This past Saturday I went to The Most, also known as the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science down in Armory Square to see the movie Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on their IMAX screen. It’s officially known as the Bristol IMAX Omnitheater, which I assume means it’s sponsored by Bristol Labs.

Watching a movie on the IMAX is a much different experience at The Most than it is watching a movie at the IMAX theater in Rochester. The one in Rochester is just a giant flat movie screen, but at The Most you’re sitting back in seats in a curved room, since it also doubles as the planetarium.

You’d think there wouldn’t be a bad seat in the house but there actually is. The projector is in the middle of the room and though it’s covered, it’s large and loud. If you sit too close to it you can’t see the entire movie, as you’ll lose either the extreme right or left. This means you might miss what’s going on with some characters if they happen to be engaging each other from across the room.

What’s really interesting is that even if you’re not watching it in 3D, which we didn’t, you feel as though you’re a part of the movie. That’s because the screen is pretty close to you and you will find yourself having to move your head to make sure you catch everything. I have to say that I’m glad I’d already seen this movie twice because I think I’d have missed a lot.

There are also times when you just might have to close your eyes, such as when things are moving really fast or swirling. I’ll own up to it, a couple of times I started to get dizzy and had to catch my breath. It was pretty cool, but at the same time we had been warned that the feeling could come over us.

It’s a marvelous experience, but I also need to warn you that after the movie, when you’re back outside, you might get disoriented a little bit depending on what you’re looking at. I had to go to the bathroom and with all the shiny tile in there I started seeing everything in the room in 3B, which meant I couldn’t focus on anything and had problems walking. Even when I left the bathroom I was a bit wobbly; I don’t know if that happens to everyone but it did happen to me.

Oh yeah; if you get there early enough you get to walk around the museum to see what else they have to offer. For me, I got to see the Dinosaur exhibit and the small exhibit of 9/11 memorabilia, which was shocking to see. There were other rooms as well but we didn’t have time for all of that.

You’ll always get a full experience at The Most, especially the kids, and it’s always a great time. Try catching a movie there; you’ll love the experience.