Matrix Sequels To Get the IMAX Treatment

hondo77 writes "As if the two sequels to "The Matrix" weren't a big enough event already, it has been announced that both films will also be showing in IMAX theaters. "Although "The Matrix Reloaded" will open in Imax theaters two or three weeks after its general release May 15, "The Matrix Revolutions" will open Nov. 5 in both conventional and Imax cinemas..."."

Comments

I hope they filmed it with higher res cameras

[jackb_guppy]

With Star Wars II film with a camera that had a resulation less than 35mm film. All three verisons of the film 35mm, digital, and IMax, looked bad and blocky.

If they did that here too... IMax and most big screen would be a waste of space.

Re:Upgrade?

[Abcd1234]

Errr, they display the movie in "letterbox"-style format on the IMAX screen (I would know, I saw Oceans Eleven on the IMAX). So the image is bigger, AND you get the kick-a** IMAX sound system.

Comparisons...

[tgd]

Having seen Star Wars: Episode 2 in DLP, Imax and plain film, I'd greatly disagree. Imax was FAR superior in quality of the image, and overall cinematic experience than DLP.

Episode II was projected at 1280x1024, stretched to the normal aspect ratio by a 1.9X anamorphic lens to stretch the image back to its correct resolution...

Thats not a lot of pixels for a full-size screen. Pixelation was very noticable. Color saturation and consistancy was somewhat better, but not enough to say its superior to the Imax experience.

Given the choice I'd rather see any action movie in the Imax format, seconded with DLP, and then film... Dramatic movies, I'd probably swap DLP and Imax in favor of not pan-n-scanning, but one could just as easily use the 70mm IMAX frame with cropped images, or an anamorphic lens to get the full-size image as well.

Re:Yay

[NanoGator]

"Overmarketing is when you sell a sucky product by hyping it. Matrix Reloaded is going to be a superb product. Don't be so cynical. Pretend you're 11 and this is Empire Strikes Back."

How do you know that? Name 3 movies in the last 20 years that recieved lots of hype before launch, and ended up deserving it. I can name a few *cough*Godzilla*cough*LastActionHero*Coughh*Episod es1&2*cough* that were hyped in much the same way, only to be extremely dumb movies.

I'd love to sit back and say "Ah well I'm going to enjoy whatever I get" except all the signs are pointing towards me being out $20.

IMAX is different cinematography altogether

[green pizza]

Maybe I'm too picky, but my biggest complaint about upconverting 35mm movies to IMAX is the mismatched cinematography, not the technical gotchas. The whole idea behind an IMAX film is to give the audience a window into a different world. Think about the "native" IMAX films you've seen... rather than use a mixture of camera angles to project a story on a screen, an IMAX film treats the audience as a camera and the screen as window. Slow, wide pans... a large, detailed screen... conservative transitions. IMAX filmmakers want you to feel as though you're truly inside the new environment, actually being positioned to see the action in front of you... not just watching a story on a glorifed TV. A good, native IMAX movie does this -- it makes the audience feel as though they're truly hovering around the subject matter. A bad IMAX movie makes the audience tired, confused, or sick.

My other beef is with the public's misconception of the IMAX film format. Traditional (non-dome) IMAX uses 15/70 film. That is, 70mm film with 15 sprockets per frame. This is not plain "70mm film, which dedicates only 5 sprockets per frame. 15/70 IMAX has 3x as much film surface area as plain 70mm and nearly 10x as much as plain 35mm. (Plus other benefits, such as double the framerate and generally better audio. Though 35mm is catching up with some recent films being available in 48fps and new 7.1 channel audio from Sony SDDS and DTS).

For more information on the IMAX format, check these out:
http://www.superspeedway.com/eng/imax1.html

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax1.htm

Re:I was underwhelmed by IMAX

[Lev13than]

That's because you probably saw an OMNIMAX (aka ""IMAX DOME") as opposed to an IMAX. The OMNIMAX has a round screen & more immersive experience, but there aren't as many screens or movies out there. Most OMNIMAXes usually just show IMAX movies w/o taking advantage of the larger screen. Same company though, and essentially the same technology.