Don't get fooled into this when you see Iron Man 2

A few years ago I was very excited to see that my local IMAX theater was showing 'Batman Begins'. It was a movie that had already been out for a few years but I never had the chance to see it in the IMAX setting. I was so eager to see this movie. What I left with was disappointment and a curiousity of IMAX features.

I love watching IMAX features. The sheer size of the screen and the detail it provided always made for a good time when I went. So why did 'Batman Begins' look absolutely terrible when I went to see it? The answer I found out was in the camera they used to film the feature. Most movies of today are shot using 35mm cameras or the new hi-def cameras that are available. These pictures are meant to be displayed in one of two aspect ratios at your local theater. These two aspect ratios are either 2.35 to 1 or 1.85 to 1. What this means is that the feature is shown on a screen that is 2.35 times wider than it is tall or 1.85 times wider than it is tall. A hi-def television is of the aspect ratio of 1.78 to 1. When you play a movie that is 2.35 to 1 on your hi-def tv you will get an image that has black bars on the top and bottom of your screen. These aspect ratios have been used for movies for over fifty years. But what is the difference in an IMAX feature?

A true IMAX feature is shot with a 65mm camera on 65mm film. The images are massive and the detail is second to none. But very few feature length movies have ever been shot with 65mm film. Only parts of movies have been shot with this technology. There were a few scenes in 'The Dark Knight' as well as 'Transformers 2' that were shot with 65mm cameras. If you saw those movies in a real IMAX theater then you saw the screen change from a normal picture to one that takes up the entire screen during scenes that were shot with 65mm cameras. The shots are awesome and make the price of the ticket worth it. The success of 'The Dark Knight' made seeing movies on an IMAX screen the choice for movie-goers. Last year, 'Star Trek' was shown on IMAX screens but fans were disappointed in what they saw. Why was that? It's because not one scene in 'Star Trek' was shot using an 65mm camera. They took a movie shot on 35mm and basically zoomed it in so it would be large enough to take up the entire screen. Now that is not exactly what they did but the technique they used distorts the picture and the actual resolution of the picture suffers. One way to avoid seeing movies that are not shot with 65mm cameras on IMAX screens is to check the aspect ratio on IMDB. Movies shot with scenes in 65mm will show an aspect ration of 1.44 to 1. This represents the resolution when the scene switches to 65mm and the picture expands to take up the entire screen. If you look on IMDB for the aspect ratio for 'Iron Man 2', you will see it as 2.35 to 1. This means that if you see this on an IMAX screen you will not be seeing a true IMAX movie. My advice is to stick with seeing it the way it was shot. 'Iron Man 2' was shot using 35mm cameras. Try to find a 35mm showing in your area with the largest screen in the aspect ratio of 2.35 to 1. I think that will be more than pleasing for 'Iron Man' fans.

On another note, Christopher Nolan has stated the he is seeking a way to shoot the third installment of the Batman series completely in 65mm. This will be the first feature length movie to be completely shot in 65mm if he can pull it off. My guess is that he will shoot it in a similar style as 'The Dark Knight'. He may just use the 65mm camera in more scenes. Shooting in 65mm is extremely expensive but my guess is that Nolan will have an open budget considering the success of 'The Dark Knight'.