Take Me for a Ride in 70mm | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written by: Alain Dorange, Malaysia. Co-authored by: Mike Frueh (Iwerks) & Dan Sherlock (Showscan film), | Date: 06.02.2021 |
 The purpose of a ride film is to create an illusion of reality. To make the audience feel they are "in the picture". Instead of passive spectators, make them feel being a part of the action on screen by adding a big curved screen, high frame rate, moving seats, wind, water and 3D. It DOES make you reach out for the screen. Picture: Thomas HauerslevHere is a list, as complete as possible, for the ride films in 70MM. The technical details of the various designs used for those attractions are not the topic of this article. Suffice to say most of those movies were used with a Simulator Ride with moving or non-moving seats in specific theaters or individual seating. Moving seats (usually called DMS: Dynamic Motion Seats) are designed with hydraulic jacks on 3 axis and moved in synchronization with the film. The duration of those films mainly run between 3 and 7 minutes. Those attractions are mainly found at the following places: - Theme Parks - Amusement Arcades - Fun Fairs - Shopping Malls - International Expos - 4D (or more) Theaters The major players for those Ride Films (nowadays all in Digital) were Showscan (up to 2002), iWERKS (still fully active under the name of SimEx - Iwerks), then on a lower scale n New Wave International, IMAX, Disney Ride Film Corporation and few others. At the same time the cutting line between immersive movies and the ones designed as Ride Films are foggy, and this is the reason you will find some titles which are in between. • Go to More Widescreen At The Fairs YEAR 1900 At the PARIS EXPO (April 14th to November 12th), inspired by the attraction “The Volcano of Kileva” at the World’s Columbia’s Expo of 1893, Raoul Grimoin-Sanson from France presented the CINEORAMA. An attraction composed of a balloon where an audience of 200 is taking place and below them, 10 projectors 70mm are projecting on a 360 degrees screen (10m height). This attraction supposedly only lasted 3 days because the heat generated by the 10 projectors were posing a real danger. This was really the very First Ride in 70mm. YEAR 1904 The real Film Ride with movements was developed by the American George C. Hale at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Expositions in St Louis. The movie being only in 35mm, “Hale’s Tour” took place inside a railway car (72 seats) with a 10-minute running movie and machinery below the carriage to rock this rail car. For the record, by the end of 1906, more than 500 ‘Railroad Rides’ were in motion all around the world. YEAR 1955 Opening of Disneyland/Tomorrowland on July 17th, 1955, the beginning of the Leisure Age. The attraction (in 16mm) called “Rocket to the Moon” started July 22nd. The audience were seated in moving chairs, disposed in a circle to simulate the G force during the Rocket launching. There were 2 screens; 1 on the floor to represent the earth and 1 in the ceiling representing the moon. There was also the CIRCARAMA (11 x 16mm) but this was not technically a ride. YEAR 1978 We should mention the Single Strip Space Vision 3D from Murray Lerner for Marineland in Florida. The movie was “Sea Dream”. This was a 35mm movie at the ratio of 2:40:1 with 4 magnetic tracks in Quadrophonic Sound and converted a few years later on 70mm support. This 3D movie had some sequences shot at 96 fps and 360 fps. | More in 70mm reading: Around the Screen in 360 Degrees More Widescreen At The Fairs Circle Vision 360 Circarama at the "EXPO" in Lausanne, Switzerland Cinema Circulaire 360 - Arromanches 360 The true history of Circlorama 1962-65 "Circlorama Cavalcade" credits The new "Circlorama" cinema in London Stanley Long, Mr. "Circlorama" Visits Widescreen Weekend, Pictureville 2011 Projecting Circlorama Cinerama 360 Kinopanorama A Century of Widescreens at the World's Fairs All-Around Cinema - Ernst A. Heiniger‘s Swissorama |
