Avatar

I went to the Glasgow Science Centre on Wednesday Night to see a special advance preview of James Cameron's Avatar.

Not only was it at the IMAX, but also in 3-D!

The movie was just under 3 hours long, but it was pretty exciting and the time flew in. There was a little bit of motion sickness which cropped up in the flying scenes.

Overall the film itself was superb, but the experience of a 3-D movie at the IMAX was surreal. This is surely the future of cinema, and another step for the movies to differentiate themselves from TV.

This happened in the 1950s when people began to stay at home to watch TV and not go to the flicks. Hollywood responded by inventing Cinemascope and later Surroundsound to have a unique experience you could only have in the movies.

Films became more outlandish and had bigger budgets and indeed became spectacles.

In the 1980s and 90s cinema again fought back against the rise of the VHS Videotape by creating the modern multiplex cinema, offering more choice of 10-16 screens rather than the tradtional 1-3 screens.

However I do miss the old Odeon in Glasgow with the giant screen 1. I remember seeing Superman the Movie way back in around 1978/79, and indeed the epic Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979/80 when I was a nipper. These incredible experiences of seeing such spectacular films on the big screen are great memories. And I am sure the children of today who got to see Avatar in 3-D will never forget the experience.

I just wish I had a share of James Cameron's profits!