A Night at the iMax

It's worth trying out, not just for curiosity's sake, but for the impressively immersive movie experience as well.

Didn't know what to expect when I got an invite from Century Fox to attend the sneak preview of Ben Stiller's "Night At the Musuem" at the SAN MIGUEL COCA COLA IMAX THEATER in the massive, just massive, Mall of Asia a little over a week ago.

Before the preview, Century Fox's Philippine publicist, Mae Vecina, explained to this Imax newbie that the movie wasn't in 3D format, wherein you know, the seats shake, rattle and roll depending on the kind of scene that comes on screen-and that you'd feel like you're being plunked right at where the action is. Still, she reassured that Night at the Museum was digitally re-mastered (in 2D format) into the unparalleled image and sound quality of the Imax.

The first in the country, the Imax theater is situated inside the Entertainment Building, basically found at the center of Mall of Asia (signages will direct you, fret not); and boasts of the largest screen among theaters in the country (and one of the largest in the world!) at 22x30 meters. Try to visualize an eight-storey building with a seating capacity of 600 viewers, and that's Imax.

I was told that the movie was to be featured on the large 15/70 film frame, which is 10 times the size of the regular 35mm film, with the state-of-the-art digital surround sound all over to boot. But technical terms remain technical terms without the actual cinematic experience.

Inside the Imax theater, the seating is steeply pitched so as to let everyone view the entire giant screen without anybody getting in the way. And minutes into the movie, even if it wasn't in 3D, I knew that Imax succeeded in transporting moviegoers inside the Night at the Museum, especially when some children in the audience bawled-almost in unison-each time T-Rex the preserved dinosaur roared to life. (Night at the Museum tells of the wild [mis]adventures of a nighttime museum guard played by Ben Stiller who witnesses wild-eyed prehistoric creatures, fierce ancient warriors, long-lost tribes, African animals and history's legendary heroes supposedly frozen forever in time coming alive at sundown.)

Is it worth it, many have asked me, considering the Imax ticket price is triple the cost of a normal theater rate. If you happen to be in Manila, it's worth trying out, not just for curiosity's sake, but for the impressively immersive movie experience as well.

Now, that I have the time to sit down and reflect, let me just give you a couple of tips should you decide to try Imax.

1. When it's free seating, be sure to come in early because even with the price a lot of people would still watch movies in Imax. I dilly-dallied a bit at the sight of the winding line, so when I finally got in I found myself a bit close to the first few rows of the theater. From this angle, the massive images can be overpowering, dizzying and straining in the neck. Unlike when you're seated in the top rows, it'll be hard to recover... from the exhilaration that is. Also exit procedures demand that those in the top rows would be the first to leave the theater once the movie ends.

2. Be sure to prepare the kids in tow on what they should expect, so they won't be crying, demanding to be taken out of the theater once Atilla the Hun comes charging in.

Night At The Museum is now on its regular run in local theaters.