Harry Potter: The IMAX 3D Experience

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was just released in IMAX 3D, and I'm here to comment on the experience. First off, IMAX is always very tricky with the wording in their advertising. For the last month, they have said that their version had 12 minutes of exclusive footage. Though this sounds an awful lot like never before seen scenes, it really just means 12 minutes of the normal scenes are in 3D. The only difference between the IMAX and normal version of the film is that the first 12, and only the first 12 minutes, are in 3D; a fact they only started acknowledging recently. The rest of the film is the exact same, though the screen will likely be bigger in an IMAX theater.

So how is the opening 12 minutes in 3D? It's actually quite stunning. The images are very crisp, there aren't any gimmicky 3D moments, and the depth it adds to the film is absolutely wonderful. If the whole film was shot in IMAX 3D, I would recommend that option in a heartbeat. It really was a amazing 12 minutes, but then it was over. For casual fans, I would not recommend spending the extra money (tickets were $14 a pop for a matinee) for the IMAX ticket, as it's probably not worth it. But for the Potterholics who are planning on seeing the film multiple times anyways, paying a bit extra to see it once in IMAX is a very cool and worthwhile option.