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Take Me for a Ride in 70mm |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
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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 Hauerslev
Here 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.
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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
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iWERKS
Turbo Ride in Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas Hauerslev
YEAR 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).
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“Escape
to Planet Earth" in iWERKS'
Turbo Ride in Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas Hauerslev
FROM 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”
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iWERKS
Turbo Ride - "The Ultimate Thrill Adventure" on Pier 39, San Francisco, USA,
October 1994. Picture by Thomas Hauerslev
YEAR 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
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"Spaceport
Liseberg". iWERKS Turbo Ride in
Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Picture by Thomas Hauerslev
FROM 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
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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).
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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 Hauerslev
YEAR 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
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“Nature Rediscovered” SHOWSCAN
•
“Concert for the Earth” SHOWSCAN 3D
•
“Eureka!” OMNIMAX
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“Echoes of the Sun” IMAX SOLIDO
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“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.
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Showscan
in Denmark, 1995. Nine moveable "pods" each with four seats. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev
YEAR 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.
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Showscan
in Denmark, 1995. 36 seats in nine moveable "pods" each with four seats. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev
YEAR 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.
|
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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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Go: back - top - back issues - news index Updated
04-05-22 |
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