The "I hate commercial theatres" master thread - POST HERE ONLY!

[k20king]

Blu Ray Killed the Silver Screen Star!

Well I agree.

I have a HD Projector and THX Sound!

Nuff Said

[nhaase]

When I saw Casino Royale, the surround sound went out during the previews! That scares me so much now, improper maintenance, that is. I know that my HT is properly maintained, so I know I'm not risking wasting time and money at home.

[gamer4eva]

TRUE THAT MAN
the other day i tried watching godfather on DVD i had to turn it off cause i couldnt deal with the shit quality even the cinemas siaplay the movie at 720p not gud enough mate
but i'll watch the 3rd pirates in the theatres anyway
i even upgraded my computer monitor now it can display 1080p gud stuff

[BluFive]

I disagree and agree,If you see movies in IMAX or Digitally Projected thats better then at home,but if its some run down theatre with a crappy projector then your home is defantly better.

[blakjaks]

I partially disagree.

I saw Spiderman 3 on opening night in a packed theater. The PQ wasn't good at all (42nd street AMC in theater #25... if I knew we would be in their smallest theater I would have picked a different showtime) but the sound was better than I have at home. Granted I have an entry level sound system (some athena speakers onkyo receiver dayton sub... a step about HTIB but not nearly theater quality stuff and the dimensions of my living room and the acoustics are not conducive to a great sound system), but still the sound was rocking.

But the biggest difference is, for certain movies, you want to be there for the audience.

Now for Shrek 3 (which I have not seen) I can understand a younger crowd, parents constantly running their kids to the bathroom, kids shouting and crying all movie long and that ruins the experience.

But for an action movie to see it opening night when the crowd is really into it, cheering or gasping at certain times can really make the experience.

For example, when Peter Parker is strutting around like a nerd trying to be cool the fact that everyone was sort of giggling in the theater made it even funnier.

Even better, when he accidentally knocked down Mary Jane in the bar some guy in the back screamed out "That's how it is!" almost immediately and everyone almost died laughing.

So PQ and SQ aside, the theater-going experience for certain movies just cannot be replicated in your living room... but only for certain movies.

A good example is POTC3 which I will see this Friday. That is the type of movie that I will ultimately own at home, but I want to be there with the opening night crowd because I think it will really enhance the experience.

[bluflu]

Perhaps someone will invent an automated chair kicker to enhance the home theater experience.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by bluflu

Perhaps someone will invent an automated chair kicker to enhance the home theater experience.

And while they're at it, they can also invent some flooring that feels "sticky" under your feet to accurately simulate the cinema experience.

[KenThompson]

Took the wife and kids to see Shrek also. Thought it was the weak link of the 3. Only my 10 year old liked it. On the picture side I didn't think it looked all that great either. I really liked the first 2, maybe expectations were unrealistic.

[SomethingForKate]

While I agree that my home theater set up is in many ways superior to my local cinema (Brit here), I still love going to the movies. I'll never have such a huge screen in my front room, nor will I be able to drop pop corn all over my floor and spill soft drink all over my couch as I do in the local Odeon

But seriously, there's more to the cinema experience than just watching the movie. That said, when I was watching Spider-Man 3 a couple of weeks back I could help thinking "I can't wait until my BD of this arrives!!!"

SFK

[TJandBLU-RAY]

Originally Posted by GreenMotion

Wow, am I glad to see I am not the only one that feels this way.

Anyway, as soon as the movie starts, some little kids somewhere in the audience started crying, and the parents wouldn't shut their kids up, nor leave the room. Thru-out the whole movie, at least 30 - 40 minutes got ruined by crying and/or talking kids.

Then there were the people that either had felt they had to stretch their legs, and/or the kids that were crashing the movie after they just finished watching the movie they were there for in the first place. In other words, people walking back and forth in front of the screen.

Of course, this "great" experience, along with the stale popcorn and flat, over syrup'd coke ... for two ... came with a price tag of about 50 bucks.

I really try to go to the theatres as few times as possibles. If it was up to me, movies would go straight to blu-ray. I think the whole theatre expericence is way overrated, plus a 4 dollar coke and a 6-dollar bag of popcorn is ridiculous. Not even considering the 10 dollar movie ticket.

It is my believe, that unless the theatres really turn things around, they're as good as out of business. Especially with today's technology and ever cheaper prices.

Great post. Yeah, I hate the theatre experience overall, and yearn for the day like it was when I was a wee lad. When you actually got dressed up to see the movies! When there was silence in the room. Things like that.

I set up my home theatre just to avoid the crowds. I have a feeling, with the talks I hear of COMCAST trying to release HD quality movies via Pay Per View day and date of release of movies, that more and more people will stay at home. And I heard rumor of DISNEY thinking of releasing movies, selling them on the same day as released to the theatres.

Are theatres dying? Do they know this? Will they try to fix it?

[haushausman]

My g/f doesn't understand why I don't like going to the movies... see doesn't understand that I've created an HD home "theatre"... key word theatre.

I'd rather sit at home in comfort and watch a movie in 1080p... not to mention tickets these days are ridiculous ever since I've lost my student Id from 2 years ago.

I wonder when DVD/BD sales will be more important/bigger than box office sales??....

[Rup_Muk]

Originally Posted by SomethingForKate

...That said, when I was watching Spider-Man 3 a couple of weeks back I could help thinking "I can't wait until my BD of this arrives!!!"

SFK

Strange... my 7-year old had the same thought...
Guess, I've turned him "blu"!!

Rup.

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by blakjaks

But the biggest difference is, for certain movies, you want to be there for the audience.

