After catching Top Gun: Maverick on its opening day in Japan at a IMAX theatre, I finally managed to find time to go catch it again, this time at a Dolby Cinema.
The Dolby Cinema version is what you would expect: consistent quality in both sound and colours. Especially during scenes which cut to black before the next one. The authentic black that can be achieved via Dolby really helps to bring home the point that one scene has ended and the next one is coming up.
The fidelity of Dolby Atmos sound also means that you have an audio experience that gives realistic spatial depth and direction. In an action movie, this can be a nice touch, but with all that loud noise from jet engines, it may not really matter since the sound is already overwhelming in the first place.
After catching both the IMAX and Dolby Cinema versions, my conclusion is this: I like the IMAX version better. This is the exact opposite of my experience watching Dune Part One at IMAX and Dolby Cinema. For Dune, it seemed like the IMAX thing was an afterthought. Top Gun: Maverick, however, made you feel that the film was planned for IMAX right from the beginning. While there are still parts of the movie shot in traditional movie aspect instead of the more squarish IMAX aspect ratio, the action scenes (the aerial flying and combat scenes) were mostly shot in IMAX. The extra space at the top and bottom of the screen was fully exploited to give a more immersive experience. Unlike Dune, where that extra bit of footage at the top and bottom had little to no impact, having that extra footage in Top Gun: Maverick allowed you to see more of the action taking place.
Conclusion: Watch Top Gun: Maverick in IMAX. It is actually worth that extra bit.
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