Last Sunday, we went to Miramar shopping mall/complex in Taipei with a slew of friends and their kids to go to IMAX and see Polar Express in 3D! Wow and double wow!

I have been waiting to see this film with eager anticipation ever since folks on my various 3D photography discussion lists began buzzing . . . and the buzz was well worth it.

We’re so glad that the new IMAX is open here and that they managed to get this film in. What a wonderful experience.

The kids loved it. Of course, the kids would have loved an IMAX experience even if it sucked. They would have loved a Christmas film even if it sucked. However, this was most definately not a suckful experience . . . most decidedly non-suckful.

I had some problems with a few scenes where the 3D seemed to have a lot more ghosting than it should have. However, other scenes were right on, sharp, crisp, clear, and very lifelike in full-on 3D. So, I can only guess that the original had some sort of ghosting problems. They should have worked just a bit more on rendering the images a little better for the effect, perhaps shifting the stereo window dynamically during the scenes.

In any case, if you’re in Taipei, a trip to the IMAX at Miramar for this one is well worth it . . . if you have kids, it’s almost a must see. The huge ferris wheel is an added attraction for those insane enough to get on the thing (the third largest in Asia, evidently built to withstand an eight-point earthquake although I am sure no one wants to be around to test that engineering point out).

Yes, the film we saw was in English with incredibly tiny Chinese subtitles.

Other good news . . . according to the Taipei Times, IMAX here will be showing more featues made especially for IMAX 3D:

Warner Miramar also plans to screen specially adapted 3D IMAX versions of popular films like Harry Potter and Spiderman.

For more about 3D photography and moviemaking, here is my main site on the subject and here and here are my galleries.