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Author Topic: IMAX films on DVD Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-29-2004 05:05 PM                        I now have a very good collection of IMAX films on DVD and enjoy them very much. Some of the one's I have are "AFRICA, THE SERENGETI", "SUPER SPEEDWAY", "BLUE PLANET", RING OF FIRE", "GRAND CANYON", DREAM IS ALIVE", "HIDDEN HAWAII" and "THE LIVING SEA". I have several others but the one's I have mentioned are my favorites. I have seen all of them in IMAX except "AFRICA THE SERENGETI". As a demo DVD to impress friends with my home theatre system, I have found "SUPER SPEEDWAY" , "AFRICA THE RERENGETI" and "DREAM IS ALIVE" to be the three best examples. All IMAX DVDs were mastered from the original large film format and have retained the sharpness and crispness of the original image The multi IMAX tracks have been nicely transfered to Dolby 5.1 and some in DTS 5.1 surround sound and retains much of the original LFE track. The only thing missing is the impact one gets from watching an image on the very huge screen in a IMAX theatre. Although there is an IMAX theatre on the north shore at the Polynesian Cultural Centre at Laie, I still miss Pacific's Waikiki IMAX because they used to show all current IMAX films both mainstream from the major studios as well as those from IMAX. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-29-2004 08:09 PM                     Ya have to be careful here because if an Imax film seen in the theatre was in the least bit boring then on TV its bound to put you to sleep. Sleepy time Imax's are "Tropical Rain Forest", and "Grand Canyon, The Hidden Secret" I have and reccomend "Fires Of Kuwait", "Dream Is Alive" This two films are what Imax is all about!, "Titanica",(have both the 2 hour Laserdisc and one hour DVD), "Everest" (in which "The Making Of Everest" is way better then the main feature!), "Chronos"...( Amazing anyway you can see it!), and "Zion Canyon-Treasure Of The Gods" which is by far one of the best ever done if you put the Gods aside and stick to the scenery, mountain climbing, and hang glider sequences which are literally mind blowing seen in any format.....they actually did this stuff for real...amazing! Also shown in the film are nice aeriel shots of Bryce Canyon in which I do a yearly hiking trip. Other reccomended DVD documentaries which I have on the shelf are "Koyannisquatsi", "Trinity And Beyond, The Atomic Bomb Movie" These will hold your attention and all transfers are impeccable. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-29-2004 09:22 PM                     Here's what I've always wondered about: With computers getting faster all the time, wouldn't it be possible to create a computer only DVD that contained the movie at a very high resolution and frame rate? Imagine watching Everest at 1024 x 768 full resolution at 60fps!  |  IP: Logged Wolff King Morrow Master Film Handler Posts: 490 From: Denton, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2004 posted 03-29-2004 09:52 PM                        Indeed it very easily can be done. The file would not use the DVD compression format, and so would probably be some sort of avi file that you would store in sections on several DVDs. Effectively the DVDs would be used in data-storage mode, rather than as a video disc image. You'd also want a fairly decent computer system and graphics card to avoid possible frame-rate droppage. BTW, 2.35 scope resolution would be 1024x436 as opposed to 4.3 1024x768.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-29-2004 10:17 PM                        Size DOES matter! I have the DVD of "Everest", and it is one of the best demonstrations of how sharp an image can be. The image quality of 65mm origination comes through clear and sharp, even on an NTSC monitor.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-29-2004 10:34 PM                        Mark, Some of my other friends who also love IMAX film agree with you and also find "GRAND CANYON" boring but I love it for the way it photographically captured the grand vista of one of our most majestic natural wonders in that large screen film format. I agree that some parts of the film can be very boring especially when it touched on early Indian life but most of it was great in my opinion. The film was produced by Destination Cinema for the IMAX Theatre at the Grand Canyon just like it's other film "HIDDEN HAWAII which was made for the Hawaii IMAX Theatre. Destination Cinema at one time operated IMAX theatres at the Canyon, Niagara Falls and here in Hawaii. The Hawaii theatre's operation during it's final two years was taken over by Pacific who owned the land and building and it became the Waikiki IMAX. Until it' closed for good, "HIDDEN HAWAII" was the alternate IMAX film in addition to the special IMAX versions of "LION KING", "STAR WARS-EPISODE 2" and "MATRIX RELOADED" at the Waikiki IMAX. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-29-2004 10:55 PM                     quote: BTW, 2.35 scope resolution would be 1024x436 as opposed to 4.3 1024x768. True, but Everest is 1.44:1  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-29-2004 11:00 PM                        ...and it's only 24fps.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-29-2004 11:04 PM                     Really? Is that Everest only? I thought all IMAX films played at 60fps, or at least higher than 24.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-29-2004 11:10 PM                        IMAX HD runs at 48fps, but you can only do that before 11:00pm to avoid a noise violation citation.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-30-2004 12:06 AM                     quote: All IMAX DVDs were mastered from the original large film format and have retained the sharpness and crispness of the original image quote: The image quality of 65mm origination comes through clear and sharp, even on an NTSC monitor. Ummmmm, what are you guys smoking? We are talking about crappy low resolution regular NTSC DVDs, right?  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-30-2004 01:40 AM                     quote: I have the DVD of "Everest", and it is one of the best demonstrations of how sharp an image can be. Didn't they only use a portion of the IMAX frame for the home video version? quote: IMAX HD runs at 48fps And only a tiny fraction of IMAX films are HD. These days it's used mostly for rides such as RACE FOR ATLANTIS and BACK TO THE FUTURE. Most "regular" IMAX films are 24fps.  |  IP: Logged Wolff King Morrow Master Film Handler Posts: 490 From: Denton, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2004 posted 03-30-2004 01:51 AM                        quote: True, but Everest is 1.44:1 My bad. That would mean about a 710 or 711 virtical resolution. There would be a little bit of letter-boxing, but only a little. I have to agree with Brad that there's only so good NTSC DVD can get. When I play DVDs from my computer drive on my monitor, I can really see the lossyness of the compression quite clearly. I end up using a lot of hardware overlay corrections to improve the image while I watch the movie.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-30-2004 09:46 AM                    another thing is the picture will only be as good as the set you are watching it on will get it.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-30-2004 09:55 AM                        Brad asked: quote: Ummmmm, what are you guys smoking? We are talking about crappy low resolution regular NTSC DVDs, right? I'm saying that DVDs of 65mm features are generally noticeably sharper and less grainy than those of other features. The increased quality of the original negative comes through, even on an NTSC DVD. "Lawrence of Arabia", "My Fair Lady", "Patton" and "The Sound of Music" also come to mind as good examples.  |  IP: Logged

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