Are You Getting IMAX or Lie-MAX?

Why You Should Only Experience "The Dark Knight Rises" on IMAX 70mm

IMAX stands for "Image Maximum" and is designed to immerse the viewer in the scene. In short, you feel like you're there. Normally reserved for nature documentaries at science museums, Christopher Nolan shot about 30 minutes of The Dark Knight with IMAX cameras. Anyone who witnessed the opening shot of The Dark Knight on a true IMAX screen was simply blown away--the aerial view of the skyscrapers made it feel like you were hanging.

In my experience, IMAX looks and feels more realistic than 3-D. 3-D isn't as vivid as IMAX film, and it's pretty annoying to wear those 3-D glasses. An interesting thing about IMAX is that it's much easier to notice CGI on the format. This isn't a problem with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, which mainly use practical effects--so when you see an 18-wheeler flipping over or a building exploding, it was done in real life.

The Problem

When multiplex theaters started incorporating the IMAX brand into their existing cinemas, it was a much smaller, more underwhelming version--IMAX digital. The problem is that IMAX corporation doesn't differentiate between film and digital, even though they are two completely different things. For a movie like The Dark Knight Rises, which has over an hour of IMAX footage, it's essential to watch it in a theater that projects IMAX 70mm film.

Facts    

 

IMAX (15/70):

15/70 means 15 perforations wide and 70mm film.

• Gigantic screen, up to 8 stories tall.
• Screen extends beyond the viewer's peripheral vision.
• Projects true color space and a doubly brighter image, roughly 10 times the quality of HDTV.
• Boasts a 15,000-watt surround sound system, consisting of 44 speakers arranged so that the slightest sound can be heard from any seat.
• Steeply-pitched (20 - 25 degrees) stadium seating allows everyone to have a full, immsersive view of the screen. There is a large gap between the screen and front row, so there really is no "bad" seat.
• Movies like The Dark Knight, Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, and The Dark Knight Rises have parts or whole scenes of the movie filmed with IMAX cameras.
• Image expands 40 percent to fill the screen during IMAX footage.

 

Digital IMAX:

• Screen size is only slightly larger than a 35mm presentation, and only about 1/4 the size of a full IMAX screen.
• Image does not extend beyond the viewer's peripheral vision.
• Digitally compressed image, only twice the quality of HDTV.
• 6,000 watt surround system.
• Seating is deep instead of steep, like any normal theater setting, reducing immersive quality.
• IMAX footage is cropped to fit the more rectangular 1.85:1 aspect ratio (IMAX film is more squarish with a ratio of 1:43:1).
• Image expands only 21 percent during IMAX footage.

How do I know if my theater presents "true" IMAX (15/70) film?

To cut to the chase, here are the only theaters where you should watch The Dark Knight Rises.
If one of these theaters is an hour away from you, it's worth the drive. Don't settle for Lie-MAX.