Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Seattle Cinerama

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-03-2015, 02:48 PM:

For years, I've wanted to visit the Seattle Cinerama. I finally got the chance yesterday.

The Cinerama does everything right:

Giant 68' wide curved screen completely free of blemishes
Crystal clear bright, perfectly focused Christie Digital 6P laser projection
Immersive 110 speaker wide-range high fidelity Atmos surround sound system
Comfortable plush seating with expansive leg room
A sloped auditorium with excellent sight lines
No center aisle
Zero pre-show screen advertisements
Working 70MM and 35mm projectors in the booth
A calendar that alternates between the latest hits and big-screen classics
Showtimes that alternate between 2D and 3D so that everyone wins
Beautiful decor, chocolate popcorn, friendly staff, courteous patrons

I saw The Martian at 3:15 in 2D. I got a tour of the booth. I sat in the center of the third rows. The presentation was flawless. The movie is fantastic.

After visiting this theater, I have to wonder why other theaters stay open. They should all just pack their bags and go home. Cinerama wins.

Posted by James Biggins (Member # 8574) on 10-03-2015, 03:26 PM:

quote: Geoff Jones
I got a tour of the booth

Only one?

Don't they do three-strip anymore?

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 10-03-2015, 03:29 PM:

I've been there in the past. Agree totally.

It's unique as a Paul Allen gift to us all. No way it makes any money.

Long Live Paul Allen!

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-03-2015, 03:43 PM:

quote: James Biggins
Only one?

We only went in the center booth. I saw the Cinerama projector.

They run a Cinerama series every 2-3 years. The standard screen has to be replaced each time because it can't really be folded up and put away. Which means they always have a new-ish screen there.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-03-2015, 05:37 PM:

Yup, I got a chance to do a quick visit last month and it really was a fantastic place. I hope to be able to go back and actually watch a movie there. I would definitely make the trip just to see a Cinerama show presented on film whenever they set it up again.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-03-2015, 09:31 PM:

I saw The Martian again today at Harkins Northfield with my kids.

The picture quality was noticeably inferior. The labels on the food bins in the Hab were crystal clear at the Cinerama, but fuzzy at Harkins. There were also jagged edges on the Chinese subtitles at Harkins that I didn't sea in Seattle.

Audio was also not as crisp.

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 10-04-2015, 11:10 AM:

Attended a sold out rep showing of Jaws at the Cinerama a few months ago. It was my first experience there after the recent upgrade and it was phenomenal. Was sadly out of town for most of the recent Fan Favorite festival but some friends went to Raiders, Bladerunner and Once Upon the Time in the West with stellar reports.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 10-04-2015, 12:16 PM:

Many people don't know that the huge curved louvered Cinerama screen sits behind the current used semi curved screen. It is way more curved and larger then what they use on a daily basis. It takes all day to take the current screen down and get the Cinerama screen installed. I toured the far right and left booths that they use for 3 strip Cinerama and they were larger then I thought. I must make a trip up the next time they show Cinerama. At one time they were thinking on just leaving the Cinerama screen up for all movies but they need to get a DCP lens made to handle the deep curve for digital shows. They have the lens for 70mm curved film use on the Cinerama screen.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 10-04-2015, 12:51 PM:

quote: Geoff Jones
After visiting this theater, I have to wonder why other theaters stay open.

Because of the one great thing about this place you didn't mention...the audience.

The Cinerama patrons are real movie lovers. They go out of their way to see movies there, they pay premium prices, and they pay for parking. They know what they're getting, and they treat it with respect.

The other multiplexes are needed to keep out the riff-raff.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-06-2015, 03:00 AM:

I went there a few years ago to see This Is Cinerama one night with How the West Was Won the next. I don't know why we can't have more theaters like that- I'd gladly fly over there again to see a movie there when there are others within walking distance of where I live that I wouldn't go to even if you paid me!

This was one example of a SPECIAL theater I mentioned to the people behind the redevelopment of the Sacramento Century Domes property- those were chopped in half in the 70s, and this year one was torn down with the other to follow in January and be replaced with a generic cracker-box multiplex. Properly restoring the original domes would have given us something close to the Cinerama, and we even would have had TWO of them! But most people in the business today have lost sight of what theaters should be.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 10-06-2015, 10:51 AM:

Is anyone projecting digital on Cinerama, D150 or other deeply curved screen? What is the Uptown (DC) doing?

Posted by James Biggins (Member # 8574) on 10-06-2015, 12:32 PM:

Dave Strohmaier projects his digital Cinerama restorations on the louvered screen at Bradford UK.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 10-06-2015, 03:24 PM:

The original three strip Cinerama films played at the long demolished Princess Theatre in Honolulu and I saw all them there in the late fifties A few years later, the old neighborhood theatre, the Pawaa operated by Pacific's Consolidated Theatres and renamed CInerama opened and played the two MGM three strip films THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM and HOW THE WEST WAS WON. It also played a revival of WINDJAMMER in three strip before being converted for IT'S A MAD,MAD,MAD,MAD WORLD in Ultra Panavision 70mm and advertised as single strip Cinerama. The original three strip Cinema projectors from our Cinerama theatre are now installed at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. l miss three strip Cinerama and glad a Blu Ray disc was released a few years ago of THIS IS CINERAMA, the first Movie in the process using the Smilebox process that simulate the the deeply curved image of the movie and it is great!

-Claude

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 10-13-2015, 09:44 PM:

What is also great Claude about these new Blue Ray Cinerama DVD's in the curved Smile Box system is the mag stereo sound. I remember seeing these classic 3 projector Cinerama films as a kid in San Francisco CA at the Orpheum Theatre that is still around today without the giant curved screen. The big box Ampex pink stereo surround speakers on the sides and back walls sounded great. Check out the Seattle Cinerama to hear good stereo surround today.

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 10-13-2015, 11:00 PM:

Three Strip was the Best Visual Expierence [Wink]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-14-2015, 03:51 AM:

I've heard that one can take those BR Smilebox prints, shove it through a 4K unit to be presented on a deep curved screen and you got "Digital Cinerama" - living up to Michael Todd's claim "Cinerama outta one hole."