If there’s a film that truly merits being seen on the big screen, Stanley Kuberik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is one such film, and next month it’s coming to the IMAX screen at the Science Museum.
For the first time since the original release 50 years ago, this 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative. This is a true photochemical film recreation. There are no digital tricks, remastered effects, or revisionist edits.
This is the unrestored film — that recreates the cinematic event that audiences experienced 50 years ago.
Christopher Nolan recently oversaw “2001: A Space Odyssey’s” restoration in 70mm print, but this is the first time it will be offered in Imax.
Even better, considering that it’s is a 4-hour long screening, the film will be shown with the original 10-minute interval from the 1968 Roadshow cinema screenings — so that’ll give you time to get a pot of Lyons Maid ice-cream or a Kia-Ora orange juice while watching adverts for the nearby curry house and carpet showroom.
Tickets cost £14 per adult, and can be booked here.
I was able to see 2001 in IMAX ‘unofficially’ about 30 years ago, in of all places San Antonio, Texas. This was one of the traditional 15/70 IMAX theaters and although during the day it would play the obligatory Remember-the-Alamo film, in the evening they would screen a feature film on a regular 70mm projector outfitted with a special lens which filled up the width of the IMAX screen (but not the height, effectively letter-boxed). The film came out slightly dim as you might expect, but the sound was fantastic.