M. G. Siegler:
All the scenes in space? IMAX. All the exterior scenes on different worlds? IMAX. Most of the scenes inside the spaceship? Regular film. Interiors on Earth? Regular film. Scenes out in the corn fields of Earth? Largely IMAX.
The effect is profound. Traditional film suddenly feels very small and almost claustrophobic. Those black bars at the top and bottom of the screen become horizontal railings that while perhaps not trapping us in, are clearly guiding us along. When the screen opens up to IMAX format though, you’re set free. I kept moving my head up and down trying to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
One scene that stuck out in particular is when Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper is driving away from his farm. The shot goes from inside the truck, shot in film, to a shot from the back of the truck as the farm recedes, in IMAX, to a shot of a rocket launch, still in IMAX, to a shot of Cooper in a space shuttle, back in film format. You just couldn’t do something like this before this movie.
And:
I’ve seen the question asked a lot on the internet this past week: is it worth seeing Interstellar in theaters? In my view, absolutely yes. But if you’re going to do it, you simply must see it in IMAX. You will quite literally be missing out on aspects of the film if you do not.
I saw this film at the London IMAX at the weekend. Sadly one of their film projectors had blown up – quite literally – and we were shown a digital IMAX projection which simply wasn’t up to snuff.
Here’s the problem…
Most “IMAX” theaters aren’t really IMAX, at least not the 70mm IMAX that Nolan shot in and Siegler describes. They’re just “digital IMAX”. I think only 42 of the 430 IMAX theaters are actually 70 mm. As part of a cash crab, IMAX completely diluted their brand to the point that they make it so you can’t even identify real IMAX theaters on their locater. So good luck finding one of the few true 70 mm iMAX theaters. I live in Los Angeles and am fortunate to have a couple to choose from and it’s worth seeing Interstellar that way if you can. Some of the scenes are truly breathtaking.
Quick counterpoint to M.G. when he says “You just couldn’t do something like this before this movie.” Before this movie except for when Nolan did the same thing in “The Dark Knight” in 2008 (opening Chicago scene blew my mind in 70mm IMAX, audience literally gasped), or again in “The Dark Knight Rises”. Or when JJ Abrams did it, with less success, in “Star Trek Into Darkness”.
I saw it this weekend in Fake IMAX (aka Liemax) and there weren’t any aspect ratio changes. I suspect some trickery is afoot with some of the theaters branded as “IMAX.”
Also, the sound mix was horrible.
The film, though, was fantastic.
I felt the same about Gravity. It was an absolute must-see in IMAX 3D. The great sound from IMAX made a HUGE difference in that movie.
Saw it at my local theater, where they were making a big deal about “Shown in 35mm!” Very interesting film, but yes, I think I’ll need to see it again in IMAX elsewhere. (The local theater having the advantage of beer on tap, pizza, burgers etc.)
I tried to watch it but I was in one of those theaters with jacked up sound and it literally made me ill because the noise was painful. I walked out about 20 minutes in. Fortunately the manager on duty was nice about it and gave me a free ticket to come back for another movie on the house.
“You just couldn’t do something like this before this movie.”
The Dark Knight did, with a similar striking effect. Cityscapes were IMAX, enclosed spaces were regular film, etc. Very effective.
Wonder if these two movies have something in common…hmmmm
Here you go, the official list of theaters showing Interstellar in true 70mm/15perf IMAX:
https://interstellar.withgoogle.com/imax-experience-in-70mm
Saw it 11/4 at the TCL Chinese in Hollywood, where Nolan himself sat during multiple viewings and convinced them to drop over $600,000 in theater upgrades to accommodate the film. It looks absolutely fantastic as intended.
PS: IMAX scenes are all exterior because the cameras are incredibly loud and only hold about 2 minutes worth of film, both dealbreakers for internal scenes with dialogue.
I knew I wanted to see this film in 70mm IMAX as soon as I heard it was going to be released that way. I did just that, and was BLOWN AWAY by the visuals, and the exact use of the format that M.G. is describing. I found myself doing just the same from the center of the theater: looking around at the screen.
It makes me wonder what the non-IMAX versions are going to look like. Pillarboxed? I hope not. Alternate shots? Perhaps. The huge aspect ratio filling that whole screen made the outside shots absolutely sing, and there’s no way that can be matched on a 16:9 screen.
IMAX shots are simply filled to 16:10 AR while non-IMAX scenes remain displayed at 16:9.