Earlier this year, I wrote a blog entry about the unusual choice of aspect ratio for Justice League: The Snyder Cut. The short version is the film looked the way it did (appearing as a square frame rather than filling the whole screen) was due to the choice of capture format for the film known as IMAX. A celluloid film format, recognized as one of the most giant forms of image capture available in the Hollywood system.
IMAX is hands down, the best way to experience cinema in theaters. It is a frame of film roughly the size of a playing card, instead of traditional film or most digital sensors, which are about the size of postage stamps. This allows filmmakers to create rich, textured, massive, and epic images with frames that are as tall as they are wide. Presenting incredible movies on screens the size of small buildings.
AMC Metrion in San Francisco.
The main thing to remember about this fantastic format is that it is intended for theatrical presentation and, as difficult as it may be to admit, cannot be replicated for home viewing, regardless of equipment and screen size.
Even so, that does not seem to prevent the streaming service Disney+ from trying or at least claiming the contrary.
Earlier today, Disney released a few trailers on YouTube for their latest gimmick, "IMAX enhanced presentation," claiming to replicate the theatrical experience of IMAX right inside your own living room. While this sounds like an incredible achievement of home entertainment, in reality, it is just plain stupid! It seems to be primarily for some of their Marvel movies, as some of them were captured with digital IMAX cameras, which, while excellent, does not translate well on even the grandest of 4K home televisions.
The majority of Marvel films, even those shot on IMAX, are mastered in a 2:35 aspect ratio. Meaning they have those black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, creating a rectangular-shaped frame for the intended presentation. When filming a movie with a 2:35 aspect ratio in mind, filmmakers will monitor their images with a digital overlay marking where the frame will ultimately be. In Marvel's case, they frame their movies to best accommodate both the directors intended 2:35 ratio and IMAX presentation since the black bars are only added to the image after filming.
In other words, the only way to imitate the IMAX experience at home is to merely remove the black bars on the top and bottom of the frame, allowing the image to fill the entire screen. Which, despite what Disney would have you believe, is not IMAX but merely an unmatted presentation cosplaying as IMAX.
While the prospect of watching some of your favorite Marvel films filling the whole television screen sounds like a neat idea, you must understand that it is not IMAX. The complete and authentic IMAX presentation requires significantly more than merely filling the whole screen with an image. It requires a large-format screen, super complicated sound systems, and a proper projector to accommodate the epic format. Last I checked, nothing you can find online (not even Amazon) has the potential to meet those demands. This is like selling a Honda Civic claiming to be a Jaguar by merely removing the signature "H" from the vehicle's body.
Before you spend a fortune to needlessly upgrade your home theater system, remember that the magic of IMAX only works when you're in a large room with a massive screen sharing the experience with total strangers and loved ones. Rather than trying to fully replicate that experience at home, never forget that the home viewing experience is an entirely different one and can be just as magical (if not more so) than a genuine IMAX presentation.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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