...but I want to be there with the opening night crowd because I think it will really enhance the experience.

I couldn't agree with you more on that point! There is nothing like seeing a action or comedy with the opening night theatre crowd jammed packed in the theatre. It just gives it that extra depth of enjoyment.

[blakjaks]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

I couldn't agree with you more on that point! There is nothing like seeing a action or comedy with the opening night theatre crowd jammed packed in the theatre. It just gives it that extra depth of enjoyment.

I don't remember when the first Batman came out (Keaton, Nicholson) but I saw that movie opening night with a bunch of friends. Guessing it was released late 80s-early 90s so maybe I was around 20.

When the batplane went above the clouds and hung suspended in front of the moon EVERYONE in the theater collectively went "WHOA!" That was one of the coolest moments for me in a movie theater, something you just cannot replicate at home. Not to mention that 15 or so years later I still remember that feeling like it was yesterday.

Same thing with, of all things, Star Wars Episode 2, which is probably the most hated of the 6 movies. When Yoda came on to fight Dooku first with the force, and then he drew his lightsaber... even the people who absolutely hated the movie up until that point (it was obvious how many detractors there were booing and making comments during the love-story development) started cheering and clapping and getting excited.

You just can't get that (with today's technology at least heh) at home today.

For the most part I agree with this thread and I enjoy movies at home more than in the theater. I tried to explain to my g/f that I don't mind spending $25-$30 on blu-ray movies because going to the movies costs MORE than that, you watch it exactly once, you cannot pause or rewind, you are not as comfortable etc.

But some movies, like POTC coming out this week, I just can't wait to be sitting in the theater for.

Of course, I will buy the BD as well.

[Stundra]

Originally Posted by blakjaks

I don't remember when the first Batman came out (Keaton, Nicholson) but I saw that movie opening night with a bunch of friends. Guessing it was released late 80s-early 90s so maybe I was around 20.

When the batplane went above the clouds and hung suspended in front of the moon EVERYONE in the theater collectively went "WHOA!" That was one of the coolest moments for me in a movie theater, something you just cannot replicate at home. Not to mention that 15 or so years later I still remember that feeling like it was yesterday.

Same thing with, of all things, Star Wars Episode 2, which is probably the most hated of the 6 movies. When Yoda came on to fight Dooku first with the force, and then he drew his lightsaber... even the people who absolutely hated the movie up until that point (it was obvious how many detractors there were booing and making comments during the love-story development) started cheering and clapping and getting excited.

You just can't get that (with today's technology at least heh) at home today.

For the most part I agree with this thread and I enjoy movies at home more than in the theater. I tried to explain to my g/f that I don't mind spending $25-$30 on blu-ray movies because going to the movies costs MORE than that, you watch it exactly once, you cannot pause or rewind, you are not as comfortable etc.

But some movies, like POTC coming out this week, I just can't wait to be sitting in the theater for.

Of course, I will buy the BD as well.

And something what makes cinema even worse...you get the standard edition on big screen but director's cuts and extended versions on disc...

[Banjo]

I saw 'Spider-Man 3' at Niagara Square a couple weeks ago. They were using a digital projector and man... was it SHARPPPP and CLEAR! Actually, it's my first time to ever see a movie being projected digitally at the theatres. They just got it and used Spider-Man 3 as their first title to give us a taste of digital projection.

The image quality was stunning.

With the average film projector at the theatres these days, the quality is rather disappointing. Can't wait till they get replaced with digital projectors.

[dvdirv]

Besides the picture quality, no one mentioned getting to watch all those great commercials before the film starts.

Why stay home when I can watch 20 minutes of commercials in a row!

Isn't the theater experience great!

[stockstar1138]

i get excited equally for both theater and BD releases. i can't decide which pirates i am more excited about this week, the theater or the BD. both are completely different movie experiences.

[Ashplisken]

I agree that the theatres definetly need to upgrade with the amount you pay to see a film on the big screen. The projectors should be upgraded to HD and the sound systems should be maintained and upgraded where needed. Even going to big chains like AMC, a lot of the times the sound system has a speaker out, or going in and out, or something else equally as distracting. I like the experience still (though not on opening night for some blockbuster), and I don't want to see the theaters dissapear, just re-adjust and upgrade. The experience is something you can't quite get at home.

Technology is simply destroying all things that make humans social one at a time. The internet slowly ripping apart retail, my space slowly destroying people's social lives (why go meet people in real life when it's so much easier online?), various other dating services and adult oriented hook up sites, online video games... everything people do/used to do in large groups or in public places people are starting to do at home instead. It's sort of cool and it's sort of sad at the same time.

[Forresttheman]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

I just went to take my kids to see Shrek the Third today and I couldn't help to think, "Damn! What is the deal here! Why doesn't this look like one of my blu-ray movies on my HD set!" The last movie I saw in the theatre was POTC 2 last July, ever since that time all I have done is watch movies at home and more recently on Blu-ray.

While I was sitting there watching the movie I was unimpressed. The colors were not as vibrant and the the over all PQ was not as good as I had remembered in a movie theatre. Granted this may have just been a bad quality film print, but has anyone else caught themselves comparing a movie in a theatre to one they have seen on Blu-ray, and thinking to themselves that it is not as good as what it would probably be at home when it comes out in HD?

I think because of this I didn't enjoy myself as much and couldn't really get into the movie.

I saw blades of glory a while ago, around the first day of my purchase of a HD Home theater, after i saw the difference, it is hard to pay 10$ for a ticket to the theater when i can get a movie from NETFLIX.