Cinemark Egyptian 24 and XD
7000 Arundel Mills Circle,
Hanover,
MD
21076
7000 Arundel Mills Circle,
Hanover,
MD
21076
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 105 comments
can anyone confirm if Auditorium #13 is getting the makeover/upgrade to ‘XD’ ?
I saw “Ready Player One” in XD over the weekend. The projection and sound quality were much better than IMAX and Dolby Cinema at AMC Columbia. Picture was both brighter and clearer (even more so than Dolby Cinema at Columbia), and the sound was perfect.
I really like how they have the sound system set up. The bass reverberated through the auditorium but only at appropriate times and wasn’t too loud, boomy, or sibilant, unlike the large formats at that other theater I mentioned earlier. I hope they keep the audio levels this way. Audio panning between surround channels was also apparent during both the trailers and feature film. It’s definitely my favorite large format auditorium in this area now.
The seats and floor were reconstructed in the XD auditorium. Everything else is the same — surround speakers, auditorium decor and screen are all the same as before the recliner retrofit.
Interestingly, the sightlines didn’t look different to me with the new recliners. But I’m not the type of person who reclines their seat all the way back. I don’t like looking up at the screen at an awkward angle. I’d rather look straight at it, like with standard non-reclining seats.
Although Cinemark’s standard “Popcorn and Coca-Cola” feature presentation trailer was shown, there were no XD or THX trailers shown. I had no problem with this, as I feel that the Cinemark XD “Unicorns” trailer is too cheesy and a bit annoying for my tastes. However, I will admit that seeing a THX trailer and hearing the Deep Note would have paired well with all the old pop culture references in “Ready Player One”.
The screen is still as huge and immersive as before. If I can find time to come back and see the film again in XD, I’ll probably sit a few rows back so I can see the entire screen. I sat near the center of the auditorium and the screen still extended past my field of vision at that location.
Before the preshow, I heard some vibrating from what sounded like the speaker mounts on the left wall due to sound leakage from 11. So they need to turn down the speakers and/or bass in 11. It definitely was not from 12 because the speakers weren’t even on yet. Later in the film, during one of the quiet scenes, I noticed the sound leakage again.
I did some browsing on THX’s cinema locator on their website and found that all of the local (DC area) XD screens are listed as THX certified.
I have not been in the XD auditorium since the recliner conversion. So I don’t know if they play a THX trailer after film trailers/before feature films.
In other news, the new D-BOX seats have a recliner like appearance but are red to distinguish them from the regular recliners, which are dark brown. I personally haven’t used the new seats but I most likely won’t in the future because I found the old D-BOX seats to be distracting and overpriced the first time I tried them.
Photos of recliner converted theaters added.
Wish you had asked if the XD screens are laser projectors – I thought I had read said screens were updated as such. Too bad Cinemark merged with a ‘Barco and Auro exclusivity’ Dolby Atmos in my mind is superior
The largest auditoriums (11-14) have been converted to recliner seating with steeper stadium risers and new carpeting and aisle lighting. This includes the XD auditorium (12). I believe two small adjacent auditoriums (10 & 15) were also converted.
I haven’t been in the XD auditorium (12) yet, but 11 had new speakers installed as well. The surrounds appear to be JBL 9300 speakers, though I’m sure the screen speakers were also replaced (most likely JBL Screen Array speakers). The screen also looks new and projection looks better than the non-converted auditoriums. The Egyptian murals on the upper side walls were retained. I believe they added red carpeting to the bottom quarters of the walls.
Along with recliners, auditorium 13 appears to still have D-BOX motion seats, just with a slightly lower quantity now (according to the online seating map).
I didn’t ask if the XD auditorium has been THX certified, as Cinemark appears to be in the process of certifying their XD auditoriums. Their website indicates that it still has Auro 11.1 sound.
