Cinemax Feature Presentation

1st Bumper (1981-1985)
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Nicknames: "Rainbow Feature Presentation", "Fireworks"

Logo: On a dark blue background with a black CGI floor, the camera turns counter-clockwise to show some rather cheap rainbow "fireworks" exploding. The fireworks eventually form the then-current CINEMAX logo, which has the words "CINEMAX" in light blue, enclosed inside a blue oval. As the background turns to black, it zooms away and more fireworks begin to form "Feature PRESENTATION". "Feature" is pink and is slanted upward and "PRESENTATION" is in a rounded blue font. It begins to zoom away and gets dissolved by more "fireworks".

Variants: There were several variants for specific blocks and programming, and in these cases the "fireworks" would be modified to create "Special Presentation" (in the style of the normal FP version), "Action-Adventure Theater", "Movie Greats", etc.

FX/SFX: The fireworks exploding/dissolving.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic but pretty orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Extinct, last seen on Cinemax in the mid-'80s. Check some old videotapes for it.

Editor's Note: The animation and the music could get to some, but overall it's pretty tame.

2nd Bumper (1985-1988)
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Nicknames: "Moviemania", "Now Playing"

Logo: We pan across a wall where we see a movie poster unfurling in a frame. We zoom into it and first we see an asteroid firing in outer space where the word "THRILLS" in blue/white zooms out and turns to face the camera. We then "unfurl" to a person's arms struggling to hold to a rope that's about to break and eventually falls. The orange word "SPILLS" wipes onto the screen. Then we unfurl to see a monster's hand rise up from a graveyard, where the green word "CHILLS" appears in a monster-like font. And finally, another unfurling, to a man and a woman laying down and beginning to make love where the word "Romance" in a pink, cursive font draws itself onto the screen. Then we unfurl again, then zoom-out on a black background where we see the Cinemax logo in a shade of blue and pink plastered on a series of orange lights. The red/orange word "Movie" zooms-out in a stylized font and appears below.

Variant: In the very early days of this intro, an additional section was present: Instead of the "Romance" section revealing the end result, it would instead peel to reveal live action footage of a man in a barbershop, having his hair blow-dried, until it blows away as it's a toupee; the multicolored words "COMEDY" emerge from the drier and plaster themselves to the bottom of the screen. Another unfurling would then reveal the end screen. According to some YouTube comments, this was only used from the intro's first usage in February of 1985 (where it alternated with the first intro), until (from video evidence) April of 1985.

FX/SFX: Pretty much all live-action animation except for the drawing and zooming-out of the words.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized, heroic-like fanfare. The earlier version had a vaguely similar tune.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Bumper (1988-1994)
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Nickname: "The Palette"

Logo: We begin in a black CGI environment with different colored circles. We see a slate. It claps and zooms-out onto a gray bar that moves onto the screen from the left. Another gray bar moves from the right, and the bars form a piece of film with a typical film countdown leader going inside it (3, 2, 1...). We zoom around the film past some abstract shapes of various colors. Some abstract cut letters spelling out the words "CINEMAX MOVIE" float past the screen. We begin to rotate and zoom in on the abstract "E" in "MOVIE" (which is a red square with two yellow triangles) which splits apart into a purple marble square on the bottom, a wooden square in the middle, the red square and yellow triangles on the top which float off the screen. We pan along the wooden square which turns out to be a wooden palette with color test patterns where the paint would be. Zooming out, we see parallelograms with the letters "c i n e m a x", which are italicized as well (ala the old BBC logo), zoom in onto the palette from the right. The abstract cut letters for the word "MOVIE" (except for the "O" which is the finger hole in the palette) come down from the top of the screen and plaster themselves onto the palette. Now, we see the entire palette. An invisible light shines back and forth on the Cinemax logo, and the letters in "M VIE" begin to sway back and forth. Small multicolored particles move from the left of the screen and travel behind the palette.

FX/SFX: Top notch late 80's CGI from Pacific Data Images.

Music/Sounds: A catchy 80's synth/keytar calypso/rock theme. Beginning in 1988, it alternated with a rather bouncy new age tune, which eventually replaced the original music completely.

Availability: Extinct, was last seen on Cinemax around 1994 or 1995. Check those old tapes for the logo!

Editor's Note: Despite having good animation, the abstract cut shapes are a very tacky design typical of the time, like the opening sequence to Saved by the Bell or CBS's 1990-91 graphics campaign. The abstract "C" also looks like Pac-Man without his eye.

