Minimax

If you hear that a movie’s being presented in IMAX format, would you assume that it was going to be on a really huge screen?

Well, guess what: turns out IMAX is just a brand name and not necessarily a description – so fans are being suckered into shelling out extra cash to see movies on screens that are called “IMAX” but are only slightly larger than a regular screen. (Conical hat tip to AICN.)

Here’s a size comparison of standard IMAX screens versus the new tinyfied verisons:

IMAX size comparison

Spread the word – ’cause IMAX really deserves to take a financial hit over this.

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7 Responses to Minimax

  1. Brandon May 12, 2009 at 12:14 pm #

    There are also differences in terms of where the seats are positioned relative to the screen.
    http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090308/LETTERS/903089997/-1/letters

  2. J Mangum May 13, 2009 at 11:27 am #

    IMAX is also a film type, one with much better resolution than standard 35mm film, so even displayed on a smaller screen it should look better.

    • Roderick May 13, 2009 at 12:56 pm #

      Okay — but the company knows damn well that when a film is advertised as IMAX people are expecting a humongous screen.

      It’s as though Kleenex also made sandpaper, so if I offered you Kleenex and then gave you sandpaper I would in some sense be giving you a Kleenex, but …

  3. Anna Morgenstern May 14, 2009 at 10:15 am #

    I am glad to know however that the Lincoln Center IMAX is full sized!
    Someone ought to make a website listing where all the real, full-sized IMAX’s are.

  4. Joel Schlosberg May 15, 2009 at 2:00 pm #

    Online film critic James Berardinelli devoted a recent column to this issue:
    http://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts.php?identifier=580

  5. Roderick May 15, 2009 at 2:18 pm #

    I want to see My Dinner With Andre in IMAX and 3D!

  6. Black Bloke May 18, 2009 at 3:15 pm #

    I went to see Star Trek yesterday at the real IMAX theater in Manhattan. I probably would’ve ended up scammed as AMC 25 had I not been a regular reader of this blog and looked for the one on 1998 Broadway.

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