Mcwane Center IMAX — Attraction in Birmingham

Review only for watching presentations of IMAX format feature movies: I don’t think this Dome IMAX really qualifies as an authentic IMAX feature film, for me. I saw what I believe was the their last showing of Dune Two—or rather, I watched 15 minutes before leaving.

The audio was quite poor (low channel was way too loud and distorted), and the image just absolutely does not look good projected on a dome. Lines that are supposed to be straight are very clearly curved even a few degrees off center of the projection. Some of the corners of the image appear to be cropped off. And there is significant chromatic aberration.

I had assumed that the projector might compensate for the dome distortion, but that was not the case, or at least, not to my satisfaction.

I guess the only positive is that your field of view is quite filled at this distance. But I don’t think the quality being so poor at the edges of that FOV is worth it. Generally, it is very frustrating to me that “IMAX” means basically nothing, and that whether you are at one of the “good ones” is so unclear to the consumer.

The McWane facility seemed very nice, and I suspect presentations designed for the dome are quite engrossing. But feature films are a...

A great educational and stimulating experience to all ages, especially the young generation. As a member of the Alabama Science Teacher Association (ASTA) I've participated in the society's 2016 conference that took place at the McWane Center in Birmingham, AL. Since our non-profit organization, the AquacultureHub, is continuing to develop lessons for middle school and high school students via the ATOLL program, I wanted to meet more science teachers and learn from them of their needs. I found that the ASTA decision to use the McWane Science Center was really beneficial and inspirational to the conference participants. Everything on display was beautiful, educational and interactive, from the show on human anatomy to the 'touch the rays' fish pool for the little kids. I highly recommend teachers and parents to bring their kids to the McWane...

I had to leave my showing of Black Panther because some inconsiderate people brought their babies into the movie. Every loud noise upset them and they kept on making noise when it was quiet.

Loud noises are bad for babies' ears, and even if these parents don't know that (after all, why should they) the science center for children that has a whole poster about how popcorn is made should probably have safety protocols for young children, such as "do not expose them to loud noises". That's upsetting. I won't be coming back here.

(Also, this format is really bad for theatrical Hollywood releases, it turns out. I would have tried to stay through it but the TWO babies pushed me over the edge and I left. At least they gave me...