I'm REALLY finished with public theaters (1 Viewer)

[David.N]

I don't go to movie theaters very often because I enjoy my own basement theater. I know this has been threaded before but I need to rant.

I went to Bruce Almighty last month. The movie starts, and the projector's brightness starts jumping randomly up and down. (practically seizure inducing)and the sound was distorted. (like a radio not quite tuned in) I politely asked if someone could fix it. A young employee went to see what he could do. 15 minutes later I couldn't take it anymore and got a refund. I can't believe some people actually stayed and watched it like that!

I saw League of Dist. Gentlemen yesterday. The previews were blasting in full DTS glory. When the movie started, the sound changed to a dull mono with the low and high frequencies horribly reduced. It sounded like we had cotton in our ears for the entire movie. No exiting sound effects in this movie? I saw other patrons requesting it be fixed. As usual, nothing changed. After spending $23.00 for 2 people and 2 drinks at a matinae. I'm STAYING HOME! Not too mention it was a terrible movie anyway.

I've decided that kids kicking seats, horrible admission prices, bad movies, people on cell phones, SIGNIFICANT audio and video problems.....I don't care if my 55" HDTV is not as large as the "Theater experience." It's plenty big enough for me and has none of the above issues. Home sweet HomeTheater

 

[Tim Markley]

I made the same decision last year when I went to the theater for the first time in a year. I would much rather watch the movie at home instead of having to deal with all of the inconsiderate people that typically go to the theater. I paid alot of $$ for my home theater and it's one of the best investments I've ever made!

 

[Ron-P]

Last movie I saw in theaters was The Two Towers. No real complaints, decent viewing experience. I have not been back and will most likely only see Pirates of the Caribbean and Underworld this year...the rest can wait for DVD.

Two main reasons I don't go, very often. Hard to find a quality baby sitter and people.


Peace Out~

 

[WadeB]

I feel your pain, but I’m still on the fence about going out to a movie. If done right, I really enjoy going out. My opinion of going out to the movie took a turn for the better a while back after I saw Toy Story at a huge STAR theater in Southfield, MI, but as your story shows, it definitely isn’t always done right. My summer has been a mixed bag: at Nemo, we had good sound, but a little bit of a dim picture and worse, a huge stain on the screen like someone had thrown a coke at it. At the Hulk, we had sound like you described: No surrounds, no bass. Very dull. On the other hand, X2 was fabulous sounding, loud, a TON of bas and surround FX, and the picture was sharp and bright looking and it had a great audience. Matrix Reloaded was exactly the same. So for me, I’ve yet to give up, but get closer with each bad experience. There are some films I’m just too anxious to wait for, I guess. I do try sticking with theaters I know and research the ones I don ‘t. I certainly won’t argue with anyone who has sworn of the megaplex forever though. Save that concession money for more DVDs.

 

[Mary M S]

My husband was being very vocal, (ranting and raving actually) after seeing T-3 at odd hours last week. 15 people in the theater and we still had bedlam. 4 bodies decided to sit right in front of us, (forget all those spaces to choose from) ending up in our laps with the bare feet in the air, reclining rocker scenario. And there was the obligatory crying infant, literally through out the entire film, whose mother walked it in a unsuccessful attempt at placation, but IN-side the theater, rather than the lobby. (interesting surround effects).

I took the opportunity to comment, maybe I should add on more to the the home AV I just revamped.

He grinned and shoved me off the chair. (can't fault me for trying)

 

[Grant B]

Last movie in a theater was eyes wide shut. I sat in pain for about a hour till I could wait no more.
Of course I missed the important part
No pause button; no ticket

 

[Gary->dee]

I don't care if my 55" HDTV is not as large as the "Theater experience."

A 55" HDTV shouldn't even make you think of going to a movie theater!

 

[Steve_Tk]

You would not even believe what I went through yesterday at Pirates.

at the beginning of the movie, when the little girl sees an umbrella, the woman next to me turns to her husband and yells,"what is that, where did it come from", he says "oh I don't know, we will probably find out there, let's wait and see". They both had the most annoying laughs also that I've ever heard. People that were near them, including me, would actually stop laughing in disgust when they starting laughing because it was so annoying.


I work strange hours so I usually only go to the theaters around around 12:30 on a wednesday or tuesday. Those days are great, it's only me and maybe 3 other guys there to enjoy it without the crowd.

 

[Michael Pineo]

I might as well share my horror story.

Went to the local theater to see "Fellowship of the Ring". There was a huge tear in the screen, but I eventually got over that. Then, just at the highest point of tension towards the end of the movie Boromir on his knees, waiting to be shot by the final arrow
the movie stops and a refreshment advertisement comes up on the screen. So an usher comes in to explain that the movie will be back on in a few minutes. Someone in the audience yells that they want their money back, so, in her infinite wisdom, the usher yells back "Well, I want a million dollars". This of course pisses everyone off. Then, just to make things even worse, once the movie starts back up, on her way out she says in this really snide tone of voice "Enjoy the movie".

Then, thanks to my own stupidity, we went back to this same theater to see "The Two Towers". For the first half of the movie, the sound was in mono and was so garbled that I couldn't understand half of the dialogue. So I finally learned my lesson and no longer go to this theater. Since I have gotten my L300U, I just wait until movies come out on DVD and watch them at home.

