The Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater

the 1 star for the cool screen but the quality of the picture the worst I’ve ever seen even compared to the cheapest theaters in town the film was very dirty ruined the picture. service is the worst from the young black rude attitude girl selling the tickets and they close the snack shoparound 7 when the movie starts at 6. I sent an email regarding the visit and seen no response. badly maintained business.

Just spent $ 100 to see Batman v Superman here and have nothing good to say about the experience. We sat pretty high up and still had to look straight up through the entire movie. It was a very uncomfortable and annoying 2 ½ hours. The seats are just like a normal theater, totally the wrong angle when your point of focus is straight up! I can’t wait to see the movie again at a normal theater where I won’t leave with a sore neck and I can focus on more than one thing at a time. Everyone in the crowd left the theater angry.

Forgot just how good IMAX films really are. It’s not something you can see daily but once in a while, it’s a quality experience. Saw the ‘National Parks’ film and the scenery and footage taken is just incredible. It makes you really value all the natural surroundings and territories that deserve to be preserved. Better value to get this as a combo with the museum than separately I believe but check to be sure. Great for kids too!

Saw the IMAX movie «Robots» here with my daughter and 4 grandchildren. The film is projected on a dome and wall. The content of the film was about the same as I had seen on PBS with Scientific American’s New Frontiers hosted by Alan Alda.
The seats are very uncomfortable, do not recline but do rock slightly, and the leg room between you and the row in front of you is extremely limited. I am 5 ft 8 inches tall and my feet were jammed between my seat and the seat in front of me and my lower legs were pinned up against the back of the seat in front of me. This proved painful when the kid in front of me decided to start rocking his chair as violently as he could.
This theater will be scary for anyone even slightly afraid of heights. The stairs are very steep and there is no railing nor barrier in front of the seats to keep children or the unsteady from falling forward and tumbling into the lower seats. We were instructed to exit the theater by climbing to the top of the theater and the descending a long staircase back down to ground level. This was more than my ruptured Achilles tendons could endure. Fortunately, my daughter had spotted a small elevator hidden away behind the upper level of the theater.
Parking is awful for this business. We had to walk 2 blocks to the convention center for parking. If you do this, be sure to stop by the information desk for the Tech Museum and get you parking ticket validated for free parking. You also purchase the movie tickets in the same place as you purchase the museum tickets. That probably makes sense since they are in the same building and many people are purchasing tickets for both anyway.

My family and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this theater the other day.
To start off, I would absolutely NOT recommend seeing a Hollywood movie on this screen for the first time! (the movie is way too big to get a feel for it and catch details of the story) For each of us, it was our 2^nd or 3^rd time viewing this movie though.
Secondly, I felt like I had to write a good review for this theater, after reading all the 1 and 2 star reviews. For reference, we sat about 3 – 4 rows from the top, in the middle.
In my opinion, it was AMAZING! The close ups and action sequences were a bit much but that’s just the nature of the beast on a screen this large. The panned out scenes were pretty cool. So it balanced out.
I didn’t notice any distortion on the sides of the screen likes others have noted.
And I think it was pretty cool turning my head from side to side and seeing different parts of a scene. None of the scenes ended so quickly that I didn’t have time to look both ways and in the middle.
And the sound was awesome! Loud but not too loud, and loud enough at points that you could feel the vibration in your seat, so you felt more a part of the movie than you already did.
It’s too bad that the seats don’t recline so that you don’t have to crane your neck but it wasn’t terrible. Leg room was a little nonexistent too, specifically because I scooted forward in my seat so that I could lean my body back a bit so as not to crane my neck so much… but oh well, it was 2 short hours of my life so I dealt with it. Again, not terrible. Overall the experience was awesome… totally immersive! It was cool to experience the movie in another way than I’d previously seen.
And a tip, you don’t have to print your tickets… they can scan them on your (smart) phone.

I drove 2 hours from the valley to go to this movie theater. Prior to our movie we accidentally went into another. As we went in no one stopped or questioned us, upon realizing our mistake we walked back out and waited for our movie. While waiting I was singled out (I asked other patrons after the movie) to empty my pockets to check for weapons. I did have a box cutter on me and turned it over to security. Security was kind enough to give it back after the movie, but why was I asked in the first place, considering no one was asked for the Robots documentary and most people were not asked for Star Wars primarily my group, the guy behind us and a few women with large purses. Because of this policy I will no longer drive to this theater. I hope San Fransisco gets a dome theater soon, as the people running this theater should question their decisions. FYI I had at least two other knives on my person and no one in the theater was injured.

