Need some IMAX opinions! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

My nearest IMAX theater is 90-100 minute round trip drive for me and I have a free ticket. If you had to choose one film to see in such a theater, which one of the two would you choose, "Logan" or "Kong: Skull Island"?

 

[dpippel]

On an IMAX screen? My choice would be Kong, without a doubt.

 

[Wayne_j]

Although I think that Logan would be the better movie.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Likely not an option, but THE GREAT WALL, flaws aside, made for spectacular viewing on NY's big IMAX screen. Very aggressive 3D.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Likely not an option, but THE GREAT WALL, flaws aside, made for spectacular viewing on NY's big IMAX screen. Very aggressive 3D.

Yeah, I have no interest in seeing that film. I only care about the two films I noted in my first post.

 

[Malcolm R]

Kong, no contest.

I wish I had an IMAX screen that close to me.

 

[TravisR]

I'm more interested in Logan but I'd imagine that Kong is the one with the most spectacle and bang for your IMAX dollar/free ticket.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Neither movie has been shot in the format, and neither will have sequences enhanced for the format, so technically speaking there isn't anything exclusive about either choice to pick that way.

Logan is a 2D-only movie and Kong is in 3D. I think IMAX 3D is superior to RealD 3D, so if it was important to you to see Kong in 3D, I'd recommend IMAX 3D over RealD. But I think overall Logan will be the better movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Neither movie has been shot in the format, and neither will have sequences enhanced for the format, so technically speaking there isn't anything exclusive about either choice to pick that way.

Logan is a 2D-only movie and Kong is in 3D. I think IMAX 3D is superior to RealD 3D, so if it was important to you to see Kong in 3D, I'd recommend IMAX 3D over RealD. But I think overall Logan will be the better movie.

Well, my free ticket is going to expire in two weeks so I think Kong would give me the best bang for my dollar since I'm going to see both films in a movie theater anyway. Logan is Dolby Atmos so I can see that on a 70 ft screen with that audio codec just 5 minutes from my house.

 

[RolandL]

I know the Imax screen in Manchester, CT is only 40 by 20. Not sure on the Plainville one.

 

[steve jaros]

I know this will come off sounding like a sour threadcrap, but if it's a "LiMax" theater I wouldn't bother making the drive for any film, the scaled down "IMAX" that they've put in multiplexes is IMO a pale imitation of the real, wondrous giant IMAX screens of the 1980s and not worth bothering with.

But if that's not your perspective, or if your ticket is to what I regard as a real IMAX screen, then I would definitely see "Kong", as the previews seem to indicate it will be even more laden with SFX and loud dynamic sounds than "Logan", though I suspect "Logan" will be the better film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There's no such thing as "LieMax" - no one is lying to you about anything. The name "IMAX" means that the film you're seeing is being presented in an auditorium that's run by the IMAX Corporation, using proprietary IMAX equipment, and showing a proprietary copy of the movie that has been enhanced exclusively for IMAX screens.

Whether it's a giant 15/70 film installation at a museum, or a digital system in a multiplex, they're all run by IMAX - hence the name "IMAX". No one is lying to you about anything.

 

[steve jaros]

There's no such thing as "LieMax" - no one is lying to you about anything. The name "IMAX" means that the film you're seeing is being presented in an auditorium that's run by the IMAX Corporation, using proprietary IMAX equipment, and showing a proprietary copy of the movie that has been enhanced exclusively for IMAX screens.

Whether it's a giant 15/70 film installation at a museum, or a digital system in a multiplex, they're all run by IMAX - hence the name "IMAX". No one is lying to you about anything.

To be clear, though I suspect you already know this, I wasn't using the term "LiMax" to indicate that I believe that the IMAX Corporation is actually lying to us (thus, I said "LiMax", not "LieMax"), I don't, it's just a term that has come into use among some to indicate the difference between what those like me regard as 'real' IMAX, meaning the giant 15/70 film installations that we grew up with and which "IMAX" as a term came to be identified with, and the scaled-down-versions that now inhabit many multiplexes and which theaters often try to charge $5 or more extra per ticket for IMO screens barely larger and sound largely indistinguishable from the non-IMAX screens in the same multiplex, and which represent, in our opinion, a sad denigration of the "IMAX" concept.

It's kind of like if Rolls-Royce, which has established a reputation for making ultra-high-end luxury cars with the best possible engineering, were suddenly to start making $12,000 cheaply made econo-boxes but still slap the "Rolls-Royce" label on them to capitalize on that established brand name and image. Many would probably call those new cars "fake" Rolls-Royces, even though they are produced by the Rolls-Royce Corporation using Proprietary Rolls-Royce technologies, marketed through officially authorized Rolls-Royce dealerships, etc. etc.

That's all I meant.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I understood, but I still dislike the term (however its spelled) - you write in your new post about "real" IMAX, but the truth is, it's all real IMAX, for the reasons I described. As studios are now refusing to pay for 15/70 prints in all but the rarest circumstances, the differences between the 15/70 and digital theaters continue to be minimized anyway.

In my opinion, there is a significant difference between digital IMAX at a multiplex and a standard multiplex 2D presentation or RealD 3D presentation.

