Directors What movie influenced your decision to invest in home theater? (1 Viewer)

[Joe_RM]

What MOVIE was the greatest influence for you to invest (or will invest) in a HOME THEATER setup?

For me it was Lord of the Rings. After it left theaters I started doing my research on the web and purchased about every magazine there was available...S&V, DVD etc., Home Theater, the Best of guides.

I got a Toshiba 50H82 just in time for the November release of the extended edition of Fellowship and will have my speaker setup next week in time for the Two Towers EE.

I held off on buying satellite speakers just to save up for a little better setup.

This forum was probably the greatest source of info I used.

So again...which Movie?

Joe

 

[George See]

Well, believe it or not, when DVD first came onto the scene a friend of mine had a player and showed me a few movies on it. At which point I remarked. I've got to watch Star Wars on this. Bought one within the month and now years later, i've got a much better player, a big widescreen tv, some awesome polk audio speakers a real nice onkyo receiver and still no star wars on DVD

At the time I bought the player they were very new and I had assumed that star wars would prolly get released pretty quickly, I was wrong. Of course after all these years my tastes have changed in movies to the point where yes i'll still buy star wars when it comes out but i'm not all that excited about it.

 

[IanHo]

The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan

Those movies were always being demo'd at shops. I realized how much better the experience became with a decent surround setup. And indirectly a 5.1 system could make a TV screen actually seem bigger than it really is.

 

[Elizabeth S]

While watching "To Live and Die in L.A." on VHS, I experimented with hooking up the sound to my stereo receiver. I'd always been more interested in the visual component than audio, but I was just awed by the difference of the soundtrack through better than TV speakers, and thus began the eventual move to a Pro Logic receiver and surround speakers. And of course the DVD Player years ago. I've not yet upgraded my receiver to Dolby Digital/DTS, but eventually.

 

[Brook K]

The 5th Element was the movie that sold me on DVD.

 

[Steve Christou]

That's a good question. Going right back to the 80's, I had a copy of Streets of Fire which had the magic words 'STEREO' on the box, so I got rid of my mono video recorder and started renting a stereo one, attached it to my amp and a couple of speakers and voila! My first primitive attempt at home cinema, and what a big difference a bit of stereo sound did to my movie watching! Wow!

I got my first widescreen system in the mid 90's, but no one movie influenced this decision though, I had already accumulated many movies in widescreen by then and decided I had the wrong shaped telly to enjoy them fully, and that was it.

As for DVD I started buying magazines and reading about it on the internet and saw that The Matrix and Blade were coming up later in that year packed with extras, and I went for it, I was the first of my mates to get into DVD, and when they saw my Matrix DVD and the special features they quickly followed suit.

 

[Ruben Zamora]

Depends on how far back you go.

Since the 80's we've always had high end Pioneer Surround systems with Hi-Fi VCR and STEREO mode. So I guess we had Stereo Surround way back. But as far as 5.1 goes, It was getting a DVD player that made us do the Audio upgrade as well.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Citizen Kane.

 

[Bill McA]

Blade Runner

After seeing this film 4 times in 70mm 6 Track Dolby sound, there was absolutely no way that I could be satisfied with a VHS tape, so I went and bought a Laser Disc player and the Criterion LD of Blade Runner was my first disc (followed by Criterion's edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey)

 

[Aaron Garman]

I remember the first film I heard on a home theater system was the T2 laserdisc way back when. That was the movie that shouted to me, "Get into home theater." So my quest began and eventually I saw Jurassic Park. This was the definitive movie to get me into the game. I eventually got into laserdisc, and finally DVD. It's been a fun ride and it just keeps on going too!

AJG

 

[JonZ]

Yea I was watchng TV and movies thu a stereo in the early 80s too.

My parents friend owned a video store and got them to invest in a LD player(the dinosaur where the top pops open to insert the disc) and a stereo system.

The old LDs werent anything really special they were full frame and didnt look much better than VHS (As a unimpressed friend once told me)
But watching some of the early 90s LD remasters really made me notice the more "theaterlike" feeling on AOR.A video store near me rented LDs and I rented Backdraft, Last Action Hero, True Romance Dir Cut and was hooked.

BTW, that Pionner LD player is still working! Its about 20 years old

 

[Jim Dalton]

I certainly don't have an elaborate set-up by any means, but at present I am satisfied with it. Although I can't wait to REALLY add to it in the coming years.

For me though, it started when I purchased my first Hi-Fi VCR in 1986 and I have never looked back! I enjoyed watching people's faces when I showed them the scene from Star Trek III when Kirk and company stole the Enterprise!

My friends all remarked that it was like going to the movie theater!

Jim

 

[StephenA]

Well I don't have a great setup now, but someday I will. No movies really swayed me to invest as much as DVD itself has.
Someday I'd like to have nice high definition TV, nice DVD player, and nice sound system so I can view my DVDs in the best possible way.

 

[Walter Kittel]

My experience is pretty close to Bill's.

My first dabbling with Home Theater involved an entry level Pioneer LD player. I can't really recall what LD I first purchased, but Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Raiders of the Lost Ark were certainly some of my first LD purchases.

- Walter;

 

[Rob Tomlin]

My Dad had a Home Theater before me, with a Laserdisc player.

The movies that impressed me the most (with his Doly Pro-Logic surround sound and 50 inch 4x3 screen) were The Thing and Top Gun.

We've come a long way, baby!

 

[Kami]

The Matrix prompted me to get a nice sound system started back in the day...but after seeing the first LOTR I knew that it was silly to watch that movie on a small screen. LOTR has been the biggest influence.

My current setup is in my sig.

 

[Mark Shannon]

Well I'm not quite sure it was a specific movie that inspired me to want a home theater.

However, once I did get an RPTV, The Patriot (with Mel Gibson) was the first movie I played on it. Although it was in VHS:frowning: and in fullscreen:frowning: :frowning:, I was impressed by the picture and sound (I had it hooked up to a simple stereo reciever with a couple 200 watt speakers).

Once I got an xbox, I realized that I wanted to start buying DVDs, and The Matrix was the first DVD that I owned.

And then I got my reciever and satellite speakers, Pearl Harbour was the first movie I recall watching in surround sound.

Ah, the memories...