

Tony, Glad to hear it!

Short Version, I have something to do

I am still choked up!

Movie for the most part, exceeded my expectations.

Do not see this the first time in a regular theater. Patience is a virtue is correct. One big meaningful experience is by far better than a few lesser experiences. Do not ruin this film by seeing it the first time in a standard theater, the IMAX experience is by far INCREDIBLE... I don't have tim right now for analogies and dividing the audio and video... The sum experience is far beyond even the best commercial theaters.

Wow, that King of Prussia IMAX experience exceeded my expectatiions, and so did the movie, both combined gave me a choked up experience with a tight throat... I have to run... I will be going back and doing it again. It can never be as good as the first time, but I will go back for seconds.... holy shit....

 

[TimForman]

I saw Revolutions at the IMAX in Seattle. It was shown in letterbox and I was very impressed with the DMR technology. Excellent image. The other great movie theater in this town is the Cinerama and I have to say the IMAX blows it away. The sound system is very impressive. In the Cinerama the sound is great but IMAX is just clearer. I did a little searching around but all I found was general information about the IMAX Proportional Point sound system. I'm curious as to who did the engineering and what hardware they're using. All I know is there are 6 clusters of 7 drivers, 4 woofs, compression horns, most likely some EQ circuitry, and a 10 foot subwoofer, all driven with ~12,000 watts. Pretty close to my home system (not). I like the fact that they use uncompressed DVD disks for the sound and use a computer to sync the picture and sound together. Not a new idea but they do it well.

 

[ChrisA]

Imax King of Prussia:

Video: You would barely notice it was letterboxed because the screen is so damn big to begin with. Letterboxing is simply not a factor and for all intensive purposes is the same IMAX experience visually. Bottom line: it is significantly better than the best commercial theater.

Audio: There is NO comparison. I can't believe anybody could make a comparison with a commercial theater. There is significantly more bass. Not bass boosted unaturally, but clean deep bass that extends a full octave lower than a commercial theater. I am very particular with bass quality as my favorite thing to do is design subwoofers, hence the (4) 18 inch Black Hole subs with 10 inch ports and tuning frequency of 14 Hz, a beautiful EBS alignment. In any case, it isn't just the bass, it is the use of many more speakers with absolutely no distortion. The surround field is VASTLY superior to a commercial theater. Hell just look at the speakers in the rear corners in addition to the other surround speakers. I do not go to commercial theaters because my home system is vastly superior to a commercial theater, but the IMAX audio did it for me... no weaknesses at all, and even had some nice 'height' channels in the front, although they did not mix discrete height effects, the presence if the front soundfield was incredible. Personally, wattage is as you know, somewhat meaningless. Hell, I have 6,000 watts going to tactile transduction alone. Solid Class D amplification is far from expensive. Tactile tranducers are a huge improvement. I have heard "Buttkicker" had done an Install or two on some IMAX theaters and at least one planetarium... Done correctly, tactile transduction is adding another sense to the experience and one more step to being there, hence my link below in my sig file.

I implore those that have not seen the movie yet to see it the FIRST TIME in IMAX. The FIRST TIME experience is by far the best and if you can see it in IMAX, even if it is a 3 hour drive, DO IT!

Here is to hoping Return of the KING is day and date with IMAX!!!

 

[Eric F]

It's not "letterboxed", it's OAR. Just that it's a wider aspect that you generally wouldn't notice on a regular theater screen because they bring the curtains in. Imax has no curtains of course.

My local Imax was having a problem with dust- there was way too much of it on the screen- black specs would appear too often on the same spot on the print- I could see they have some sort of fan blowing the dust off the lens, but at 100ft it's hard to ignore. Otherwise the film looked excellent.

For sound, the theater I went to had kickers under the seet, so every time there was alot of bass the seats would shake.

 

[ChrisA]

Letterbox technically is equated with lower resolution... Still, it is not as though you are using all of the film grains in the IMAX film. I believe the native film aspect ratio/exposure is 1.44. Sure the image is OAR but still not native IMAX and I think letterbox term is not incorrect. It is not like OAR and letterboxing is mutually exclusive. Bottom line is that the video quality on IMAX is outstanding and the 1.44 screen is for all intensive purposes almost entirely filled: no significant difference from a native IMAX film!

 

[Tino]

I don't know about that Chris. A significant portion is NOT being used. It's about the same as watching a 2.35 film on your 1.33 TV. I would say about 30% of the IMAX screen is not utilized.

However, it's probably less noticeable since its on such a big screen. And "letterboxed" is the correct term as that is how it is descrbed on the IMAX site.

Tomorrow is my turn. :b