Since I couldn’t get to the IMAX showings, I decided to see Alien: Covenant in D-Box..but on the cheaper Tuesday discounted day. I didn’t realize that there was no 3D release for the movie. Prometheus was quite good in the XD auditorium the last time.
The online seating chart doesn’t really give you a decent sense of where the seats are. I choose the one closest to the screen that wasn’t in the stadium area.
After what seemed like 20 previews, the D-Box trailer played and the seat rumbled and shook to alert me the movie was starting. My initial impression was that the seat movements (shake, vibration and tilting) were annoying. I’m thinking the screen was not immersive in the sense that I’m looking up to the screen. If it had been more on the level..which is why I’m not a great fan of stadium seating, I think the experience could have been better, overall. However, the ending part of the movie is when I forgot about my misgivings and the picture and movements seemed better in synch.
Picture and sound were digital good, however, during pre-show time, it seemed like the right half of the screen was darker. The soundtrack was distinct and clear. The appropriate sounds came out of the front left, but in the temple scene the constant water flow sounded more like a guy taking a whizzz then anything else. :)
For $13, the discounted price is palatable. The regular $20 D-Box price gives one pause for thought. I’m wondering if a different movie, like a space one would be a better experience. I missed a recline feature. Overall, the experience reminded me of the Doug Trumbull tri-feature experience at the Luxor in the 90s. They had minimal sensation but had speakers in the seats, if I recall correctly.
Commercial:
December 8th, 2000 grand opening ad in photo section.
During The Hateful Eight’s 70 mm Roadshow run, this theatre installed a 70 mm projector in auditorium 7, which is one of the mid-size auditoriums. The film was presented in its original aspect ratio letterboxed with the side screen masking opened up in scope ratio.
This is one of the better multiplexes in the region. A number of reviews here and elsewhere have noted issues with the facilities and concessions but generally speaking I have had a pleasant experience at this theater. The real factor that detracts from this theater experience overall is parking. Parking is abysmal and during the holidays it is almost impossible to find anything. The close proximity of D&B to this venue is idiotic as well. Given this venues size and popularity, the planners here need to rethink their whole approach. If you haven’t yet been here, come early on the weekends and prepare to look for parking or pay for valet. Otherwise, buy your tickets online and go to a weekday matinee.
^ I would think the Arclight is showing the 6 FL version since the system uses Dolby 3D glasses – and the 3D looked fantastic.
Giles, those meeting room scenes were still quite dark in Ultra 3D. I thought the overall Ultra 3D presentation was slightly brighter than the standard 3D version. I didn’t really notice the difference in brightness unless I was looking specifically at a certain area within a scene. The 3D depth was more subtle here than on AMC Columbia’s Christie projector – that location had a very strong 3D depth compared to this theatre. Both locations use RealD 3D.
The 6 fL 3D version of “The Martian” should be brighter on Dolby 3D white screens. Not sure if ArcLight is showing that version, though.
^ I saw ‘The Martian’ once at Arclight Bethesda (‘widescreen’ 3D/Dolby Atmos) and AMC Uptown (3D) – in both instances all the conference/meeting room scenes look unnaturally dark and drab – two different DLP systems shared the same darkness levels, it seemed very odd as cinematographer decision. Were those scenes brighter at all in ‘Ultra 3D’? The best use of 3D were the last thirty minutes of the movie.
Auditorium 21 is presenting The Martian in “Cinemark Ultra 3D”, which I’m assuming is the brighter 6 fL 3D version of the film. This is one of the smaller auditoriums with only 101 seats. My first 3D viewing of The Martian was at AMC Columbia 14’s auditorium 2, which is one of their largest rooms with a Christie DLP projector. During the trailers (all were standard 2D) at this theatre (Cinemark Egyptian), the picture did seem brighter than AMC Columbia’s 2D trailers. However, during the film itself with the 3D glasses on, it didn’t really look noticeably brighter than my first screening.
