Airbus IMAX Theater

I saw Star Wars here, at a 740p showing on a Tuesday a few weeks after opening. We got there about 40 minutes early (free parking after 4pm btw) and there was no line to get tickets. Also only a very small amount of people waiting to see the show. Like the Air & Space DC, there are some concessions available (small candy selection, popcorn, wine and beer and bottled sodas) at the ticket booth. As there weren’t that many people there, we got seats smack dab in the middle of the theatre. The movie looked fantastic. I saw it here for my second viewing — the first was at the DC Air & Space IMAX. That was good, but man does the 3D laser projection make a difference in viewing a movie like this one.
The staff was all super nice and welcoming, and the patrons were all respectful of each other and the movie. It’s nice and clean, and although it seems to be a million miles away, it was absolutely worth seeing a movie out there for $ 15.

I’ve been trying to get out to this Theater a number of times now to see a movie. I love IMAX 3D and I’d heard nothing but good things about this location.
Some friends and I decided to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the 1:50 pm open showing last Sunday. I bought our tix ahead of time online. I wanted to get to the theater early to secure good seats. Turns out we did not arrive nearly early enough. When we got to the entry gate to pay for parking — we saw our showing was sold out. Keep in mind — at this point — the movie has been in the theaters for 3 weeks!
After waiting in line at will call to secure our tickets — with about 25 minutes until the movie started, we found ourselves at the end of a very long line to get in the theater.
We ended up sitting in the 4^th row from the screen. For me — this is to close. The screen is massive and I kept having to turn my head from side to side and look back and forth to take everything in. Annoying.
But the movie looked amazing!
I can’t wait to come back here again for more movies — but I think I am going to arrive at the will call line at least one hour or more before the movie starts so that I can get better seats — meaning much farther away from the screen.

The new 3D laser IMAX technology combined with the impressively sized screen was completely amazing. I have never seen an image so perfect and so sharp. It lived up to every expectation I had after watching numerous videos about the difference of 3D laser IMAX technology. I saw Star Wars 6 times before seeing it in this theater and I saw so many new details in the images that I had missed before. BB-8’s dirty metal details practically jumped out on the screen and it was hard convincing myself I couldn’t just pick him up and take him home! Scenes were more dramatic and real. I really can’t describe it very well, you have to experience it yourself! I was also fascinated by the glasses they gave us – they are completely different from regular 3D IMAX glasses and much better quality. Also, the Star Wars movie goer experience here was much nicer than I expected. I was expecting long lines and a disorganized fend-​for-​yourself type entry process, but it seemed to very organized and fair for all the guests who were waiting in line. I waited in line an hour and a half and about 30 people were in front of me, so I had a good choice of where to sit. From what I could tell, no one that arrived at the last minute was allowed to cut in line. I still wish they had assigned seating to better accommodate movie goers like me driving several hours to come to this theater, but I was still really happy with the experience.

Fantastic screen, and sound. My angle wasn’t the best, which ended up killing my neck. Food and drink options were limited, though they did offer some beer and wine, which is always a plus!

Parking is $ 15 and it’s the only option. Granted this gets you access to the museum, but I’m being forced to pay for something I wasn’t expecting. The screen may be larger than your standard mall theatre, but it’s still a very digital experience. Star Wars was shot on film and the IMAX here presents it digitally where you can see all pixels whenever there is a bright scene, even from ²⁄₃ of the way back in the audience. The digital projector this IMAX has cannot compete with 70 mm film that the movie was intended to be seen with. I will also say that compared to many other IMAX theaters that I’ve been to, including mall IMAX’s, this one seemed to be lacking the boom and power of other sound systems. Please start selling IMAX tickets with assigned seating, aren’t we past that point yet, especially for a theater that will only be showing the major blockbusters.

The IMAX here is amazing! We saw Star Wars première here, which was really fun. But what I really want to see are the NASA videos that were shown during the trailers; IT FELT LIKE YOU WERE RIGHT THERE NEXT TO THE ASTRONAUTS!!! You felt so close to being THERE, I loved that!

