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[Collection]: The Highest Tech Cinemas in Shanghai, 2021

The ultimate guide to everywhere in Shanghai you can catch a movie on the latest technology -- updated for a new era: 2021.
2021-09-28 18:00:51
Photos: Jin Qian

Writing in Q3, 2021, it seems most cinemas in Shanghai are back up and running, more or less, with a signifigant drop off in the amount of Western releases being screened, obviously.  

But they do happen, sometimes, and this is the best, most high tech cinemas  in town where you can watch them.  We're talking the latest Dolby technology in four, five, six, seven dimensions. 

Covid restrictions have eased up, however, the mask mandate is still in effect for cinemas -- you have to wear a mask for the duration of the screening -- and you have to show your Health Code to get in.  Different cinemas have differing policies on how strictly they enforce social distancing.  

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If You Just Want to See a Movie... 

If you're looking for a normal, quality cinema experience, Palace Cinemas, a chain, are a sure bet. Not because of their specs — they are not the highest — but they get the job done. They are usually in high-end shopping malls, which you pay for (IMAX 3D typically 110rmb+), but you do get a very pleasant movie experience. In downtown, there are Palace chains at IAPM, Raffles and IFC.

Newer malls = better cinemas. 

Take advantage of Taobao’s Taopiaopiao (淘票票) app. It can also be accessed inside Alipay. The “特色” (specialty) button helps you filter out cinemas based on the major formats they support: dual-projector 3D, 4DX, RealD, Laser Projection, etc, as well as many other services.

The hunt for the highest specs in Shanghai requires you get out of downtown. The best specs are in the mega-malls outside the city center.

The Cinemas

Wanda Cinema (Wujiaochang) 五角场万达

Shanghai

The Formats: Digital IMAX, Onyx, ScreenX, 4DX, Dolby Atmos, RealD 6FL, Dolby Cinema (earlier 2019)
The Highlight: The first Onyx theater in Shanghai
How Far From People’s Square: 40 minutes metro and 10 minutes lost in the mall

Wanda. It’s the world’s largest cinema operator, and the specs of its cinema chains reflect its identity. This Wanda cinema is the first in China to launch Samsung’s Cinema “Onyx” LED Screen, a crisp, sharp and really bright screen (146FL, compared to the 4.5FL brightness at common 3D cinemas) great for appreciating the details of a 3D movie, or Zach Synder’s visual style. The battery-powered glasses are light and clear. The sound system is from JBL by HARMAN. This cinema also has three theaters equipped with both RealD 6FL and Christine 4K: the Dolby Atmos theater (#9), ScreenX theater (#11), and theater #10. Plus a Dolby Cinema said to be finished earlier next year.

Shanghai

The environment is also done well. Everyone gets a free bag of mixed nuts and fruit. A PA system announces when your theater opens. The attendants who hand out the glasses wear white gloves. Toilets still a little old-school though.

Hongxing Cinema 红星电影世界

Shanghai

The Formats: Dolby Cinema, LUXE 2.0 (20m wide), Meyer Sound EXP, RealD 6FL
The Highlight: The first Dolby Cinema in Shanghai
How Far From People’s Square: 50 minutes by metro

Shanghai’s first Dolby cinema is on the top floor of Aegean Place in Minhang, right next to the wanghong Xinhua Bookstore designed by Tadao Ando. This cinema provides a great listening experience. Because aside from its Dolby cinema (with Dolby Atmos, of course), it also has a theater with Meyer Sound EXP, which is what professional filmmakers use while recording films. Hear what the directors hear.

Shanghai

Though Dolby has a smaller screen size than IMAX Laser (which debuted in Shanghai at HOYTS), it has better contrast: purer blacks, higher brightness, and an expanded color gamut. The seats, which have a lot of leg room, recline. The LUXE screen at Hongxing is also outstanding. It’s not only the widest in Shanghai (for now), but it’s also the first premium screen made by nanotechnology, which means better contrast. Hongxing also has a dedicated children’s theater, which has colorful Tetris-themed walls and chairs. If I have to nitpick, their 3D glasses are a little run-down. Still, Hongxing has many quality theaters and competent staff. There are also plenty of eateries close by as well as the Pearl Art Museum — enough to make it worth a half-day trip.

HOYTS (IMIX Park) 寰映影城

Shanghai

The Formats: Dolby Cinema, IMAX Laser, 4K RealD, MX4D
The Highlight: The first next-generation IMAX Laser projection
How Far From People’s Square: An hour, more or less, including a 15-minute walk

Shanghai

HOYTS is a sub-brand of Wanda, so the design and style is similar. It’s the first cinema in Eastern China to have the latest IMAX Laser projection, which is a brighter and more colorful upgrade from the common IMAX Xenon digital projection. For now, HOYTS also has the biggest IMAX screen in Shanghai: 25.9m wide and 13.5m tall, which comes with IMAX’s 12-channel sound technology.

