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    Rave Polaris 18 goes eXtreme for The Hunger Games

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    The Rave Columbus Polaris 18 theater is joining the large screen format ranks for the opening of The Hunger Games. Like her younger sister location in Grove City the Polaris 18 location will now showcase a RaveXtreme auditorium.

    Large screen format presentations have taken the theater world by storm in recent years due to the widespread adoption of the IMAX format. In almost every major city in America you can see a film presented in IMAX; in Columbus for instance you have two such options at AMC’s Lennox 24 and Easton 30 locations. Adding and maintaining an IMAX auditorium is expensive however and so is the licensing cost which is why the two Columbus area Marcus Theaters converted their IMAX screens to their own proprietary format called UltraScreen format several years ago. They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and with the advancements of digital projection many chains now offer their own version of IMAX; AMC ETX, Cinemark XD, Marcus UltraScreen, Regal RPX and of course RaveXtreme.

    The recently opened Grove City 14’s RaveXtreme auditorium was built as part of the new building whereas Polaris 18’s number 10 auditorium has undergone a complete retrofit including removing one emergency exit to accommodate the larger screen that RaveXtreme offers. The retrofitted auditorium features an all new wall-to-wall 32′ x 63′ curved screen that dwarfs AMC Easton 30’s IMAX screen by 30% and is less than 1% smaller than the Marcus Crosswood’s UltraScreen. In addition to the new screen the RaveXtreme theater also adds a new Christie digital projector sporting a 6000 watt bulb, a RealD light-doubler for 3D, an improved sound system with twice the number of speakers as a normal Rave auditorium, and all new leather rocking seats with 48 inches of legroom. The total amount of seats was reduced to 431 following a removal of forty-one seats including an entire row to ensure an unobstructed view from anywhere in the theater.

    Last night’s grand opening for The Hunger Games got off to rocky start with the trailers being jarring loud even by movie theater standards. The center channel was far too soft and the surround channels were ear splittingly loud but after a few tweaks the sound issues were quickly ironed out in time to enjoy the last few trailers. From that point on the presentation was flawless; the picture was properly framed, screen brightness was appropriate, and the sound was well balanced with clear dialouge, very immersive surround sound, and a well defined low end. Overall the experience was on par with what I’ve come to expect from large format presentations with the RaveXtreme picture quality being on par with IMAX and the sound quality possibly surpassing it.

    For your money’s worth RaveXtreme is in the middle of the pack with there being a $3.00 surcharge for their large format experience. Comparatively the surcharge at AMC’s IMAX tickets is a whopping $5.00 yet Marcus only charges an extra $1.00 for their UltraScreen presentation.

    With very good picture and sound, competitive pricing, and more comfortable seating than you’ll find in many other large format theaters the addition of the RaveXtreme auditorium at Polaris 18 has made one of the better theaters in Columbus even more attractive. The Rave Polaris 18 might not have a bar, a restaurant, or sell cheese and veggie trays at their concession stand but when it comes to consistent presentation and showmanship Rave has the right idea and the RaveXtreme theater looks to continue that trend.

    For tickets and showtimes, visit www.ravemotionpictures.com.

    And you can check out my review of The Hunger Games at Movies Hate You Too.

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    Nicholas Herum
    Nicholas Herumhttp://www.movieshateyoutoo.com
    Nicholas Herum is a featured contributor who reviews films for Columbus Underground. You can find more of his work at his own website, Movies Hate You Too.
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