They might have the nicest theater in the area but the way they ran the waiting line fot star wars was horrendous.
I can forgive that your theater didn’t have assigned seats. No problem, i knew that coming in.
I went to watch Star Wars and at first they had an orderly line in front of the theater. Then about 50 minutes before the movie started they started to let everyone in.
That’s the problem
The orderly line was split into two groups, for the two entrances to the theater. The semblance of lines turned into a mob between those two entrances. There was no line, I’m just glad the people were courteous for thepst part.
However, people waiting for hours was merged into people who just got there because people can just fall into a mob between two entrances.
This was very poorly drawn. Why let people in 30 feet when they were nicely settled outside in a line only to turn it into a mob.

I absolutely LOVE living so close to the Air and Space museum, not just because if there is ever a zombie apocalypse that I may just hijack that shuttle, but because that movie theater is
! Seriously no lie, I have been to several IMAX theaters across the US but this one has got to have the biggest screen I’ve ever seen hands down! In addition to the screen the sound system is amazing ! You definitely feel like you are IN the movie! Lastly, they actually sell beer and wine that you can have during the show. Definitely not you average movie theater. This is a movie theater for those who don’t mess around about their movie experiences! If I were single, which I am not, I would be super impressed if a guy brought me here for a movie date! I would know he put research into it and that would impress the heck outta me!

This is a pretty cool theater that is located inside of the STEVEN F. UDVAR-​HAZY CENTER. I have been here 3 times and it seems like every time they are improving on what they offer. They now serve light concession food (candy) and alcohol (beer and wine). You purchase it at the ticket booth at the same time you get/​pick up your tickets. A small size bottle of wine is $ 6, a half bottle is $ 12. Beer is about $ 6. It’s not overpriced and the great news is all of the proceeds go back to the National Museum fund to go towards the upkeep and build of Museums.
One ticket of admission is approximately $ 12.
Plenty of seats (not reserved) and a HUGE (86 feet wide) Imax screen. Parking costs $ 15 per vehicle but is free after 4:00 p.m.
The latest movie seen here was Spectre and it was amazing!
Check it out when you have time, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
One thing to point out though; this may not be the theater for you if you or anyone in your party is afraid of heights. The seats are set up «dome style» and go straight up pretty high. That and the combination of a 86 foot wide screen may be a little intimidating to little ones.

The best (and only) real IMAX experience you can have in the DMV area. This theater is not meant as your luxurious, snack-​away, movie theater. The purpose of the theater is to highlight flight and space movies as part of the museum. So set your expectations!
First to get in line, the first seated. For new releases and opening nights, plan to claim your spot in the line at least 40 minutes ahead of the movie. Bring board/​card games, a book to read, or have a nice group of friends to chat with. No signal in the basement. There is a free wifi available, but it’s very limited. I would skip it when there’s a lot of people in the museum.
Bags are checked, so you can not bring outside food or drinks or other stuff you wouldn’t otherwise bring into a Smithsonian museum. Parking is free after hours! Late nigh at the IMAX is probably the best experience, shorter lines, and plenty of parking.
They played Interstellar in 70 mm IMAX, but I think most of the other movies are played digitally. To be honest, I could barely tell the difference, and I’m perfectly happy with The Martian viewing last night. The perfect way to experience action and space movies is here — they do it right!

I like this theater because they show first run IMAX movies.
I don’t like that you are REQUIRED to stand in line to pick up a ticket you purchased ahead of time on their web site AND you stand in line AGAIN to have the ticket torn as you enter the theater.
James and I went to see The Martian which was fantastic. VERY long lines to get to tickets, pay for and pick up tickets and then you stand in line again for the theater to open.
The lines get VERY LONG because they don’t open the theater doors until about 10 minutes before show time.
Then as soon as the movie is over… there is a MASSIVE rush to get to the men’s room
where you stand in line AGAIN because the facilities are too small to accommodate such a large crowd.