 iWERKS Turbo Ride in Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas HauerslevYEAR 1982 • “Magic Journeys/16 Minutes “at Disney-Epcot (Journey Intro Pavilion/600 seats). This is the first 70mm 3D (with CGImagination) shot with the Disney 3D Rig. This concept (with 2 Mitchell cameras) was developed by Steve Hines for shooting 65mm Stereo Motion Pictures. Those cameras can film up to 75fps. The screen was 18m x 8m and the attraction lasted from October 1st, 1982 to January 1995. • "Symbiosis"/18 Minutes” at Disney-Epcot (Harvest Theater at the Land Pavilion). Film in Super Panavision 70 at 30 fps. • Go to "Norway" Cast & Credits YEAR 1983 In August 1983, Brock (a corporation engaged in the business of owning and operating Hotels and Pizza Parlors) and Mr. Trumbull created the Brock / Trumbull Entertainment Corporation to exhibit Showscan movies at those Pizza Parlors. • “Meet the World/19 Minutes” at Tomorrowland, Tokyo Disneyland. Film on 360 degrees with 9 x 70mm projectors. The audience is in the center on a rotating platform and the screens outside. This attraction lasted from April 15th up to June 30th, 2002. • “The Eternal Sea/17 Minutes” also at Tokyo Disneyland. This is a Circle Vision 360 projections but limited at 200 degrees with 5x 35mm projectors. • “Horizons aka Omnisphere/14 Minutes” at Epcot Center, Disney World. This was called a Dark Ride Attraction (in tunnels) and used 2 Omnimax Screens 1570, with the films running on endless loops. YEAR 1984 The Showscan movies start at the Pizza Parlor locations. The first place is at Little River Turnpike in Fairfax. Opened mid-April 1984 with the title “New Magic/short version”. The screen is slightly curved with the dimensions of 11.5m x 5.6m. YEAR 1985 Creation of iWERKS Entertainment Inc by two former Disney employees; Don Iwerks (son of Ub Iwerks, the very first Disney Animator) and Stan Kimsey. YEAR 1986 • “Captain Eo/17 Minutes” from September 12th at the Disneyland Florida and from September 18th in California. Film shot with the Disney 3D Rig (dual 70mm/570), directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas. It ran on a continuous loop system for a 600-seat theater and with a screen of 15.5m x 7m. Some parts were also blown up from 35mm to 70mm. • “Tour of the Universe/9 Minutes” from May 1986 at the basement of the CN Tower in Toronto. This is a Showscan movie projected in 2 Boeing 747 Simulators, 40 seats each. The design is from the company SimEx (Moses Znaimer) and will also be used as a base for the 1987 attraction at various Disneyland Theme Parks. • “Deep Sea Rescue/5 Minutes” at the Expo 86 in Vancouver (British Columbia Pavilion). | |
 “Escape to Planet Earth" in iWERKS' Turbo Ride in Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas HauerslevFROM THE YEAR 1986 up to 1998: SHOWSCAN RIDE FILMS Source: Dan Sherlock This listing is nearly complete. The movies had a running time from 2+ to 5+ minutes and in alphabetical order. The first Showscan Ride Films to the paying audience was either “Tour of the Universe” at the CN Tower - Toronto in 1986 OR the “Chevy Thrill Ride “at a temporary theater in Orlando. “Aerial Dogfight” - 3’30’’ “Alien Encounter” - 5’06” “Alpine Express” - 4’17’’ “Alpine Raceway”- 3’07’’ “Aquaride”- 4’38’’ “Asteroid Adventure”- 3’35’’ “Astro Canyon Coaster”- 3’10’’ “Beach Buggies”- 2’39’’ “Big Bad Bugs”- 4’50’’ “Chevy Thrill Ride”- 5’ / First time for the use of DMS seats. “Cosmic Pinball” - 4’02’’ “Desert Duel”- 3’55’’ “Desperado”- 3’55’’ “Devil’s Mine Ride”- 4’20’’ “Downhill Skier”- 2’36’’ “Dracula’s Haunted Castle”- 4’19’’ “Dragon Planet”- 4’50’’ “Dynamite train” - 4’11” “Fun House Express”- 3’35’’ “Glacier Run”- 3’42” “Grand Prix Raceway”- 3’40” “Haunted Raceway”- 5’09” “Hong Kong Havoc”- 4’17” “Kid Coaster” - 4’09” “Life is a Roller Coaster”- 