Little help: Movie theater projection options?
1I’ll be venturing into a movie theater on Wednesday for the premiere of Ready Player One. This will be my first trip to a theater since I watched Battle of the Five Armies in, geez, 2014? There were basically 2 choices available to me then: 3D or not.
RPO is offered in several formats, all within the same theater. I have no clue. I’m seeking some knowledge from avid moviegoers about the variations, hoping to narrow my options. The 2 closest theaters to me offer this movie in the following formats:
70mm, IMAX, IMAX 3D, RealD3D, BigD, Ciné 1, Ciné Capri, DolbyCinema, Prime, or just plain old movie.
WTH? I got the difference between 3D and not 3D. Beyond that…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- 5 comments, 12 replies
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My opinion is, IMAX yes, 3D no. I just had a refresher on this yesterday, went to see Pacific Rim 2 in IMAX 3D (my friend picked the format). I find that my brain spends so much energy trying to process the 3D that I miss quite a lot of story and dialogue that I catch on a second viewing in standard format… My eyes are weird, so YMMV.
Dolby is about sound. I thought a movie had to be filmed in 70mm to be shown that way. That was the schtick for Hateful 8. IMAX is huge and loud. Cinemark has something called XD that we like a lot. Bigger, brighter screen, better sound, but not as big and loud as IMAX. Kind of midway. Haven’t heard of the others, sound like TMs of your local theaters.
@moondrake Ciné Capri is a TM Of Harkins Theatres (a cinema chain mostly in AZ, but with theaters in CA, OK, CO and TX). The original Ciné Capri was built in 1964 and was typical for the era… a massive single screen auditorium. The original was demolished, but Harkins uses the name for it’s huge, plush, high tech auditoriums.
Prime appears to be a TM of… AMC Theaters? and seems to be similar to the XD you described.
Please, @ruouttaurmind, as a community service, go watch it on each of those options and come back quickly to post your thoughts. We can all benefit!
@shahnm As much fun as that would probably be, I checked the prices for each of the options. Tickets range from $13 to $17. Up sharply since I last saw a movie. I shudder to imagine how much popcorn and a drink are gonna be!
@ruouttaurmind
Tell ya what, fly me in, and I’ll watch some of those versions with the D’s for you without popcorn or drinks.
I’ll then let you know if having more D’s makes a big difference.
@PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind
$5 on Double-Ds for the win.
@mike808 @PlacidPenguin
Because, IDK, because when one D just won’t cut it?
@PlacidPenguin
I’m cryin’ about the cost of theater tickets and now you wanna toss a plane ride into the mix to boot?
BLASPHEMER!
@ruouttaurmind
Fine.
I don’t fly anyways.
How about a bus or train ticket?
@PlacidPenguin
@PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind
So, you’re familiar with the rules of the road, then…
@mike808
@mike808 @ruouttaurmind
XD is used by Marcus theatres. There’s also a UltraXD for their biggest screen size showings.
I think Sony has to do with the branding for non-Dolby surround sound processing, since they can’t call it ‘Dolby’ without the theatre being certified by Dolby.
So you’ll know it’s in super-dooper awesome noiz with speakerz out the wazoo.
@mike808 I guess I’m more into the visuals than the audio. When I was younger I would totally have been down with the super bass, seat rumblers, 29 channel Dolby Mega or whatever. Now I just wanna enjoying stunning imagery.
If you have an actual IMAX theater, it’s an amazing experience, and 3D can totally be worth it if two things are true: you can tolerate 3D, and the film was designed for 3D and not just slapped on.