MikeP

 

[Jeff Kleist]

A 55" HDTV shouldn't even make you think of going to a movie theater!

of course a 55 FOOT screen should never be a factor

 

[Ricardo C]

What good is the world's largest screen if the picture sucks and the sound is awful?

 

[Lew Crippen]

Every week or so (it seems) someone posts a horror-story around live attendance in a theatre—sometimes bad sound, sometimes bad sound, and sometimes a bad audience (or some combination).

This has made me begin to wonder if my theater-going experience is at odds with most HTF members.

I normally attend local theatre showings once or twice a week, usually with my wife. The theatres I attend have food picture quality and reasonable sound. The audiences are normally quite quiet and appreciative. It is possible that as we normally go to weekend matinees the normally smaller audiences may help somewhat as crowd behavior, but we also go in the evening (usually to some advance screening with packed audiences) and I have not witnessed improper behavior.

I do overhear people discussing the plot from time-to-time, but this is very rare. Certainly this very infrequent occurrence does not prevent me from continuing to go to the theatre.

Does anyone else have generally positive experiences going to the theatre?

 

[Holadem]

I do, the VAST majority of the time.

--
Holadem

 

[Philip_G]

sounds like a bad diode in the rectifier

 

[Ray Chuang]

David.N,

You wrote:

I've decided that kids kicking seats, horrible admission prices, bad movies, people on cell phones, SIGNIFICANT audio and video problems.....

Small wonder why I don't go to the theaters much nowadays, either. While the Century 20 Great Mall in Milpitas, CA has THX-certified screens with excellent sound and good quality projection, I can do without the US$6.00 matinee prices, annoying patrons who leave trash on the floor, keep cellphone ringers and pager beepers on, and talk loudly during the film, and concessions that are highway-robbery priced.

At least at home I get a bright picture, consistent sound quality, make my own snacks at WAY cheaper prices, and can pause the film if someone calls or I need to use the restroom. Even better, you can get DVD's with the movie cut the way the director intended it.

 

[Mary M S]

Hi Lew,

I'm in Dallas also, and have mixed experiences. (see post above). It's the husband who is getting more and more cranky on this subject. I ENJOY seeing a BB on the 50' screen. Nothing beats that submersion into something really novel and well-done.

I (being a mother have possibly a higher ability to 'tune out' the milder distractions, than my husband appears to have these days!

When I saw "Signs" at the big screen, most fun at the theater I'd had in ages. That audience was on their best behavior, and it made the movie so much more exhilarating, - having everyone start in the seats as one group, gasp or laugh in unison.
Moments Like: the reflection of the alien, as Mel Gibson rolls the TV into the Living Room, - and the huge laugh the "Hersey kiss' hats lined up on the couch garnered.

I was pretty disgusted though when in the midst of "I see Dead people" such a edge of your seat hold your breath, dialog movie, - when two couples were standing UP and fighting, warranting the Off-duty Officer's trip down the aisle several times.

When everyone 'behaves' its magical (with the right flick ).

 

[David.N]

Lots of similar comments from my original post. It's a wonder that theaters are experiencing low profits or even losses. Since when has rapidly increasing price$ for a deteriorating product or service made any differnce.????

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

I recently had a bad expereince with seeing Hulk at a midnight showing. The film was not framed correctly on the screen until it got to the 2nd reel of the film. After the show I walked up to a couple employees and told them the first 20 minutes of the movie was not what it should be and they handed us 2 refund tickets.

I would say about 90% of the time I have a positive experience going to the local theater. The reasons for a bad experience, 5% would be because of a bad movie and 5% would be due to technical difficulties.

Its an experience I seldom pass up when the big blockbusters roll into town, Star Wars, LOTR's, Matrix, X-Men. These were meant to be seen on the big screen. The audience reaction to movies is also a highlight. The audience laughing and being repulsed at the same time by South Park or listening to the audience reaction to the end of The Sixth Sense.

I usually attend matinees on the weekends even with the high probability of kids being in the shows, I try not to let that bother me, usually a few good patrons within the theater will tell them to shut the h*ll up if they are loud.

Also another reason is the interaction between board members in the Movies section. If its a high topic movie, I couldn't see twiddling my thumbs for 5 months before the movie was on DVD. I would need to jump into a discussion if I felt passionate about the flick.

It sucks that a some here are having problems with their theaters. I know living in the suburbs of Minneapolis, I have about 7 choices of theaters within a 5 mile radius and all with staduim seating, huge screens and kick-ars sound. Thats a total of about 90 screens

Paul

 

[Bill J]

David, was the theater you went to a multiplex or one of the older ones without stadium seating? Every multiplex I have been to has had excellent sound and video quality, so perhaps you just chose a bad theater. I have been to some really cheap, older ones that have extremely low audio and sometimes do not even project the film in the proper aspect ratio, so I try to avoid them whenever possible.

Unfortunately you have deal with high ticket prices and annoying audiences pretty much everywhere.

 

[DaveF]

It's too bad so many have such bad experiences with theaters. I see some minor technical issues -- soft focus usually -- and have that corrected, but the audiences here are always well behaved. I've never heard a cell phone ring during a movie, or seen fights break out during previews.

Maybe Rochester is just a better mannered town