8’00” “Night Race”- 4’00” “Ninja”- 2’56” “Olympic Bobsled”- 2’21” “Police Chase”- 3’13” “Realizing the Dream”- 11’00” / Celebrating the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. “Rescue at Sea”- 4’45” “Revolution”- 3’08” “RGB Adventure”- 4’12” “River Run”- 3’25” “Robo Soldier”- 4’50” “Rollercoaster”- 3’09” “Runaway Train” - 2’53” “Silicon Adventure (aka: Silicon Express)”- 5’28” “Soccer Boots”-? “Space Creeps”- 5’00” “Space Race”- 5’16” “Stock Car Showdown”- 4’02” “Storm Rider”- 4’48” “Street Fighter II Ride”- 4’30” “Street Luge”- 5’09” “Tour of the Universe”- 9’00” / Initial or Working title “Journey to Jupiter”. “Virtual Time Machine” - 4’12” “Volcano Mine Ride” - 3’28” “Whitewater Rafting” - 2’37” | |
 iWERKS Turbo Ride - "The Ultimate Thrill Adventure" on Pier 39, San Francisco, USA, October 1994. Picture by Thomas HauerslevYEAR 1987 “Star Tours/3 Minutes” at several Disney Theme Parks. 70mm movie with the audience inside 4 simulators DORON SR 2. Those hydraulic motion base cabins are featuring 6 degrees of freedom. The 70mm projectors are located beneath the cockpits. Movie from Walt Disney and ILM (George Lucas). YEAR 1988 Opening November 10th, the Cinema Dynamique Theatre at the Futuroscope near Poitiers/France. This is a permanent Showscan Ride Film Theater with 45 seats and showing the movies, part of the Showscan list such as: “Beach Buggies” “Downhill Skier” “Whitewater Rafting” “Rollercoaster” YEAR 1989 • “Voyage to Sendai/12 Minutes” at the Sendai Garden Expo 89 in Japan. This is a 3D Ride from Wayne Lehrer. No other data available except it was 70mm. • “Body Wars/5 Minutes” at the Wonders of Life Pavilion (Epcot Center). 70mm movie directed by Leonard Nimoy and shown from October 19th, 1989 to January 1st, 2007. Simulation Ride inside the human body. There are 4 vehicles, 40 seats each. YEAR 1990 • “Questor/3 Minutes” at Busch Gardens Williamsburg/Virginia and Tampa/Florida. High Tech Flight Simulator with a 70mm movie. • “The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera / 8 Minutes” at Universal Studios in Florida. 70mm movie with a ratio at 2:35:1. 12 moving bases with 8 people each. • “Escape to Planet Earth/3 Minutes 10 Seconds” at Liseberg Amusement Park in Göteborg/Sweden. This is the very first Iwerks Ride Film in 870. Please also refer to the Iwerks list here under. • Go to More Widescreen At The Fairs • Go to PDF IMAX at EXPO '90 | |
 "Spaceport Liseberg". iWERKS Turbo Ride in Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas HauerslevFROM THE YEAR 1990 UNTIL TODAY This is the complete list of the 870 Ride Films from Iwerks which was then acquired by SimEx in 2002 and still fully active nowadays but under the Digital format. This list is in alphabetical order and the running times are between 2+ and 5+ minutes. The Iwerks moving seats were called Iwerks Turbo Seats all around the world. The Iwerks Turbo Reactors were the mobile units carried by trucks. Source: Mike Frueh from Iwerks “7th Portal”- 3D “Aliens Ride at the Speed of Fright”- 2D “Alpha One Cowboy”- 2D “Animal Adventure” - 3D “Arctic Adventure” - 3D “Astro Pinball” - 2D “AT & T ‘s Ride the Network” - 2D “Bamboo Express” - 3D “Big Bang” - 2D “Body Blender” - 2D “California Action Tour”- 2D “Canyon Rapids” - 2D “Colossus” - 2D “Comet Impact” - 3D “Corkscrew Hill” - 3D “Cosmic Coaster”- 2D “Crescendo”- 2D “Days of Thunder” - 2D “Deep Sea the Ride” - 3D ‘’Dino Island”- 2D ‘’Dino Island II” - 3D “Dino Simulator”- 2D “Escape to Planet Earth” - 2D/This is the very first Iwerks Ride Film/3’0” “Extreme Speed”- 2D “Funhouse Express” - 2D “Funhouse Express 3D” - 3D “Glacier Run”- 2D “Hanna Barbara”- 2D “Jake Breaking” - 2D “MMR3 Motion Madness”- 2D “Monkey Madness” - 3D “Monster Trucks the Ride”- 3D “Moon Raid Alpha” - 2D “Motion Odyssey Madness” - 2D “Mumbles Wild Ride” - 3D | |
