Saw Smaug in IMAX 3D today (no spoilers)

[Omaha Steve]

Hosts please note this is not showbiz glitz. This is film as an art form post.

A 12:30 showing (following a 9 AM show) was a little over half full. Marta and I will be seeing it again in the next week or so as time allows at this busy time of year. It was that good. But then we loved LOTR big time too. Our seeing the films on the first day of release continues.

A lot to take in. We do recommend IMAX in 3D. Typical Jackson action. The exception that "King Kong" was at least 1/2 hour longer than it should have been in the middle.

It is a faster pace than "An Unexpected Journey" where we met most of the new characters.

Go see it and have a great time. Anybody else been there yet?

OS

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Good to know - I am going to see it with my two daughters next Friday!

I wish that Jackson left The Hobbit pretty much as written instead of spreading it out to 3 movies...but am looking forward to seeing part 2!

[Ed Suspicious]

2. Going tonight to see it in 3d High Frame Rate at the behest of my eldest daughter and against my

better judgement (I find I get into the story more in old fashioned 2d). Still excited but I may be going twice.

[jamzrockz]

3. Would you say that Smaug was a better movie that

the 1st part?

[Omaha Steve]

4. Absolutely!

BTW the high 3D frame rate isn't in our area. Not in NE or IA at all.

OS

[RedSpartan]

5. Have IMAX 3D tix purchased for Sunday.

Going with my two daughters.

[catchnrelease]

7. Yes

My husband and I saw it today in 'regular' mode. We had seen the first episode in IMAX 3D and didn't feel that it was worth the extra money. And I agree, this one was better than An Unexpected Journey. While I loved both, I didn't feel like this one needed to be trimmed a bit shorter. I'm sure I will see it again to see what I missed the first time. (Did you catch PJ's cameo?)

I had originally heard that the final film would be out next July, not next Dec, anyone know if that is still true? Would love to think there are only 7 months to wait for the end instead of a whole year.

[SomethingFishy]

8. Was going to take the family this weekend but..

my car took a crap. Had to spend our movie money to fix it. Looking forward to trying again next weekend..

On a side note. I also found An Unexpected Journey to be paced a bit slow. However.. recently we watched the "extended version" which I figured would be paced even slower.. Much to my surprise they pretty much did a re-edit of the whole film and i found it to be a much more enjoyable experience. Check it out if you get the chance..

[jazzimov]

9. I was trying to decide whether to see it tomorrow

or not. We only have one real IMAX theater in town, so it's this weekend or see it in a regular theater.

You just helped me make up my mind! Thanks! Oh, btw, LOVED the book!

[truebluegreen]

10. Unexpected Journey was overly orcified

and too enamored with special effects. Is Smaug better?



P.S. did anyone else notice that environmentalist J.R.R.Tolkien named one of his scrouges after air pollution?

[JI7]

11. this has a lot of orc stuff also but still worth seeing, the movie seems to kind of come together

better than the first one and the tie in with LOTR is pretty good also.

[Tree-Hugger]

12. I have a technical question

How much more mind-numbingly gorgeous would you say Legolas looks on IMAX as compared to a regular screen?

Wish there was a drool smilie.

[Omaha Steve]

13. Digital Re-mastering (DMR)

Only IMAX has DMR for those that go to the theater. So everything looks and sounds better in IMAX. Demo video at link.

https://www.imax.com/about/experience/dmr/

The content being shown in an IMAX theatre is significantly better than the content playing down the hall. The secret sauce in the IMAX mix is DMR – or Digital Re-mastering – a transformative process we invented. This is IMAX’s proprietary method of turning an already powerful movie into a breathtaking IMAX blockbuster with unparalleled image and sound quality. IMAX spends months on location and in the editing room of its DMR facilities with the director and technical teams of each film – planning the shots, re-mixing the sound, meticulously adjusting the saturation, contrast, brightness and hundreds of details in virtually every frame to present the film at its best.

It’s often done after the film is shot, but leading directors are increasingly asking IMAX to join the moviemaking process from the very start. For a growing number of Hollywood movies, IMAX is part of the film’s DNA.

That means, oftentimes, an IMAX movie is conceived as an IMAX movie – with the filmmaker working with IMAX to decide which parts, for example, should be shot with an IMAX camera, what kinds of techniques make the most of the IMAX screen, sound and theatre, and how the drama should unfold to take advantage of IMAX’s larger format, richer color, sheer scale and impact.