 

[steve jaros]

I understood, but I still dislike the term (however its spelled) - you write in your new post about "real" IMAX, but the truth is, it's all real IMAX, for the reasons I described. As studios are now refusing to pay for 15/70 prints in all but the rarest circumstances, the differences between the 15/70 and digital theaters continue to be minimized anyway.

In my opinion, there is a significant difference between digital IMAX at a multiplex and a standard multiplex 2D presentation or RealD 3D presentation.

I understand that in a legal/technical sense, the multiplex "IMAX" i dislike is real IMAX, because the IMAX corporation owns the term and can thus use it any way they like. If they wanted to start a brand of cookies and call them "IMAX cookies", those would be real IMAX too, and if that's the sense that matters to you, fair enough. My perspective is obviously different, but I'm glad you perceive a significant difference between multiplex IMAX and their standard 2D/3D presentations and are thus able to enjoy the format.

I don't, and thus can't.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My perspective is obviously different, but I'm glad you perceive a significant difference between multiplex IMAX and their standard 2D/3D presentations and are thus able to enjoy the format.

At the very least, IMAX offers a level of customer care that I don't experience in other auditoriums. I recently saw a RealD 3D presentation that was a disaster. The picture was out of focus and I alerted the manager as the movie began. The manager made no effort to have the picture focused. After the film was over, they refused to issue a refund and wouldn't even acknowledge that there had been an issue. On the rare occasions when something's been less than perfect with IMAX, I've emailed the address that they provide at the end of every screening, and whatever the issue was gets addressed almost immediately. That, in and of itself, is worth the extra surcharge compared to other screens. When I go to an IMAX-branded screen, I know I'm going to get a quality presentation, and if they fall short for whatever reason, I know they'll do whatever it takes to make it right. Unfortunately, I no longer have that confidence in standard auditoriums.

 

[steve jaros]

At the very least, IMAX offers a level of customer care that I don't experience in other auditoriums. I recently saw a RealD 3D presentation that was a disaster. The picture was out of focus and I alerted the manager as the movie began. The manager made no effort to have the picture focused. After the film was over, they refused to issue a refund and wouldn't even acknowledge that there had been an issue. On the rare occasions when something's been less than perfect with IMAX, I've emailed the address that they provide at the end of every screening, and whatever the issue was gets addressed almost immediately. That, in and of itself, is worth the extra surcharge compared to other screens. When I go to an IMAX-branded screen, I know I'm going to get a quality presentation, and if they fall short for whatever reason, I know they'll do whatever it takes to make it right. Unfortunately, I no longer have that confidence in standard auditoriums.

That's pretty sad that your theater won't even give you your money back when the RealD 3D picture fails. I've been lucky, the managers at my local theaters have always issued me refunds when I've had a bad experience, which isn't very often.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That's pretty sad that your theater won't even give you your money back when the RealD 3D picture fails. I've been lucky, the managers at my local theaters have always issued me refunds when I've had a bad experience, which isn't very often.

Sadly, that's been my experience at all of my local theaters, regardless of viewing format - at best, maybe you can get a pass to return for another showing, but it seems that there's no one on hand to actually address issues as they come up. I've noticed that at both the megachains and the smaller theaters, it just seems to be an across-the-board calculation that most people won't notice presentation problems, and for the rare time when someone does complain, it's cheaper to give out one free pass every now and then than it is to have an extra employee on salary who actually knows how to service the equipment. And I'm in NYC, not the middle of nowhere, so it's surprising me that presentation standards have sunk so far. That particular bad experience I spoke about was at a Regal theater - the manager there told me it was company police not to give refunds once the show began. I tried to take him through the logic of "how was I supposed to ask for a refund before the movie started if the problem started with the movie?" but that didn't really get me anywhere. But it's really been my same experience at all of the chains I've been to of late. Even places that used to offer quality presentations five years ago have slipped.

It's just a totally different ballgame with IMAX and customer service. When they renovated one of the screens that I frequently attend (and had written to them about before), they went so far as to email me personally to welcome me to the new renovation and to ask for my feedback after going. Their multiplex screens are, granted, not as big as their original 15/70 installs, but to me, they are still the largest screens in that given multiplex, and are well-maintained compared to the rest of the theaters in the same complex. If I buy a ticket to a regular showing of a movie, I have no idea what I'm going to get - it could be absolutely fine, or it could be a problem, but I don't know (but I do know that if there's a problem, it won't get fixed). If I buy an IMAX ticket, I'll at least get it on a slightly larger screen (if not a much larger screen), I know that it'll be in focus and the 3D quality will be fine (if it's a 3D movie), and if anything goes wrong, I know it'll get fixed.

I think a really good argument could and should be made that all theaters should be offering the customer service that IMAX does, but since they don't, that's where I'm at. But I respect your choice and am appreciative of you explaining why it isn't a good value for you.

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, the IMAX theater I'm going to is not what Steve is implying. This was a brand new IMAX theater that was built at the same time as the other theaters in the same movie complex, but did not open until 2-3 months after those other new theaters because they were still installing the IMAX equipment. This IMAX screen is nothing like the other screens in that same movie complex.

 

[dpippel]

I'm just so happy to have an original, 60 foot IMAX theater just 5 miles from my home that only charges $16 for a reserved seating ticket. My 3D screening of Doctor Strange in this venue was probably the most impressive visual experience I've ever had in a movie theater.