Cinemark did not show a 3D glasses prompt at all before the film, which I thought was unusual. In contrast, at AMC after the First Look pre-show, AMC showed First Look 3D, all 2D trailers, the AMC RealD 3D glasses trailer and AMC Coca-cola Freestyle feature presentation trailer in 3D before the film. None of Cinemark’s policy trailers directly before the film were in 3D.
At this theatre, the 3D depth did not seem as apparent, though it was still noticeable. I also noticed during the scene with subtitles that the second line of subtitles was cropped/cut off at the bottom. This didn’t bother me since I had previously seen the film but first time viewers may feel differently. The MPAA website URL at the bottom of the green band before some trailers was cropped as well, though that probably won’t bother anyone. Also, the picture was a bit soft due to the vibration of the cooling fan in the projector. Sound did have a bit more depth and bass than AMC Columbia.
yes, 12 is the XD screen. Actually none of the new ‘Everest’ movie was filmed in IMAX (Arri Alexa XT digital cameras to be exact).
Those old National Amusement seats scared the dickens out of me – the way they creaked, went back so far, I’ve never feared so much for my safety – I didn’t want to be ‘that guy’ who broke a chair at a movie theater.
Giles, is 12 the Extreme theater, or whatever their version of IMAX-lite is? I wanted to see ‘Everest’..heard some of it was filmed in IMAX and some other films I’ve missed :(
I loved the rocker seats in the old National Amusement seat theaters. The only problem is when you had sell out crowds and the person sitting behind or in front of you sat so far back as if he/she was to fall into your lap. :)
I still have my free pass to use from the Jurassic Park DBox experience. I want to see a DBox presentation since I’ve never experienced it before.
so I had my first Auro ‘experience’ here this afternoon and I was quite impressed with the wind sound effects from “Everest”; audio cues between the standard side channels with the height side channels produced some great effects. Height ceiling sound sourcing still didn’t impress me, since it’s a mono source spread out to six ceiling inset speakers. Bass reproduction here, though has been consistently impressive, my brief talk with one of the managers revealed that some of the more bombastic bass heavy movies, have blown out/damaged the bass speakers (and subsequently replaced or fixed). Interestingly on another technical note, since I never knew the full explanation of this, but auditorium 12’s sound system while it can present Auro 11.1 soundtracks, retains the rear speakers, so that non-encoded Auro DCP’s that include 7.1 mixes will be replicated as such.
I am not really a fan of the seats, the way they lean so far back, it’s almost as if you might break them with one’s own weight and send you sailing backwards – like the former old ultra-squeaky seats that were at the old Merrifield and Reston theaters.
that is correct MovieTix86: because Auro is 5.1 based and no surrounds directly behind you; there is a tremendous gap from left side surround to right side surround. This is why I don’t particularly care for Auro sound – the technology to me sounds like a step backwards – I’ve heard three movies as such, and then rewatched those movies in standard 7.1 which put back the rear channels of sound and as a result conveyed 360 sound to greater effectiveness and soundscaping.
I caught a matinee of Jurassic World here only because they have recently installed D-Box seating. Being opening day and upon discovering the D-Box install, I thought this would be an interesting experience. I’ve known D-Box was locally installed at a Leesburg mplex, but it is rather far for me to go.
Unfortunately, the website indicates they are in the smaller auditoriums 13 and 18, not the nicer XD one. I guess its okay if the screen was not as immersive but at least its 3D and digital, meaning a clean, slightly darker picture. The website also denotes the fact that the entire auditorium is not D-Box arranged but only 2 rows and 2 seats. When I saw the online schematic for the reserved seating (ugh!) chart, I thought for a second that the theater was just that..a capacity of just 2 rows and 2 seats! Nope.
