Ah! The days of the white marble staircase, the wide promenade, the beautiful auditorium, the George Melachrino orchestra and the Wurlitzer organ.....all gone in the name of progress. So sad.
Favourite London Cinema to visit on trips. Now I'll stay in Yorkshire where, at least, we have The Magnificent Cinerama Screen still showing original Cinerama & 70mm Films.
The once proud Empire Cinema is now nothing to boast about today. Smashed to bits in the name of modernisation over and over again . It's sad remains are nothing to compare to the once beautiful original Empire I remember so much. A sad loss to London .
Empire 1 raped, slaughtered and butchered into a liemax garbage trash by imax garbage trash corp. You will see few imax fanboys on here parsing how nice imax is, it's okay just a troll hypocrite, creeping about saying how nice Empire 1, once used to be. anyone using imax in upper case letter is a creep. rip Empire Leicester Square, Empire 1.
It's the cost of operating at the end of the day....2 screens in one auditorium makes financial sense...at least it was several years before the conversion and I was lucky enough to visit twice a year when in London. As a cinema buff I feel your pain..but when Empire Cinemas took over they added extra screens anyway ( originally 3 only) to increase choice and income as we all know London is ridiculously expensive and is a disgrace as regards value for money. IMAX laser is impressive..and in this smaller auditorium you feel so involved in the image...but I loved the double tabs and lighting of the original screen....happy memories..and a great memory whoever filmed this excellent record :)It puts the Odeon next door to shame with its pathetic small 59 ft screen..not this 60ft masterpiece x
Sad to hear this great cinema has been destroyed. And the rest? Tabs? Laser show? Go to Le Grand Rex in Paris. They've found a way to incorporate its fabulous past with a fantastic future. They know and demonstrate what showmanship means. There are no compromises. Oh - and tickets are much cheaper too!
It's been destroyed because they have carved up probably the best cinema in the UK into that now awful IMAX screen and Impact screen neither of which come close to the old Screen 1
+Cjbx11 In what way, specifically, is it not better than what was there? Personally I think the new IMAX laser is nothing short of stunning. Even the BFI regular IMAX now looks less sharp to me. Okay, so the EMpire is no longer a THX theater, not a big deal to me. THX was fine when we did not have IMAX. Given the choice, I prefer IMAX Laser over THX.
+MeTube The Empire was stunning before they were allowed to stick up that partition wall and put in an oversize screen and turned it into a giant video wall rather then a cinema. The old Empire had a huge screen that was in perfect proportion to the size of cinema with excellent site from all seats giving a true theatrical cinema experience. As for laser projection there is absolutely reason why the old Empire screen 1 couldn't have been equipped with laser projection as laser projectors are available for non IMAX cinemas and with the Dolby Atmos system they had installed (which is better then the IMAX sound) I'm sure would have given cinema audiences the very best that modern cinema has to offer without going for cheep gimmicks. Why go see Star Wars in a cinema where the image has been retro fitted to 3D and the one and only IMAX scene has been cropped because it was filmed on 70mm IMAX? The film is intended to be seen in 2D and like most films converted to 3D for commercial reasons.
Cjbx11 The old screen is now small by today's consumer expectations. Dolby Atmos is cool, but the IMAX sound system can also create virtually any speaker array. What is "true theatrical" ? I had a true cinema experience at the new Empire, as good as before. (You can even see how small the old screen in in the video, compared to modern expectations.) 3D is a personal choice for consumers. You may not like conversions but many viewers enjoy it. The use of 3D in Episode VII was very subtle but effective, especially that star destroyer shot, which resulted in a collective gasp in the audience when I saw it, a truly stunning shot on a massive IMAX screen. The film clearly was intended for 3D presentation. Episode VII was shot on 65mm. I've seen it four times now already on both IMAX screens and two multiplex screen sizes and the images were not cropped on any. The Empire's active 3D was far superior to the BFI passive 3D.
+MeTube The old Screen was not small by any standard, in fact it was bigger then the vast majority of Digital IMAX screens. If you want to watch a film on a screen so big that you can't fiscally see the whole picture you could always sit at the front. A true cinema experience involves some sort of presentation. Where are the screen tabs? Where is the screen masking? Where is the proper use of pre show music? These things may seem trivial but it's all part of the cinema going experience. True 70mm IMAX did have something to offer but I'm afraid digital IMAX in my opinion is a gimmick it does nothing that couldn't be done in a normal cinema. What have Empire really done? Move the wall forward and put in a slightly bigger screen so it seems ten times bigger then before. It's a con trick.
Once the best THX theater in the UK. The current configuration, IMAX laser, is truly impressive but not as majestic as it once was. Watched Episode VII there and it looked and sounded incredible. I hope the BFI upgrade to laser soon.
@@srfurley I have seen both. I have seen more laser projections than carbon. I can tell you the quality doesnt disappoint at all. But I get your worry.
Nothing like a nice flickering pair of carbon rods. Brightness changing all the time, needs monitoring and fine adjustments. Give me a xenon lamp any day.
Very hard watching this perfection gutted and slaughtered for that crappy imax I mean LIEMAX I hope imax ass kissers are satisufied with tiny LIEMAX screen and no real premiere size atmosphere to go with. EMPIRE 1 forever.
digital is garbage trash. imax, sorry I meant to say liemax digital is garbage trash. Empire 1, 35/70mm is way better than, liemax laser digital garbage trash video screen wall.
