Odeon Point Village & iSense

corcaigh07 · 11-03-2012 2:31am

Sad Professor wrote: »

No. Like I said earlier, the IMAX format is practically square. Odeon's "iSense" screen is just a regular screen, albeit very large. So it won't be showing the IMAX version of TDKR.

ok. at least they are being honest and not calling it IMAX like some cinemas. i hope their honesty gets rewarded!

Tusky · 23-03-2012 4:40pm

How does it compare to Cineworld 17 and Savoy 1, sizewise?

Raekwon · 23-03-2012 5:33pm

I'm genuinely quite excited about this new cinema although I was under the impression that it was an IMAX. I've never heard of iSense but hopefully it will be an amazing cinematic experience to justify the price (€12.50 standard/€13.50 premier).

Tusky wrote: »

How does it compare to Cineworld 17 and Savoy 1, sizewise?

+1

I was just going to ask that.

I'm no expert but Cineworld 17 looks taller then Savoy 1 but not as wide. My local cinema is IMC in Dún Laoghaire and their screen 1 is fairly massive also but not quite on par with Savoy 1.

spankmaster2000 · 23-03-2012 6:15pm

Raekwon wrote: »

I'm no expert but Cineworld 17 looks taller then Savoy 1 but not as wide. My local cinema is IMC in Dún Laoghaire and their screen 1 is fairly massive also but not quite on par with Savoy 1.

Purely from a seating perspective I think it's smaller than "The Big Fella" in Vue Liffey Valley anyway. (I couldn't find equivalent info for Cineworld or Savoy!)

e_e · 24-03-2012 2:36am

Raekwon wrote: »

I'm genuinely quite excited about this new cinema although I was under the impression that it was an IMAX. I've never heard of iSense but hopefully it will be an amazing cinematic experience to justify the price (€12.50 standard/€13.50 premier).

It's only 8 euro early in the day. Gonna see The Hunger Games there on tuesday.

Memnoch · 24-03-2012 2:47am

The two biggest screens in UCI Blanch have 451 and 437 seats respectively. Biggest in Odeon is 393. I'm not sure what's supposed to be better about it, can anyone educate me?

Raekwon · 24-03-2012 3:02am

Memnoch wrote: »

The two biggest screens in UCI Blanch have 451 and 437 seats respectively. Biggest in Odeon is 393. I'm not sure what's supposed to be better about it, can anyone educate me?

It's not about cinema capacity, it's about the size of the screen. Cineworld 17 is arguably the biggest screen in Dublin with Savoy 1 coming a close second but will Odeon iSense be even bigger?

expectationlost · 24-03-2012 9:03am

so there just 1 cinema screen at this odean?

spankmaster2000 · 24-03-2012 9:42am

Raekwon wrote: »

Cineworld 17 is arguably the biggest screen in Dublin with Savoy 1 coming a close second but will Odeon iSense be even bigger?

What about Liffey Valley surely??

Skinfull · 24-03-2012 10:12am

spankmaster2000 wrote: »

Raekwon wrote:

Cineworld 17 is arguably the biggest screen in Dublin with Savoy 1 coming a close second but will Odeon iSense be even bigger?

What about Liffey Valley surely??

Yeah isn't "The Big One" the biggest one in the country? Or at least it was billed as such on opening.

what exactly is iSense though? Is it gonna bee IMAX or is it gonna be like ye olde shock theater where the seats move, air / water hits you in the face / legs?

Sad Professor · 24-03-2012 11:43am

It's not IMAX. iSense is just Odeon's name for their very large, high quality digital screen and sound. It's probably about twice the size of a regular cinema screen.

krudler · 24-03-2012 12:26pm

Memnoch wrote: »

The two biggest screens in UCI Blanch have 451 and 437 seats respectively. Biggest in Odeon is 393. I'm not sure what's supposed to be better about it, can anyone educate me?

e_e · 24-03-2012 1:16pm

expectationlost wrote: »

so there just 1 cinema screen at this odean?

Seeing that there's several films listed all throughout the day. I'd say there's at least 4 or 5 screens.

Sad Professor · 24-03-2012 1:42pm

krudler wrote: »

Memnoch wrote: »

The two biggest screens in UCI Blanch have 451 and 437 seats respectively. Biggest in Odeon is 393. I'm not sure what's supposed to be better about it, can anyone educate me?

It's not IMAX. It's at least half the size.

Raekwon · 24-03-2012 7:31pm

spankmaster2000 wrote: »

What about Liffey Valley surely??