 iWERKS' Motion Master 5/70 in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1992. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev“Outlaws”- 2D “Pacific Rim Ride” - 3D “Pirates Rapids” - 3D “Rattler” - 2D “Reboot the Ride”- 2D “Red Rock Run” - 2D “Right Stuff” - 2D “Robocop the Ride” - 2D “Robots of March” - 3D “Runaway Robot”- 2D “S.O.S / Sub Oceanic Shuttle” - 2D “Santa’s Late” - 2D “Secret of the Lost Temple”- 2D “Sky Dog the Ride” - 3D “Smash Factory” - 2D “Smokey Mountain Adventure” - 2D “Solar Coaster” - 3D “Speed Racer Grand Prix”- 3D “Sponge Bob” - 3D “Star Gate” - 2D “Star Warriors”- 2D “Super Sonic Flight”- 2D “Super Speedway” - 2D “Superstition” - 2D “The Great Wall of China” - 3D “Thunder Road”- 2D “Ultimate Roller Coaster” - 2D “Virtual Time Machine”- 2D “Warrior of Dawn”- 3D “Welcome to Toy World”- 3D “White Lightning” - 2D YEAR 1991 • “Muppet Vision 3D/20 Minutes” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando. 570 movie from Jim Henson (The Muppet Show). This is the third Disney 3D Rig movie. 4D Theater. • “Back to the Future: The Ride/4 Minutes, 11 Seconds” at Universal Studios Florida, Hollywood and Japan. Opening date is May 2nd, 1991. This is actually the first IMAX 1570 based Ride movie. OMNIMAX film projected on a hemispherical screen with a diameter of 26m. The audience are moving in an 8 passenger Delorian Car, 4 axis Motion Base. This is also the first OMNIMAX film to feature a Stop- motion Animation (Dinosaurs). In France, LE CINAXE at La Cite Des Sciences et de l’Industrie de La Villette (Paris) located near LA GEODE (an OMNIMAX icon) is using a 12-ton Boeing 747 Flight Simulator (60 seats inside) and 70mm movie at 30fps. The Dolby Sound is making use of 10 speakers inside the module. This Ride was open from May 18th, 1991 to 1996 and then the 70mm was replaced by HD Digital at 50 fps. This attraction closed finally on May 10th, 2011. The movies were the following with a running time between 3 to 5 Minutes: • “L’Ile Mystérieuse/The Mysterious Island” • “Le Chateau Hante/The Haunted Castle” • “Mars Game/Mars Game” • “Le Maléfice de Toutankhamon/The Curse of Toutankhamon”. The marketing slogan was: Voyagez dans la Troisième Dimension (do the translation yourself for a change!). • “Sea Trek/4 Minutes” from Vista Collaborative Arts Inc. and presented by SimEx. Film in 570 at 30 fps and Digital Surround Sound. The Flight Simulator is designed with 60 seats. First shown at AOIA/Kobe (Japan), Ontario Place/Toronto (Canada) and Fiera Popular/Lisbon (Portugal). | |
 Typical ride film theatre. Here is the iWERKS Turbo Ride - "The Ultimate Thrill Adventure" playing "RoboCop The Ride" and "Dino Island" on Pier 39, San Francisco, USA, October 1994. Picture by Thomas HauerslevYEAR 1992 This was the year for Expo 92 in Seville/Spain. The immersive movies have already been mentioned under a previous article A Century of Widescreens at the World's Fairs. What was remarkable at this Expo 92 was all the Giant formats were exhibited together. Here is just a reminder of the titles: • Go to PDF IMAX at EXPO '92 • “Momentum” IMAX HD 1570 (48fps) • “Vientos de Espana” IWERKS 870 • “Nature Rediscovered” SHOWSCAN • “Concert for the Earth” SHOWSCAN 3D • “Eureka!” OMNIMAX • “Echoes of the Sun” IMAX SOLIDO • “Mi Pais Vasco” IWERKS IMAGINE 1070 At the Disneyland World Resort there was a night show: “Fantasmic”. The show included live characters, fireworks, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, water effects, decorated boat floats and 3 Mist Screen projections. Those 3 Mist Screens are 16.5m x 11.5m each, upon which 3 films in 70mm are projected. As usual, the projectors were replaced by HD Digital ones in 2008. YEAR 1993 This was the year of the Expo 93 at Taejon / South Korea: • “Dancing Orchestra/15 Minutes”. 70mm movie produced by VIFX and projected at the Local Government Pavilion, but no other data available. • “The Guardian/3 Minutes 30 Seconds” at the KIA Motor Pavilion. This is a 70mm Ride Film. • “Terabyss/4 Minutes 30 Seconds”. 