Dark Knight Rises - True 70mm IMAX Projection

[Joe Taylor]

Back in '08 I was fortunate to experience "The Dark Knight" projected in true 70mm IMAX while visiting Las Vegas. Since then as far as I know all three 70mm IMAX theaters have shuttered-- although I am told the Palms still projects 70mm prints now and again but when I went there and asked the manager all I received was a glazed stare and a punch-drunk nod. It was impossible to to get a definite answer.

I know there are sites I can go to that list the theaters with 3-D 'IMAX' and theaters that have sold their souls and advertise as having digital IMAX as if it is the real thing. But is there a place that will give a no-bs listing of true 70mm IMAX theaters and their locations?

 

[Craig W. Bickerstaff]

My Search found this list but apparently it's incomplete https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=...5.069767,-80.823412&spn=0.056761,0.11158&z=14

 

[Drew Mylrea]

I can always see large pixels at my local IMAX (LA). Most digital IMAX screenings honestly look worse than regular theaters, especially if the 'small' theaters are Sony 4K equipt.

 

[Al Lougher]

If it's not on this list it's a Li-MAX

AZ
Tempe – Harkins Arizona Mills 25 IMAX – 412 seats, opened 3/5/1998
CA
Cathedral City – Desert IMAX Theater – 279 seats, opened 4/2/1999
Dublin – Regal Hacienda Crossings 20 & IMAX – 385 seats, opened 5/5/2000
Fresno – Edwards Fresno Stadium 21 & IMAX – 273 seats, opened 6/28/2006
Irvine – Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21 & IMAX – 492 seats, opened 11/27/2002
Los Angeles – Rave 18 IMAX – 350 seats, opened 01/2002
Monterey - Cannery Row IMAX Theatre – 290 seats, opened 4/4/2008
Ontario – Edwards Ontario Palace 22 & IMAX – 480 seats, opened 4/11/2003
Sacramento – Esquire IMAX Theater - 407 seats, opened 7/8/1999
San Francisco – AMC Loews Metreon – 600 seats, opened 6/16/1999
Universal City – AMC Loews Universal City – 422 seats, opened 4/14/2000
CO
Colorado Springs – Cinemark Carefree Circle & IMAX – 263 seats, opened 12/15/2000
Denver – UA Colorado Center 9 & IMAX – 360 seats
CT
Manchester – RC Buckland Hills 18 – 230 seats, opened 11/10/2004
FL
Orlando - Regal Pointe 21 & IMAX - 424 seats, opened 05/2007
GA
Buford – Regal Mall of Georgia 20 & IMAX – 400 seats, opened 8/13/1999
IA
Council Bluffs – AMC Star Council Bluffs IMAX – 346 seats, opened 3/21/2008
ID
Boise – Edwards Boise Stadium 21 & IMAX – 268 seats, opened 4/30/1999
IL
Chicago – Navy Pier IMAX Theatre – 440 seats, opened 1995
Lincolnshire – Regal Lincolnshire 20 & IMAX – 260 seats, opened 12/21/1998
Woodridge – Cinemark Seven Bridges & IMAX – 260 seats, opened 2/25/2000
IN
Indianapolis – Indiana State Museum IMAX – 404 seats, opened 12/19/1996
KY
Louisville - RC Stonybrook 20 IMAX – 211 seats, opened 11/10/2004
LA
New Orleans – Entergy IMAX Theatre – 354 seats, opened 10/1995
MA
Natick – Jordan’s Furniture IMAX – 279 seats, opened 8/22/2002
Reading – Jordan’s Furniture IMAX – 465 seats, opened 10/29/2004
MI
Dearborn – The Henry Ford IMAX – 440 seats, opened 11/19/1999
Grand Rapids – Celebration! Village IMAX Theater – 270 seats, opened 11/16/2001
Ypsilanti – RC Ann Arbor 20 IMAX – 422 seats, opened 5/12/2006
MN
Apple Valley – Great Clips IMAX Theatre - 600 seats, opened 4/5/1997
Duluth – Duluth OMNIMAX Theatre – 260 seats, opened 4/18/1996
MO
Sappington – Ronnies 20 Cine IMAX – 270 seats, opened 11/18/2005
MT
West Yellowstone – Yellowstone IMAX Theatre – 356 seats, opened 6/15/1994
NJ
Atlantic City – Tropicana Casino IMAX – 287 seats, opened 11/24/2004
NV
Las Vegas – Brenden Theatre Corp IMAX – 183 seats, opened 8/15/2003
NY
New Rochelle – Regal New Roc City 18 & IMAX – 392 seats, opened 9/24/1999
New York - AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX – 600 seats, opened 11/1994 — largest screen in country
Rochester – Tinseltown & IMAX – 253 seats, opened 11/9/1999
West Nyack – IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center – 361 seats, opened 9/25/1998
White Plains – City Center 15: Cinema de Lux IMAX – 329 seats, opened 11/10/2004
OH
Cincinnati – Springdale 18: Cinema de Lux IMAX – 341 seats, opened 11/10/2004
OK
Tulsa – Cinemark Tulsa & IMAX – 260 seats, opened 3/10/2000
PA
King of Prussia – UA King of Prussia 16 & IMAX – 340 seats, opened 4/11/2003
Tarentum - Cinemark IMAX at Pittsburgh Mills – opened 7/14/2005
RI
Providence – Providence Place Cinemas 16 IMAX- 424 seats, opened 6/22/2000
SC
Myrtle Beach – Myrtle Beach IMAX – 404 seats, opened 5/9/2007
TX
Colleyville – Colleyville Cinema Grille and IMAX – 276 seats, opened 8/9/2006
Dallas – Cinemark 17 & IMAX - 257 seats, opened 9/9/1999
Galveston – Moody Gardens IMAX – 403 seats, opened 1993
Houston – Edwards Houston Marquee 23 & IMAX – 409 seats, opened 4/11/2003
San Antonio – IMAX 3D Theatre San Antonio Rivercenter -320 seats, opened 05/2001
Tomball – Silverado 19 IMAX - 411 seats, opened 2/29/2008
WA
Spokane – Riverfront Park IMAX -342 seats, opened 05/1978
WI
Fitchburg - AMC Star Fitchburg 18 IMAX – 349 seats, opened 12/23/2005

