Boushh

Well shit, that sucks. That was a great site.

Luckily it’s all (for the time being?) on archive.org

https://web.archive.org/

Speaking of the Franklin Institute, i just saw this: https://www.fi.edu/movies/2001-space-odyssey
I didn’t even know there were IMAX prints of 2001 now. I watched one of the 5/70 two months ago.

https://imgur.com/a/DuYY5tv
https://imgur.com/a/DKiigA0

Agreed!
And yes, the final edit didn’t retain any IMAX expanded aspect ratio, despite IMAX 65mm cameras being used extensively.

Thx for replying, and for confirming there were 15/70 prints of TLJ.

I’ve been in the middle and all the way back (top) of the Paris OMNIMAX venue - allegedly the biggest in Europe - and the back was definitely the sweet spot for me. I don’t know how big the San Jose dome is, i’m gonna look it up. Was it the first time you were watching the movie? I guess I could watch it in those conditions, but not for the 1st time.

ugh. 😦

Have any of you watched the Solo home release already? I’m afraid to watch it as having been traumatized at the theater by how ugly the photography looked I’ve been wishfully hoping the home release will have a “normal” color grading in lieu of whatever the fuck they were thinking for the theatrical release. Funny, I’ve never thought one day i’d wish for something to be different to its theatrical release, ha.

I envy you so much right now!

Yeah, a pristine brand new 35mm print (of anything) with decent screening conditions must be a joy to watch.

How much of the dome’s surface did the screening take in San Jose? I mean cause if it’s only a small segment then the image doesn’t get that distorted. The true OMNIMAX short films i watched took up more than half the dome (i could see the image reaching beyond 180° above my head) but then again I believe they were shot using fish-eye lenses.

jrock1185 said:

70mm prints of Rogue One definitely exist. I believe only like 12 to 15 theaters worldwide were given prints to screen. I saw a screening of one at the Franklin Institute in Philly. Horribly uncomfortable seats but the film looked AMAZING!!!

Just to be clear, for the sake of the conversation, that would be 15-perf 70mm IMAX.
The Franklin Institute in Philly is an OMNIMAX, or do they also have a regular flat screen IMAX room too? What’s the deal with screening regular feature films in IMAX domes? I can’t for the life of me grapple with the idea of watching anything in a dome which wasn’t shot specifically for OMNIMAX!!

Thx for your answers! I should have elaborated that I know about the Vista screening and the IMAX prints of TFA and Rogue One. Are you sure there were 15/70 prints of TLJ though?

You are so lucky to have been to that screening of TFA. Are you the person that writes “starwarsatthemovies.com” ? Anyway, what did you make of it?

So anyway, we’re not talking about a limited 35mm print to be screened in a single venue as a special request by JJ Abrams himself, we’re talking about multiple prints for regular screenings.

Hi everybody

Someone told me recently that 35mm prints of these movies were made for Eastern Europe. In fact, I saw pictures of the film cells. But I don’t know more about it. Does someone? Thanks!

Hi everybody

I started looking into collecting some individual film cells which can be found on eBay.

There are a few IMAX 15/70mm cells but none of them are from the IMAX “Escape from Jakku” scene, but they’re still cool.

Regarding the 70mm collections from Willits from the mid-90s, I understand they were printed not for screening, but specifically for chopping up and selling, and that’s fine by me. But I just wanted to know: do they have the 6 magnetic audio tracks? I’m guessing that’s what the black bands on each side are do but since I don’t really know anything about film I’m asking. Judging from this image there should be 4 bands whereas the Willits ones only have 2? I won’t be listening to them (lol) but I’d like to know what I’m buying.

On 35mm ones: I learned to spot the Special Edition ones because of the Dolby Digital track in between the perforations. But there are some out there which are letterboxed / matted (hard matted - is this the right term?) Am I right in assuming that all theatrical release prints are anamorphic therefore the matted ones are necessarily from trailers?

And last, but not least, on original theatrical cut film: shouldn’t all 35mm prints be all red by now? Or does that only happen with some film stock?

Album I just made with samples:
https://imgur.com/a/fRfAQ

That’s all for now. Thx! 😄

I was watching bunch of stuff on youtube last night. Stumbled upon this short video essay.
Coincidentally… it’s the director of photography from TLJ and I only realized it after watching it! It’s on shooting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZtYPIADHM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3ZzRBxAFc

And this is on screening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBw1rFkrGNU

Interesting! Thanks for the link, I’m gonna read it. Yes, hence my choice of words “in optimal conditions”. I have no doubt whatsoever a fresh, pristine 35mm print can beat 2K (and like you said 4K too) when scanned, but screening in a theater is a whole different story indeed.

