The latest ride by Port Coquitlam's Dynamic Structures combines the company's thrill-seeking rollercoaster know-how with a 15-year history in immersive theatre experiences to create a jaw-dropping 4D Flying Theatre ride — complete with a Batman storyline.
Batman Dark Flight premiered last week at the grand opening of Asia's newest resort, Studio City Macau, in a Hollywood-style event complete with Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorcese walking the red carpet.
But at the company's PoCo warehouse, where at least three more Flying Theatres are at various stages of construction and earmarked for resorts in Korea and France, the scene is somewhat less glamorous.
The 72-seat dual platforms are about two storeys up, held aloft by massive underpinnings and unknown feats of engineering that, when set in motion, swivel viewers forward, legs dangling, in front of a giant movie screen.
"After it rotates, it has the capability for lots of different moves," said Arnt Wiebicke, Dynamic's product support engineer — and the resident kid-at-heart coming up with new ways to make the ride ever cooler. "It can shoot up and down, the seats tilt forward… there are quite a bit of complex moves that can be incorporated into the structure."
Up on top of the platform, the rows of seats are still wrapped in plastic and the structure that houses the "canopy" that folds up and over an audience to create the 4D experience is, for now, an empty box. But for those who happen to be in Macau (a Seattle installation is on the horizon) and can get a seat on the Batman Dark Flight ride, there is a serious adventure in store.
John Kageorge, Dynamic Structures' spokesperson, said previous Flying Theatre rides were often serene, gentle events in which viewers swooped over mountain peaks and over the ocean, with 4D effects like ocean spray and the scent of flowers.
But in Batman Dark Flight, guests are treated to two "pre-shows" that set up the story for the ride: Bruce Wayne learns The Joker has released a deadly toxin and it's up to Batman to get the crowd to the antidote before time runs out. The only way to get there, of course, is a wild ride through Gotham City on the Batplane and zipping through Gotham's streets in a high-speed car chase.
The special effects and multi-sensory technology give viewers the impression they're being jolted from side to side, swooping up and down and being in the centre of edge-of-your-seat action.
"It really gets you excited," Wiebicke said, comparing Dynamic's first-generation Flying Theatre to a leisurely Boeing 747 flight while the Batman ride "is more like being in an F-16 [fighter jet]."
In addition to building amusement park rides — its Robo-coaster G2, debuted at Dynamic's PoCo warehouse in 2005, is now better known as the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at Universal Studios Hollywood and other locations — Dynamic Structures is also known for its telescopes.
In April, the federal government awarded the company the role of lead contractor in a 10-year, $244-million project to build the world's largest telescope in Hawaii. Dynamic is in charge of the key components as well as the enclosure that will protect the telescope in the 22-storey tower at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano.
Kageorge said the company is officially opening a new location on Broadway Street on Friday, just a few blocks away from its Kingsway Avenue facilities, dedicated to the telescope project.
Also partnering on the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) are Japan, China, India and the U.S.; Canada's involvement secures a viewing share for Canadian researchers once it's complete in 2023 or 2024.
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