LieMAX?

I must admit, I was one of the many who flooded to the theaters on the opening weekend of Star Trek, helping to boost opening weekend ticket sales. You're welcome, Mr. Abrams. Unfortunately, my extensive Darth Maul outfit was not as widely accepted by the folks in line as I had hoped...

Since Star Trek was going to be a big movie, I decided to see it see it in IMAX. Imagine my surprise when I saw that a theater right here in town had just opened up an IMAX theater! That was VERY convenient, especially since I no longer have a car.

I walked for 30 minutes to the theater and when I got there, was very upset to discover that the online ticket I purchased two days ago was not registering in the system. Oh, they had charged my card, but they weren't offering me a ticket. Thankfully, the management staff at the theater were very kind. They managed to find record of the purchase in their computers and allowed me access without a ticket.

When I finally got into the theater, I was blown away by the size of the IMAX screen! Oh wow! It was beyond words. Well, one word did come to mind.....small. You know how IMAX screens are 72 feet tall? This one was barely larger than a regular screen.

Okay, so this topic has been discussed all over the Internet since the release of the new Star Trek movie. Many people were as shocked to discover the deception as I was. The very first thing I did after leaving the theater was send a text to my best friend Neil who had yet to see the movie: "The movie was good, but I'm not convinced that IMAX in local theaters is worth the extra $5"

I still feel that way, and apparently I'm not alone. An actor who has been showing up on NBC sitcoms like Scrubs and the new Parks and Recreation got downright angry at his theater, causing a scene the likes of which would make Russell Crowe blush. Check out his story on his blog here. Also, in his blog is a link to an explanation about this new fake IMAX campaign.

Now, I wasn't as angry as Aziz was after I saw the movie. After all, the film was fantastic! But I did feel as though I had wasted $5. Actually, I felt as though I had wasted $6 since they charged me a $1 "convenience fee" to buy the ticket online.

I think what upsets me about this new trend is that it is an outright lie. The official title for what I saw that Sunday morning was "Star Trek: The IMAX ezperience". Here's the problem, though. IMAX is in the scope of 72 feet high, towering over you. That's not even close to what I "experienced" when I saw Star Trek.

To me, this is like some guy in Arizona advertising views of the Grand Canyon from his backyard and then taking paying customers into his backyard to take pictures of his swimming pool. We have a word for that: rip off. Okay, that's two words. Here are two more: sue me.

Do Hollywood producers REALLY wonder why movie piracy is on the rise? Are they honestly scratching their heads wondering why people would rather spend and afternoon downloading an illegal movie torrent onto their computer instead of going to the movie theater? Don't get me started on the re-release and re-re-release of "Specialer" editions of DVDs. That trend is so rediculous it makes Michael Eisner's direct-to-video sequels of classic Disney movies seem like masterpieces.

Essentially, what these theaters are doing is luring in people they don't think will know any better. And most people don't. So, they happily collect their ill-gotten $5 extra per ticket, laughing all the way to the bank. If only the Joker would steal THEIR money!

Now, I did see Dark Knight in IMAX and it was the "real" IMAX. It was amazing! They shot in the IMAX format so that the bank robbery at the beginning (among many other scenes and shots in the movie) were in the 72 foot IMAX format. Imagine seeing that in the dinky LieMax versions now being offered by local theaters. I thought I heard somewhere that the next Harry Potter movie had scenes filmed in the IMAX format, meaning intended to be blown up to the full potential. I just don't see these cheap knockoffs being able to provide such an amazing experience as what I had when I saw Dark Knight.

Did I hate the movie Star Trek? Far from it. I enjoyed the movie very much. But I think I would have enjoyed it just as much on a regular-priced screen and maybe applied the saved $5 toward over-priced popcorn. Or, maybe spent the same amount of money and seen in on an actual IMAX screen.

I don't plan on giving money toward these new LieMAX experiences. They just aren't the real deal.