Like an older brother, IMAX theaters assert their dominance over standard theaters by being more vibrant, louder, and far too big for retaliation wedgies. Relinquish attention to a movie mammoth with today’s Groupon: for $4, you get one Smithsonian Theaters IMAX movie ticket (up to a $9 value). Click here for theater locations. This ticket is valid for the following theaters and movies:

• Samuel C. Johnson IMAX Theater
  • Tornado Alley
  • Grand Canyon Adventure 3D: River at Risk (closes January 19, 2012)
  • Coral Reef Adventure (opens January 20, 2012)
    
    
• Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater
• Legends of Flight

• To Fly!
  
  

• Airbus IMAX Theater
• Legends of Flight
• Fighter Pilot
  
  

Anchored by a trio of Smithsonian museums, IMAX theaters fuse stunning visual and aural clarity with educational subjects. Specially designed screens, which are among the largest in Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia, stand several stories high and collaborate with state-of-the-art sound systems, enthralling viewers with giant-size characters and enough resonance to scare lint back into bellybutton hideouts. Experience the sights from the cockpits of the Stearman wooden biplane, Harrier Jump Jet, and Lockheed Super Constellation while learning about a century of aviation history in Legends of Flight. Or spin inside the twisters of Tornado Alley as storm-chasing scientists attempt to capture the birth of a tornado without getting tangled in its umbilical cord. A choice of three theaters and a range of movie times help accommodate viewers’ busy schedules.