ODEON BFI IMAX – London’s largest cinema screen

Craig’s review… Do you remember all of those toys and stickers we used to get in cereal boxes every time a blockbuster movie came out? I used to pick my cereal by which one had the best stickers in it. As soon as my parents got the shopping out of the boot and carried it into the kitchen I’d be rummaging my hand around the inner bag to fish them out and then I’d eat big bowls of it every morning so they’d have to buy another box quicker.

My bedroom door ended up covered in luminous pictures of ET riding his bike across the moon. We had comics as well, bubblegum trading cards (my mum would never let me eat the bubblegum), and then twelve months later they might finally rent the video out from Blockbusters so I could actually watch the film. There was none of this ‘watch it on satellite’ a week after the release date – if you missed it at the cinema then you’d have to rent it down Blockbusters for three quid fifty, or hope they showed it on Christmas Day TV.

Alas… they don’t put toys in cereal boxes anymore in case a dopey kid swallows it and sues them. So how can we recapture a bit of that old magic we remember from our youth? Well you could try watching a 3D movie. That’s probably the closest we can get to feeling like a kid again.

The biggest cinemas in London are in Leicester Square, but if you want to watch a 3D movie then try the BFI IMAX by Waterloo station instead. They show all the usual movies that you get everywhere else but they also do a few daytime documentaries that take you to places like the bottom of the ocean and up into space. That’s where I’m headed today – to the International Space Station.

I’ve got ten minutes till launch-time so I’m standing here trying to decide what sweets to buy (you can’t travel to the space station without some pick-n-mix sweets). The foyer has that warm buttery popcorn smell and they’re selling big bags of Butterkist and drinks that come in buckets the same size as your head, with about half a tonne of ice in it, and those little tubs of ice cream with spoons that give you splinters. Or you can buy a plastic pint of beer that you know you’ll kick over as soon as you put it on the floor. After a few minutes deliberation I finally plump for the popcorn, of course, because it’s like having Brussel sprouts at Christmas – no one likes it but it’s the cinema, so you have to.

Whenever I watch these daytime documentaries I usually end up sitting in an empty row in an empty auditorium. The closest bloke to me today is way over there, about ten levels down and fifty feet over to the side. I can see one of the ushers bashing his flashlight against the palm of his hand like his batteries are on the blink, making his beam bounce around all over the place. I’ve paid an extra couple of quid for a premier seat today so I’ve got a double sofa seat at the back with six more inches for my feet, but the seating is pretty steep at the BFI anyway, and the screen’s about twice the size of the Eiger, so you won’t get anyone in your way wherever you sit.

These 3D glasses have changed a bit since I was a kid. (I still remember those red and green lenses that you could make out of Quality Street wrappers.) They even let you take them home afterwards which might come in handy… I wonder what happens if you wear a pair of 3D glasses whilst walking down the street? It might be like walking through one of those kaleidoscopic tunnels at the funfair.

The 3D effect is always a lot better than I’m expecting it to be and the whole screen seems to fall away and retreat out the back of the building. I really do feel as if I’m looking out of a space station porthole at the cloudy continents below. And the sound is absolutely incredible. When the rocket took off a cloud of fiery smoke barrelled across the ground towards me and then the sound came rushing up behind: it was like a mountain falling down. It was so loud that I felt like I was being physically hit by a wall of noise.

Worth a visit? ★★☆Value for money? ★★☆Good for kids? ★★★Easy to get to? ★★★

I also recommend… If you enjoy this then try Leicester Square (walk it in 16 mins or travel from Waterloo to Leicester Square via tube). There’s another IMAX cinema at the Science Museum, but it only plays science movies and documentaries

The author Craig Cross owns city-guide.london and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon