Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is unlike most blockbuster releases. It is the first commercial feature shot entirely on IMAX 70mm cameras, meaning it displays the full, uncropped 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
While the movie can still be watched in standard cinemas, only a handful of theatres worldwide can, however, project the film exactly as intended.
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Why does it need to be viewed in IMAX 70mm?
The Odyssey film print is enormous. Reports indicate that each IMAX 70mm print stretches more than 17 kilometres in length and weighs around 240 kilograms.
The highest-resolution film format now in use, IMAX 1570 film, which gets its name from the 70mm width of the film stock and the 15 perforations on each frame, has long been favored by Nolan. Hence, the movie is entirely shot on 1570 cameras, which are notoriously heavy and loud and also require frequent reloading.
During the Odyssey filming, the film stock had to be changed every three minutes. In order to record dialogue on 1570 for the first time, Nolan worked with IMAX to create a soundproofing “blimp” to hold the 180 kg camera.
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Where can audiences watch The Odyssey in true IMAX 70mm?
Most of the world’s IMAX 70mm venues are located in North America, Europe and Australia. There are only 41 theatres in the world equipped to project the actual potential of the film.
It produces an incredibly large and detailed image that many filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts consider the ultimate movie-viewing experience. Fans are crossing borders to watch the film for what it truly is.
Melbourne, Australia, has become the most popular destination for The Odyssey, because it is the only cinema in the southern hemisphere with a 1570-reel of The Odyssey. At 32 meters wide by 23 meters high, Melbourne’s IMAX is the biggest 1.43:1 movie screen in the world.
Imax Melbourne general manager Jeremy Fee said, “We are only one of 41 cinemas across the globe [where] you can see it in the way that Nolan created the film. There are only seven outside of North America in the entire world, so people do seek out that really special experience. They can’t really see this anywhere else.”
Some of the other locations include:
- Lincoln Square IMAX, New York City
- AMC Universal CityWalk IMAX, Los Angeles
- Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood & IMAX – Universal City, CA
- TCL Chinese Theater IMAX – Hollywood, CA
- Regal Edwards Ontario Palace & IMAX – Ontario, CA
- Regal Irvine Spectrum 21 + IMAX – Irvine, CA
- Esquire IMAX – Sacramento, CA
- BFI IMAX, London
- Vue Manchester Printworks IMAX, Manchester
Many theatres worldwide use IMAX with Laser, which projects the film digitally while retaining improved brightness, contrast, colour accuracy and sharper detail compared with conventional digital IMAX systems. Although it does not reproduce the full film-based presentation, it remains one of the best available alternatives.