I am not going to argue the point with Christoper Nolan that the ideal viewing format for his new film The Odyssey is IMAX 70mm. The images that I’ve seen, framed in the format’s tall, squarish aspect ratio, are majestic. Nolan went to enormous expense and trouble to shoot the entire movie with huge, noisy IMAX film cameras to achieve the effect; it’s as the artist intended. And I love that Nolan has, almost single-handedly, got general moviegoers excited about seeing movies projected on film again. There’s nothing like it.
I look forward to seeing The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm. But I will be looking forward to it for some time. I live in London, UK, where we’re lucky enough to have two movie theaters equipped with 70mm IMAX projectors. Both theaters are completely sold out for the entirety of their runs of The Odyssey, deep into September. Not one seat available. I’m reasonably hopeful new showtimes will be added at some point — the movie is a sensation — but I’m already feeling anxious about snapping up the tickets quick enough when they are.
That’s why I decided to head to a normie digital screening at my local theater instead. I just wanted to see the film! My local theater is great. As a member, I get to take a friend for free on Mondays (which is what I did). The screens aren’t massive, but they’re all well proportioned, and the projection and sound quality are top-notch. It’s got really comfortable seats with a ton of legroom, much more comfortable than any IMAX theater I’ve ever been to: an important factor for a three-hour movie. And — also important when fitting a three-hour movie into a busy life — it’s 10 minutes from my house.
I guess I could have chosen one of the other premium-format options for The Odyssey. There are plenty. Letterboxd has a special digital punch card so you can tick off all the ways you’ve seen Nolan’s movie; as well as IMAX 70mm, there’s digital IMAX, Dolby Vision, 70mm film, 35mm film, and the vague Premium Large Format denomination, which covers an assortment of various proprietary IMAX competitors.
I spent a while clicking around these options on the movie’s official website, where you can see how the bewildering range of aspect ratios will look and watch little videos of members of the cast stumping for each one. (Robert Pattinson is a 35mm guy; I might have guessed.) I am perfectly capable of being a massive nerd about aspect ratios, believe me, but in this case the range of options left me feeling confused and frustrated. I knew that only one of them was the way the movie was really meant to be seen, but I couldn’t see it that way.
And none of them were available 10 minutes from my house, with comfy seats, and a free ticket for my friend.
So I went to a regular screening of The Odyssey. I have seen some wailing and rending of garments from film bros online about how inferior the image is. It’s true that the super-wide aspect ratio of a regular digital screening (which is 2.39:1, the same as the 35mm film prints, and some of the other premium formats) has a different feel to the IMAX image. It has epic sweep, but it doesn’t have quite the same grandeur. If you really pay attention, you can notice that some shots look like they’ve been vertically cropped.
But honestly? It still looks amazing. The incredible fidelity and sharpness of the image captured on those big IMAX film frames still comes across in the digital transfer, as do the dramatic compositions and the gorgeous color grading of Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography. Nolan and van Hoytema have worked hard to compose every shot so it will work in multiple aspect ratios, the way some directors used to mask frames of 35mm film to be sure their compositions would work on both widescreen cinema screens and 4:3 cathode-ray TVs.
I’m not against using premium formats as a way to make theatrical moviegoing an exciting event. It’s been a very effective strategy for Nolan and was supercharged by Warner Bros.’ marketing campaigns for Sinners and One Battle After Another last year. It’s good for film culture, and it’s a boost for both exhibitors’ and studios’ bottom lines.
But even digital skeptics must admit that standards of projection and (especially) sound in everyday theaters are light years ahead of where they were 30 years ago. My normal screening of The Odyssey was a fantastic viewing experience in technical, comfort, and convenience terms. And yet, I can’t check it off on my Letterboxd stamp card, which feels like a cynical attempt to encourage repeat viewing at inflated ticket prices. (Whispers: I had a better time watching One Battle at my local theater than in VistaVision, too.)
Premium formats are cool, but I worry that the way they’re being marketed is turning into an avenue for snobbery, gatekeeping, and FOMO to creep into moviegoing. That’s not what the democratic, easy-access artform of the movies should be about.
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