London Gatherings for The Force Awakens?

Hey All,

Just wondered if any one would be getting together for a viewing of The Force Awakens next year? It would be great to meet up and geek out!

All best,
Adam

 

Any Mancunians for a trip to a decent cinema (Ashton under lyne would be my preference) then yes, I'll join in something, no interest in going outside of Manchester though

 

Well I work for Odeon & I am happy to try & get tickets for people to see it provided I am still working there by then.

We have an IMAX in my cinema too.

 

I'm definitely doing a London trip for the midnight screening. Just trying to decide whether Odeon Leicester Square or BFI IMAX will have the best atmosphere...

 

I'll probably be going to the BFI IMAX.

 

Yeah I'm currently thinking IMAX as well. In all honesty I'll be happy to secure tickets to either lol!

 

Awesome! I've never actually been to an IMAX theatre.. I may have to treat myself.. It's either that or Premier Cinema's in Romford, which is also great and only £4 a ticket!

 

I have just recently joined the board and had asked one of the Moderators about trying to organise meet-ups to go and see Episode VII. The Fan Force UK side of the board doesn't really appear to be very active...None of my current friends are that into Star Wars and I would prefer to see the film with real fans. I wouldn't mind travelling to London and the idea of a midnight showing at an IMAX theatre is definitely appealing. Is there anyone up for trying to organise a meet-up? Perhaps there might be more interest as the release date approaches. Alternatively, does anyone know of any other UK based Star Wars sites that might also be organising get-togethers?

 

Am in Brighton and could easily make it to London for some Episode VII action

 

I think there'll be more interest when it gets closer and we have confirmed dates for the London premiere (if there is one).
I'm certainly planning to head into London to see it and looking forward to a meet.

 

As others have said we should wait for the release date to be closer (assuming this week's rumours about the release date being moved to the summer are wrong) then see about trying to organise something. If there's enough interest then we can talk about the logistics of booking tickets, where to meet etc

 

I expect my group of Star Wars friends are organising something for London; I'd have to check my emails.

I haven't taken much notice of Episode 7, which meant I ignored a flurry of their group emails about BB-8, thinking to myself, I don't even like Big Brother!

IMHE (in my humble experience), for a 21st Century capital, London's transport infrastructure is pretty non-existent after 1am, apart from an abbreviated network of night buses, so I would not recommend a midnight screening.

 

Best way to do a midnight screening in Central London is probably either staying in a nearby hotel (expensive) or organising shared taxi's home afterwards to spread the extortionate cost a bit.

Either that or go clubbing afterwards, stay out till dawn, breakfast at Bar Italia, then catch a regular tube/bus home when they start.

I may be a little too old to cope with that these days though...

 

Empire Leicester Square has a big IMAX screen. We could go there more easily & it's nicer

 

Now I'm tempted by the Empire! Did the full Star Wars day there back in 2005 so it would have a nice history to see TFA there. But is it a "real" IMAX? I recently went to Trafford Centre's IMAX screen and was really disappointed as it was a fraction of the size of the 70mm IMAX screen the Manchester Printworks has. I actually felt ripped off paying IMAX prices for it. The sound was great and the seats were really nice but the screen hardly looked any bigger to normal.

Edit - Ok, just did some research and Empire is definitely a proper size IMAX screen so I'm thinking Empire over BFI now purely because it's more central, so better for hotels and underground at 3am, and more seats so more chance to get tickets! Plus the IMAX is in screen one, the same screen Star Wars day was in back in 2005 so real sense of history there for those of us who did the marathon.

 

Hello Chaps,

I'd be up for a Star Wars Day reunion at the Empire IMAX for TFN - there is something quite nostalgic about that..... hopefully we can get tickets!

 

Raj! Great to see you here again!! This is definitely starting to feel like a reunion!

 

Haha cheers Chris - it's been a while! Does Stuey still post on here?

 

How long has the Empire had an IMAX?

It's been so long since I saw a film up West!

 

Raj - truth is I've not been the most active so I'm not sure if Stuey still posts or not. Maybe he'll come back for this?

Fizzbin! So great seeing all these familiar names! I'm like you, no idea the Empire had an IMAX! I thought it was only the BFI in London. Was happy to learn the Empire has one as I think it's a better location given what time we'll all be leaving the cinema

 

I've been to the IMAX Empire Leicester Square and it's pretty big. I saw TFA trailer twice on it when they did the live broadcast of Celebration panel.

But one shouldn't hate on digital IMAX for lack of size, IMAX is about the experience of sound and picture quality not about giant screens.
Even a normal sized IMAX is 10x better than a regular cinema screen, because they don't have twin 4K projectors or immersive laser-alligned surround sound. Plus the curved screens are really good, like those 4K TVs they advertise now.

TFA would be awesome on any kind of IMAX. I saw Jurassic World on both & it was great either way.

 

Yeah, I've done some checking and the Empire's IMAX is a proper size screen (4th largest in the UK) and definitely the best option for a TFA midnight meet up! BFI has a bigger screen (largest in the UK) but at the sizes we're talking about there's not really anything in it. Empire has a much better location for transport links and hotels given the time the movie will end.

I don't hate on digital IMAX, but I do think they need to be much more open about the screen size differences and price it accordingly. Personally when I think IMAX I do think BIG. Like I said Trafford had fantastic sound and really comfy seats but I found the figures when I was researching Empire and it's screen is literally a third of the size of the Manchester IMAX.

For example;
BFI London (70mm) - total size 540m²
Empire London (digital) - total size 413m²
Manchester Printworks (70mm) - total size 495m²
Manchester Trafford (digital) - total size 172m²

There's a noticeable difference from BFI to Empire but it's still a BIG screen. The difference between Printworks and Trafford is massive. They shouldn't be charging the full IMAX premium for that as, in my opinion, you're not getting the full IMAX experience. The size is part of the experience.

 

I find digital IMAX screens vary a lot in size. Some places have very big ones & some have ones that are only twice the size of a standard cinema screen.
But they're still the biggest screen in their respective cinema. A good way to get a better than normal blockbuster experience compared to the other screens available & not treck miles to the nearest giant IMAX cinema.

If size mattered so much, Sky Super screen cinemas would win out. The rival cinema to where I work has a very large Sky screen with moving D-Box seats, yet people still come to see the likes of Jurassic World in our digital IMAX which is half the size.
Why? Because it's better image quality & better sound.

 

I saw Jurassic World at the Empire IMAX - its bloody brilliant! IMHO there's no perceivable difference between the Empire screen and the BFI screen.

Richie - you're right about image quality and sound, but for me, part of the IMAX experience is literally losing yourself in the film because the screen goes on beyond your peripheral vision. That, for me, is one of the best things about IMAX. I've been frequenting The Lounge in Whiteleys - I'd forgotten just how awesome big screen IMAX is until I saw Jurassic World.

So in short, well up for TFN @ Empire IMAX