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I live near the Rave 18 near the Howard Hughes Center and it has a traditional IMAX theater unless they changed it recently.

 

[Anthony Vu]

http://www.lfexaminer.com/theaUSA.htm

They have a list of all the 15-perf/70mm IMAX listing as well as the ones that show Digital

I'm right next to the Irvine IMAX and have already gotten my tickets for the Dark Knight Rises. July 20 can't come soon enough.

 

[Steven Chill]

Yes, thanks.

 

[chad vachter]

That theatre is awesome ,try weekdays / in cushy leather seat directors hall .
Weekends is a hotspot for youngsters having time out on the town .
Nice , safe , but not too quiet inside the theatre .

 

[chad vachter]

Was posting to davids post at howard huges center theatres , forgot to link it

 

[Marc Wielage]

Damn near a rave review in the Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/dark-knight-rises-movie-review-batman-349354

The critic (Todd McCarthy) says:

The real world threats of terrorism, political anarchy and economic instability make deep incursions into the cinematic comic book domain in The Dark Knight Rises. Big-time Hollywood filmmaking at its most massively accomplished, this last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish. Entirely enveloping and at times unnerving in a relevant way one would never have imagined, as a cohesive whole this ranks as the best of Nolan's trio, even if it lacks -- how could it not? -- an element as unique as Heath Ledger's immortal turn in The Dark Knight. It's a blockbuster by any standard.

Despite all the advanced technology deployed to make The Dark Knight Rises everything it is, Nolan remains proudly and defiantly old school (as only the most successful directors can get away with being these days) when it comes to his filmmaking aesthetic, an approach indicated in a note at the end of the long final credits:

“This motion picture was shot and finished on film.”

 

[PatrickFaith]

I just finished watching the movie in CA, lot of security as I got out ... i guess that attack happened in another state at the same time i was in the theater. Movie flowed well I thought, all around very well done.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I just finished watching the movie in CA, lot of security as I got out ... i guess that attack happened in another state at the same time i was in the theater. Movie flowed well I thought, all around very well done.

That attack happened here... Colorado. Aurora, just south of Denver. 59 injured, 12 dead after some wacko walked into the midnight showing and shot it up.

 

[Sergio Perez]

Incredibly sad how these nut jobs can completely "destroy" the perception of an event that was put together by hundreds of dedicated professionals, artists, technicians,and, more significantly, affect forever the lives of the loved ones of those that where killed. Unfortunately the nut job criminal is getting what he wanted wich is, like that guy in Norway, media exposure and coverage...

