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Matrix Sequels To Get the IMAX Treatment

Posted by timothy on from the even-bigger-screen dept.

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..."."

2 of 403 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Upgrade? by Abcd1234 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  2. IMAX is different cinematography altogether by green+pizza · · Score: 5, Informative

    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