I was so excited to see Star Wars at this theater, but within the first few seconds of the movie, I knew my friends and I were in for a rough 2 hrs. We arrived relatively early and were able to find seats for our group of 6 in the fourth row. My boyfriend, who had also never seen a movie at the Tech, turned to me and said, «You should have a good view from anywhere you sit, right?» But boy were we wrong to think so. We could barely read the galactic scrolling letters at the beginning of the film and had to crane our necks from one side of the screen to the other. Unless you sat in the very last rows of the theater, you were pretty miserable. I even closed my eyes for several portions of the movie because the action sequences were so huge and moving so quickly. I don’t know bout you, but my mom always told me not to sit so close to the dang screen!
My personal opinion is that they should only fill the portion of the theater that will guarantee a good, comfortable view of the dome. I’d be happy to pay more… rather than paying $ 16 and having to guess which body part I’m looking at (during closeups) and walk out needing a full body massage. Also of note is that there is barely any leg room, and I’m only 5’2!
1 extra star for having a concession stand. The popcorn made it that much more bearable.

Damn, I should’ve check reviews on here before seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens today. But it was a last minute decision, since my co-​worker & I hadn’t seen it & decided to go right after work, & the options were at Camera 12 in 3-​D or here IMAX. I’d never been to an IMAX dome, & nope, regular rectangular IMAX is better. We were somewhat in the middle with seats, & had to crane our necks up to watch, so I don’t know if there are better seats where you don’t end up with neck pain at the end. Is it better closer to the top, or closer to the bottom? Then, the picture just seemed a bit distorted at times. I’m guessing it might better to watch a nature/​science documentary type of movie here. The sound was good.
Then, the seats are very small, space between each row is small… if someone needs to pass & you’re seated, you have to get up for them to get by. Those who know me know that I am vertically challenged, & seated, my knees were hitting the seat in front of me. I don’t know how a tall person would sit comfortably at all. So, that gives you an idea of how cramped it is.
Then of course, after everyone is seated, some idiot in my row comes in late & disrupts ¾ of the row to come in on the side she chose instead of the other side, which is the side the empty seat is closer to. I see this happen at venues (concerts, sports games, etc.) all the time… don’t people ever think it through/​ask the usher (because they usually, not always, but usually know) which side their seat is closer to in order to disturb the least amount of people? I guess most people don’t think that way. America, fuck yeah!
Otherwise, the audience was actually pretty well behaved – no inappropriate talking, cell phone light glows. The people in our row who showed up on time & needed to pass were very polite, including the kids, saying thank you, etc.
The only preview they showed was the preview for the movie we were seeing. The movie started on time, so don’t be late!
Movie tickets are sold at the ticket counter for the museum.
I tend to skip concessions, so I can’t comment on that.
The women’s restroom inside the theater area has 2 stalls, is clean.
There’s also restrooms in the museum entrance area too.
Located in the Tech Museum, on southwest corner of Market St. & Park Ave.

Watching a movie in a dome sounds cool, but it actually sucks. I went there to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens earlier today and left after 20 minutes. Linear objects looked like horseshoes and you’d have to move your head back and forth to view the entire screen.
I hear it’s great for science documentaries though.

Don’t pay to see traditional widescreen movie at this theater. I just saw Star Wars the Force Awakens there and the experience was pretty poor. The image is extremely distorted. The right & left sides of the frame are stretched & blurry. At times it’s comical. Everything has in unpleasant fisheye look that is particularly unkind to people standing at the right or left of the frame. The image is projected above your head and is so wide that you have to crane to see everything. The movie looked MUCH better on a standard IMAX screen.
On paper it sound like an awesome idea: have a movie projected all around you. In reality projecting a widescreen movie onto the inside of s dome just doesn’t work.
One last note. The projection & sound are both top notch. The screen, however, is in pretty average condition. It’s clean enough, but there are large marks (including a big rectangle near the center).

Want to watch a movie in IMAX? Try somewhere else.
Went here this past Wednesday night to watch Star Wars Episode VII. My friends and I were hyped to see the next installation in glorious IMAX. But not even 5 minutes into the movie, I regretted our decision to watch at this «theater.»
The problem: this simply is not a movie theater. This isn’t a proper venue for watching movies. The dome screen is like the planetarium at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The projected picture is stretched out and warped — what should be straight lines appear curved and close up shots of faces are nearly comical. Not to mention the resolution, which seemed pixelated and appeared to be too «zoomed in.» To make matters worse, the audience is forced to look up for the entire movie. And the slightly reclined and non-​adjustable chairs don’t help or alleviate the inevitable stiff neck from the unnatural position. I wish I had read the reviews on Unilocal before coming here! I’ll try and leave a tip on the Tech Museum of Innovation’s page to hopefully redirect potential moviegoers to this specific listing.
I really wanted to like this place, but it just isn’t suited for screening films. Perhaps media specifically designed for the domed screen may look good, but movies like Star Wars do not.

