Cinerama Impressions From The Dome |
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| Written by: David Granadino | Date: 10.12.2016 |
 Hal
Dennis Jr. son of
the producer
attending the Dome
screening in Los
Angeles. Picture
supplied by
Harrision Engle I just wanted to report to you my impressions about the remastered Cinerama films, RUSSIAN ADVENTURE and THE BEST OF CINERAMA presented on December 6 and 7 respectively at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles! I had the wonderful privilege of seeing RUSSIAN ADVENTURE (shown on December 6, 2016) and THE BEST OF CINERAMA (shown on December 7, 2016) this week at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. The remastered Cinerama films were amazing and entertaining! I have never seen these two Cinerama three-strip films before and it was a great pleasure. The remastered Cinerama films were shown from the digital projector in the Dome but filled the entire Cinerama screen. I say "filled the screen" because sometimes the present day movies shown there don't always fill the screen, leaving a little space on the bottom of the sides of the great screen. So, it was a pleasure to see every centimeter of the whole screen utilized. The presentations were bright, clear, complete with the blurred lines where the three strip film met in the original Cinerama films. Even though the three projectors were not used, the main projector (the Cinerama Dome's Christie laser projector can do anything, it seems) presented the films as if we were seeing the Cinerama movies with the three projection system! The experience was glorious! The RUSSIAN ADVENTURE was an miraculous restoration, and it was interesting to see that there were a few times that the different panels didn't always stay in synchronization. Dave Strohmaier explained that the panels of RUSSIAN ADVENTURE were difficult to remaster because of the way the Russian filmmakers made the film in their own version of the three strip production called Kinopanorama (the panels were not always in sync). For me, that made the movie a more authentic Cinerama experience! |
More in 70mm reading: Flicker Alley presents "The Best Of Cinerama" And "Cinerama’s Russian Adventure" Re-constructing “The Best of Cinerama”. And a new restoration of “This is Cinerama” from o-negs Update on remastered "The Golden Head" and "Cinerama's Russian Adventure" Cinerama Remaster Lost For Years, Orphan Films Discovered Abandoned in Hollywood Basement. Internet link: Rob Edelman: Cinerama Spectacular |
 Flicker
Alley BlyRays for sale and available at the Dome for the December special
screenings in Los Angeles. Picture supplied by Harrision Engle THE BEST IN CINERAMA didn't have the synchronization issues that RUSSIAN ADVENTURE had and the movie flowed easily from one great panoramic scene to another. The sound was crisp and clear, with THE BEST OF CINERAMA having the best sound for the Dome's all immersive sound system. The crowd in the Dome on both nights were enthusiastic and surrounded the Cinerama master himself, Dave Strohmaier, during the intermission and after the presentations! I noticed that the crowd for THE BEST OF CINERAMA had more young people in attendance than the night before which made me hopeful that these young people will love Cinerama as much as we "older" ones. I want to thank the team that remastered these great Cinerama films for saving these international Cinerama treasures from obscurity; thanks to Dave Strohmaier for completing this Herculean task of saving these movies for future generations; thanks to Arclight Cinemas for these special Cinerama nights under their ARCLIGHT PRESENTS program. BRAVO and congratulations to all! What a glorious night! I love the Dome! |
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