The Jing’an IMIX Park mall is big, loud and confusing. You run a gauntlet of restaurants to get to the theater. And HOYTS’s amenities aren’t great. The lounge sucks and the toilet is hidden in the back of a coffee shop. Having said that, it’s the only cinema in Shanghai that has both Dolby Cinema and IMAX Laser, two excellent choices.

SFC Cinema (Grand Gateway) 永华影城

Shanghai

The Formats: Twin-digital IMAX 3D, Onyx, 4DX, RealD 6FL
The Highlight: Onyx theater with adjustable massage chairs
How Far From People’s Square: 20 minutes by metro

Formerly called Yonghua Cinema, SFC Cinema in the Grand Gateway mall used the Covid downtime to modernize their facilities a bit.  SFC is good for eye candy. Look at those ticket scanners! So future! Wi-fi is strong and fast, so you can sit in a massage chair as you watch a movie in the Onyx theater (15rmb cool for 100 minutes). There are two VIP rooms, but not currently available. Maybe next year. The bathrooms are clean and sleek.

Shanghai

SFC has the most convenient location of all the cinemas listed here and the only Onyx screen in downtown. Specs are very decent. And it looks good on your Moments (groan).

橙天嘉禾 OSGH (LuOne)

Shanghai

The Formats: Star MAX, Dolby Atmos, MX4D
The Highlight: IMAX with stars
How Far From People’s Square: 30 minutes by metro

Star MAX? What the hell is Star MAX? As I found out on my trip to new mall LuOne: IMAX. With stars.

It’s more than that actually. Star MAX uses a hybrid of technologies from Dolby Laboratories, Sony, Klipsch, Tsinghua University's School of Architecture and many others. It has a giant curved screen and uses Dolby surround sound. The screen at OSGH’s theater #6 is 20m wide and 8.5m tall. Although it’s said to be equipped with Barco's 4K Laser projector, the details and contrast of the screen are close to digital IMAX than the higher-level IMAX Laser or Dolby Vision. The 3D effect is very in-your-face, but for fast action sequences it can be blurry. The theater intends to make you feel as if you are watching the film in a galaxy — the “stars” will be twinkling during the entire film, which might distract some people.

Shanghai

OSGH also has an MX4D theater. Compared with the more common 4DX, MX4D theater seats have a much stronger and faster “rollercoaster” effect, but other differences are less distinct.

One downside is the service. When I went, no one remembered to turn off the spotlights near the screen. I had to walk out of the theater to get them to fix it. OSGH offers an experience similar to digital IMAX with better sound system, and given its almost-downtown location. Ticket prices are good value.

And also...

Dolby Cinema is better than IMAX Laser, if you are not a size queen. In addition to the two above, there is a third Dolby screen in Shanghai at the Zhuanqiao Wanda (颛桥万达) in Minhang. I haven’t been but it has the largest screen of the three. Supposedly, the Palace Cinema chain is going to install the city’s fourth Dolby screen in the coming weeks but they haven’t said where just yet.

RealD’s LUXE provides good value for the price. This year when Avatar came to Shanghai International Film Festival with a brighter version, it was shown at three of the LUXE 2.0 theaters: Palace Cinema at Changning Raffles, Palace Cinema at The Mixc in Minhang, and Hongxing Cinema. Tickets at LUXE cinemas are much cheaper: blockbusters are less than 80rmb on weekends.

CGV Qibao, which opened in October, is almost as ambitious as Wanda. The cinema is equipped with an IMAX (digital, 19.3m wide), Sphere X, ScreenX, 4DX, and Gold Class.

Covid be damned, even more high tech cinemas opened in the past year.  Palace Cinema (One East) recently opened shopping center One East, which is just off the World Expo Museum. They’ve got quite a few IMAX screens and sofa in some rooms. Comfy. Cozy. Lush – as always. The price in this location is slightly cheaper than the ones in the center, roughly from 60rmb to 80rmb per ticket. 

Meanwhile, CGV has extended its reach into outer Pudong and Jiading Both these venues offer Dolby cinema and 4DX experience in private-ish "gold class" rooms.

Finally, a mention for the Shanghai Film Art Center on Xinhua Lu. They upgraded their “oriental mega screen”(东方巨幕) in 2016 specifically to screen Ang Lee’s ultra-fast frame-rate flick Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, making Shanghai one of only five cities in the world technically advanced enough to screen the 4K/3D/120 fps version. The theater itself is massive, it has perhaps the biggest auditorium in Shanghai, and the quality is great: watching the Ang Lee movie here was like watching 4k TV on a humongous scale.

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Browse all Cinemas on SmartShanghai here.

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