Imax: It’s bigger, louder and clearer, but is it any better?

Uniqueness is hard to maintain in cinema. History has shown that commerciality drives the movies and that studios are always eager to tap into the latest punter-friendly trend.

Filmgoers today are offered a dizzying, dazzling array of styles, formats and experiences. But that’s nothing new. The 1920s gave us 3D and Technicolor followed a decade later. In the 1950s it was three-strip Cinerama and CinemaScope. The 1960s offered the short-lived gimmick that was Circlorama. And then Imax erupted in the 1970s.

Most of them have waxed and waned as cinema has evolved, with only Imax remaining a constant. But even Imax has changed to follow audience tastes, shifting from presenting educational documentary featurettes to giant action-packed fantasy blockbusters.

Yorkshire welcomed Imax in 1983 when the-then National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, in Bradford, became the first permanent installation in Europe. Since then, Imax has expanded to around 30 screens in the UK. The latest, opening last week, is at Sheffield’s Cineworld multiplex.

Imax forms a big part of Cineworld’s future strategy. The chain, which has 79 sites across the UK, has spent the last three years transforming itself into a wholly digital operation. Incorporating Imax on digital means it now makes commercial sense “on a mass scale” according to vice president of business affairs, Crispin Lilly, who was in Sheffield last week for the grand opening.

So, why Sheffield? It turns out that of all Cineworld’s cinemas Sheffield is second in the UK only to Glasgow Renfrew Street in terms of admissions. It makes sense, therefore, to invest £500,000 in a refit and to soak up four weeks of lost business whilst building work was carried out. Cineworld expects to recoup its cost in “three to four years”.

“This cinema opened in 1998, and it’s phenomenal,” says Lilly. “We do 1.8 million admissions a year here. It’s Cineworld’s second biggest cinema in the country, and probably the second biggest cinema in the country.

“So Sheffield is a wonderful beast – it makes investment less risky, and it means we can test lots of exciting things. So much about Imax is the awareness of the brand as well as the quality of the content that you see on screen, and people buy into that.”

Given the right product Imax is a magnificent experience. Lilly and Larry O’Reilly, are keen to present Imax as the ultimate cinema-going trip. The offer on opening night in Sheffield was sci-fi fantasy John Carter – a lumbering, empty spectacle that looked good, but offered little else.

And in among shiny fare like The Matrix, Star Trek and The Dark Knight have been dreadful clunkers such as Speed Racer. For all its immersive glory, Imax is merely a tool. A big fat turkey in Imax is still a big fat turkey. It’s just bigger. And fatter.

Says O’Reilly: “If you take a look at who’s making the Imax versions of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, it’s the biggest names in the industry. It’s James Cameron, Chris Nolan, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams. The big creative minds love to have more toys to play with. They keep on pushing the envelope.

“We had some phenomenal documentary movies. People would leave the theatre on this massive high and then say, ‘Can you imagine if Star Wars was in Imax?’ And, guess what, Star Wars was the second movie that we converted [to Imax].”

Both Lilly and O’Reilly agree that film fans can expect the Imax schedule to be packed with high-concept fare rooted in fantasy and science-fiction. And that is because an Imax ticket costs more than its standard equivalent.

How much more is quietly shocking: £4.50 on top of a standard ticket. Given the ongoing economic downturn it’s arguably the worst time to be asking hard-pressed families to dig deeper for their trip to the pictures.

The cost for a family of four attending a 5.30pm screening on Sunday would be a whopping £43.60 – and that’s before drinks, snacks and sweets.

“It is going to be those big event films, not least because there is a premium attached to Imax. But from time to time I bet there’ll be some surprises in there with quieter, more intimate fare that warrants it as well,” says Lilly.

“It’s tough times out there but cinema has always held up incredibly resiliently in the economic downturn.

“We’re very conscious of that squeeze.

“We basically want to make people come to the cinema more and more and more, and we will do whatever we can to get people through the doors.”

An IMAX screen is essentially a basic cinema screen – but bigger, louder and clearer.

IMAX records and displays bigger images than your everyday film which is why the image is sharper.

The film is so strong you could pull a truck with it and IMAX projectors weigh over two tonnes, about the same as an adult Indian elephant.

IMAX received a big boost with the major success of the Matrix films and consolidated that with Avatar.

Films that are set to hit IMAX screens this spring include The Hunger Games and Wrath of the Titans as well as John Carter.

Imax is merely a tool. A big fat turkey in Imax is still a big fat turkey. It’s just bigger. And fatter.

As a new Imax cinema opens in Sheffield, Film Critic Tony Earnshaw considers the big screen experience and asks if it’s worth the money.

hunting: Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in the Hunger Game which will appear on Imax screens this spring.

blockbuster: The huge success of films such as Avatar has helped to boost the profile of Imax.picture: PA Photo/Fox Australia Film.