Is IMAX Digital Ripping You Off with Smaller Screens?

testng..

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I didn't just feel ripped off at the smaller screen. I felt ripped off by the unbalanced audio that was turned up so loud it distorted (i'm a drummer, i know loud, this was ridiculous). I felt ripped off by tons of hair and scratches on the film. I felt really ripped off by the theater manager who turned down the closing credits music (about 5 seconds after the movie ended) and started talking over it, thanking us and encouraging us to buy tickets to the next movie.
That was for Superman Returns.

I've never been to an IMAX since, and have no plans to. Not only are they not worth a premium - they aren't worth paying as much as a well balanced, high quality DLP equipped screen at better run theaters.

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I have seen The Dark Knight at two different IMAXs. The first was on the bigger screen format allowed (from my understanding). The experience was amazing. When the IMAX scenes came up, I was in awe and you could hear a collective gasp from the audience. The scene was astounding. Not just the clarity or the sound, but the sheer size of the picture. THESE make up the IMAX experience and was why I went back to that same theater to watch Watchmen, even though it obviously had a lack of scenes in true IMAX. I was willing to pay more for the larger screen, the better audience, the better picture and the better sound.

However, a week after watching The Dark Knight on said huge screen, I saw it with my father at a smaller IMAX screen. Perhaps the "gimmick" had faded, but I was not impressed by the full IMAX scenes quite like I was at the other theater, and Im willing to venture it wasnt due to the fact that I had already seen the film. The other factor was that the auditorium was smaller as well. I'd like to call this the MiniMax.. I did not feel I had gotten my moneys worth from that particular experience. I paid the same money, but I got a smaller screen.

This is akin to buying a plasma at the same price as a friend, but getting 15 inches less. Its not the same experience, even if they both look amazing and feature rich sound.

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My (former) regular theater's IMAX screen is downright dinky and nowhere near the size of the Lincoln Center screen. The last time I went was to see 'Star Trek' in IMAX and they stopped the movie halfway through the credits, after a 7 PM screening and with an hour to clean up an almost empty theater. Their excuse was that "the movie's over". It's frigging ridiculous. I'm going elsewhere now.

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I'm disappointed too. It's like going to the grocery store and buying a box of Cheeze-it's and finding out they have downsized the box by 30 per-cent, and the price? The same. Check it out...you'll be disappointed too.

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I went to see Star Trek at the Gardenwalk in Anaheim, CA. I was really disappointed that it was not showing on a full size IMAX screen but a reduced sized that is talked about in this article.
This was not an IMAX experience. It was slightly bigger than the average screen, but not worth the price of the ticket.
I had previously seen Dark Knight in IMAX at the Ontario, CA Edwards Theatre. Now that was IMAX. That was worth the price of a ticket.

What do you think? Can I ask for a refund? Arguing that this was not what I paid for?

Thanks for the article. I had no idea what was going on and why the discrepancy with screen size.

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I suppose it all depends on who's IMAX screen it is. Here in Northern Alabama, we have the IMAX at the NASA Space and Rocket Center. The thing is freaking huge!

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It's asinine.

I went to the Kerasotes Indianapolis 16 to see Star Trek on IMAX, an hour drive from my college in Terre Haute. The Kerasotes dude beforehand plugged their new "HD Digital Projector" and other nonsense, but the moment the picture came up, I saw pixels, and realized that the aspect ratio was off. This wasn't IMAX. Poseidon was louder at a theater outside of Chicago. Of all movies, Poseidon was louder than Star Trek on an IMAX screen.

That being said, Navy Pier in Chicago has the IMAX theater where they screened the Dark Knight dailies. It's perfect, and awe-inquiringly huge. That's the only IMAX theater I will ever go to when I'm back at home.

