300: The IMAX Experience

Finally went to see 300 again tonight, this time in IMAX. You know, I've always been a big fan of the IMAX format. Since the days of The Dream Is Alive, IMAX has been a continual source of wonder and amazement for me. To think that we can enjoy films on the scale of what this format can do with picture and sound - it still blows my mind. Even before they started converting feature films to IMAX, I was sold on the format. My personal favorites to this day include all of the space films: the aforementioned Dream, Destiny in Space, Space Station 3-D, and particularly Magnificent Desolation (which I regret only seeing one time - sigh). With the advent of features on IMAX, I was thrilled all over again. Starting with Apollo 13, Attack of the Clones, and last year's Superman Returns, I got to enjoy these fantastic films in a whole new way, with wall-to-wall picture, exquisite surround sound, and a total cinematic experience that the local multiplex will never be able to recreate.

That experience happened again tonight seeing 300 for the second time. I'm glad that I saw the movie in regular 35mm first, so as to have something to compare it against. I was impressed at how the already eye-popping visuals popped even more (at least in most scenes) in this larger format. With so much more of my field of view taken up by the images on the larger screen, I felt drawn into the movie even more than before. I also noticed the depth of the movie's soundtrack to a greater degree this time (and it wasn't a distraction) and found myself experiencing the film on a deeper level.

All this is to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the movie even more than the first time. What was already a extremely visceral, cinematic rush of a ride was that much more fun the second time around.

Anybody else out there seen 300: The IMAX Experience? Let me know what you think!

Kevin