h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Consider adding this to the entry: I'll get technical since you did...In the mid fifties, a recording and exhibition system known as 'Vista-Vision' appeared: this ran the film horizontally through the frame, just as Imax does...on 35mm film (The Ten Commandments, etc.). This is the same standard that most film-effects houses use for bluescreen/greenscreening effects.
Why this is staggering in Imax is because when they turned the 70MM film stock on its side to gain the high, they left the 70mm width there too. Imax (Image Maximum) is almost square (same aspect ratio as current television), yet because Imax is 70mm film running at 24 fps (and must run proportionally faster because the frames are enormous), the result is a dramatic increase in image quality, sound quality (magnetic sound [only available on 70mm] is always better than optical [current standard on 35mm]) and because these films can only be shown in dedicated houses, the reproduction is consistently excellent: the managers have to maintain maximum standards....

3-D in Imax is staggering because of all of the above....and most of us are only familiar with the quickly-made, poorly-designed 3-D that we're used to seeing for a cheap thrill. Really good 3-D is staggering on 35mm but rarely seen.

Now, if only the filmmakers could consistently find stories or images that could do justice to/be done justice by Imax technology....

Fruitbat