draft
[Apparently many of the digital IMAX if not all project at 4K. That is good news!]
Once
upon a time, IMAX (tm) used to stand for something. It stood for a
presentation format that had extraordinary resolution, clarity and
presence. The format was only available at a few theatres, usually
associated with Science Theatres, such as planetariums or aquariums.
The
experience that came from seeing an IMAX film came from a very
specific technical quality, which was its film and sound format, as
well as the size of the screen in relation to the audience. The most
important of these was the film format as IMAX was originated on
15-perf 65 mm negative and presented on 15-perf 70 mm print stock
(the other 5 mm being the audio track).
As
is so often the case in this world, IMAX the company wanted more.
They did not want to be relegated to the fabulous ghetto of science
theatres and wanted to be fully within the glamourous and rewarding
motion picture industry.
So
when the digital era came, and film was gone, they created some sort
of Digital IMAX and achieved their goal, now major motion pictures
would be released in IMAX as a premium format and at a premium price.
And
I saw this new exciting format in the context of the premiere of
Thor: Ragnarok and I can tell you that it is not only a complete
yawn, but that I would not want to repeat the experience again. The
whole time I was watching I felt like I was seeing some sort of
cheesy uprez with a sharpening filter thrown on top. Combined with
an overloud sound system and some very amateurish self-promotion
videos.
It
made me want to go back and see Thor: Ragnarok in normal old digital
to see what it was really like.
The
new IMAX is a classic example where digital is far inferior to the
film original.
<insert
images of 15 perf 65 vs 4 perf 35>
<insert
link to a more complete discussion of the original IMAX format>
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