selfreferential
07-22-2008, 07:29 AM
Howdy all,
Basically, I'm writing to warn people NOT to see TDK in the Charlotte, NC IMAX theater. Here comes the rant...
My wife and I weren't able to see it till last night due to a poorly timed, out of town family wedding over the weekend. So, our anticipation was even higher. I suggested that we go to the local IMAX theater (we live in Charlotte, NC) to see the special scenes on the bigger than big screen. Sadly, this turned out to be a HORRIBLE decision, as the "dome" here in Charlotte is entirely wrong for a feature film. I think I remember them screening Spider Man 3 here, but didn't go, so I didn't know just how terrible it would be.
Obviously, the movie kicked ass! Or, more accurately, what I could see of the movie and what I heard kicked ass. I have no complaints about the movie. We'll probably go see it in a normal theater to get our fix.
We got to the IMAX 20 min ahead of time, not knowing that there would be a gigantic crowd waiting for us, considering that all weekend showings had sold out, and this one (7:45 pm) didn't. So we didn't have the best seats in the house, but they shouldn't have been terrible. Considering the pain we both endured in those seats, craning our necks for the entire movie, I'm not sure that there was a good seat in the house. Maybe a grace section of 2 rows, 6 seats each just above the laser projector (which sits in the middle of the room)?
The movie was more or less unwatchable. But what were we to do? I really considered leaving. But there we were, in the theater, with the movie about to start. I really don't think we would've gotten our money back. The thing that really sucks is that (apart from not being able to enjoy the movie), we paid roughly $14 each for this "special" screening, which is about $5 more each than we would have paid in a normal theater.
I'm all for supporting filmmakers who decide to push the format. More screen is better, right? I think this could be the case, but in this particular theater, it turned out to be a draw that ruined our first show. My problem is with the people who decided to show this movie on this particular screen, given that it is obviously not intended for major releases. I did see a laser show there once and it was fine. But that was a long time ago, and I didn't remember how curved the dome was, and I didn't know to expect that the aspect would be so horribly wrenched.
We pretty much missed the reveal of the Joker because his face was so big on the screen that we couldn't see it all without having to move our heads from the left to the right. The screen is way too close to the crowd. Also, it's way too curved for this! It was noticeable and distracting in every scene, every shot. This was especially true in the IMAX-filmed scenes that showed big buildings, because the curved so horrendously. Think of watching an entire movie through a fish-eye lens or through somebody's peephole. Sickening!
I can understand that the local IMAX operators knew that this movie would earn them serious cash. And I can be naive and think that they want to promote the other attractions in the building (the theater is attached to Discovery Place, a science building generally for school kids). But the fact of the matter is that this theater was just not built for feature films, and it ruined our experience (that we paid extra for).
I guess there's no certification that goes into choosing particular IMAX theaters for big movies? I wonder how Christopher Nolan would feel if he saw the first screening in this theater. Damn near sick to his stomach I think.
I'm going to try to get the word out around Charlotte that this is no way to see a movie, but I wanted to start here first. Did anyone else see it in IMAX? How was it?
John
Basically, I'm writing to warn people NOT to see TDK in the Charlotte, NC IMAX theater. Here comes the rant...
My wife and I weren't able to see it till last night due to a poorly timed, out of town family wedding over the weekend. So, our anticipation was even higher. I suggested that we go to the local IMAX theater (we live in Charlotte, NC) to see the special scenes on the bigger than big screen. Sadly, this turned out to be a HORRIBLE decision, as the "dome" here in Charlotte is entirely wrong for a feature film. I think I remember them screening Spider Man 3 here, but didn't go, so I didn't know just how terrible it would be.
Obviously, the movie kicked ass! Or, more accurately, what I could see of the movie and what I heard kicked ass. I have no complaints about the movie. We'll probably go see it in a normal theater to get our fix.
We got to the IMAX 20 min ahead of time, not knowing that there would be a gigantic crowd waiting for us, considering that all weekend showings had sold out, and this one (7:45 pm) didn't. So we didn't have the best seats in the house, but they shouldn't have been terrible. Considering the pain we both endured in those seats, craning our necks for the entire movie, I'm not sure that there was a good seat in the house. Maybe a grace section of 2 rows, 6 seats each just above the laser projector (which sits in the middle of the room)?
The movie was more or less unwatchable. But what were we to do? I really considered leaving. But there we were, in the theater, with the movie about to start. I really don't think we would've gotten our money back. The thing that really sucks is that (apart from not being able to enjoy the movie), we paid roughly $14 each for this "special" screening, which is about $5 more each than we would have paid in a normal theater.
I'm all for supporting filmmakers who decide to push the format. More screen is better, right? I think this could be the case, but in this particular theater, it turned out to be a draw that ruined our first show. My problem is with the people who decided to show this movie on this particular screen, given that it is obviously not intended for major releases. I did see a laser show there once and it was fine. But that was a long time ago, and I didn't remember how curved the dome was, and I didn't know to expect that the aspect would be so horribly wrenched.
We pretty much missed the reveal of the Joker because his face was so big on the screen that we couldn't see it all without having to move our heads from the left to the right. The screen is way too close to the crowd. Also, it's way too curved for this! It was noticeable and distracting in every scene, every shot. This was especially true in the IMAX-filmed scenes that showed big buildings, because the curved so horrendously. Think of watching an entire movie through a fish-eye lens or through somebody's peephole. Sickening!
I can understand that the local IMAX operators knew that this movie would earn them serious cash. And I can be naive and think that they want to promote the other attractions in the building (the theater is attached to Discovery Place, a science building generally for school kids). But the fact of the matter is that this theater was just not built for feature films, and it ruined our experience (that we paid extra for).
I guess there's no certification that goes into choosing particular IMAX theaters for big movies? I wonder how Christopher Nolan would feel if he saw the first screening in this theater. Damn near sick to his stomach I think.
I'm going to try to get the word out around Charlotte that this is no way to see a movie, but I wanted to start here first. Did anyone else see it in IMAX? How was it?
John