Last night I had a unique cinematic experience, that was almost certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Seeing Christopher Nolan’s Intersteller in its 70mm IMAX glory, the last 70mm IMAX filmstrip played at Melbourne Museum and the final use of a 17 year old projector that needed more floorspace than my apartment.

I will fully and un-ashambly admit I sacrificed the quality of my essay to see go to this event, 4 extra hours would have massivly improved my barely finished piece of writing. But alas…..I really wanted needed to see this.

Before the film began the managers and projectionists at IMAX gave a brief talk about the history of the 15 perf70mm projector at IMAX, and showed, live for the audiance, the process of setting up the film for display. The machine was impressive, and the size and scope of the filmstrip was awe-inspiring. 7cm film is a hard concept to grasp without seeing next to regular sized film. 24 frames, 1 second of film, is as tall as the average male. It was an insightful look into the technical complexities of the medium (and the visual fidelity of the film was a testoment to the quality of the product and the projector).

However, they also talked about why it is being replaced and how after 17 years it is time for the IMAX theatre to move on. The primary reason is cost, the monetary expenditure on keeping it running and obtaining/storing films is ludicrus. Another reason cited is  a lack of content being produced for the format, the host of the event saying that they couldnt keep it running relying solely on Christopher Nolan.

I am not the type of person who defiantly hates digital film (although I will not buy a digital copy of anything unless physical media doesnt exist), but seeing something disappear forever is always sad, an important part of artistic history lost (I know other 70mm IMAX projectors exist, but they are slowly vanishing everywhere, and I’ll likely never be able to visit them anyway). That being said, it is easy for a casual movie-goer to be angry at the loss of the projector, as we are not the ones who have to keep it running. A feeling of sadness is more approriate in my opinion. Like a beloved grandparent, its loss is sad, but not unexpected and its memory should be treasured.

As for the actual film, I did not see it on its original run, but I did see it later on DVD on a 24 inch TV with crappy speakers (although it was still better than my cousin, who watched it first on a plane). When I first saw it I enjoyed it moderatly, but I had several issues with the plot. As for the visuals and score, they were butchered by the TV, and all I could think was “I bet this was amazing in IMAX”.

I was correct.

Intersteller has the most 70mm IMAX footage out of any Hollywood film, over 75 minutes that made full use of the technology. The impact was stunning, while the constantly changing aspect ratio was annoying and a bit distracting, any and all the fullscreen sections were amazing, especially the scenes of silently drifting through space. The sound sytem at IMAX also put my TV’s shameful speakers in thier place, at certain points Hans Zimmer’s score made the entire room vibrate and teh deafening organs were incredible.

My issues with the plot still stand, but for sheer spectecle and overwhelming cinematic experience seeing Intersteller the way it was intended (as well as the emotional impact of knowing it was the last 70mm physical film reel to be played in Melbourne) made this event one of THE best movie-going events of my life