 

[John Bellari]

It may be a tragic case of "Life imitating Art" in this case from latest reports
of this premeditated horrific tragedy caused by a medical student gone off the deep end
watching the last movie about the joker...

I couldn't quite get myself to see any of this Batman trilogy- a little too dark for my taste from reading the reviews
- possibly the same reason why I've never watched The Exorcist or Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I did enjoy Inception by Nolan and would love to see the 70mm cinematography,
but the content is not my cup of tea and I'll likely not see this one for a long time if ever.

Prayers go out to everyone impacted...

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

To me the dark knight (with Heath Ledger) was just boring. And dark. Literally- I struggled to see anything.
After the explosive opening scene it just got slower and slower. Superficial exploitation of the proverbial evil.
Shallow and boring after first 5 min.
I did not last through that movie and probably won't give this one a try at all.
My personal opinion...
Loved the Inception, one of the best I've seen...

 

[BRANDON JAMESON]

Just came out of a screening and having lived through 9/11 in NYC, the idea of art imitating life yet again,made me sick.

 

[PatrickFaith]

Well this movie was fairly up beat I thought, compared to the plots of the others.

From a 70mm perspective btw ... I'm not sure what happened. I was in the first row and i noticed 3 different types of grains, and the 3 different types occurred in lows, mid's and high luminescence differently between edits. My gut feel on the grain types are: 1 - 70mm grain run thru 2k DI and the grain was at a higher spatial frequency then 2k (i am guessing it ran through a 2k DI), 2 - special effects which didn't add hardly any grain, 3 - either 35mm grain or 70mm reframed grain (this grain looked nice). From a lens viewpoint I was getting a bit confused too - seemed to change "feels" between a anamorphic look and spherical. Also I normally expect the 35mm grain to be mainly in the mids ... but i noticed the grain in some scenes was sometimes mainly in other light ranges (darks and highlights). So atleast from a grain viewpoint, i'm not sure what the point of watching the movie in a 70mm theater (especially if it came from a 2k di print) would be. I really liked the movie, and I don't think anyone but front row people would notice most of this(also my technical eye isn't the greatest ... so i could be totally wrong).

Another thing which was interesting, was i thought some of the best actor performances was when their was nice grain in the mid's.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Haven't seen the movie yet, but this is the short review I stumbled upon today, translated.
Interesting to see perspectives and impressions differ.

Looks like the author used a rather unconventional approach, in the light of recent events.
Word formulation may differ from English one. Some feelings may be hurt, depending on thickness of the bubble.

Yet another stupifying fairy tale served by the Hollywood

New Batman is a thickheaded fairy tale, and deceased in Aurora bloody reality



All of us who attended yesterday’s press screening of the latest Batman were under the influence of news about the slaughter in Aurora. Silence in the cinema only accentuated this impression.

Mindless act of a madman
Of course, it would be immoral to exploit human deaths in american movie theatre for moralizing about the bad influence of violence filled mass entertainment for new generations. Neither the director Christopher Nolan, nor the lead role Christian Bale are guilty for the mindless act of an armed lunatic, just like the whole hollywood production machinery. I’ve been convincing myself to this notion in the beggining of the movie, but by the end I’ve trusted in their innocence less and less.

After exiting the theatre I’ve found out the name of the killer: James Holmes. Mental health, pshychological profile, motives…etc, all this will be the topic no.1 for the next few days. But, the fact remains that James Holmes obviously thought that it is needed, justified and cool to walk in the movie premiere with a “Kalashnikov”, shotgun, two guns, and a gas mask, throw in a smoke bomb and open fire on a theatre audience. In a movie in which the world, just like in reality, bodes some upcoming social cataclysm, main villan says for himself: “I’m the necessary evil”.

James Holmes came to execute justice that is astoundingly in accordance with the logic of all the villans from all Batman movies: citizens of Gotham, metafore-city for the whole civilization built upon corrupted and insatiable greed of the rich, are worthless cowards which diserve to be humiliated and destroyed. Yes, the rich are immoral and corrupt, but all of us, citizens turned into consuming zombies without the spirit or will, are their accomplices. Precisely this type of villan which walked into the movie theatre in Aurora. Batman, of course, did not show up.

