r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/NoWork215 • Jul 16 '26

Video The Odyssey IMAX 70mm Setup

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u/SoftLink5162 Jul 16 '26

If they want us to watch Imax so badly make more Imax theatres man. We don't have single true Imax in my country. And that's true for most countries.

34

u/Darwins_Dog Jul 16 '26

Half of them are in the US, and I'm still 7 hours away from the closest one, lol. The only thing I know about this movie is that it won't look or sound as good when I see it.

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u/aBunchOfSpiders Jul 16 '26

Damn I didn’t know I was so lucky. I have 3 within half an hour of my house. I don’t go to theaters often but when I do it’s only for IMAX.

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u/mrASSMAN Jul 16 '26

IMAX branding has been licensed out.. most of the IMAX theaters you’re seeing aren’t true IMAX.. like in Seattle there’s probably a dozen “IMAX” but only 1 or 2 true IMAX

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u/aBunchOfSpiders Jul 16 '26

Well damn… I had no idea. I mean either way even if it’s not true IMAX the experience is still way better than going to see it in standard. The screen is twice as big and the sound is WAY better.

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u/mrASSMAN Jul 16 '26

Yeah it’s considered premium showing just not to the extent of a real IMAX setup which gets confusing because they use the branding which convinces most people that it’s the same

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u/SabreSour Jul 16 '26

I think we have a 35 mm near me. I wonder how they compare to the 70mm true iMax.

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u/Kaboose666 Jul 16 '26

The movie website has a cool tool you can use to see the frame differences

https://imgur.com/a/FCiXGlT

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u/excaliburxvii Jul 17 '26

Dolby wins for me because they actually make their format available to us plebs outside of very few, select, major metropolitan areas.

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u/Kaboose666 Jul 17 '26

Just be aware that not all Dolby Cinemas have the taller aspect ratio. Some of them are 2.39:1, not 1.85:1

Technically you get slightly better audio and contrast ratio than the IMAX release too since Dolby cinema has smaller screens while using the same basic projectors (meaning they can project more light onto a smaller space for higher contrast).

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u/excaliburxvii Jul 17 '26

I remember hearing about that. As much as I enjoy going to the theater all of this BS and opaqueness regarding formats and what you're actually seeing makes me feel better about them suffering.

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u/mrASSMAN Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

70mm isn’t even peak IMAX, 140mm is the top format

But to answer question, the main thing for me is it’s way more detailed, higher resolution and brighter. And the frame shape is unique to the format (much taller than typical so it feels like it’s towering over you)

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u/_adanedhel_ Jul 16 '26

I mean that’s sort of confusing the matter further. It’s still 70mm film, just running horizontally rather than vertically.

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u/mrASSMAN Jul 16 '26

Hm is that right didn’t know that

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u/_adanedhel_ Jul 16 '26

Yep, here’s a visualization (left side, top two 70mm examples).

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u/Galumpadump Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

There are also different types of IMAX. Most people don’t live near true IMAX Screens. Unless you live in SoCal you probably only live near multiple lieMax screens.

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u/Syleril Jul 16 '26

I never knew the difference, and now I realize how lucky I am to be 20min away from Providence, RI. Booked my ticket for 3 weeks from now just so I could get a center middle seat.

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u/kermityfrog Jul 16 '26

There are many types of IMAX.

Original 70mm film on a giant screen, 4k laser projection on a giant screen, 4k projection on a regular screen but the seats are closer (lieMax).

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u/aBunchOfSpiders Jul 16 '26

I looked it up and the closest true IMAX to me is a couple hours away in Seattle. Used to have one in Portland at the OMSI museum but it’s now just an Empirical Theater doing 15/70 film. Bummer.

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u/Galumpadump Jul 16 '26

Yep, alot of Portland people don’t realize that OMSI mo longer is IMAX.

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u/StManTiS Jul 16 '26

There’s 2 legit IMAX theatres in the Bay Area as well.

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u/nightpanda893 Jul 16 '26

I drove up to nyc to see The Lighthouse on film. Luckily this one is playing a bit closer for me

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u/VeryluckyorNot Jul 16 '26

Mario Galaxy got a 3D room it was like 5€ more. I see IMAX as a premium version of 3D, but I guess tickets are also more expensive than it.

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 16 '26

You have 3 70mm imax theaters near you? Highly doubtful. Unless you live in LA.

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u/aBunchOfSpiders Jul 16 '26

Oh I was referring to just IMAX. I actually have 2 theaters showing it in 70mm in my area, one is an old theater so I know that’s not IMAX for sure but it’s unclear if the other one is because it is a theater with IMAX.

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u/Snuhmeh Jul 16 '26

There is a map of actual 70mm 15 perf film format IMAX theaters. There are only like 25 worldwide.

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u/Deaftoned Jul 16 '26

The entire thing is honestly blown way out of proportion by people that don't understand film/aspect ratios. It will be like any other movie on the 1.85:1 or 2.20:1 ratios in normal theaters.

Most of this outrage is most likely manufactured by the same group that has been up in arms over a black woman playing a role in a fantasy movie.

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u/Darwins_Dog Jul 16 '26

It's a lot of hype fatigue at this point. Everytime I open reddit, I see another post (let's be honest and call them ads) about how they shot it in IMAX. That's completely irrelevant to the vast majority of movie goers. I'm sure it will look good wherever, but most of the talk is about something meaningless to me.

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u/North_Atlantic_Sea Jul 16 '26

I'd say that the racists and movie purists, while maybe some overlap, probably aren't the same group

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u/gr8scottaz Jul 16 '26

3/4 of them are in the US.

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u/SensualBeefLoaf Jul 16 '26

within an hour of my house i have like 6 of them. i hate imax. unless you’re sitting all the way in the back, it’s annoying as hell

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u/Slumunistmanifisto Jul 16 '26

They closed the one in fucking Seattle (not closed exactly but they have no licensing or something so they show dumb shit)