I just came back from Raiders again...this time the regular 35mm version.
It was radically different than the IMAX. The sound mix was not as good (the music was softer and sounded thin/hollow) and the colors seemed to be heavily tinted yellow to the point where whites were not white anymore. Plus, contrast was often soft/blurry....frankly it looked like I remember seeing "Crystal Skull" in the theater.
This in stark contrast to the IMAX showing, which had rich, beautiful, realistic colors, gorgeous sharp, hard contrast- and beautiful, powerful, punchy audio that put the music first but also spread dialogue and effects to the front left and right- lots of ambiance.
The IMAX also had the original PG rating card at the end, whereas the regular version had the modern PG card.
Advantages of the new 35mm version: they didn't remove the grain. Was nice to see grain in the movie. Also, the establishing DC shot doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like it did on IMAX.
And it was wonderful to see the reactions of the handful of others watching in the theater. This was the last night that Raiders was being played. The other people liked the shooting scene, the part where the fly climbs into Belloq's mouth, and the truck chase especially. Also they loved when the Nazi's face melts off. They sat through all of the end credits with me- very unusual for audiences today. Afterwards they commented on how short they were..how if it were made today the credits would be a lot longer.Then they asked me if I saw the fly climb into Belloq's mouth...
In general, they were just happy to see it on the big screen again ("since I was 10", one guy joked). It was kind of bittersweet that there were only about 5 people there in the theater considering what a great movie it is, but those people were all 30 and older. It really made me happy to see them able to go back in time, even just for a couple hours, and relive a part of their childhood. I actually left after chatting briefly because they were just continuing to sit there and I felt like I should leave them alone...I felt like I was intruding on their childhood...that this movie belonged to their generation, not mine....
So overall I had a great time:) But I do think they need to take care of those digitally manipulated yellow colors and the blurry images in the next release...