The new IMAX laser projector (Courtesy of IMAX)
On Thursday morning, I found myself staring, in intimate detail, at the pores and sweat droplets of a stubbly Tom Cruise. No, we’re not good friends. What I saw was a demonstration of the new IMAX with laser upgrade at the Air and Space Museum’s Lockheed Martin Theater.
I spoke at length last month with Zarth Bertsch, Director of Smithsonian Theaters, about the upcoming conversion. Bertsch told me, “We have really waited until the optimal convergence, and laser is the first significant fundamental change or improvement in digital technology since the advent of digital projection.” At yesterday’s demo of the upgraded system, IMAX Chief Quality Officer David Keighley, who boasts that, “we are the Lamborghini of the motion picture business,” had similar words for the new technology. “I never thought I’d see anything as good as 70mm film.”
Me neither. I attended one of the last screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 15-perf 70mm at Air and Space, and while I will continue to promote area screenings of 35mm and especially 70mm prints, it behooves me to tell readers what patrons of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s Airbus IMAX Theater in Centreville already know: you have to see this system.
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Air and Space Museum’s IMAX theatre and of To Fly, the film that launched the auditorium (it has continued to play there for the past four decades, making it the longest running documentary in the world). Keighley included a restored version of “To Fly” in his demo, as well as more recent IMAX offerings like Born to Be Wild (baby animals in IMAX 3D … call the kids!) and Rocky Mountain Express, ” which uses the latest technology on an iconic image that goes back to the dawn of cinema: the locomotive.
The IMAX laser technology offers a clarity and tonal range so rich that I’d be happy to see the phone book projected in this format. I did see its cinematic equivalent: a color test chart. I heard the roar of airplanes and race cars to show off the improved 12-channel sound system that comes with the new IMAX technology. But what was most impressive was the sight of Tom Cruise actually climbing the world’s tallest building in a clip from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. On the Lockheed Martin Theater’s 75-foot wide screen, you could see the terrifying heights from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, and you could see the terrifying crazy of a box office star up close and gigantic.
This weekend only, the theater is bringing back Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX 3D to show off the new system. While I would love to tell you that Last Year at Marienbad or Jacques Tati’s Playtime will be converted to this format, I can’t. But if you want to see the next generation in motion picture technology and revisit one of last year’s best movies, head for the Mall.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens screens in IMAX 3D from Friday, February 26-Sunday, February 28 at the Air and Space Museum’s Lockheed Martin Theater. Tickets are available here.