Yeah I have no trouble believing you that laser IMAX projection can offer brigher, crisper, deeper contrast than film. Not to mention HDR which is now out there, at least in Dolby Cinema.
Still there are other reasons why one might prefer film screenings over state of the art digital, i’m sure for many folks out there nostalgia and emotional value being the main one. Maybe you can perceive more grain with film? For those who like that. Also, they’re bound to disappear entirely, so grab the special chance to watch dirt, scratches, flicker and whatnot, while it lasts haha! I wish I could 😃.

I loved reading that shootout. Please tell me you have similar ones about 2K digital vs pristine 35mm print in optimal conditions? hehe
I know this is super subjective but 2K screenings disappoints me 😦 . I feel like I’m just watching a huge tv, but darker and poorer colors than one can actually have at home with a decent TV (not that I have one). 1080p in a theater screen really doesn’t seem like enough resolution. Regression?

Wazzles said:

Where did they actually have 35mm showings of TFA and TLJ? I can’t find any information on them.

I know of at least two accounts:

http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-force-awakens-in-35mm/
https://www.starwarsatthemovies.com/blog/2017/12/7/lucky-no-vii

I just had a look at IMDB and it does mention TFA was printed in both 35 and 70mm, whereas R1 and TLJ 70mm only. So can you believe how special it might have been to watch TFA in 35mm? 😃

Those who have had the chance to experience both 70mm IMAX and Laser you might find this interesting. According to this person, 70mm IMAX film screening isn’t as bright as laser and has poorer contrast:

But I’m not sure how he capped those stills and their small size obviously doesn’t help much.
So I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.

Yay! I’m happy my post sparked interest even though we’re slightly moved away from the topic but nevertheless this discussion is super exciting too 😄

So check this out, Dunkirk had not 2, or 3, but 4 (!) theatrical aspect ratios, what a mess!!! AND a 5th one, 16:9 1.77 for the home releases.

Aspect Ratio
1.43 : 1 (most scenes: IMAX 70mm and IMAX Laser venues)
1.78 : 1 (most scenes: IMAX version - Blu-ray & DVD)
1.90 : 1 (most scenes: IMAX digital venues)
2.20 : 1
2.20 : 1 (70mm prints & DCP ratio: constant width venues)
2.39 : 1 (35mm prints & DCP ratio: constant height venues)

So yeah 1.43 isn’t exclusive to 70mm IMAX, Laser ones can do it too.
I think LieMAX screens are 1.85 (aka 1.89 / 1.90) maximum.

Did y’all know that the original theatrical release of Star Wars (i dislike referring to it as “ANH” or “Ep IV” haha) in 70mm was 2.20 whereas the 35mm one was 2.35 (aka 2.39)? I just found out about this 1h ago. Is that because of the 6 audio tracks taking extra space on the sides?

Man, I wish I had the opportunity to experience 15/70mm IMAX or 5/70 film, but I don’t see that happening. 😦 There’s ONE cinema left in France with a 5/70 horizontal projector, in Normandy. There is AT LEAST one 4K Laser IMAX theater for the time being, in Montpellier. I don’t see myself going to any. Not even the Cinémathèque in Paris has a 70mm projector anymore AFAIK. 😦
Man, I even wish I was able to go to 35mm screenings but those seem nowhere to be found either. 😦
I found out yesterday that this theater in London has an amazing program every month with tons of great movies in 35 and 70mm…!! So jealous! HOLY SHIT TERMINATOR 2 IN 70mm TOMORROW!!!

My best chance of watching something special is the local Dolby Cinema theater, if I’m feeling like a big spender AND they show some movie that i might be interested in, in 2D AND English audio. Perhaps Black Panther? Hard to say as they tend to be 3D / dubbed. 😦
I also found out that some recent movies are shown in 1.85 in IMAX (including LieMAX) theaters and 2.35 in all other theaters, including Dolby Cinema (!!) ones. So IMAX has exclusive rights to… 26% more picture even though other theaters could display that too. Wth… lol!?

“When you see Blade Runner 2049 in IMAX this weekend, you’ll experience more of the action than in any other format. Only in IMAX will the entire film be specially formatted and presented in an expanded 1.9:1 aspect ratio. This means that the movie will fill more of the screen, and fans will see 26% more of the image in IMAX than standard theatres.”

