IMAX Opens in Cardiff & I got an advanced screening
I’ve never been to an IMAX cinema before, so getting invited along to the press launch of the Cardiff IMAX cinema screen was a pretty incredible way to be introduced to the technology.
With over half a million pounds invested in the new cinema screen and technology, cardiff ODEON cinema has made a substantial investment in it’s 5th IMAX cinema screen, and an even bigger investment given it is the first and only IMAX screen in South Wales.
Arranged by the great folks at ShinyRed, I turned up, was immediately handed a coffee and then we got to work. The ODEON of course hosts the Gallery, a premium service offering bigger seats, a more comfortable position, and unlimited drinks and snacks so it’s nice to know I can pay a premium on top of my premium movie experience. (and trust me it’s worth it)
The screen is the largest I’ve ever seen in a cinema and quite literally goes floor to celling and wall to wall, the auditorium has been acoustically treated and has uprated digital aligned surround sound. Essentially this means that wherever you sit, the surround sound will always feel like it’s coming form the right place.
The 2D films we were shown were utterly incredible (even with the 3D glasses on). Each film was crystal clear, and filled almost the entire screen. One film trailer for Transformers 2 was shot with an IMAX 2D camera, these scenes literally were clearer than anything I’ve ever seen, taking HD to a whole new level. It’s clear however that where this really shows off is any film with CGI. A trailer for Star Trek showed off the quality in ways I had never imagined and exceeded all expectations I had, the quality is simply astounding.
With 2D being that good, you can imagine what I thought of the 3D. Take the quality I said about before and double it. It is in a word, unreal. Again CGI shows up far better on here than conventional film, A Christmas Carol and How to train your dragon were in the kind of digital clarity and quality I’ve never seen before (now I know why they take about two years to render the film).
One of my biggest fears of 3D was the old red and blue / green glasses that you had to wear. Ok so you still have to wear 3D glasses, but they are almost clear. No red and green colours, in fact it’s like wearing a pair of very very weak sunglasses. All they do is help your eyes focus, not trick your eyes with the colour. Which of course means that you get to see each film the way it was intended, without a horrible red or blue colour cast. Red looks like red, green looks like green and fire looks like fire (yes, I flinched when the Cat appeared in front of my nose from the Alice in Wonderland trailer).
Up until now I had seen 3D as a gimmick, doing it’s once a decade comeback before fading into nothing again. This is now no longer the case. I can finally see why 3D technology is the next big thing. I know this might be a small subject since other places have had IMAX for nearly 8 years and, typically Wales is lagging behind. However given the timing and the fact the epic movie Avatar is the film launching the new system, it’s about time wales got up to date, and at least this time it’s doing it in a truly incredible way.
Worth it? Oh yes. You have no idea just how incredible it is until you see it.
Woohoo! Looks like I’m the first blog to post about this (BBC news were permitted to release information in advance) so i am the FIRST Cardiff Blogger to have been and seen this, and I am the first to have posted about it
YAY! (screenshot to prove it)
http://grab.by/1eZj
Dec 17, 2009 @ 1:52 am
I went last night to the Imax showing and I thought the film was amazing and the 3D added so much depth.
Completely blown away by it however i have one complaint and that is the sound. The music and sound effects were fine but some of the speech was so muffled and it was hard to make out what some of the characters were saying.
I dont think that was the films fault, rather the actual cinema, did they not test this first because I wasn’t the only one with these complaints.
Dec 17, 2009 @ 10:12 am
It’s interesting what you say about the sound, at the preview event it was crystal clear, and exactly as it should be, perhaps they tested and calibrated it for the previews but didn’t test for the films.
Though I did notice that the documentary they advertised seemed to be… out of sync to the rest of the trailers, actually hurt my eyes, leading me to believe that each film might need calibration…
Dec 18, 2009 @ 3:12 am
Odeon opened two new IMAX in the UK, this one in Cardiff and the other in Metrocentre. The metrocentre is a decent size one but unfortunately this one in Cardiff is retrofitted and what one would call a “fake imax”.
The Cardiff screen only measures 16.8m x 7.7m, only being larger than a normal screen. This is in no way of proper IMAX. A proper IMAX screen (like the one in Manchester) measures 29m x 23m.
Dec 28, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Example of some IMAX screen comparisons in the UK:
http://tinyurl.com/ydg3lpr
Dec 28, 2009 @ 9:48 am
I just got back from watching Avatar at the Cardiff Odeon. The screen is pathetically small. Barely bigger than a half decent standard screen,
To see a 3D movie like Avatar and actually feel immersed in the action you absolutely NEED to not be able to see the edges of the screen, except in your peripheral vision. Sadly in Cardiff’s “IMAX” screen, this would probably mean sitting in the front 5 or 6 rows. Don’t waste your money on the Gallery seats. Worst view in the room. I was tempted to ask for my money back. I’ll probably be contacting the cinema tomorrow to give them a piece of my mind.
Dec 29, 2009 @ 12:32 am
i saw the movie the other day. Two complaints, incredibily small size of the screen for an IMAX theater and the projection picture doen’t seems to the quality of the proper IMAX picture. it doesn’t feel the punch of the sound also. overall my experiance is do not waste your money for a ”fake” IMAX experiance. it doesn’t worth it.
Jan 05, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
cool
Aug 03, 2010 @ 8:05 am
I actually have to close my eyes at Imax movies because I get motion sickness so bad. Otherwise they are incredible!
Oct 13, 2010 @ 2:25 am