So let me preface this by saying I have LOVED this theater. I have been going to see films here for several years (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Star Trek movies, Jurassic World) I loved this place so much that I decided to go with a group of friends for my birthday.
We went to the new Mission Impossible (Rogue Nation) and I have to say this was the most uncomfortable movie experience of my life. We sat in the back row and the noise was SO LOUD. I decided to wait to see if it was just the beginning sequence… Ten minutes later my eardrums were still throbbing. I left my seat and went to talk to the manager. At that point I was told it «was out of her hands, Only one person is in charge of the volume setting and he isn’t here». She gave me ear plugs to help. My birthday group accepted them but it still felt like we were watching the film with MAX volume. The manager told me there is nothing she could do“even if you tell me that your ears are physically hurting”… what? There was no discount or voucher? Then I was told I was not the first one to say this about the particular movie. Anyway I’m hoping someone will read this and respond. This theater is AWESOME WHEN the volume settings are appropriate.
Sadly, I will not be raving about this place or be likely to make the trek out until I hear they have resolved this situation.

Absolute NIGHTMARE!!! Movie started at 4:30pm. Drove 45 min to theater and arrived ten till 4:00 and waited for them to open gate for movie parking. One of first people to buy tickets at counter. Got into line and watched people crowd in front of the doors instead of going to back of line. There isn’t a rope to organize line like the one next to us for observation deck for the museum. Management goes through the crowd and tells everyone to hand their tickets to one member of their party to speed admission. They didn’t open doors until 4:25 at which time people rush in and grab seats. Every time we tried to sit, people would claim they were holding the seats. By the time we go in and out of isles looking for open seats that aren’t reserved, there is no place to left to sit. Had to get our money back so wasted 2 hours of our time on this fiasco on Father’s Day. When I complained, the manager said you have to wait in line 2 hours before a movie if you want a seat. Leave it to the government to think that is an acceptable way to run a theater. This movie had been out for a couple of weeks and I told her that: 1) they shouldn’t oversell tickets, 2) rope off the line, and 3) not show movies only 15 minutes apart so people can get their seats in an organized fashion. She didn’t care.

The chairs lean forward so you’re feeling like you’re being thrown forward and about to fall into the floor. Everything is too vertical and disorienting for my tastes. They don’t let you in to sit down until the movie starts, so you have to stand in a long line outside. Honestly, I never need to see a 3D/​IMAX movie ever again and if I did hopefully it’d be somewhere with comfy reclining seats.

I used to love this theater because they had the 70 mm 15 perforation IMAX film stock but they just switch to digital and the quality is terrible I can’t stand it anymore, the movie theaters are far closer and far more convenient so if I’m going to watch fake IMAX I might as well do it there

If you want to catch a movie on a real IMAX screen in the NOVA area, this is pretty much the only place to do so. I saw Interstellar here a few months ago and was impressed by the theater for the most part. It’s one of the few real IMAX screen’s in the state (not fake digital IMAX like at Tysons) and the sound system is great. So why the 3 stars?
1. Even thought this is a real IMAX theater, the capacity of the theater itself is not as big as you would expect. The theater sits about the regular amount of people as a normal cinema would. I guess it had to do with the fact it’s located in a museum, but you would expect it to hold a lot more people.
2. We got to the theater an hour early for a sold out showing of Interstellar to ensure we got good seats. Even though they had security watching over both lines, this didn’t stop a couple dozen people from showing up about 20 minutes before the movie started and cutting in line and even though security was right in front of them, they did nothing about.
3. They do a terrible job scheduling showtimes. Our show was suppose to start at 7:20, but they didn’t start letting people into the theater until about 7:25 and it took them another 15 minutes to let everyone get seated and start the film. Very unorganized and annoying.
Like I said, if you are looking for a real IMAX theater, this delivers. But the theater itself could be bigger and ran more professionally. I’ll return here if I want to see a movie in real IMAX, but I’m not sure if I’d come again during opening weekend for a movie.

I recently went and saw Intersteller at this IMAX theatre. The movie was fantastic and I’m really glad I saw it on the larger screen.
The Airbus IMAX is great for movies that have spectacular visuals, but if the entire movie experience is what you’re looking for then this isn’t what you’re looking for.
The extra cost doesn’t come with a traditional concession stand, has extremely high security given it’s location at a museum and the bathrooms aren’t really designed for when everyone finishes the movie at the same time.
The screen makes up for a lot of these down falls, but it’s not something that I would be interested in going to for every movie I attend.