What is the screen size and capacity of the biggest screen in Liffey Valley?

According to the Irish Times the iSense Screen at Odeon Point Village is 160sq m with a capacity of 393.

Screen 1 in the Savoy 21.4 x 6.8 m and has a capacity of 780
Screen 17 in Cineworld is 17.1 x 7.3 m and has a capacity of 404

G_R · 24-03-2012 11:43pm

It's not the screen size that is the most impressive thing of an iSense screen, its the sound system. 27 Channels of sound on 54 speakers. As far as I know its about 4 times more than a regular screen.

From talking to someone who was working on site and got to go to a Preview screening this afternoon the sound is truly amazing. A demo is played before the movie showing just what it can do. For example it rains on screen, and only the speakers in the roof play the sound, so it sounds like your in a barn and it's lashing out. Then a bat flies around the screen, and you can hear exactly where it is in the screen. There was a couple of other examples he gave me aswell, said it was absolutely brilliant.

Can't wait to go and see it. That said, I think it's capabilities might be wasted on The Hunger Games. I'd say the Dark Knight Rises will be amazing though.

Sad Professor · 25-03-2012 12:45am

Raekwon wrote: »

What is the screen size and capacity of the biggest screen in Liffey Valley?

According to the Irish Times the iSense Screen at Odeon Point Village is 160sq m with a capacity of 393.

Screen 1 in the Savoy 21.4 x 6.8 m and has a capacity of 780
Screen 17 in Cineworld is 17.1 x 7.3 m and has a capacity of 404

I don't know about the capacity, but Vue's largest screens (there are a few, not just one) are still smaller than Screen 1 in the Savoy. However, aspect ratio needs to be taken into account as well. Screen 1 in the Savoy is 2.35:1, where as Vue and Cineworld are 1.85:1. They are taller than the Savoy but not as wide. So which is the biggest depends on the aspect ratio of the film being projected.

According to Odeon's website, their iSense cinema screen is 3 stories high and 160 square metres. How tall is a story? Lets say they mean 10 feet. That would mean it's 30 feet high or about 9 metres. Using your figures, Cineworld is 17.1 x 7.3 m, which is 125 square metres. So iSense is about 30 percent larger than Screen 17 in Cineworld. In and around 18 x 9 metres.

Crash · 25-03-2012 11:00pm

http://www.odeoncinemas.ie/fanatic/auditorium_information/s209/

according to their site, the iSense screen is 17.6m x 8.8m, so very good guesstimate Sad Professor

Sad Professor · 26-03-2012 12:16am

Yeah, I was pretty damn close. Although I probably should have checked their website a bit more thoroughly and saved myself the effort.

Now, if we could just find out what exact size Vue is.

Raekwon · 26-03-2012 2:06am

Crash wrote: »

http://www.odeoncinemas.ie/fanatic/auditorium_information/s209/

according to their site, the iSense screen is 17.6m x 8.8m, so very good guesstimate Sad Professor

So the iSense screen is smaller then Savoy 1 and pretty much the same size as Cineworld 1?

Colour me disappointed

Hopefully the sound will be so ridiculously good that the size of the screen won't matter because I'd need a good reason to travel all the way down to the Odeon to pay a fiver more then the Savoy to see a movie.

Sad Professor · 26-03-2012 7:58am

Overall it's bigger than both. It's not as wide as the Savoy, but that's because the Savoy is 2.35:1. Which means if you are going to see a 2.35:1 film, the Savoy is still the biggest. But if the film is 1.85:1, Odeon would be bigger.

Crash · 26-03-2012 10:14pm

I'm going into the iSense cinema tomorrow night, so i'll try and report back. We'll see if these premier seats are actually any better than the normal ones as well (the first five rows or so are normal seats, the good ones are all premier, so kinda felt like we had to go for the premier ones to get a decent view).

twistyj · 26-03-2012 10:36pm

is this not??

http://www.omnimaxx.ie/

Raekwon · 26-03-2012 10:44pm

Crash wrote: »

I'm going into the iSense cinema tomorrow night, so i'll try and report back. We'll see if these premier seats are actually any better than the normal ones as well (the first five rows or so are normal seats, the good ones are all premier, so kinda felt like we had to go for the premier ones to get a decent view).

Cool, let us know how you get on. I was actually planning to head to it this weekend but I'm going to wait to see if Wrath of the Titans will be in the iSense screen first.

icdg · 26-03-2012 11:12pm

twistyj wrote: »

is this not??

http://www.omnimaxx.ie/

That's a Ward Anderson cinema in Antrim, though it does seem to have a pretty large screen.

