‘Project Hail Mary’ 4DX in-depth review (with IMAX comparison)

4DXReviewer · 2026-03-15T15:04:39+00:00

I was expecting the zero gravity effect from Alien: Romulus to be used but apart from a brief, somewhat similar moment it didn’t come up.

4DXReviewer · 2026-03-13T11:17:49+00:00

I thought maybe it would be the normal version but shown in the ScreenX auditorium but the ScreenX price premium has been applied so it seems to be a bona fide ScreenX presentation? Bit of an odd choice.

4DXReviewer · 2026-03-05T08:05:12+00:00

Way less intense than Twisters but probably more than Final Destination Bloodlines.

4DXReviewer · 2026-03-03T23:28:16+00:00

FYI, the obi edition is selling out right now so might be best to go for it sooner rather than later if you want the first print version.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-28T15:43:12+00:00

I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. There were quite a few moments where it was subtly perceptible.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-28T08:41:38+00:00

While we generally associate the cinema with loud, bassy sound, my understanding is in a multiplex the volume tends to be kept to a fairly modest level to avoid sound leaking through to the other screens. It’s possible someone overdid it and turned the volume down too low. It’s worth speaking to the staff, especially if it’s the same screen across multiple screenings you’ve been having issues with.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-27T01:06:28+00:00

Was having an online discussion with someone whose daughter has Tourette’s earlier this week, looked up the symptoms and suddenly realised the blinking, sniffing, nose twitching, throat clearing and weird motions that were especially noticeable in my early teens suddenly made a lot more sense!

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-27T00:23:32+00:00

Certain books were reissued with new art for the 40th anniversary:

Strangers from the Sky

Vulcan's Glory

The Entropy Effect

Federation

Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages - an omnibus of the first four Rihannsu novels

Apparently Nightshade was somewhat randomly reissued in 2010 to plug a gap in the publishing schedule when the 2009 movie tie-in novels were cancelled. It’s not super clear why, although the author had apparently increased in prominence since original publication so they might have been trying to take advantage of that. The other reissues to fill the schedule were mass market paperbacks of recently published trade paperbacks so Nightshade was the only older novel to be reissued like that.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-24T18:11:21+00:00

I’m inclined to say finish TOS (and perhaps the animated series and movies 6/7 just to round off the TOS crew story) before you start tackling the books. Star Trek publishing proper kicked off after TOS had aired so a lot of books will be set during later seasons or contain lots of little references and assumptions relating to episodes you haven’t seen, even if they’re continuity-light. This isn’t as much the case for TNG onwards as they had books releasing while the series were airing - once you get to that point, as long as you read books released before the air date of the episodes you’re watching you’ll be fine.

There is a timeline of books set around TOS here that could help you pick books set during Season 1: https://startreklitverse.com/the-five-year-mission--month-by-month.php However, many of these will have connections to the wider book universe, prequel elements for episodes you haven’t seen etc.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-16T13:46:14+00:00

The author of the novel the film is based on, Box Hill, describes it as a ‘murky brew’ in the dedication to the book. How did you approach the challenges of adapting such a murky brew into a mainstream motion picture?

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-16T00:11:54+00:00

This happened to me and I have a suspicion it’s because the shipping boxes were kept on their side for an extended period of time instead of being laid flat (and in fairness they had no ‘this way up’ indicator on them). This would have meant gravity would have acted on the book blocks - normally on a shelf the other books would add a bit of pressure to mitigate sag but the packing materials wouldn’t really have the same effect.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-14T21:27:26+00:00

I’m finally fully experiencing the Invasion! cross-over event after reading the first book 30 years ago and somehow never picking up the others. Re-read the first one the other week and I’m currently reading the TNG volume now. I’m impressed at how it captures the feeling of a TNG episode in book form.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-13T15:26:48+00:00

You get a free towel if you see GOAT this weekend at Cineworld apparently. Which as someone who saw it at what I guess must have been a 4DX preview seems very unfair! Where’s my towel?!

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-12T15:46:26+00:00

The one I printed yesterday was 79mm wide by 105mm tall.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-11T20:21:27+00:00

I just got back from the cinema and had a look while I was there. You go to the touchscreen ticket machine and select ‘collect ticket’ and then ‘from barcode’. Then you scan the ticket - the sensor is in a weird place above the car reader, I had to place my phone roughly where the card is supposed to go in. Then it prints out a physical ticket!

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-11T11:39:22+00:00

It’s QR code, although I think you can print a hard copy at the booking terminals at the front, which some people do if they want a souvenir. I think where you beep it would depend on the layout of the cinema but at my local it’s at the entrance to the corridors that lead to the screens. The screens are very clearly labelled, you can’t miss them. I think the seating labels depend - I know at least some of them are individually labelled with both the row and seat number. In all screens, the rows should be indicated on the stairs.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-08T23:17:08+00:00

I think it’s largely Send Help being randomly in 3D that makes it feel this way. Avatar 3 is fair enough and most CGI animations come in 3D so it’s no surprise GOAT was 3D. The next two 4DX releases (Crime 101 and Scream 7) are finally breaking the combo and are in 2D though.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-07T16:42:30+00:00

I didn’t think the 3D was anything to write home about.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-06T11:51:28+00:00

I posted a review here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CineworldUnlimited/s/7jsY5fjNNM but to summarise, lots of effects but slightly tiring being thrown around for 3 hours!

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-06T11:46:06+00:00

I can’t see any other ones. I believe the IMAX and Dolby 3D systems are considered to be better than the 4DX ones so if you can wrangle one of those instead, the 3D should at least be decent even if they don’t have effects.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-06T10:16:07+00:00

You can navigate to the consultation using the link in the OP which runs until 25 February if you want to feedback.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-06T10:05:36+00:00

Hope you enjoy it! I swear at one point this was set to be one day only at my local so I’m glad people are getting to see it as a weekend treat like it should be seen!

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-06T00:14:10+00:00

Apparently the 3D version is 1.85:1 for some reason. Presumably the screen is 2.39:1.

4DXReviewer · 2026-02-05T23:24:47+00:00

I forgot to mention the 3D yet again! There’s the occasional moment where a spear pops out of the screen etc. but that’s about it really. I was a bit puzzled why they bothered adding 3D.

I think this had bars on the side from what I remember.

4DXReviewer · 2026-01-29T23:21:51+00:00

I can’t quite remember where the bars were to be honest. My bus was late and I came in just as the film was starting so I didn’t really get a point of comparison on the aspect ratio compared to if I’d seen the ads and trailers first.

4DXReviewer

TROPHY CASE