Gravity in IMAX 3D at TGV One Utama

Hello,

I would just like to rave that I liked the IMAX 3D presentation of Gravity at TGV One Utama (OU). It was an experience unlike any I had before. I would credit this site that I visited just before deciding on IMAX 3D or "plain 'ol 2D" (my default standard now) and I am indeed eternally grateful. And you will find that there are other sites that recommend watching Gravity in IMAX 3D; e.g. See ‘Gravity’ in IMAX 3D or forever hate yourself. You can count on my blog promoting Gravity in IMAX 3D as well!

For whatever reason, the 2310hrs slot that I chose on a week night did not have many takers (duh!), so I was able to comfortably choose a dead centre seat (at least it seemed like dead centre to me) in the ~7 month old TGV IMAX 3D theatre. Side note: apparently there were a couple of bloggers who were invited to attend the launch and I could count at least 3 local bloggers who blogged about the launch, interesting.. 

I was a reasonably frequently visitor of the TGV Sunway Pyramid IMAX theatre but after experiencing the OU IMAX experience, I will definitely put OU as my default option for IMAX presentations now. I will tell you why.

First of all, the TGV ticket purchasing experience was pleasant enough. It is good for the consumer (that's us) that GSC and TGV took different approaches to the ticket purchasing experience. They differ in the sense that

1. GSC would like the consumer to be a registered member in order to be able to purchase a ticket; try going to this GSC E-Payment link and you would be greeted with a members only notification, whereas
2. TGV is flexible enough to allow ticket purchase without ever logging in.Of course, the consumer would still have to provide some personal details like Name, Email and Phone, not to mention your post code in TGV's case.

As with the 'standard/normal' ticket purchasing, the ticket is sent to an email address of your choosing and you would have to print it out for proof of purchase. I do not think there's an option for you to just show/flash a 2D barcode, ala GSC.

I do like the option to just flash a 2D barcode at the scanner though..but that's just me.


Secondly, the cinema itself, though perhaps on the darker side, does offer up pretty decent popcorn combos. I actually wanted to try the Royale Popcorn Double Crunch but that was already sold out at 2300hrs. Since it was already quite late in terms of the cinema's business hours, I am not sure whether they ran out of that popcorn just in time with the cinema's last movie(s) or whether the Royale Popcorn was indeed a bestseller. For what it's worth, the waiter did say it was popular.

Nevertheless, I managed to snag the next best popcorn (I think it was the standard popcorn available) and mineral water combo (let's all live slightly healthier lives, shall we?). The popcorn did have good texture and taste and kept me coming back for more. I was impressed. I do not have the figures on how much it set me back though.


Tickets got us inside the theatre, popcorn and water in tow, so the following comments would be regarding the theatre hall itself. Spacious. Seemingly more available seats when compared to its TGV Sunway Pyramid IMAX equivalent. No complaints here.

Next, the sound quality. I could probably sum it up as 'great'. The surround worked well, with the sound of whizzing objects (think space station in trouble and you get the idea) being articulated well enough through the hall's speakers to make the Gravity experience more believable. Dialogue was crystal clear. I think the dialogue being conveyed clearly is important, because I do not recall reading subtitles in this IMAX presentation, or others before it for that matter.

The video quality. My, my, this is indeed the standard for IMAX 3D presentations specifically, as well as for 3D presentations in general from now on. Period. It captures as close as possible the feeling of being in space, and an astronaut confirmed this right here too: Real-Life Astronaut Weighs In on ‘Gravity’. I even felt queasy during some scenes, but again, every person has different biological characteristics so you may not feel the same as I did, but to feel as if you are rotating in space along with the characters is definitely an experience not to be missed.

With my video quality comment above, consider this posting done and dusted. In summary, if you've ever wanted to feel like you were in space, an IMAX 3D presentation would probably be your cheapest entry to the experience. No kidding.

That said, I believe the movie and movie Cineplex industry should probably 'gravitate' towards these 'Gravity' kind of movie-going experiences in order to continue being relevant in today's home theatre in a box, home theatre on your PC, etc generation. The movie-going experience MUST continue to be an experience that enthrals its moviegoers, otherwise, we could just sit at home and wait for the movie to be available via our favourite movie subscription channel and watch it on our big screen TVs with 5.1 or even 7.1 surround sound in a sound padded room...


Thanks for reading!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX 3D

Hi Readers,

I am glad to report that I just came back (relatively) from a screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX 3D at Sunway Pyramid. I can say I had my mouth open in amazement for a good duration of the movie, right up till the end. I did not have the best start to watching this much anticipated movie; I walked in a few minutes late, I have no idea how late. Suffice to say it was still during the 'prologue' sequence, so I hope not too much was missed, but I am the sort to watch a movie from the very start to the very end, so I am actually planning on watching The Hobbit again!