570 movie at 30fps. • “Starquest Adventure/4 Minutes” at the Samsung Pavilion. 870 movie at 30fps. Also, to clarify a format issue with IMAX, their Division called IMAX RIDEFILM produced some ride films under the format 835 - 48fps. Horizontal projection with Fisheye lenses (Dome projections) The identified titles (source: Dan Sherlock) were the following: • “In Search of the Obelix/4 Minutes 10 Seconds” in 1993. • “Fun House Express/4 Minutes 7 seconds” in 1995. • “Crashendo/4 Minutes” in 1996 • “Dolphins: The Ride/4 Minutes” in 1997 • “Reboot the Ride/4 Minutes 30 Seconds” in 1997 • “Reboot the Ride V.2: Journey into Chaos/4 Minutes 13 Seconds” in 1997 • “Asteroid Adventure/3 Minutes 35 Seconds” in 1997 (converted from the same title produced in 1994 / IMAX DOME HD 1570 - 48fps). There was a theme area within the Casino of the Luxor Hotel/Las Vegas called ‘The Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid’. Concept from Doug Trumbull and composed of 3 episodes (to be experienced in proper sequence): • Episode 1: “In Search of the Obelisk/4 Minutes”. This is a special horizontal 35mm 8 perfo movie at 48fps projected with fisheye lens on a 180-degree wraparound screen. This is a RIDEFILM theater including several 15-passenger motion-based simulators. sound on 6 channels. At the pre-show there was another ride film (835 - 48fps) showing 2 freight elevators falling down at high speed. • Episode 2: “Luxor Live/17 Minutes” in a theatre of 350 static seats. 3D films at 48fps on multiple screens lowered from above during the show with Showscan rear projected (flat screens). • Episode 3: “Theater of Time/15 Minutes”. Here again, this is an 835 - 48 fps movie on a slightly curved vertical screen 11.5m x 23m, raked at 45 degrees with 10 channel digital sound system. But for this RIDEFILM, the projection is vertical, standard lens. The theater is composed of 350 static seats and the seats have transducers to induce shock wave effects. | |
 Showscan in Denmark, 1995. Nine moveable "pods" each with four seats. Picture: Thomas HauerslevYEAR 1994 Douglas Trumbull becomes the Vice Chairman of IMAX and President of IMAX RIDEFILM Division. • “Honey I Shrunk the Audience/23 Minutes” at Disney EPCOT / Florida. This is the fourth Disney 3D Rig movie. • “The Eternal cycle” from Cinema Six Film Group (CSFG) in Orlando. Little is known about this movie shot in ULTRA TORUSCOPE 70 at 30fps. The screen is curved at 120 degrees and there are 12 digital sound channels. • “Asteroid Adventure/3 Minutes 36 Seconds” at the Phantasialand Galaxy IMAX Theater in Bruhl (Germany). This is an IMAX DOME HD at 48fps. The opening was on July 13th. • “La Vienne Dynamique/12 Minutes” at the Pavilion de la Vienne, part of the Futuroscope Park near Poitiers, France. This is a 570-movie projected on a 315M2 screen and 8 tracks Stereo Sound. There are 96 platforms composed of 2 moving seats each. This attraction lasted up until February 2012. Also, at the Futuroscope, opening of the second Cinema Dynamique to show more Showscan Ride movies. This theater is composed of 12 platform with 4 seats each. YEAR 1995 • “Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable/13 Minutes” at the Land Pavilion in EPCOT Orlando. A 570 movie, not technically a ride film but shown here because it has the interest of having footage from 30 different countries. Opened on January 21st and closed on February 3rd, 2018. • “Funhouse Express: Jimmy’s Clown Chaos/4 Minutes 29 Seconds” opened on May 27th at the Sega City @ Playdium/Toronto and worldwide such as Japan, France, Magical World of Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire, UK, which was considered the first permanent theater IMAX RIDEFILM (835 - 48fps). YEAR 1996 Iwerks and Showscan filed an Anti-Trust Lawsuit against IMAX. • “Terminator 2 - 3D: Battle Across Time/12 Minutes” at Universal Studios, Florida. This