4th Bumper (1994-1997)
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Nicknames: "Golden Ushers", "The Cinemax Movie", "Film Staircase"

Logo: We see an old-style movie countdown, which starts at 7. The film it's printed on flies down to a giant bucket of popcorn with popcorn flying out of it, and forms a staircase. Dot-like candy hops down the stairs. We pan over to see various golden ushers. One of them walks out onto a film canister, holding its flashlight. We fade to the usher and film canister on a black background. It points its flashlight to the right, which is an area full of filmstrips. We rapidly zoom past the strips, until we encounter the Cinemax logo, in purple and reversed, split into pieces. They slide into place as multicolored light refracted from the filmstrips rushes towards them. The camera turns around, to reveal the logo in red, in its normal state, and in the theater environment, with the yellow words "THE" and "MOVIE" above and below it, respectively (The closest typeface to them is probably Neutraface Condensed, though that would not exist for ten years). There are spotlights shining on the finished product, and purple filmstrips behind it.

Variants: There are two shorter versions, one that cuts to the finished logo after the usher walks out, and one that starts with the usher in the dark environment.

FX/SFX: Mindblowing CGI by mid-90s standards. A very elaborate, detailed sequence that appears to have had a lot of thought and effort put into it.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare with some strings, orchestra hits and piano (which is actually the first instrument heard in the long version).

Availability: Once again, gone from TV for good, check those old tapes!

Editor's Note: This is a great, very professional opening, but the dramatic orchestral hits during the Cinemax logo-forming sequence may get to some.

Final Note: After this bumper was retired, Cinemax stopped using "Feature Presentation" logos and began opening movies using a "Next on Cinemax" bumper instead.

1st Bumper (1985-1994)
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Nicknames: "Classic Collection", "Cinemax Classic Collection"

Logo: We fade in and pan down an Art Deco-style building, with searchlights waving all over the place. At the bottom of the tower, various Art Deco-style people are present, and as the camera zooms in, some of the people move and a car rolls up. We cross-fade to an entryway presumably in the building, and we zoom in through that to reveal silhouetted female dancers dancing inside a strange rounded structure (a reference to The Gold Diggers of 1933). We zoom into the center as sideways images of two of the dancers wipe across the screen, and a large yellow and white theater marquee with the words "CINEMAX CLASSIC COLLECTION" inside and a circular backing with multiple points behind it zooms down. The tower from the beginning rises up behind it and searchlights wave behind and around the end product.

FX/SFX: Nice 2D animation, perfectly echoing the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Music/Sounds: A nice piece incorporating jazz and piano.

Availability: Extinct, it was last seen on Cinemax in 1994.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Bumper (1986-1994)
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Nickname: "Director's Chair"

Logo: On a black BG with multiple colorful abstract shapes, we see four palm trees with triangular bases. The camera moves down and the palm tress bend to the right. A segment of filmstrip with a drawn red star raises up behind them and the camera zooms past it. The abstract shapes at the bottom of the screen then rise up and space out. The camera zooms back through a orange cylindrical object, revealed to be a megaphone, on a blue platform next to a director's chair. The platform spins around to reveal the Cinemax logo at the top (with purple and blue vertical stripes behind it) and "DIRECTOR'S CHAIR" in yellow, with the words in different fonts and a blue line separating them, beneath that. The whole thing resembles a film clapperboard, and it shines.

FX/SFX: Like the Palette intro, Pacific Data Images does good work again.

Music/Sounds: An 80s electric guitar score.

Availability: Extinct, it was last seen on Cinemax in 1994.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Bumper (1988-1994)
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Nicknames: "Drive In Movies", "Animated Billboard", "Cinemania"

Logo: We see an animated man, with a larger-than normal, constantly grinning head, driving his red Studebaker in a suburban neighborhood. As he drives, he passes a billboard with a skinny man and fat woman with the word "BEFORE" next to them and "CINEMANIA" atop it. After passing it, the people spin around cartoonishly, the woman becoming skinny and the man hunky, with the word "AFTER". They look out in surprise at the driver. We cut to a billboard reading "ALWAYS USE CINEMANIA", pointing to a large spray bottle marked with the name "CINEMANIA" that looks strangely like a 1950s biker, mixed with a spray bottle and a 1950s taxi. He attempts to spray the driver, but instead sprays a nearby house with an angry face. The spray takes effect and the house begins to look "happy" as plants and flowers spring up all around it. We see the driver in a relaxed pose passing by trees. He comes to a halt next a billboard reading "Watch" with a fedora-clad man and an old movie projector. The projector activates and begins showing old black and white movie clips on a large movie screen supported by two female statues as searchlights wave behind it. The driver then busts through the screen (much to the surprise of the statues). He lands the car on a giant letter "C", which is floating in the sky next to the words "INE" and "MANIA". The driver moves to the bottom of the "C" and waves at us.

FX/SFX: A nicely-animated sequence from Jerry Lieberman Productions, intentionally 50s-style and cheesy.

Music/Sounds: A catchy boogie song with chorus scatting.

Availability: Extinct. It was last seen on Cinemax in 1994.

Editor's Note: None.