It wouldn't be smart to watch at the same place, now would it? So that set me off on a journey. The journey to find the best Hobbit experience. But what triggered me to actually yearn for a better experience? It would surely be because I found something lacking in the screening that I just sat through. After all, if one were fully satisfied, and the 'thirst' is quenched, why would one still ask for more?

What I found lacking was the much talked about 48fps that The Hobbit was shot in. You will find more explanation on this here. Feel free to use Google to find out more, if you so desire. I accept the fact that perhaps I was a little too confident that the IMAX 3D experience would have been the best experience with regards to 'new technology' pioneered by Peter Jackson, The Hobbit's director. I should have done more research. Also I assumed that all versions of The Hobbit would feature the 48fps, or to use the official term, High Frame Rate (HFR).

It turns out I was wrong. The IMAX 3D version that I watched lacked the clarity that I was promised by the hype surrounding the HFR version of The Hobbit. I knew straight away as I sat in my seat that I wasn't going to get the much talked about HFR in this sitting of The Hobbit. I was disappointed but thankfully the movie was good enough to whisk me away on its adventure. That said, I would be reminded from time to time that I wasn't watching the much touted HFR version by the many action scenes presented throughout the movie. Yes, the motion blur was there (supposedly reduced or eliminated by HFR) and very noticeable in the action scenes.

Anyway, it just gives more to aspire to in the 2nd screening. And that leads to the question, "Do Malaysian cinemas even offer HFR?" I immediately sought out the answer to this question. On the way to finding out the answer, I 'dropped by' IMAX's website to find out whether what I just watched was actually in HFR. I had to verify, because one can never be too sure of oneself. I could be wrong. Perhaps the HFR didn't offer much improvement over the standard feature presentation? But I was proven right. Apparently, there is IMAX, IMAX 3D and now, even IMAX HFR 3D. Click here to read more on this. That article on IMAX's website lists down the IMAX theatres around the world that are screening the HFR 3D version of the film. And sad to say, Malaysia was not on the list, folks.

With no IMAX HFR 3D option here, unless we travel down to Singapore for a screening (Congrats Singaporeans!), we would have to take IMAX out of the IMAX HFR 3D equation, which just leaves us with HFR 3D. Again, we have to ask ourselves, is such an experience available to us Malaysians?

Once again, I journeyed to find out. It wasn't a long journey. Google now lists down the movie screening times for you as you type out the name of the movie that you would like to catch, and after I typed out "The Hobbit" (it works even without the quotes, try it), the following options appeared underneath:

See showtimes for (3D), (2D), (HFR 3D), and (IMAX 3D)

So Google tells us that there is in fact a HFR 3D version of the movie being screened in Malaysia. And where would we be so lucky to be able to catch it, you ask? Well here you go, but do feel free to look it up yourself. Clicking on the HFR 3D link yields the following result:

Golden Screen Cinemas - Signature Gardens

Golden Screen Cinemas - Pavilion KL

I tried many times to see if there were more than the 2 given options, but I was unsuccessful. Please do update me if you, dear reader, have found anywhere else that screens the movie in HFR.

So the standard procedure now applies. Select a suitable cinema, with a suitable time and purchase the ticket (probably the most painful part nowadays as ticket prices seem to be on the up, why is that? Anyone know?) and once again, look forward to a new experience. Hopefully.

It appears that while TGV has gotten its hands on exclusive rights to IMAX in Malaysia, GSC is the first to pioneer HFR. Competition is a wonderful thing, and it is the customer that benefits in the end. Till after I catch the HFR 3D experience...

Public Enemies screening at TGV Suria KLCC

Dear Readers,

Hope you are all fine. Just a short post to spread some news about my latest gripe regarding another cinema; TGV Suria KLCC. Below is what I wrote on their online feedback page.

"My family and I watched a movie at KLCC last night (31.07.09); a 920pm screening of "Public Enemies" at Hall 8. It was terrible by my standards and I am sure by TGV's as well. The audio was woefully substandard, it was equivalent to mumbling! It's good that we understand B.Malaysia otherwise the movie would have been unwatchable. Other people in the cinema were complaining too! After some minutes, the sound improved but towards the end, it went back to being muffled again. And we paid RM12/ticket for this? It is not worth the price. I suggest TGV should buck-up. I will be spreading my opinion through word of mouth as well. I used to frequently watch movies at KLCC, but after this, I will need to think twice.
Do improve for your own good."

Yup, another bad review I'm afraid. Well, I have complained through the website, and I've blogged about it now, so by right, we can expect an improvement..but as we know, sometimes in life, things do not work out as planned, or to a certain extent, things don't happen as we believe they logically should ;-)

TGV did really well before "the rise of GSC" (:p). I remember queing up one week in advance in front of Suria KLCC just to make sure I got some good tickets for Star Wars Episode I. Yeah, it was THE place to watch blockbusters then, with its THX cinemas. It is sad to see this happen. Perhaps if any of you have anything to add, either for or against TGV, you are most welcome. Do share. :-)

Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the weekend!