was the largest 3D attraction in the World. The show was composed of 3 screens of 16.5m x 7.6m each: one central and the left and right ones arranged at 60-degree angle to surround the audience, spanning nearly 50m. The 3D projection on those 3 screens was achieved with 6 projectors 70mm. The total number of speakers in the theatre was 159 delivering 46.620 Watts of power (as a matter of similarity, 150 speakers were used at the MIR theatre in Moscow/Russia for the Kinopanorama process). Obviously, this Terminator movie was directed by James Cameron. • “Ellen’s Energy Adventure/45 Minutes” at the Universe of Energy Center Pavilion, EPCOT/Florida. Not a ride film but this movie was projected with 3 projectors 70mm on 3 strip Panorama Screens. YEAR 1997 • “Pirates 4D/17 Minutes”. Film 570 - 3D from Iwerks, shot in Puerto Rico, US, Virgin Islands and Santa Lucia by Keith Melton and Peter Anderson. • “Thrill Ride - The Science of Fun/38 Minutes”. This is just a conventional IMAX movie 1570 directed by Ben Stassen and nWave International but retracing the history of past, present and incoming future Rides. Available on DVD. • “Reboot the Ride/4 minutes 30 seconds” in IMAX RIDEFILM 835 - 48 and the second one “Reboot the Ride V.2: Journey into Chaos”. Same format. Their projections were on 180-degree spherically curved screens. Played at the Circus Circus (Adventure Dome of Las Vegas) and moved to the Luxor Hotel where it ran until 2007. | |
 Showscan in Denmark, 1995. 36 seats in nine moveable "pods" each with four seats. Picture: Thomas HauerslevYEAR 1998 • “Race for Atlantis/3 minutes 35 seconds” at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Futuroscope near Poitiers, France on January 15th. IMAX Dome / OMNIMAX 3D on a spherical screen of 27M diameter and DTS Sound. • “Star Trek: The Experience - The Klingon Encounter/4 minutes” at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas on January 4th. OMNIMAX Projection. • “It’s Tough to be a Bug/9 Minutes”. This is the first attraction based on a PIXAR movie and the fifth one shot with the Disney 3D Rig. Audio in 31.1 with the speakers hidden in the rocks around the theater. Shown in Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. • “A Trip to Mars/4 minutes”. This was just a Demo Ride Film in 570 - 30fps, DTS Sound, part of a Demo film called “Cinespace 70”. YEAR 1999 • “The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man/5 minutes” at Universal Studios, Orlando. This was claimed to be the first Dark Ride: High speed vehicles + Stereoscopic projections through Dark tunnel. Produced by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walezak from the Kleiser Walezak Construction Company (KWCC). For the record, KWCC produced in 1998 a computerized animated film in 70mm - 3D called “Monsters of Grace” for a Digital Opera of the same name composed by Robert Wilson and Philip Glas. Spider-Man is the most expensive riding attraction ever put in place. There is the following equipment; 9 Roving - motion base simulators, 12 screens 70mm - 3D including 2 Dome type, so 24 projectors 70mm (570). 1 screen 70mm - 2D so 1 projector. The projections were rear and front on screens flat or concave, each screen being around 9.1m tall (+ 2 Dome screens). YEAR 2000 IMAX sold their RIDEFILM Division to Iwerks Entertainment. • “Life is a Rollercoaster/8 Minutes”. Already mentioned in the Showscan list. It was produced for the International Center for Life Trust in Newcastle/UK. The producer was Peter Henton, ex-Vice President of Showscan, under his own company; Dover Films Inc. Shown at the Helix Theatre, screen of 11.5m and simulator with 48 seats. Opening date, May 2000. YEAR 2001 • “Soaring Over California/5 Minutes” at various Disney Parks. Opened on February 8th. This was an OMNIMAX HD movie (1570/48fps) projected on a dome screen of 24m diameter. The dynamic seats were elevated with the audience with dangling feet and wind at their face and some perfumes in the later years. • “Santa Lights Up New York/2 Minutes 30 Seconds” at the Radio City Hall in New York for their Christmas Show. This was a computer animated movie in 570 - 3D, projected on the 23m wide screen of RCH. • “Tall Tales of the South/12 Minutes” at the Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Projection in 570 - 3D in a 4D theater. This is a movie from Renaissance Company, produced by Peter Anderson and Melton. | |
