The BFI IMAX at Waterloo is currently home to two action movies with a difference, Beowulf (2007) and Polar Express (2004), both directed by Robert Zemeckis. The IMAX 3D experience really comes to life with dramatic effect as swords, arrows, trains and snow leap out at you with stunning clarity. The gimmick of 3D as it was in the 90s, with cardboard spectacles stuck to the front of The Radio Times, is done away with for good and IMAX doesn’t look back. It is serious technology and gives the viewer the ultimate performance of the action movie spectacle. Sound thunders all around you in crisp digital surround, and the screen – the height of five double-decker busses – completely engulfs your field of vision, literally putting you in the picture.

Kids watching Polar Express are mesmerised by the action and swipe at the air in front of them in an attempt to touch the reindeer hurtling towards them. This is the perfect Christmas movie, a magical journey to the North Pole with a twist of excitement and adventure. It is totally engrossing and just as good for adults as it is for kids. Tom Hanks provides many of the voices and the film tells a reaffirming story for those who are loosing faith in Father Christmas.

Beowulf’s more grown-up content is just as involving and exciting as the technology of the IMAX format brings the glorious action scenes of this timeless legend to life in a stunning 70mm print. It is truly a film of epic proportions; battles rage all around, mead and mirth flow freely in the drinking halls and sexual allure is a dangerous passion for our hero.

The IMAX opened in 1999, having been built courtesy of a £15 million grant from the Arts Council of England’s Lottery Fund. It was designed by award-winning architect Bryan Avery (of Avery Associates Architects) and is a distinct beacon of design just behind the revitalised BFI Southbank. IMAX is also home to such spectacular features as Deep Sea 3D (2006) and Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adventure (2007). These more realistic and educational offerings are just as spectacular and show why the IMAX cinema is one of the most commercially popular and awe-inspiring arms of the BFI.