My first review of a movie in over 11 years on this site.

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2016)

I never write reviews and I am stopping with this one. This is as much a review of the power of cinema as the quality of the content of the movie.
Holy hell. Never have I really seen two different versions of the same film before. Let me begin by saying that I was fortunate enough to catch the 70mm roadshow version on a massive screen, with a flawless projection of the film.
It was glorious. It was grand. I have had experience with 70mm IMAX on a true IMAX screen for films like Interstellar and The Dark Knight Trilogy, so I knew how powerful and visually rich things could get...but never have I been able to experience an entire movie shot with full on Ultra Panavision. The detail, depth of field, colors and just warmth of picture were astounding. My wife, who is the least interested or self admittedly perceptive of resolution quality, i.e. she really doesn't understand the big deal in the difference between blu ray and regular DVD etc...was as blown away by the look of the movie as I was. So if it got thorough to her it means something.
Now that being said...I went to see it again a few days later, at the same theatre, however due to a lack of clarity with the online ticket purchasing I wound up with tickets to the regular digital version on a more modest sized screen and the difference was staggering.
The entire movie was changed for me and not in a good way. It lost all of it's soul. The absolute feast for the senses which was the 70mm was but famine on digital. I was watching a completely different movie. It was like watching a DVD, not a blu ray, at my house on my decently sized 1080 TV. What I saw with the 70mm was a FILM.
I cannot see how anyone with eyes, upon watching the 70mm was not immediately arrested by the sumptuousness of the picture, and certainly not anyone who sampled both formats.
The content of the movie was wonderful. I think it is Tarrantino's best since Kill Bill and were it not for other pictures like Mad Max, Sicario or Mr. Holmes, it would be a shoe-in for best picture and it's actors serious contenders for all the major awards.
But to sum it all up, please, see this in 70mm while you still can. The true majesty of film was brought forth by this wonderful format. It makes all the difference in the world in terms of sheer immersion into the movie going experience. I am rather excited to hear that Nolan's upcoming WW2 film may also be shot in Ultra Panavision and even more excited by how well this movie has done both critically and commercially in regards to the power of the 70mm roadshow presentation.
I for one would gladly pay a premium price for a truly premium format as 70mm as opposed to all of that 3D hocus pocus crap; and I think anyone who has the eyes to see would agree.