Hey IMAX fans!
As we close the book on 2016, I’d like to thank you for your readership this past year. Friday Feature was started in early 2016 as a way of recognizing and celebrating all things IMAX, so what better way to spend our final Friday Feature of 2016 by spotlighting some of our most memorable movie moments throughout the year.
So without further ado (and in chronological order) …
1. Deadpool: As the first major break-out hit of 2016, Fox’s Deadpool proved to be a force in IMAX, with its irreverent humor and style—and marketing campaign to match. I mean, seriously, though: chimichangas and “size matters.”
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The first film in 2016 to use IMAX cameras, director Zack Snyder managed to make the larger-than-life moments of Batman v Superman even bigger with an expanded aspect ratio in some of the film’s most epic moments. Plus, as a film that made the most of the IMAX canvas, it was a great precursor to …
3. Captain America: Civil War: Just one month after the release of Batman v Superman, Disney broke records in IMAX with Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, which also featured the use of IMAX cameras and expanded aspect ratio, resulting in one of the year’s most epic, superhero-sized battle sequences.
4. A Beautiful Planet: From acclaimed filmmaker Toni Myers, IMAX feature documentary A Beautiful Planet featured plenty of “firsts”—chief among them being that it was the first time an IMAX space documentary was shot using digital cameras, allowing for the first time night-time footage to be captured from space.
5. Ghostbusters: As a significant trend-starter in 2016, Sony’s female-powered action-comedy Ghostbusters makes the cut with its super cool 3D special effects “breaking beyond the frame”—a technique that would later be used by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
6. Sully: Is it really possible to have a “best of” list and not include Clint Eastwood’s latest? Not from our perspective, it isn’t. That’s because Sully marks the first film ever to have been filmed virtually entirely using IMAX cameras. Way to go Clint!
7. Harry Potter 1 & 2: As part of the week-long engagement in October during which audiences had the opportunity to see all eight Harry Potter films in IMAX, the franchise’s first two installments—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets—were digitally re-mastered into the IMAX format for the very first time, making them a truly unique experience collectively.
8. Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience: Speaking of truly unique experiences, there is no better way to describe legendary filmmaker Terrence Malick’s first foray into documentary filmmaking with Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it garnered rave reviews and has since been released in an Ultrawidescreen 3.6 version—a purely experiential film presented in the widest aspect ratio possible.
9. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Again, what year-end movie list would be complete without a Star Wars mention? Certainly not one from IMAX as Star Wars has become an integral part of The IMAX Experience®. With Rogue One, we were more than satisfied … ‘till next year.