Screen 1 in Vue Liffey Valley is named (by Liam Neeson, according to the plaque outside it) "The Big Fella". 195 square meters and was apparently the largest multiplex screen in the UK & Ireland when opened (as a Ster Century) in 1999. Yes, they bothered to redo the plaque when Vue took over.

Presumably if this iSense does well in Odeon Point Village, we'll see it appear in other Odeons around the country as the rebrand progresses. I happen to think the Point Village isn't the best location for a cinema, but maybe it'll get a local trade, I just can't see it getting the passing trade that the city centre cinemas would get and its in the wrong location to get the suburban viewing public in.

Sad Professor · 26-03-2012 11:35pm

Screen 2 and possibly 5 are just as big in Vue, just less seats. But wow, 195 square metres. I didn't realise it was that much larger than Cineworld. However, I suspect the Savoy's width means it's still larger for scope films.

Raekwon · 26-03-2012 11:48pm

icdg wrote: »

I happen to think the Point Village isn't the best location for a cinema, but maybe it'll get a local trade, I just can't see it getting the passing trade that the city centre cinemas would get and its in the wrong location to get the suburban viewing public in.

I agree, the location is not great for a cinema, as even though it's served by the LUAS, it's still off the beaten track compared to it's main competitors like the Savoy & Cineworld. It's actually quite a remote location and I wouldn't think it would be safest place at night. It kind of reminds me of The Lighthouse in Smithfield, lovely cinema but not exactly accessible as it's main competitors, the IFI & Screen.

Crash · 28-03-2012 12:20am

So, just back from seeing the hunger games in screen 1 in iSense.

First about the cinema - so the entrance is directly beside the hotel, once you get to the entrance there's still about 3-4 minutes of walking and escalators to get up to it. There's a Ben & Jerrys place, a pick and mix, and 5-6 tills for food, and a couple for tickets. There's also a coffee shop (no booze though, I think). The credit card machines didn't seem to be working very well, but I guess opening night jitters are to be expected.

Upstairs, before you go into screen 1 from the top, there's some couches and tables to sit around in - they've gone for clean and simple for most of the design of the place.

as for the screen itself - looks pretty much the same to my eye as screen 17 in Cineworld - seats are at a slightly greater pitch though I think. The sound, judging by the demo they showed beforehand, is impressive but a little gimmicky (though it was a demo) but wasn't exactly pushed by the hunger games. Very immersive view though - thanks to the decent pitch you have a nice uninterrupted view of the screen.

It was pretty hard to figure out what seat you're supposed to be in though - the row markings were pretty poor, and the staff still didnt fully know where they were supposed to be (again, having worked in a cinema before, i'll forgive them

)

It was probably about 60% full for the showing this evening - dont know how well/badly that really is, with it being opening night and all. I'd go back, partly because it was a pleasant enough experience, partly because I can leave at the start time of the film, and still get in there before the trailers are done. It does feel a bit painful when you're paying 10.50 for the ticket, 2 euro for the iSense screen, and 1 euro for the marginally better seats (further back, headrest, more leg room, better tilt) - but not so bad that it'd turn me off.

Also, be aware, the place only stocks nestle chocolate, so if you have to have your minstrels or M&Ms or Maltesers, be prepared :P

e_e · 28-03-2012 12:30am

Had a pretty good experience there earlier! Very immersive watching The Hunger Games.

The interior of the cinema reminded me of The Lighthouse a bit, albeit super sized and catering for a different audience. It's ultra modern and the sheer size of the area it's in was impressive. Yeah I'd definitely go again and the location wasn't nearly as problematic as I expected it to be.

Raekwon · 28-03-2012 3:28pm

Thanks for the update Crash

Sounds like a pleasant enough experience and I must admit you have me slightly intrigued now and I'm looking forward to paying a visit in the future.

My main gripes are still with the location and the price. If the iSense screen is the same size as Cineworld 17 then I'd still prefer to watch a movie in a more convenient location. I was actually planning on going to see Wrath of the Titans this weekend but for €14.50 it seems abit steep considering it's only €8.60 in the Savoy (both 3D).

If it was an IMAX screen then I'd be all over it regardless of the price but it's obviously not so that does concern me and I think the cinema will suffer greatly in the long run unless they drop their prices accordingly.

I'd still like to see something like The Avengers or Prometheus in iSense for the sound quality plus the fact that there would be far less teenage messers then in the likes of Cineworld.

Odeon Point Village & iSense

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