showbiz

The first time I IMAXed

Posted on Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
by Andrea Miller - Cineplex Entertainment

Heath Ledger

There are certain firsts in life that will always be remembered and held dear, for obvious and sometimes rather intangible reasons, romanticized and fetishized as time goes on. First kisses and first loves are a given, but what about those moments that may not be worthy of diary scrawls but feel fairly crucial nonetheless?

Like say, my first IMAX.

Somehow, this avid cinephile has managed to miss out on the three-decade-old technology but I hardly doubt I'm alone. Other IMAX virgins are likely out there, perhaps nervous, perhaps indifferent, perhaps waiting for the right movie.

The right movie for me was The Dark Knight and what an introduction.

Taking in the surroundings before the film begins, it’s hard to imagine that the entire screen will be filled— given that IMAX screens extend beyond the peripheral and can reach up to eight stories high—but filled it shall be, and with captivating images courtesy of visionary director Christopher Nolan. Shooting with IMAX cameras, a first for a major motion picture, Nolan’s precise peppering of six hyperreal sequences pays off in spades.

Aerial views of mysterious and dense Gotham City are so clear, crisp and overwhelming on the giant screen that the sensation of being precariously perched atop buildings alongside Christian Bale’s Batman or darting through traffic is elevated to a new plateau of reality. Meeting Heath Ledger’s positively terrifying Joker via an IMAX-filmed sequence proves to be an introduction that won’t soon be forgotten.

Proving that, ahem, size does matter, the sheer space this screen commands allows for immersion into the action in a way that just isn’t possible on regular-sized screens, though they too will no doubt benefit from the merging of both IMAX and 35mm cameras. Of course, the visuals wouldn’t necessarily be as effective were the film, say, a Lars Von Trier opus—content and genre certainly play a huge part.

But the term ‘IMAX Experience’, which was up until recently a somewhat elusive promise, rather nicely suits the sensation of being utterly immersed into another world, one step closer to the action, without moving an inch.

I came, I saw, I IMAX-ed—and it certainly won’t be the last time.

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