The murderer mocked our hero more horribly and grotesquely than Joker and all the Batman’s opponents, mocking the hero whose main concern from the beginning until the end of the movie is to avoid killing someone by accident, hence using only his fists. Shooting from cannons of his latest flying toy doesn’t count as kiling people, just like in the case of american projectiles and aviation anywhere in the world.

Manipulated anarchy
Analizing any potential artistic value of any Batman movie is completely sensless. However, first half hour of this latest Nolan’s work almost deceives the viewer with some expectations, with a lot of impressive Michael Caine and Gary Oldman, and the script is, just like the directing, clear, concentrated, and strong in a classical way.

Sadly, this beginning is followed by two hours in which all the sense, if you are that dumb to search for one in these types of movies, goes to hell, all the way to the ending with twists from five-cent soap operas. But, in the entertainment category, as far as I’m concerned, the scene of fragile Ann Hathaway in a tight black leather costume on a powerful engine of Batman’s motorcycle…is worth millions of dollars.

But, on an idea level, if together with your cellphone you don’t turn off your brain, the movie is a plain piece of junk, which, for the entertainment purpose, toys with too serious issues, like the revolution of the poor against the rich, scaring the very perfidious viewer mass with scenes of manipulated anarchy, which in the end can still be solved only by blue calvary of New York’s, pardon, Gotham’s policemen. All this is just a stupid fairy tale, and James Holmes and his victims in Aurora, are sadly, very real.

 

[Keegan O'Brien]

Well this movie was fairly up beat I thought, compared to the plots of the others.

From a 70mm perspective btw ... I'm not sure what happened. I was in the first row and i noticed 3 different types of grains, and the 3 different types occurred in lows, mid's and high luminescence differently between edits. My gut feel on the grain types are: 1 - 70mm grain run thru 2k DI and the grain was at a higher spatial frequency then 2k (i am guessing it ran through a 2k DI), 2 - special effects which didn't add hardly any grain, 3 - either 35mm grain or 70mm reframed grain (this grain looked nice). From a lens viewpoint I was getting a bit confused too - seemed to change "feels" between a anamorphic look and spherical. Also I normally expect the 35mm grain to be mainly in the mids ... but i noticed the grain in some scenes was sometimes mainly in other light ranges (darks and highlights). So atleast from a grain viewpoint, i'm not sure what the point of watching the movie in a 70mm theater (especially if it came from a 2k di print) would be. I really liked the movie, and I don't think anyone but front row people would notice most of this(also my technical eye isn't the greatest ... so i could be totally wrong).

Another thing which was interesting, was i thought some of the best actor performances was when their was nice grain in the mid's.

Something must of been up with your print, or you were just sitting too close to the screen. Nolan and Wally don't use DI's on their films (this is a fairly well known fact), and for distribution all of their 35mm footage (all of which is anamorphic, no exceptions) they scan at 4K. I don't know exactly what they scan the IMAX footage at for distribution, but rumor is it's upwards of 12K. Nolan and Wally wouldn't touch a 2K file with a meter stick. The mere phrase "2K" repels them.

 

[PatrickFaith]

Something must of been up with your print, or you were just sitting too close to the screen. Nolan and Wally don't use DI's on their films (this is a fairly well known fact), and for distribution all of their 35mm footage (all of which is anamorphic, no exceptions) they scan at 4K. I don't know exactly what they scan the IMAX footage at for distribution, but rumor is it's upwards of 12K. Nolan and Wally wouldn't touch a 2K file with a meter stick. The mere phrase "2K" repels them.

I think your right, so the problem is as the film is moved to the 2k dcp. I was reading up on this, trying to figure out why it looked up close like crap. First off I'm perty sure that almost all the decent acting scenes where done with s35, thus the grain looks "normal" in the mid's for that. Because they are avoiding a 2k DI, the VFX doesn't have evenly overlayed grain (so randomly there is no grain in sections of the screen). Finally as the imax film is going through 2k dcp (i.e. jpeg2000), the very small grain of imax film (about 50 minutes the film) is under sampled when it goes through the jpeg2k wavelet (i.e. if it was 4k dcp, maybe that could capture the grain ... but even then due to the bit rate not allowed to be higher in 4k vs 2k ... i doubt the imax grain would come through decently without huge wavelet errors).

Over all though, mixing imax with s35 and vfx without a major rethink using 4k DI, makes the grain a Frankenstein mess as the movie is seen via a 2k dcp.