With Warner Bros. Pictures abandoning the 3D element at the last minute, thank goodness for the IMAX presentation of the new “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1,” which premieres Friday, Nov. 19.
The image of the movie which has been digitally re-mastered for IMAX technology that I saw last night at the Rave 18 IMAX theater in Los Angeles filled the giant screen more than many widescreen Hollywood films, just as “Avatar” was customized for the more squarish IMAX frame. The immediate impact of seeing familiar cinematic characters envelope your field of view is quite dynamic as was the crisp laser-aligned digital sound surrounding the audience.
This will be IMAX’s largest opening ever with 239 IMAX screens domestically and 117 internationally. Most of the international theaters will open the movie Friday and others, including pending bookings, will be added in the coming weeks.
Online movie ticket seller Fandango reported today that “…Deathly Hallows, Part 1” accounts for a whopping 97% of today’s (Thursday, Nov. 18) ticket sales with 3,000 showtimes already sold out. It has already become the top “Harry Potter” advance ticket-seller in the company’s ten-year history and the overall third best pre-seller in the same period, moving ahead of fourth-ranked”Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.” “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” are the top two.
As for the movie itself, no doubt it will be a giant hit and, most likely, anyone who enjoyed the first half of the last book in the series will revel in this interpretation as well. 
For, as most of the movie versions have been remarkably faithful adaptations of the books, so too is this David Yates-directed production. The distinction is that this one, being only Part 1 of a two-part adaptation of the final book — Part 2 comes in summer 2011, presumably in 3D this time if they get the conversion figured out well enough and completed by then — skips over fewer parts of the book and spends more time with each scene.
While that will be a welcome new approach for die-hard fans, it may be painful for others as they endure multiple shots of Hermione doing nothing but reading a book, looking for clues. Also visually painful, or at least an unnecessary distraction, are a half-dozen jerky shots from a hand-held camera inter-cut with traditional stable shots from a tripod for no apparent reason at all except perhaps to provide at least some sense of movement in scenes of Hermione, Harry and Ron standing motionless.
Just as the books grew progressively darker and offered less humor and fun — no humorous magic tricks, exciting Quidditch matches or imaginative Hagrid monster pets — and less focus on character relationships, so goes this episode, filmed in very dark and drab colors with hardly a second of brightness. Of all the movies to stretch into essentially 5 hours (this one is 2 1/2), “Deathly Hallows” is the most unrelentingly dour and offers but a few seconds of light moments and dialogue across only a handful of scenes. Those familiar with the book will know that this film, presenting only the first half of the story, cannot offer any sort of hope of an upbeat ending. That will not come until Part 2.
Although 3D might have made the entire movie slightly more visually pleasing, and there are several shots in particular that could have looked spectacular, 3D alone most likely would not have done anything to make anyone enjoy it more or less, though it will mean about $75 million less from 3D movie ticket premiums.
But there will still be a size-able percentage of ticket price premiums from IMAX theaters where the presentation offers fans the maximum immersive experience.
— By Scott Hettrick