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Tuttleman IMAX Theater
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Logan Square, Penn Center, Art Museum District
The Franklin Institute Science Museum
222 N 20th St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 448-1111
The Franklin Institute Science Museum
222 N 20th St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 448-1111
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
12 reviews for Tuttleman IMAX Theater
Came here with a friend to watch Transformers and it was a very unpleasant experience. As other reviewers have commented, the seats are uncomfortable and there is very little room between rows so everyone has to get up to let people by.
Amusingly, my friend closed her eyes for at least half the movie because she said she was getting car sick. I didn't have the best time either watching so much action so close-up. We both left concluding that IMAXes are probably much better suited for movies with much less action.
There are actually a few different kinds of IMAX theaters- big screen, little screen and domed. This theater contains the latter, which is ideal if you like to feel immersed in a film. My dad often took my sisters and I to the Mugar Omni when I was a kid and it used to scare the crap out of us. The height and angle of the theater seating can be totally unnerving. Plus, the experience can be intense for a child. But for movies that contain sweeping shots, there is no substitute for IMAX.
What this theater isn't so great for is movies which are captured on standard film, the arch of the dome warps them a bit. It becomes especially detrimental during scenes with a lot of movement. I don't think I'll see another mainstream movie here for that reason.
Also, last time I was here someone lit a cigarette halfway through the film. I shit you not. It was a full capacity screening, so I have no idea what that person was thinking. So we got to be temporarily distracted from the movie by shouts of, "put that fucking cigarette out!" Stay klassy, Philly.
People thought this was:
- Useful (6)
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- Cool (5)
This was one of the more uncomfortable movie watching experiences in recent memory. I was generous and gave it an extra star because the IMAX screen deserves it. In all its domed glory, the screen is massive and when the huge vista shots come across the screen it literally envelops you, floats you and you feel like you're going on for the ride.
What snaps you back to reality is the fact that you're sitting in the worse theater seats possible. The seats and rows are entirely too narrow. The seat provides no support as it's basically a covered wooden board - so you'll be entirely uneasy and your butt will fall asleep while you're elbowing for space from each side and fighting over the barely-there armrest.
If you're watching a movie (as we did, Star Trek, don't judge), the only decent seats to get a good view are from the four or five rows from the top, anything below will give you a real shiteous view. Also if you're prone to light-sensitivity or have even a smidge of motion sickness, the screen projection might aggravate it.
And on a last and related note, why is it impossible to watch a mainstream movie in peace these days? In the six years I've lived here, I've been unable to find a mainstream (read: not Ritz) movie theater where I can watch a movie free of fellow patrons' running commentaries, constant talking, and cell phone conversations? Are good manners dead? Even at the IMAX, I had to actually turn around, 45 minutes into the movie, after three people behind me kept talking to tell them to "Please be quiet".
Now, I'm an easy-going chick, I'm young and every now and then I'm a rule-breaker, but hot damn!!! Stay at home if you're going to narrate and make comments while I watch a movie I paid $12 for. After all, this ain't the Bridge or the Riverview Plaza.
People thought this was:
- Useful (5)
- Cool (2)
Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? That question came to mind after seeing Star Trek on the ludicrously gigantic domed screen at the Tuttleman theatre. Theatrical movies simply aren't designed for this. Most of the action scenes were just a blur of light and color. A friend of mine described it as experiencing a blender from the inside. I described the rest of it as super-stubblevision. Every pore, scar, and facial hair rendered in intricate detail. This theatre just doesn't work for hollywood films.
The problem is, this is a completely different screen than a multiplex imax. The movies specifically made for domes usually are shot in a much wider angle, so that you don't have to crane your neck to see the action, the try to concentrate the action in front of you. The best seats are probably in the back, but it seemed like most of the seats had a bad view. Some parts of the theatre have very little legroom, and the seats are uncomfortable after the first 20 minutes. You also can't leave and reenter, so bear that in mind. Its also guaranteed to be kid-heavy, regardless of the movie or time.
If they truly designed movies for this screen, and built newer theatres with better amenities, it would be incredible. There had been rumors of a star trek imax film for years, before the imax multiplexes started opening. But multiplex imax is more about renewing the 70mm format than it is about the gigantic screen. I would love to see what a great director could do with a theatre that gives you nearly 180 degrees of screen view. The movie could be all around you. In some scenes in Star Trek, it really worked. The shuttlecraft evacuating the ship, Spock beaming down to the ruined planet, the long shot of Kirk on the ice planet, all of these showed the potential, but then it just returned to the face 6 inches from the TV view that made the movie almost unwatchable.