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There is a "IMIN" theater near me in Altamonte Springs, FL. After I purchased my tickets, I asked an employee how they could fit an IMAX theater in the building without renovating. He told me it wasn't really IMAX it's just a slightly larger screen. I immediately got a refund. Aziz Ansari wasn't so lucky: http://azizisbored.tumblr.com/post/106587114/reblog-the-fuck-out-of-this-warning-amc-theaters-are

Also, at the end of the screening of Star Trek I saw, the theater cleanup staff came in and made an announcement as soon as the credits started to roll, "There is nothing at the end of the credits, you can leave now, you won't miss anything." I think this is terrible for the crew and everyone involved in the film that have their names in the credits and will go unnoticed because some idiot wants to sweep-up over-priced popcorn. I go to the movies for an experience I can't get at home, but the annoyances from the theater alone outweigh the larger screens or 3rd dimensions, not to mention other theater-goers being loud, kicking seats, texting with flashlight screens in my face, etc. I'm staying home next time.

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Please make your feelings known -- this is not right -- they should come up with a new name because this is very deceptive.

email them now, the more that do it, the faster the change will happen.

Email: info@imax.com

IMAX Corporation
2525 Speakman Drive
Mississauga, Ontario
L5K 1B1, Canada

Phone: 905-403-6500
Fax: 905-403-6450

Email: info@imax.com

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go to www.liemax.com for a google map showing imax and liemax locations.

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The issue was resurrected by Aziz Ansari, not Nikki Finke. Finke updated her article to reflect that.

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A petition to AMC, Regal and IMAX has been started here:
http://bit.ly/liemaxpetition

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I think IMAX is always a rip-off. Just moreso if the screen isn't as big.

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i was recently shocked when i went to see Star Trek on the "IMAX"...i tried to see it at Lincoln Sq. in NYC, but they were sold out so we headed over to the new IMAX at the AMC on 42nd street. Immediatley upon entering the theater i thought a mistake had been made-- "this can't be an imax screen" could be heard being muttered by several fellow movie goers around me-- the same thought was going through my head! It was so much smaller and felt like just a big movie screen, much like many of today's nicer theaters have. I will say the picture was much crisper (a high def feel) and the audio was incredible, but still...i have been to multiple IMAX movies and this was a let down. IMAX is supposed to be an "experience" right? If i'm paying $17.50 for a ticket i want the movie to be on a screen that is epic in proportion. That's the coolest thing about the first time you walk into an IMAX theater (traditional ones) is that you are just blown away and in total awe of it's sheer size. I will not pay to go to the smaller ones in the future.

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I've been a theater projectionist for over 10 years, and I foresaw this industry ruining itself when it first tried to push 1.5k Digital Projection on the masses back in 1999 with Star Wars Episode 1. The quality was 1/3 of the resolution of 35mm film, the contrast levels were so poor that the "blackness" of outer space was a dull dark gray, and the whole picture looked like I was watching it through a screen door.

But why did they do it? To make the movie experience better? Heck no... The same reason IMAX is turning to inferior digital projection systems: to save money.

30 years ago, movie and movie theater companies were run by entertainment professionals who cared about quality and showmanship. Then they were all bought out by idiot Wall-Street investors, communications companies, and yes -- ADVERTISING AGENCIES -- who stripped them of their prestige, and bombard us with commercials for the sake of profits.

Quality costs money and if the movie companies can pass the costs onto the ticket price, and THEN figure out a way to do it cheaper (raise the price, then lower the quality) they will double their money twice over.

Just like THX lost its meaning when it was bought by the Sound Blaster people (hey! now I can get a THX keyboard and mouse!) IMAX will soon lose its impact with the public, and nobody will care to drive the extra 10 miles or pay the extra $5.

Someone mentioned Altamonte Springs, FL in a previous post -- Ironic that they *just* demolished the last THX-certified theater in the area a few weeks before they opened the bastardized IMAX around the corner. Yay, capitalism!

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Moviegoers are used to associating the IMAX brand with the giant IMAX screen. They get disappointed and are in disbelief when they see the puny IMAX Digital screens. As a customer I feel ripped off. I think IMAX stole my money and is committing fraud. IMAX can argue that IMAX Digital is a different product than IMAX so they're not cheating anyone. They are probably right in purely legal sense. In a customer relationship sense they have made a terrible mistake. They should not have used the word IMAX for IMAX Digital. They should have given the product a completely different name. The bottom line; now that I know IMAX has two different products I choose to utterly boycott IMAX Digital and I encourage all my friends and all you good people to do the same. What IMAX Digital provides is not at all worth the extra money.

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