I love 4K UHDs of IMAX films that preserve the IMAX scenes. My 4K TV is big but it’s not IMAX. Still, it captures the expanding, enveloping screen and the higher grade IMAX source material is noticeable in 4K.
Sinners’ IMAX scenes were 70mm source. Furthermore, between the IMAX scenes, Sinners boasts a wider screen than normal widescreen movies. That makes it look like Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur.
IMAX has more 4K detail than usual. The depth of Remmick (Jack O’Connell) sitting in the dark watching Bert (Peter Dreimanis) feed and embers falling in the night sky is exquisite. Remmick’s moonlight jig too.
The widescreen cinematography also has deliberate lighting, with shadows in the juke joint attic from the blind spots of lantern light. You see a lot of silhouettes of Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan).
The music is exhilarating in surround with some lyrics behind you. I can’t call it a whisper because they bellow those lyrics in your ear.
A 32-minute “making of” feature shows how emotional Sinners is for writer/director Ryan Coogler. Therefore, his team of artists and technicians are committed to fulfilling his vision.
13 minutes on the music, 10 on the twinning effects, eight on Hoodoo and 10 more on the makeup effects are also thorough. It’s really nice to see such care and attention to the craft. Everyone has substantial soundbites, not just fluff.
Those extras also show some of the full 4:3 IMAX frame. That means the feature film is cropped for 16:9 but that’s okay. It captures the magnitude of the expanding screen and going from bars on the top/bottom to bars on the sides would probably be too much.
There are also 18 minutes of substantial deleted scenes. There’s a little bit with Joan (Lola Kirke) and Bert before Remmick gets there, and an IMAX montage of driving around town and town ambiance. Delta (Delroy Lindo) mentors Sammie (Miles Caton) on the blues and Delta sings a solo in an uninterrupted take.