Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on March 5, 2019.
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We absolutely love going out to the movies, and sometimes events require us to see a show on the largest screen imaginable.
Enter the Carnegie Science Center IMAX Theater, also known as the Rangos Giant Cinema- a theater you really need to check out.
The Carnegie Science Center IMAX Screen is Huge
At 70×38 feet, the Rangos Giant Cinema screen at the Carnegie Science Center is said to be the largest in the state, and is a scale that is somewhat hard to appreciate until you arrive.
It is a beautiful screen that is so vast that the scale will make your jaw drop when the first scenes come on.
In fact, the only way we can accurately describe it is to put it in context of the seating area itself. The rows at this one are positioned at such a steep angle that the person who is sitting one row below you will have the top of their head at your shins.
That is pretty amazing when you really stop to think about it due to the screen's height!
When it comes down to seeing a movie on a large screen, sometimes larger is better. When that happens, a trip to the Rangos Giant Cinema is a must. But we do have to provide one bit of caution, while some movies work in large format, others really do not!
Not All Movies Work on IMAX
Unfortunately, there is one downside to seeing movies at the Rangos Giant Cinema Pittsburgh, and that is simply this: not all movies work in large-scale, IMAX format.
I'm sure some will disagree with this statement, but we found that a good percentage of the rows of the theater are too close to the screen, such that you have to visually look around when watching a movie.
This is great for documentaries that are designed for IMAX screens and are fairly slow moving (such as Free Solo, one of the movies we saw on the screen), but not so great for blockbusters that move at a really fast pace (such as Star Wars VIII, another we saw at the theater).
Something about fast movement on screen and having to visually look around the screen made for a harder viewing experience (this was also true in previews for movies like The Lego Movie 2).
But this is likely only the case for those who sit closer rather than further away as the furthest rows to the back do not experience this issue as much. However, this brings up another point to keep in mind: get to the theater early.
Seating at the Rangos Giant Cinema is first-come-first-served, and doors open just about five minutes before the start of the movie.
This means that everyone queues up well in advance, and its a bit of a mad dash to get a seat. This may not be an issue for a matinee documentary on a Tuesday, but is a special concern for popular films with limited runs that will sell out.
Put this together with the screen size, and getting in line for a seat early will be a good option for just about everyone.
Overall, viewing of blockbuster action movies aside, we really love the Rangos Giant Cinemas. The roughly $10 price tag for movies can't be beaten, and when it comes to movies you just have to see at scale, well, there is no better place to check them out than this one!
The Rangos Giant Cinema is located at the Carnegie Science Center at 1 Allegheny Avenue in the North Side.
