The picture was nice and bright - I recall seeing Jurassic Park projected on IMAX in San Antonio years ago... it was kinda too dark really. The projector they had didn't have the oomph. This projector had good brightness, and I think it was actually on IMAX film. (nice!) The resolution on some shots was outstanding, seemed better than the 4K digital content I've seen so far at the Alamo.
The sound was amazing, at least, I could tell the sound system was fantastic. The movie was loud a lot of the time, as you'd expect, but I think there was a little too much reverberation going around for clarity to remain pristine. But... the stereo imagery on the music track was outstanding... over the first few bars of the main theme, I sometimes felt like I was experiencing a live orchestral performance. Well-recorded, too. The subject matter was not generally of this world, and so the clarity and realism of fantastical sound-effects is hard to evaluate - this was frustrating at those times the mix was at its loudest, where reflections tended to muddy the soundfield. Subjective commentary on the film itself isn't the purpose of this blog. But I wonder, could this problem be that the sound mixing style for blockbuster 35mm productions is intrinsically different to the mixing practices on conventional IMAX format titles? Hard to say.
The screen is truly huge, of course, it's IMAX! I have to say it is somewhat frustrating with modern, hi-adventure and sci-fi action that it's hard to see what's going on... and this is exacerbated by the large screen. If you're in the wrong spot in the auditorium, it can be a negative. I don't look forward to watching Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen in IMAX... Michael Bay is well-known for panning and fast cuts.
Occasionally, specks of dust get into the IMAX projector mechanism while the movie is playing... these are manifested as big splodges of black stuff that appear and stick around without moving, for a few seconds at a time (or sometimes over a minute!) but eventually disappear. My own dislike for this is one thing, but the patrons were audibly distracted and disappointed by it... the splodges totally ruin your suspensiuon of disbelief. Too bad for IMAX!!!
There aren't decent concessions at this place, the seat width is kinda narrow, arms are made from wood with no drinkolders. The staff indicated that patrons are welcome to bring their own drinks & food into the theater however... stark contrast to regular cinemas! (you just gotta make sure you don't leave it in there, sorta like an airline) The restrooms are difficult to reach, and staff advised patrons to ignore "no entry" signs in order to return to the movie without opening the entrance doors that shine sunlight right on to the screen (oops). This probably represents an issue for feature-length 35mm films, but not on the 45-minute IMAX titles, that don't tax people's bladders as much.
Picture jitter was evident, more at the bottom of the picture than at the top... not sure if this was related to the 35mm format-on-IMAX or not.
Patrons lining up to watch the 7:3pm show were asked to stand outside the museum, in humid 73-degree Austin air. What would have happened had it been raining? What's going to happen in July 15th when people are waiting to see Harry Potter and it's 90 degrees outside? Does the Bob Bullock really not have enough capacity for a sell-out show to stand inside while waiting to go in? Bit of a faux pas by the designers and/or management if you ask me. This cinema is simply not organised to deal with big crowds.
Evening ticket cost = $14 ($12 ticket plus $2 online booking "fee" a.k.a. "scam")
No comments:
Post a Comment