Venom is still in theaters. Which premium movie format should you choose?
Venom: The Last Dance is the second sequel to the 2018 film Poisonand after the 2021 sequel Venon: Let There Be Carnage. Once again Tom Hardy and his Venom symbiote are currently causing all kinds of chaos in cinemas. While it’s safe to say the film isn’t a winner, either critically or commercially, it still does the job and you might be interested in seeing it in cinemas: but which format should you prefer?
The standard choice is a regular 2D screen, but for a crazy action movie, it might be worth a trip to a screen that will make the experience more immersive. Accomplishing this mission is 4DX, where cinema seats move in sync with the action on screen, along with slapping your back with impacts and water, smoke, wind effects and flashing lights. While it won’t be to everyone’s taste, it can be a lot of fun with the right movie and Venom: The Last Dance it’s the right kind of movie. Not only that, but the 4DX version is paired here with 3D, which is now a relatively rare format. Venom: The Last Dance has a RealD 3D release, but here in the UK these are limited, so if you like visual depth in your films, (if not narrative depth), 4DX 3D is your best bet.
If you want your seat to sit still, but are still looking for something a little “extra”, then you might want to consider ScreenX, which displays additional image information on the sides of the main screen – literally under the walls. I’ve had a mixed experience with this format. For example, it was great for Gran Turismo but less about The Creator. If you go, try to sit about halfway down or a little closer – that way you get the experience of the image capturing your peripheral vision rather than just in front of you, and as the screens aren’t that big, sitting closer you will increase your immersion.
I’m a big fan of Dolby Cinema, which technically offers the best picture quality you can find (at least until Barco HDR-equipped theaters become more widely available), and Venom: The Last Dance appears in this form. That means it’s rated to take advantage of the system’s higher brightness, near-HDR capabilities, as well as Dolby Atmos audio mixing. The Dolby Cinema screens also have really comfortable seats, so everyone together makes the journey worthwhile.
Alternatively, you can opt for another premium large-format system that lacks HDR but combines 4K laser projection with an extra-large screen and Dolby Atmos sound – these are known as Superscreen by Cineworld in the UK, while in the US We’ll find them on the Regal RPX and AMC PRIME.
‘Filtered for IMAX’ means we enjoy an enlarged 1.90:1 aspect ratio in all IMAX cinemas.
But the big thing about Venom: The Last Dance it has to be IMAX, and in the case of this film it could be split into six different formats. The reason is that the film in IMAX has both 2D and 3D versions – and each can be shown in one of three different projection technologies – either Xenon, (standard lamp), single laser or dual laser. Laser means a brighter, more colorful picture and 12-channel sound, while Xenon will tend to be darker and limited to six channels. If you’re going to do 3D, you want it to be one of the laser-based versions, and the generally darker image produced by older Xenon lamps doesn’t do 3D any favors.
Venom: The Last Dance filmed using IMAX-certified digital cameras, (hence the Filmed for IMAX marketing) meaning that on any IMAX screen you see it, the extended sequences will be displayed in a 1.90:1 aspect ratio, meaning additional picture to the top and bottom of the standard 2.39:1 ‘scope’ image that appears in all other formats (line of the even wider screen X). If you can find the film in laser IMAX 3D, I’d say go for that hero format, especially as the 3D conversions these days are pretty decent – unless you don’t care about glasses, in which case IMAX 2D Laser is your top choice .