We watched Star Wars VII yesterday, it was horrible experience. The seats are very cramped, more uncomfortable than the economy class seats in low-​cost airlines. You have to look up at 60 degree angle (like a crane) to see the screen even if you sit in a higher seat.
You constantly fear of falling down as the seats are on a sharply sloped ramp, enough to give you vertigo.
Though I was able to see movements of micro muscles on the faces, it was impossible to catch the expression. Dome IMAX might be a good experience to see some documentaries where they show a lot of panoramic landscapes, but it’s a torture to watch a regular movie showing close ups of humans.
Walked out with ache in my neck, legs, back and spinning head.

This is not the most ideal theater for a movie because it distorts the picture and it requires you to look up, which really hurts the neck. However, it works best for science documentaries!

We saw Star Wars XII last night and it was a terrible experience in this theater. Even though we were sitting a bit higher than the middle row we still had to spend almost the entire movie looking up at a 45 degree angle. Our necks hurt. The seat backs don’t recline but do prevent you from comfortably looking up.
The movie was pixelated and the action scenes were such a blur on that dome that I couldn’t tell what was happening. Better to watch movies on real theater screens.
This is a problem with all theaters but several times small kids in the center of the row had to pee so them, a sibling, and a parent pushed their way along the row in and out and disturbed dozens of us during action scenes. Really selfish. Why can’t theaters deal with this problem? We pay for a premium experience but they never deliver that.

Okay when you think IMAX dome, you probably think «oh la la must be nice» right? Lol. It’s a great idea… Until you’re in there halfway through your movie
Pros
— unique curved dome screen
— movies start on time
— no trailers
— cool venue
— good sound system
Cons:
— no leg space
— rows are super cramped
— once you get to your seat it’s difficult if you want to exit
— if you don’t get there early enough to get the very top rows, prepare for neck aches
— pricey
I came here twice. Years back, when Happy Feet first came out. That experience was terrible. Lol but that’s only cos my cousins and I came in kinda late and so we were stuck with the very bottom row and we had to completely keep our heads looking up the whole time and my neck was in pain for the rest of the week… Then yesterday was my second time. My BF and I got free tickets to see the new Star Wars movie here. Remembering my past experience, I made sure we came extra early esp since it was a sold out movie and fans must be lined up. We got there an hour and 30 min early, which was great. We got seats up on the 3^rd row right in the middle, which we thought would be perfect. Nah still made my neck tired and sore. It’s exhausting looking up and turning out heads from left to right just to see everything going on since it’s a whole dome and the movie takes up the whole thing… Yeah idk if we’ll be back. It’s a cool idea, but not afterwards.

This Imax Theatre was huge. I didn’t expect it to be so large, but watching the Humpback whales on screen was like being right there with them. There are some draw backs, the seats need to recline in just the slightest bit so that you don’t end up craning your neck and getting a headache. The speakers are a bit loud, but other than that, it was perfection.

Plus:
— Amazing curved/​dome screen
— Decent sound system
— Movie starts on time. No trailers, ads, etc.
Minus:
— Sound from projecter very distracting
— Not enough leg space
— Chairs are uncomfortable, leaves you with neck ache (anything below the last 3 rows will not be comfortable)

Watching a movie here is quite an experience! It’s a hit or miss
IMHO, the experience is great if you have the right seats (stand right ahead in the queue so u can grab those seats right above the iMax logo– just 3 seats that have enough leg room and just the perfect view) boyfriend and me have always tried to get these seats, if we can’t make it early we prefer to watch movies elsewhere. A regular IMAx screen will do. But in those seats, the experience is completely transformational!

Fourth row up from bottom does not have good seats if you like healthy necks.
The family tub is refillable.
Kettle corn here is rock solid.

Big fan of this theater.
ADMISSION: $ 10 adults, $ 8 kids/​students w/​id and seniors 65+.
Concessions are actually quite reasonable for a theater. I bought a small popcorn and a bottle of green tea for $ 6.
The screen is a huge 8 stories high and «wrap around». It can get a little uncomfortable to crane one’s neck back to see it all but it’s a very interactive sort of experience. The sound is wonderful in this theater (13,000 watts!).
This time around, we saw Journey to the South Pacific, about the West Papua islands and the wealth of endangered sea life that can be found there. I thought the film was full of breathtaking and refreshing scenes (especially those of the children –not an iPhone in sight and totally happy faces and lots of outdoor activities… who would have thought a life like that was possible). My daughter was really bored. It’s not SpongeBob Squarepants, so keep in mind that grade school aged kids will not be as enthralled as older moviegoers might be. However, the educational movies are fairly short, about 45 minutes or so so that helps.
The theater has a 280-​seat capacity. I’ve never sat anywhere high or low –I like to find a seat right in the center area so don’t know if every seat is a good one, or not.
Parking: The Museum will validate, but you have to make sure that the parking garage that you’re using is one that they can validate, so call ahead because the parking garages are fairly costly per hour. If you go for metered parking, most of the meters have a 2 hour time limit.