Due to unexpected traffic delays, I arrived 15 minutes late. Fortunately, I bought my ticket online and skipped the box office line despite the surcharge. I missed all the opening sneak previews and format/sound trailers, so I can’t talk about any of that. I believe this venue never played sound format trailers, just digital. The way the online seating chart looks in relation to the screen, one is MISTAKENLY led to believe the two rows of D-Box seats are the bottom of the stadium seating level and the two other seats are on the auditorium floor and in center. WRONG. The movie had started and the fact there is insufficient lighting, I could not find the J row that I was assigned. I did see the seat number and people to the right of me. I asked the guy next to me if its J Row, the D-Box row and he said yes. No movement in the seats, buzzing or any kind of moment in the beginning. I thought maybe the seat motions only during the action parts. The action parts come and go, no movement. By this time, the movie is already into the half way part. No sense in moving again, missing the flow of the film trying to find the elusive J-row.
The movie was surprisingly good. I had heard some positive reviews on the radio and the online buzz was decent even though, I don’t really pay attention to them to the extent that it influences my movie choices.
Sound wise, there were decent surrounds and particular chatter and sound fx from the top left like 7.1. Not sure if its the auditorium or the soundtrack, itself, but I’m leaning towards the auditorium sound system, the depth of sound wasn’t as rich or deep as seeing the original Jurassic film at Universal Studios in Hollywood way back when DTS debuted. Of particular comparison is the full shot of the T-Rex (rather the new creature’s) onscreen and its roar. At that venue, which I blogged here but was probably deleted, you could get the sensation of breath coming at you and motion from the then THX-cert auditorium.
A few minor annoyances was the series' often repeated opening shot of the dinosaurs trotting onscreen from right to left to the upswell of oooh ahh music. I get the impression they reused the same shot from the original but modified the images to add/take away particular dinosaurs and include the current actors in the scene. Bryce Dallas Howard’s Stepford Wives' style do made me want to grab at the image and turn it something less oppressive. :)
Complaining to Guest services got me an apology and acknowledgement about the bad website seating schematic and vertically cropped film. I’ll go back but avoid #18 for D-Box, if I can.
Giles, there were surrounds but it sounded more like 5.1 than 7.1 – I believe Auro only supports downmixing to 5.1 because Auro is encoded within the 5.1 audio track. There seemed to be less sound movement among the surround speakers than the previous 7.1 sound system. Bass output wasn’t lacking but didn’t have the power I usually expect from the XD format.
The last film I saw in XD was Pacific Rim in 7.1 and you could hear and feel the auditorium rumble whenever the Jaegers and Kaiju fell or stepped on the ground. The experience was more immersive with more sound movement among the surround channels as well. I didn’t have that type of experience during the Furious 7 screening.
Its quite possible the wrong audio encoding was ingested into the audio processor from the DCP, was there not any rear speaker sound? The presentation I heard over at Arclight Bethesda on its “wide screen” screen presented the 7.1 mix to wide effect notably in the side and rear speakers. Why ‘Furious 7’ was not given an object based mid is a mystery – lost cause really since there was a lot of ceiling sourced action that could have benefitted from accompanied sound cues.
They need to put in subwoofers or turn the low frequency/bass channel up in auditorium 11. The mid and high frequencies sounded fine when I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron there. But the lack of bass for an action film was underwhelming, especially in the largest auditorium in the theatre. If they can turn up the low frequency audio in 13, it can definitely be done in 11.
Before that, I saw Furious 7 in XD (12) and the sound lacked the depth I heard with the previous 7.1-channel sound system. All previous films in XD sounded better with the 7.1 system, with better sound panning and better overall sound quality. I don’t think it was the sound mix because I saw the film in a standard cinema, which had better sound quality.
I still prefer the presentation quality at Cinemark theatres over the dimmer projection and inconsistent audio levels at some AMC and Regal theatres.
This theatre was one of several Cinemark locations that had D-BOX motion seats installed. A D-BOX demo setup is located next to the lobby exits, outside the arcade/game room.
I totally missed the news that the XD screen was converted to playback Auro encoded movies. Yet NOT advertising this aspect on their website is rather pointless in my mind.