{"id":66032,"date":"2026-07-04T12:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66032"},"modified":"2026-07-04T12:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:30:04","slug":"people-are-worried-theyll-only-see-half-of-the-odyssey-if-they-miss-out-on-imax-but-should-they-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66032","title":{"rendered":"People Are Worried They\u2019ll Only See Half of The Odyssey If They Miss Out on Imax, But Should They Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Odyssey is the first film to ever be shot solely on Imax cameras, but that has some people worried that they\u2019ll only see part of the image if they watch it in standard theatres. Is this a problem? Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">There are many different ways to watch The Odyssey when it hits cinema screens on July 17, but all the various formats available can get confusing. Look online at social media or on <u>Reddit threads<\/u>, and you\u2019ll see much debate about whether you\u2019ll be missing out if you don\u2019t see the much-promoted 70mm Imax version. <\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The Odyssey New Images May 2026<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"THE ODYSSEY, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Comments such as, \u201cSo audiences will have six different choices of how to see this film, with only one of them being the full image?\u201d by Reddit user \u201cCP_Chronicler\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Or Redditor \u201cMooseBoys,\u201d who is seemingly quite annoyed: \u201cStupid gatekeeping. It&#8217;s fine if you want to shoot the film for that aspect ratio, but don&#8217;t cut parts out for screens with other ratios \u2014 just don&#8217;t use the whole screen. Linear scaling is completely arbitrary anyway.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">As well as in 2023 for Nolan\u2019s Oscar-sweeping Oppenheimer, a similar situation occurred in 2025 when a couple of high-profile movies, Sinners and One Battle After Another, were projected in different formats globally \u2014 the former was shot on a combination of 70mm Ultra Panavision and Imax cameras, and the latter on 35mm VistaVision cameras. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Odyssey is a closer comparison to Sinners, in which Ryan Coogler only utilised Imax for specific scenes, as has long been the norm for most films that use the format, due to its cost and difficulty to use thanks to its sheer size and the sound it generates when the film is rolling. To combat this, though, Nolan worked with Imax to develop a new, quieter version of the camera on which the whole movie was shot on over 2 million feet of film.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">So, with all of this effort put in, naturally you\u2019d want to make sure you\u2019re watching The Odyssey in as ideal a way as possible. With many different format types to choose from, ranging from 70mm Imax (if you\u2019re lucky enough to live close to a theatre capable of projecting it) to 35mm, standard Imax, Dolby Vision, and others, it can get a little confusing.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Simply put, 70mm Imax is the \u201ctruest\u201d way to see The Odyssey, but with only 30 or so cinema screens around the world able to show it this way, this won\u2019t be the most common option. At an aspect ratio of 1:43:1, it\u2019s a much \u201csquarer\u201d image than a standard theatre screen, thus delivering a taller image that fills up the frame from top to bottom. This is because 1:43:1 means that for every \u201c100\u201d tall an image is, it\u2019s \u201c143\u201d wide.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-313219616\"><span><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/span><\/figure>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">So, naturally, there is some worry among potential viewers that if you watch Nolan\u2019s latest in any other format, you won\u2019t be seeing all of the film, or at least how it is intended. To some extent, this is true. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">If you go to a screening at a standard Imax theatre that doesn\u2019t have specific 70mm projection capabilities installed, you\u2019ll be seeing it at an aspect ratio of 1:90:1, which means you\u2019ll see roughly 40% less of the frame compared to 1:43:1, due to each \u201c100\u201d tall image being \u201c190\u201d wide on film this size, thus meaning in order to get whole width of a shot on screen, naturally, some of the top and bottom must be cropped or it just won\u2019t look right.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">This is further emphasised if you go and see it in either of its 70mm or 35mm formats, which hold an aspect ratio of 2:20:1 (100 tall, 220 wide) and 2:39:1 (100 tall, 239 wide) respectively, meaning you\u2019ll see even less of the top and bottom of the frame here. Then there\u2019s digital Dolby Vision and Premium Large Format, which can vary between 1:85:1 and 2:39:1 depending on the theatre. I did warn you it can get a little confusing. And that\u2019s without even getting into the different audio systems available.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZLZWtZyL-e\/embed\" height=\"710\" width=\"612\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In short, yes, if you live close enough to one of the few theatres in the world that can project 70mm Imax, and can afford to do so, seeing The Odyssey this way will be the optimal method. But if that isn\u2019t a possibility, standard Imax is still a very good option.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Odyssey should still impress on standard cinema screens, though, as Nolan and his long-term director of photography, Hoyte van Hoytema, whom he has collaborated with on Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, and Oppenheimer, know how to shoot a film for these formats \u2014 the Academy Awards wins and nominations attest to this. The centre third of the frame is still where the meaningful action of the film will take place, so while you may not get the full majesty of the frame when it comes to those sweeping Greek landscapes, none of the story will be cut.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">What format are you planning to see The Odyssey in? Living in London, I\u2019m lucky enough to live close to two 70mm Imax cinemas, so I will be treating myself at least once. Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at <\/em>@cardy.bsky.social<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/people-are-worried-theyll-only-see-half-of-the-odyssey-if-they-miss-out-on-imax-but-should-they-be\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Odyssey is the first film to ever be shot solely on Imax cameras, but that has some people worried that they\u2019ll only see part&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[20990,5301,121,21897,1131],"class_list":["post-66032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-imax","tag-odyssey","tag-people","tag-theyll","tag-worried","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}