We saw «Interstellar» here last week. Worth it to see it in IMAX and not LIEMAX! Parking is free after hours. They check bags so don’t bring in outside food.
Concessions are limited but they won’t fleece you. Combo included medium popcorn, 20 oz soda, and box of candy for $ 11. Only bottled Illy coffee. You can tell the theatre wasn’t intended to sell concessions because there’s no cup holders for your drink.
Get here at least 45 minutes early, otherwise you’ll be in back of the line. First to line up, first to get seated. We were in the middle of the second line and were able to get seated in the middle aisle but not as far back as we would have liked. You might as well buy a large popcorn because you’ll consume half of it while in line. Bathrooms are very clean.

You may of been to an IMAX theater in your local AMC and said to yourself «What’s the big excitement, that theater was no less immersive than the one down the hall.». That is because you’re never stepped foot into a GT IMAX theater. your AMC IMAX theater only has a screen size of 58’x30’ and uses two 2K (2048×1080) projectors. A GT IMAX theater has a screen size of 90’x66’. Thats over SIX stories tall! On top of that, the theater uses the highest resolution projector on the planet, with a resolution of 18 000×12 500 or 18K! weather your watching a documentary or a Hollywood Imax feature, you will be blown away by the breathtaking visuals. It looks incredible! I could go on for hours, but I am going to let you see for yourself. make sure to find your nearest GT IMAX theater and plan a trip ASAP.

First of all, let me state that I cannot believe I’m giving a less than 4 star review to a REAL IMAX theatre.
For those of you who have not been unplugged from the lie, let me tell you that IMAX has devised a clever marketing scheme to call your local AMC (or insert national chain brand movie theatre name here) screens a «Digital IMAX» screen. If you’ve noticed a lot of conveniently located IMAX movie theaters popping up in the last couple of years next to your home, this is the reason why. You’ve been going to LIEMAX theaters.
A real IMAX theatre screen is much larger than your neighborhood digital LIEMAX screen (23X30 meters vs. 8.5X18 meters). To give an analogy, it’s like watching a movie on a 32 inch vs a 60 inch tv. There is no contest.
If you want to get an idea as to how big of a difference this is, go here:
The differences in real IMAX vs. Liemax do not stop at the size. To go a bit technical here, you can see that the ratio of the height to the width is not the same for the real imax vs. the liemax screen. When you go to a Liemax theater, the footage is «formatted to fit» your theater’s screen and you lose a ton of footage. This means you’re paying the extra money for IMAX and not getting an IMAX experience. I call that a scam.
Airbus Imax is the ONLY TRUE imax theater in the DMV area that shows the 70 mm film footage. I saw Batman the Dark Knight Rises last night in this theater with 50 min of footage shot in true IMAX. It’s a breathtaking experience feeling that you are immersed in the film in such scenes where the camera rolls over Gotham City.
So…what is the problem? The sound system.
The sound is worse than your typical movie theater and at several points I was wondering whether the sound was in mono or stereo. The sound was very fuzzy and it made dialogue very hard to understand (made worse by the computerized voice of Bane). Second, there appears to be no surround sound. For example, when a car moves left to right on the movie screen, it should sound as if the car is moving from left to right. Everything was very monotonic and was projected from a single location on the screen. Lastly, the speakers are very weak.
This is how powerful real imax theater speakers are supposed to be. They can blow out candles.
There were other minor quirks about the theater, including a lack of concession stands (bring your own drinks and food folks!) and a lack of previews before the movie.
Nevertheless, this is the only real IMAX theater in the area and I’ll still be going. I will be optimistic on a sound system upgrade, but it won’t likely happen considering that someone spotted this problem several years ago at Airbus.
On a positive note, the staff is incredibly friendly, the theater is incredibly clean, and you get to see a bit of the museum for free while walking inside the building.
P. S. For those looking for real IMAX theaters in the US here is a comprehensive list:
EDIT: apparently I was incorrect. There are 3 real IMAX theaters in the DC area (two in DC, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and AIrbus IMAX in Chantilly).