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The BFI London IMAX is an ever-present background entity to all those who leave Waterloo International and descend the steps into the city. Since its erection in 1999, the structure has achieved a slightly uneasy integration with the urban architecture fanning from London's South Bank. The 20million building attempts a statement of modernity, and always proclaims its latest cinematic offering with outward-facing banners that rival the format itself for sheer enormity. As the exotic alternative to traditional cinematic spectacle, the IMAX sales pitch tends to begin with the venue.

There are around 150 IMAX theatres across the United States, and the London IMAX is one of nearly 150 more worldwide. All boast screens nearly twenty metres high. Films shot specifically for the IMAX experience are typically documentaries exploring far-flung corners of the world. They exploit the enormous format (ten times the size of a 35mm frame) to capture such magnificent natural vistas as the Grand Canyon, the African savannah and the peaks of Everest. Loose documentary narratives usually guide the viewer in the form of voiceover, but relentlessly stunning visuals are of course the star. Accompanying the documentaries on the schedules are normally CGI compilation films which, although rarely less than stunning on a visual level, are really little more than special-effects show-reels.

An inevitable result of this new technology would be that the format opens itself up to the same criticism routinely leveled at mainstream Hollywood; the wow' factor induced by cinematic spectacle is prioritised over good storytelling. The difference with IMAX is that the technology is specifically designed to showcase that new breed of spectacle, to the extent that many shows even begin with a short demonstration of the theatre's audio technology. Whereas traditional cinema has, in many cases, evolved into serious art, and only tends to command critical respect when filmmakers offer involving stories and characters, IMAX is generally accepted as being little more than a theme-park attraction. The reality is that, with the limited range of purpose-shot films on offer, it is yet to prove itself capable of much else. In this way, there are certain similarities to be seen with the birth of cinema itself. From the first public exhibitions of the 1890s, and beyond, the appeal of early cinema was primarily the visual spectacle. Be it a train arriving at a station, or workers leaving a factory, the

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