IMAX Theatre Sydney

Hi, this is Joe from Jolly Swagman Backpackers in Sydney - thanks for reading.

Today was the day to check out an IMAX movie in the IMAX Theatre located at Darling Harbour, Sydney.

I’d known about IMAX for many years – but for some reason had never been in to see a movie.

To get to Darling Harbour from Jolly Swagman Backapckers, just a two minute walk from the hostel to the Kings Cross train station.  Platform 1 train, 2 stops to Town Hall station.  A quick walk down Bathurst street and across the pedestrian bridge to the IMAX theatre, which can’t be missed.

The Moive sessions at Imax are about one movie shown each hour starting on the hour.  I noticed there was a lot of people lining up for ticket collection, I found out later they were here to see “Watchmen” a big blockbuster hollywood action movie.

I went to the 6pm showing of  UNDER THE SEA 3D, ticket price $16.50.
Entering the theatre, there was a lady handing out funky glasses to wear for the 3D effect.  There are a bit better than those old fashioned red and blue carboard glasses we used to wear as kids.  These ones were made of plastic and looked really cool (NOT!!)

As I entered the theatre the first thing I noticed was that all the seats were on a really steep slope upwards so I guess eveyone gets a great view.

Next thing i saw was the MASSIVE screen - its huge - seriously it looked like a soccer pitch size!

It was pretty exciting waiting for the movie to start, and messing around with the funky 3D glasses.

UNDER THE SEA 3D is obvously about ocean creatures etc.

JIM CAREY (the serious version) is the narator and he takes you on a journey around exotic locations like The Great Barrier Reef, Southern Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and they show you close up footage of some really interesting creatures - many of which i'd never seen or heard of before.

The 3D effects are really amazing - it seriously feels like you can reach out and touch things in front of your face!  Some points it makes you feel dizzy / bit wierd in the head too, but it is really impressive!

The movie itself was not what I expected - I was waiting for Sharks and Dolphins etc which only appeared briefly. I learned about STONE FISH - the most posioness fish in the world, Sea worms, Sea Dragons etc.

It was much more informative than I thought, and there was a lot of emphasis on global warming and protecting our environment.

The movie lasted about 45 minutes - which didnt seem that long (compared to 'normal' movies.  The 3D effects and the enormous screen were a really amazing experience - the screen totally fills your field of vision and you have to actively move your head to see the edges of the screen.  $16.50 is kind of expensive but I will definitely go again and its something everyone should try once.

Read more info on IMAX THEATRE HERE.

IF you have been to IMAX Sydney - please tell us which movie you saw and what you thought of it.