Let me preface this post by saying that I DO NOT go to the movies. The last movie I saw in theaters was Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest in the summer of 2006. I much prefer to wait a few months and watch it on Blu-ray on my big screen TV in the comfort of my own living room.
I really wanted to see The Dark Knight, but did not want to go through all the hassles of seeing it in a megaplex. The movie has been selling out all week and I just can’t take sitting in a packed theater with people in front of me blocking part of the screen.
While watching AOTS last week, they mentioned that the best way to see The Dark Knight was in an IMAX theater. The movie was partially shot in IMAX and the quality of the picture and sound just can’t be compared to a regular movie theater.
I did a seacrh on IMAX.com for the closest IMAX to my house and found one only 15 minutes away in Harrisburg at the Whitaker Center for the Science and the Arts. I (luckily) pre-bought my tickets over the phone the day before for the 12:15 show and got there about 30 minutes early.
I can not rave enough about this movie experience.
The best part was that this was true stadium seating with seats that went up higher than your head. I sat behind a very tall man and I had to look down to see the top of his head. There is no way that you will ever be obstructed from seeing the screen.
The screen had to have been over 60 feet high. Imagine seeing the movie projected onto a side of a 6 story building. That’s what it was like, although your seat is at eye level to the middle of the screen. The sound was also amazing, totally surrounding and immersing you.
The only thing that I found odd was that parts of the movie took up the entire screen and other parts were letterboxed, cutting off the top and bottom 10%. It wasn’t something that you noticed until it switched to full screen in the outdoor scene at the hospital and it never detracted from the movie.
For the $13 price, I still think this was a bargain. Not having to worry about sitting behind people and being truly immersed in the movie makes this one of the best movie going experiences ever.
Oh yeah, the movie was awesome too. I would highly recommend seeing The Dark Knight, just make sure it’s in IMAX.