@ Collipso: TFA had one single IMAX sequence and you can see the difference between the regular scope version and the full IMAX 1.43 images here
If IMDB is right, there were no IMAX Laser versions back then and thus 1.43 was 15/70mm only.

DominicCobb said:

By the way, a picture of an IMAX or Dolby screen most likely isn’t going to be able to represent what the image quality was actually like, especially if it’s a picture snapped on a phone.

Yeah, i know. The Baltimore Senator ones are super nice though. I was kinda hoping for something similar.
And yes, The Last Jedi is a fixed 2.35 scope ratio for all theaters, even though they shot more than one sequences in IMAX as you can see from those .gifs Oddly those pics are 16:9 with horizontal black bars, and the scope sequences in those pictures are 2.65 and the IMAX ones are 1.95 so I’m guessing those gifs aren’t showing the right aspect ratios.

Thanks for replying 😄

Yeah that makes sense and I hadn’t thought about it.

Lucky you!!! So they actually printed Rogue One and The Last Jedi in 15/70mm even though Rogue One had no IMAX sequences whatsoever, and The Last Jedi had some but they were left out of the final theatrical cut which were leaked here as you might know. I’m curious as to what the rationale of leaving those out was.

I wonder if there were any 5/70mm prints for non-IMAX vertical projectors?

Have you ever been to IMAX 4K Laser screenings in big screens able to display full 1.43 AR IMAX? I live in France and there’s both a 2K LieMAX and a brand spanking new Dolby Cinema theater but they often screen 3D and / or French dubbing and awww hell naw there’s noooo way I’ll ever watch anything dubbed. 😦 😦

Edit: IMDB says “70mm horizontal” so there you go, question answered. Ditto for Rogue One

Edit 2: does Digital Laser IMAX actually use 1.43 AR or is that 70mm film only and digital IMAX is 1.85 tops?? This is so confusing.

Hi!

I often visit this site and marvel myself at the beauty of the pictures of the 35mm screening in Baltimore a few years back. I saw ROTJ when it premiered in Portugal in the fall of '83 but I was 5 so I hardly have any memories.

The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and I’m assuming The Last Jedi were also screened in film in a few select locations. Does anyone know where to find pictures ?

Likewise, has anyone seen nice pictures of a 2D Dolby Cinema screening?

I watched TLJ at a regular 2K local cinema the day it premiered (first screening at 10am 😄 ) but I was very disappointed by the image quality. 😦
I went again to a different theater with a Dolby Atmos setup (audio only, not Dolby Vision image too) but again the image (2K DCP) quality was disappointing.

I also like reading about people’s experiences going to a special screening of SW such as this 70mm one so I was wondering where to find pics. I know looking at pics taken inside a theater isn’t very meaningful but I’m just curious if there are any decent ones around.

I’m sure you did. Your dedication is well appreciated.

Aw man, thx for this! the menus are super fun, you made a great job. Thx for sharing.
I love the Boba Fett cartoon!

Likewise for me, if it’s not too much trouble 😄

TIA!

I didn’t know that so thanks for sharing the info. The wikipedia article confirms that.
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobragem_em_Portugal

However, it would be inaccurate to think that was the only reason. It’s an important reason, but there are other factors too. I’d guess one being the financial costs of dubbing. Also, there are other European countries which don’t have a tradition of dubbing and never had fascist regimes.

Be it as it the theme that made me start this thread is

• the fact that the 1991 broadcast of SW was in widescreen, which apparently might have been a world premiere?

• the fact that the only screen captures I got hold of seem to cover a different area of the film. It doesn’t match the oldest widescreen source I have which is one fan preservation of a Laserdisc realease and I don’t know whether it’s first widescreen one or the THX remastered. I’m not on myspleen (would love to join but that seems impossible at the moment) so this preservation was the only thing i managed to grab which is can be found on public sites.

Oh, nice! I briefly looked and I can tell there is definitely useful information in those threads! Also learning words such as “telecast” opens up a new possibility to search with Google. I’ll take the time to read your links.

Thx a lot!

Generally speaking French people are terrible at speaking other languages and even younger generations don’t speak English at all, unlike in Portugal. Again, I wonder how much being (not) being exposed to other languages on TV has to do with that.

In Poland dubbing is indeed done over the original language and you can listen to both, it’s terrible. And yep it can be the same person doing all the dialogues of all the characters.

Right now I’m trying to find out how TV channels acquired their movies for broadcast, I wonder if it was like a 1" tape master, perhaps Betacam by that time (1991). I’m still hoping people here will be interested in this unusual SW ANH broadcast.