I’ve watched The Odyssey in 5 different formats — here’s how I’d rank them
I’m A/V Geek, travel from Mumbai India to London UK to experience 5 different formats.
After watching The Odyssey in 5 different formats, I finally have a pretty good idea of how much the presentation changes the experience.
My ranking is based purely on my personal experience of picture, immersion, colour, dynamic range and sound — not simply on which format is technically “superior.”
🥇 1. IMAX 70mm (BFI IMAX) — the best overall experience
Immersion: 10/10
Picture: 10/10
Colour: 9.5/10
Dynamic range: 9.5/10
Sound: 8/10
This is still the king for me.
The 1.43:1 IMAX presentation completely changes the scale of the movie. The image fills so much more of your field of view that it genuinely feels like you’re inside the film rather than watching a gigantic screen.
The 15/70 film presentation has an incredible organic sharpness and texture. Colours look very natural and the image has that unmistakable large-format-film character.
My only criticism is the sound. It wasn’t bad at all, but compared with some of the premium digital systems I’ve experienced, I found the audio less impressive than the picture.
Overall: 10/10
🥈 2. Dolby Cinema — best digital presentation
Immersion: 8.5/10
Picture: 10/10
Colour: 10/10
Dynamic range: 10/10
Sound: 9.5/10
This was probably the most impressive digital presentation I’ve seen.
The contrast, blacks, highlights and colour volume are fantastic. Dark scenes in particular look incredible.
The main disadvantage is the framing. Depending on the Dolby auditorium, you’re watching the film in a flatter or wider presentation rather than the full 1.43:1 IMAX frame, so you don’t get the same vertical immersion as IMAX 70mm.
And one correction to something I’ve seen repeated online: The Odyssey does not have a native Dolby Atmos mix. Nolan’s theatrical soundtrack is based around a 5.1 mix, even when the film is presented in a Dolby Cinema auditorium.
So for me, Dolby wins on digital picture quality, not because it has an Atmos mix.
Overall: 9.5/10
🥉 3. Standard 35mm film (Barbican)
Immersion: 8/10
Picture: 8/10
Colour: 8/10
Dynamic range: 7.5/10
Sound: 8/10
Still a great experience, but once you’ve seen the full 1.43:1 IMAX 70mm presentation, the difference is obvious.
The wider framing makes the movie feel less enormous and you lose that incredible vertical IMAX composition.
It’s still film, and there’s something special about seeing The Odyssey projected from a physical film print, but for this particular movie I think the format sacrifices too much of what makes the IMAX presentation special.
Overall: 8/10
4. Vue EPIC — surprisingly beautiful
Immersion: 8/10
Picture: 9/10
Colour: 9.5/10
Dynamic range: 9.5/10
Sound: 7.5/10
This one surprised me.
The colour and dynamic range were excellent. In some scenes I actually preferred the look to standard digital IMAX.
It doesn’t have the sheer physical immersion of IMAX 70mm, and the audio wasn’t as impressive as the best IMAX/Dolby auditorium I’ve experienced, but visually it was a very pleasing presentation.
If someone told me they couldn’t get to an IMAX 70mm screening, I’d absolutely recommend trying a good EPIC auditorium rather than just going to the nearest standard screen.
Overall: 8.5/10
5. IMAX Digital — good sound, disappointing picture
Immersion: 7.5/10
Picture: 6.5/10
Colour: 7/10
Dynamic range: 7/10
Sound: 9/10
This was probably my least favourite presentation.
The large IMAX screen still gives you that sense of scale, and the 12-channel IMAX sound system can be seriously impressive.
But compared with the 70mm film presentation and Dolby’s digital projection, I found the picture noticeably less impressive — particularly in terms of sharpness, contrast and overall image quality.
The funny thing is that the sound was one of its strongest points.
Overall: 7/10
Curious to hear what’s your ranking?