CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[jbmeyer13]

The Last Jedi was predominantly shot in 35mm film but was advertised as having multiple scene's shot with IMAX 15/70 (1.43AR) film. They went as far as to advertise that only 11 IMAX screens worldwide would be displaying the film in true 15/70mm format. I drove 90 minutes each way from my home to Norwalk, CT to 1 of the 11 designated IMAX theaters only to be disappointed by the fact that there are no scenes in 1.43AR (true 15/70mm). Similar to The Dark Night and other recent films with 15/70 sequences, there should be an AR shift during those scenes and after doing some poking around online it appears that viewers at the other designated 15/70mm theaters have thus far not witnessed the requisite shift either. Now IMDB has altered The Last Jedi specs as having undergone the 70mm DMR process which is digital remastering of 35mm prints which are blown up for display on 70mm film at the original AR of 2.39:1.

It was exciting to see film displayed again and made for an interesting comparison to having seen the The Last Jedi in Dolby Vision on opening night. In the IMAX theater I sat really close (about 30' from a 36' x 85' 2.39:1 image) and while the black level was superior to a typical commercial digital display I can say that the Dolby Vision experience was either really close or possibly comparable to the DMR blow up. The ansi contrast was also excellent and the resolution of the DMR blow up was sharper than a 4K digital. IIRC, the Dolby Vision had a bit more punch to the image (color intensity) but it was also a smaller screen. Lighting up a screen that size is a considerable task to say the least so it's not quite an apples to apples comparison.

From a commercial perspective I definitely enjoyed both the DMR and Dolby Vision formats considerably more than the typical competing digital presentations. However, the black level on my set up at home is far more pronounced, especially during any of the space battle sequences