I asked a similar question back in 2009, but the multiplex landscape has changed so much since then that I think it’s worth discussing again:
Is IMAX worth the premium upgrade?
One of the things that prompted me to ask again is Christopher Nolan’s use of IMAX for Oppenheimer, which is not at all the sort of movie we’ve come to expect to see in this very large and immersive format. A new Indiana Jones movie or the latest Mission: Impossible flick? Sure. But a three-hour historical docudrama that most definitely does not have any interest in putting the viewer in the middle of an atomic explosion? Seems kinda odd! What’s more, Nolan insists that the absolute best way to experience his movie is not only in IMAX but projected from 70mm film. (Most movies are projected digitally these days, even if they were shot on film.) This is such a niche way of showing movies right now that only 30 cinemas on the entire planet are capable of this.
I’m lucky enough that one of them is just down the road from me, which is where I saw Oppenheimer. (My review coming very soon… though I might want to see the movie again before I write. ETA: Review here!) I think IMAX works incredibly well in this instance, for reasons I’ll go into in my review. But of course I’m a mega film nerd. The fact that these 70mm IMAX screenings are selling out days and weeks in advance suggests that I’m not alone in thinking IMAX is worth it. (I did pay for my expensive IMAX ticket to see Oppenheimer… as well as my expensive IMAX tickets to see both Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. I didn’t get press screenings of any of them.)
What do you think? Does IMAX make a film feel more like an event in a way that cannot be replicated even with the best home setup, or even in small multiplex screens? Or does IMAX come at too high a price for a movie?
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Is there anything in the UK like we have in the US with AMC A-List? It feels like every chain has a monthly subscription with free upgrades for IMAX/Dolby: there’s an AMC in my neighborhood so I use that. Then I always try to go in IMAX/Dolby (unless it’s horror) because then I am getting more value for my pass, as well as a better experience.
The IMAX at my AMC is not an actual IMAX screen, it’s just bigger, so I prefer to go with Dolby- for Oppenheimer I drove a half hour with friends to see it in just 70MM, no IMAX (at no extra ticket price), and my friends who are not film people agree it was worth the trip.
Yes, there is. I’m a member of the British Film Institute, which comes with a discount at the BFI IMAX theater on Southbank in London. Which is why my Oppenheimer (and MI and Indy) tix were *only* £22 instead of £24. It’s a real IMAX screen, and one of only three in the UK able to project Oppenheimer like Nolan wants. 🙄