Why you need to see Oppenheimer on IMAX 70mm film

IMAX 70mm film is a big deal, especially when a big movie like Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will be coming out on it. 70mm, 35mm, and IMAX film size comparisons reveal why you need to see any move in IMAX 15/70 (IMAX 1570) film when possible, especially when the movie stars Cillian Murphy. Projecting the film is no small task either, with massive 15,000 Watt explosive Arc Lamps are required to illuminate the 5.5 feet per second of film flying by (or 3.5 Mph) and here I can give a close look at the films including 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, 70mm 5/70 (5 perf 70mm) and 15/70 (15 perf 70mm) as well as what an Arc Lamp looks like and what it means. We are talking about 18k resolution of film that will be projected on gigantic dome screens, and I will help you find locations (where to see Oppenheimer on 70mm IMAX film) near you that will be presenting the movie in this format. I used frames from some famous movies including The Bee Movie (2007) and Interstellar (2014).

#oppenheimer #IMAX #70mm #Film #Projector #ArcLamp #35mm #16mm #8mm #projection #christophernolan #cillianmurphy #IMAX1570 #1570 #IMAXFILM

00:00 Why Oppenheimer?
00:53 35mm Film
01:27 70mm Film (5 Perf)
02:18 16mm Film
02:28 8mm Film
02:38 The Big Reveal
03:20 70mm IMAX
03:39 70mm Size Comparison
04:17 The Lamp (Short-Arc)
05:11 Why you must see IMAX 70mm
06:23 Length and Speed
06:57 Bee Movie
07:23 How to See 70mm
07:44 Things to Look Out For
08:45 Wrap Up

Thank you Valerie Moore for advice and feedback on the video.

Photo attributions:

IMAX is a Trademark of The IMAX Corporation.

Film frames used for education/commentary and the images depicted are owned by the owners of The Bee Movie (Dreamworks) and Interstellar (Warner Brothers). Promotional material for Oppenheimer is owned by Universal.

[KyleMiko]

Any 70mm (IMAX or regular/5perf) or 35mm is better than ANY DIGITAL (including digital IMAX). If you have the option always go for it! Otherwise, IMAX Laser is the next best bet. After that, all other options are basically the same.


I’m now aware I pronounced Cillian’s name wrong. And yes, I got a new mic since this video.

The exact resolution is almost subjective of film frames by size, largely due to the size of the grain from the film stock, and speed of the film and the manufacture also have a large impact! Also, as some other have pointed out there are also different venues with different screen sizes, GT (Grand Theater) is the largest, and what you also should aim for when finding a venue.

[creategreatness]

I hope Nolan keeps switching back and forth between historical films and fiction films. He did Dunkirk, then jumped to Tenet, and now is going back to history with Oppenheimer.

I REALLY hope that his next project is another ultra-ambitious space film like Interstellar.

[markvandenberg]

I was a 35mm projectionist for the longest time during my high school and college years. My colleagues and I visited an IMAX theater one time and got a tour of the projection room while there. Impressive technology and great memories. 👍🏻

[Lord_RoadRunner]

You have taught me so much. I thought film was gone and 4-8k was the best resolution possible this is actually so cool

[ClarkTeddles]

Hey Kyle, awesome video you've made here!
I'm sure this will start gaining thousands of views every week once Oppenheimer is out in theaters, because people will be wondering why all the posters say "see it in 1570 imax" and they'll watch this video to understand it.
I'll be probably taking a plane flight from Sydney to Melbourne just to see this in 1570, because Melbourne is the only imax in Australia with 1570 equipment.
Cheers, have a good one, Kyle!

[tender]

I never really got the hype around this film until this video. This has been really educational for me

[Seethi_C]

TENET was released on 70mm IMAX, but it was very limited since it was during the height of the pandemic

[Ulf_Gierdotson]

I love how practical Christopher Nolan is. He isn't afraid to step outside the norm to create something really enjoyable.

[charliepeterson]

Dude I’ve watched this video like 5 times without realizing you were the LNL projectionist at WPI! I try to catch every 35mm and 70mm screening I can on the weekends here!

[caernavon]

I think I knew that Imax film was reeled horizontally through the projector instead of vertically, but I never made this connection until now: Imax = VistaVision.

[markgraves-movies]

I watched it in 700mm IMAX FILM yesterday at Celebration Cinema North IMAX in Grand Rapids Michigan. It was so fun! You can even go up behind the projection area and watch the film spool through the projector. It's awesome.

[SebiKoerner]

I’m fortunate enough to live near a city that has a 5x70 theater as well as a IMAX with Laser literally within 10 minutes of each other and another IMAX with Laser just another 30 minutes away. Will definitely watch in both 5x70 and IMAX with Laser 👍🏼

[JABGaming]

your blowing out my speakers with the audio mix

[Miniweet]

35mm flat is usually 2K. There really is no point to scan 35mm any higher because color crystals equate roughy to pixel size and you can’t shove more crystals per mm. Anamorphic gets 25% more vertical resolution with 35mm but you need that special squeeze-unsqueeze lens. If you are wasting any money in a cineplex offering IMAX digital, don’t pay for it. It’s usually an upres and barely more than 2.5k. If your feature master is digital, then 4K anamorphic is more popular as a working format than it was 10 years ago, and this is the usual IMAX digital projection resolution, but NOBODY is delivering VFX in 18-20k that is necessary for true IMAX features. It’s all uprez. If you’re really lucky, the VFX house will work in 5k, but absolutely nobody is working in 18k.

[Sekir]

Holy Shit! I just checked our local IMAX theater and they play it with original sound! That's a first I've seen! It was only dubbed until now and I'll never pay to watch a movie dubbed.

[ThomasMatthewEvans]

Wow great video. That 35mm frame has SDDS on the edges, Dolby Digital between the Perfs, SR analogue and a DTS timecode sync track. It's hard masked to flat 1:85.1 projected with a circular lens instead of Cinemascope full frame anamorphic with an anamorphic lens. How geeky am I lol

[MrFernandoLl]

I don't even know what Oppenheimer is about, all I know is that I missed The Hateful Eight in 70mm, so I HAD to catch this one!! I found a theater near me showing it in 70mm IMAX! This is about to be me at the movie theater 🤩🤯!!

[mac]

Unfortunately, my two local "IMAX" cinemas will show Oppenheimer in LIEMAX using digital projection. I've seen 70mm IMAX film projection and LIEMAX isn't even close! Even 35mm film blown up to 70mm film beats it.

[missfireandice]

I know nothing about film, just that I've really loved every Nolan film I've seen since I was a kid. I already bought tickets to see this in Imax 70mm at AMC Lincoln Square, just trusting Nolan on his word that this is the way it should be watched. Thanks for the indepth explanation since I had no idea what I had actually purchased.

[Alice.]

your mic saturation is really annoying... hope you buy a new one soon