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While the seats may be a bit uncomfortable and lack the ever so popular cup holder. Nothing compares to the Dome screen. We saw Star Trek here :). It was massive. Eye Candy. Only $12. Definitely beats the Neshaminy IMAX.
Avoid the crowds by seeing a late show on a weekday. Best seat in the house 3rd row down straight in the middle.
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This is, as other reviewers have stated, one of the old style IMAX theaters. That said, it is not a pleasant experience when viewing a mainstream movie. I saw Transformers here and it was a pain in the neck. Literally.
The action sequences were a blur and the fisheye view you get is just not at all what one would want. And the IMAX view of John Turturro's jock strapped ass and package...I'm scarred for life, that's all I can say. I like you John, but you should have said NO! I will NOT do that to an IMAX crowd.
I'm going to try and see this on a more modern IMAX screen so that I can tell you if MIchael Bey just screwed up or it was the Franklin IMAX. I suspect it is the latter. I saw Star Trek at the Meteon in San Francisco and it was pretty great, though having to look left or right sometimes is annoying. The Dark Knight at the IMAX in Dallas was top notch.
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We have seen a frew films here at the Franklin Institute's Tuttleman Imax theatre - ,ostly because we are members and have a 4 year old.
She loves it and would probably give it 4-5 stars.
We thought it was OK, but it can be crowded. Luckily we got centrally located seats fairly high up and the views were great.
I miss the old days with Pink Floyd and Laser light shows.
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- Useful (1)
Watching the discover channel on TV is good, seeing a similar documentary on the domed Imax theater is sensational. Watched Wild Ocean and Amazing Caves this weekend, AC nearly had me planning my next adventure trip. The concave screen and proximity of the seats fools your brain causing squeamishness in some and exhilaration in others.
The best seats are the ones 5th from the top and closer to the center.
After the second show I notice the seats are uncomfortable, stayed to see Dark Knight, which was a great I-max experience as well. However I squirmed during the whole movie trying to find a comfortable position.
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I saw Star Trek on the Tuttleman IMAX and was sorely disappointed. I sat towards the middle of the theater (both in terms of height and where I sat in the row). I had several complains. There wasn't very much leg room. I couldn't see the whole screen. I had to crane my neck to see much at all, and I also wound up sitting slumped through most of the movie to see more of the screen. Even so, I still had to look from side to side when there was important stuff going on in the periphery. During fast action sequences, images were blurred no matter where I looked.
I was so aggravated by the problems with the theater that it's hard for me to compare whether the experience was better when the action was where I could see it without contorting myself. After the movie, during the credits, I checked thing out from the top row out of curiosity and, lo and behold, I could see the entire screen there. It would've been nice to know that going in, although I'm not sure how quickly the better seats go, anyway.
I also heard other people complaining about sore necks and turning from side to side as we were leaving.
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- Useful (3)
We went to see the Dark Knight here a couple nights ago. It definitely wasn't the movie to see on a big screen if you get nauseated easily. Seriously I kept having to close my eyes.
I went here when I was a kid when it first opened. I am super scared of heights and when I climbed up the stairs I had a panic attack. I remembered that like 15 years later as I was scaling the steps this week to leave the theater and almost fell over.
It's cool that they do show some "real" movies once in a while and not educational crap all the time.
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- Useful (3)
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Watched movie about Egyptian tombs during the King Tut exhibit. Was pretty good. The sound effect is great in this place. Seats are kind of weird...in the way they are placed and the heights are incredible for a theater. People with vertigo, beware!!
Will be great for kids.
I saw 2 movies in this theater, both were not made for an imax-screen and both were an awful, painful experiences. The screen is to close to the audience: seeing startrek with lots of actions and tons of sweeping movements I first got a headache and than became motion-sick. The problem is that you can not get an overview of the screen and theoretically have to move your head for things that run over the screen- but than you can not move your head this fast. Everything in the middle like the head of the characters is distorted, too.
The seats are to small for my size (6.2 feet) and my neck started to hurt after 15min since it was constantly pushed forward by the headrest.
After 30min I gave up and seat on the floor in the isle which gave me some more distance to the screen, still half the film I had to cover my eyes due to motion sickness. The smell arising from the row in front of me (puke!) told me I was not alone with this problem.
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