 Goodbye to 70mm film, and hello to the wonder of 5D Cinema (Big screen, moving chairs, 3D, wind and water) - brave new digital world. "Bakken", Copenhagen, Denmark, 23. May 2015. "Fly me to the Moon" and "Dragon Mine Ride 3D" playing. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev.YEAR 2002 • Go to Showscan went out of Business Iwerks Entertainment are acquired by SimEx Inc. And the name became: SimEx - Iwerks. Before this acquisition, SimEx did produce an educational series called the SimEx Virtual Voyages (SVV), mostly devoted for Museums, Science Centers, Zoos and Aquariums. Those presentations were always into 3 stages; Pre-show (1 video screen)/Story theater (3 video screens with panoramic view)/Adventure theater (570 movies at 30fps) with a typical arrangement of 60 moving seats. These are the titles in alphabetical order (source: Mike Frueh from SimEx): “Canadian Panorama” “Comet Impact” “Deep Sea 3D” “Destination Jupiter” “Dinosaur Simulator (the)” “Mission Mars” “Motion Madness” “Pirates” “Santa’s Late” “Sea Trek” “Sub Zero 3D” “Time Travelers (the)” “Ultimate Roller Coaster” “Wilderness Adventure” “Wildfire” “Wings” “Corkscrew Hill/4 minutes 30 seconds”, opened in May at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg/Virginia is the First ride film to be Digitally projected. Digital movie created by KWCC, announcing the end of the Argentic is not far away. The theater is designed for 60 patrons with a screen of 14.5m x 10m. YEAR 2003 • “Shrek 4D/13 minutes” at various Universal Studios, including Japan and Singapore. Opened in the US on June 12th. 570 movies but shot in Digital then converted to 70mm. • “Mickey’s Philarmagic/12 minutes”. Opened in September 1st at the Magic Kingdom Park of Fantasyland and presented in a 4D theater with 3 screens (similar to Terminator 2 - 3D) as follows: - 2 projectors 70mm for 3D projection on the central screen. - 1 projector 70mm for 2D projection on the left side screen and same for the right screen. Both side screens are at a 60 degrees angular position of the central screen, providing a total wraparound screening of 49.5m. YEAR 2004 AND BEYOND Many 4D, D-BOX Digital theatres are proliferating, and gimmicks hare limitless such as the 9D Cinema Movie Rides (4 to 0 minutes duration) offering rain, wind, snow, bubbles, scary monsters, lightning, fire, ticklers, massagers; all this with a seat movement up to 12 degrees. Actually, you just go outside of your house and you can have the same “excitement” for free, scary monsters included! YEAR 2009 • “Arthur, l’Aventure 4D/4 minutes 30 Seconds” at the Furoscope near Poitiers, France, opened on December 19th. This is the final Argentic ride film in IMAX DOME 1570 - 3D, projected on a 900m2 screen. The concept was from the great director Luc Besson, based upon his movies about the Minimoys stories. The score was from Eric Serra (remember the music of "The Big Blue" in Europe?). The theater was composed of 4 cocci-volantes dynamic cars with 25 seats each. YEAR 2020 SimEx - Iwerks and MacGillivray Freeman are negotiating the productions of some ride film movies (digital) for what they call a ‘Vertical 4D Experience’, with the audience being lifted in the air in order to go where no man has gone before! The working titles are: • “Flying Across America” • “Flying Around the World” • “Flying Wild” END OF THE RIDE | |
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