Fans give two thumbs down to smaller IMAX movie screen

The Ultimate Movie Experience is slightly less than ultimate, depending on where you go.

Six months ago, the AMC movie complex at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach added IMAX capability to its 18 theaters, meaning movies are blasted onto an oversized screen. A blue banner announcing the feat hangs above the entrance. But the Lynnhaven IMAX is probably not the kind you're thinking of.

It is not the larger-than-life screen that invokes nausea any time a character moves, or makes you wonder why an actor doesn't get a closer shave.

It's large. But the screen at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach is 60 feet by 80 feet, making it the largest 3-D IMAX in the state. The one at the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton is 50 feet by 70 feet. Both are gigantic. The screen at Lynnhaven is smaller.

Although officials there could not tell me the exact dimensions, it is 25 percent larger than a traditional screen. It's impressive, and it's loud. It's just not the kind of big you automatically associate with the IMAX brand. Some have called it a "MiniMax."

When the technology

debuted at Lynnhaven in

November, the theater became one of 50 multiplexes nationwide to try a new kind of IMAX with digital projection. Officials have said they want to grow their brand and "accelerate" the transition to digital movies, from film. They said IMAX is not only a giant screen but "a premium entertainment experience."

Unfortunately, they delivered the line with all the persuasive power of Keanu Reeves. Hard-core movie fans have been giving the smaller places two thumbs down.

Since they've learned the IMAX at Lynnhaven and others across the country are not as large, not as nausea-inducing-but-in-a-good-way, some fans have taken to the Internet calling it "Fake IMAX."

All of which makes the debate over screen size come off as silly nitpicking amplified with 12,000 watts of digital sound.

Of greater consequence, an IMAX movie at Lynnhaven can cost $4 more than a traditional movie.

And this is especially important right now, because IMAX is the preferred

viewing experience for neck-craning, sci-fi geeks and "Star Trek" is their movie of choice. In just two short weeks, "Star Trek" has become the highest-grossing movie on IMAX, surpassing "The Dark Knight."

Just as Obi-Wan was responsible for Darth Vader, IMAX is responsible for the static over its newest progeny.

Representatives from both the Virginia Air & Space Center and the Virginia Aquarium said they've heard complaints from moviegoers about the smaller size of the Lynnhaven theater.

"There is going to be some consumer confusion," said Linda Candler, the aquarium's marketing director.

IMAX changed the way we watch movies. Viewers became spoiled.

It's instinct to stretch our necks, widen our eyes and expect deafening sound each time an actor as much as exhales. We demand skyscraper-high screens and won't accept anything an inch smaller.

Size does matter.

Mike Gruss, (757) 446-2277 mike.gruss@pilotonline.com