It's "summer blockbuster time" again, and I just realized that during the past year, ever since I finished building my home theater, I have completely lost the desire to "go OUT to the movies" anymore.

I used to LOVE going out to local theaters to catch the latest hot flicks. Nowadays, I'd much rather wait 2-4 months for a movie to be released on DVD/Blu-ray, and then watch it in the comfort of my HT, on MY "big screen." http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14665984#post14665984

No traffic, no rush, no standing in lines, no annoying rude movie-goers (with their uninvited cellphones, whiny kids, & loud conversations), no uncomfortable seats, no paying exorbitant prices for refreshments, and most of all -- no more hassle!!!

My question for the HT owners on the forum: Do you still "go out to the movies" anymore --- yes, less often, or rarely ever --- since you got the HT bug???

If it's a film that i'm pretty eager to see and it has an IMAX release, then I go to the theater. For example, Star Trek I saw on opening night, but for the most part, nowadays I spend that money on my Blu-Ray collection.

My my son enjoys all the new 3D kid shows :D
Also had to go see Transformer's 2 opening day :D

I write reviews so I have to. Otherwise I'd be in the rarely department too.

Commercial film exhibition and HD video projection home theater each have unique performance characteristics superior and inferior to the other. I still enjoy both. Some movies I just don't want to wait for. How are you enjoying your Blu-ray copies of 'The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy? Still waiting for the release? So am I. I'm glad I saw them during their theatrical releases. It's been over six months between the night I saw 'Gran Torino' and it's recent release on BD.

We won't start seeing digital presentations of movies that really compete with film image quality until we get 4K DCI color gamut and expanded bit depth in our local cinemas. I'm very picky about what local theaters I spend my money in. Most cineplexes don't offer very good picture quality and sound. The 'chimpanzees' that cause distractions in many theaters seem to avoid the venues I attend. I haven't been experiencing the chronic annoyances listed in the opening post. My home theater is still subject to distractions like people knocking on the front door, phones ringing, sirens in the neighborhood, etc.

Best regards and beautiful pictures,
G. Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.
A Lion AV Consultants Affiliate

"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"

I just saw transformers 2 in IMAX and was UNIMPRESSED with the sound WOW!

My modest system blows it away.

The screen is bigger at the movies but they cant beat home theater sound 9/10 times if your home is done right

I just saw transformers 2 in IMAX and was UNIMPRESSED with the sound WOW!

My modest system blows it away.

The screen is bigger at the movies but they cant beat home theater sound 9/10 times if your home is done right
Not all IMAX venues are equal and I don't personally care for conventional films presented in the IMAX theaters that I've sampled (three). Film dubbing stages for mixing conventional movie soundtracks are not set up like IMAX is. I doubt the sound track is re-engineered in an IMAX type of acoustical space for the conventional films shown in that venue.

Screen size is entirely a function of how close you sit to it. I seriously doubt that the vast majority of home theaters in existence are "done right," or engineered as well as a decent commercial cinema. A correctly designed home system can definitely outperform the average movie theater in a number of regards, just not all. A correctly designed, properly equipped, calibrated, commercial cinema is very difficult to best in a home video system.

In terms of SQ and comfortableness I vastly prefer my home system. My AE3000 beats most screens, and matches the best of the theaters.

I still go to the movies once a week though. We get caught up in the hype.

My AE3000 beats most screens, and matches the best of the theaters.

That's an interesting general claim. Can you provide specific examples of what your video projector's image components are equivalent to "the best" of projected film?

My my son enjoys all the new 3D kid shows :D
Also had to go see Transformer's 2 opening day :D

Ditto. I can't remember the last time I went to the cinema to see a movie just for me. I go with my kids (or nieces) to see things. Most of the time at the cineplex I am underwhelmed by something (picture, sound, or both.)

Once I'm no longer chaperoning my kids my wife and I may take in an occasional film. I'd like to find a quality theater first, We'll probabaly average 1 movie out for every 10 in.

I haven't set foot in a theater since the day I hung my projector.

If I had ArtieR's set up, I would have voted "never". Did take my daughter to see "Monsters vs Aliens", but the 3-d was so bad, we had to leave and go see it in a regular theater.

My teens were spent working in a theater. I loved it, but it also spoiled me because our theater chain gave a darn about presentation. The sound always had to be right, we would close the curtains right as the previews dipped to black, then open them as the movie company's logo came up. We cared! Close to 30 years later, I still care.

While I don't have the theater, I do have a nice set up in my basement, and take pride in the picture and sound I present to my family and friends. I guess deep down, I'm still a showman!

George -- I agree with you in the sense that a quality theater with digital projection has the potential to be generally unbeatable at home.

However, due to untrained projectionists (or, even worse, they just don't care), poor service and maintenance of film equipment, dirty environments, etc. cinemas just don't perform at a level on par with a high quality home theater.

I simply vote NEVER for me.

Ditto. I can't remember the last time I went to the cinema to see a movie just for me. I go with my kids (or nieces) to see things. Most of the time at the cineplex I am underwhelmed by something (picture, sound, or both.)

Once I'm no longer chaperoning my kids my wife and I may take in an occasional film. I'd like to find a quality theater first, We'll probabaly average 1 movie out for every 10 in.

We have a real nice dinner theater here. We can take my son to a 3D kid show and have a real nice dinner while we do it. :D It is a full size, very nice theater with extra wide rows so the waiters can serve you.

We only go to see the more highly anticipated openings and usually only if they are also receiving good reviews. We saw UP and Star Trek most recently.

We used to go more frequently when my wife and I worked closer to the local AMC "Premium Cinema".... It's about as good as it gets for a commercial theater. Comfy leather seats, full service restaurant, full bar, 21+ only (the best feature!), assigned seating by reservation, all you can eat popcorn and all you can drink soda included... sounds pretty similar to my basement now, though... :D

I love going to the movies. LOVE it. More than pretty much any home theater because I love the vibe and being part of the zeitgeist when a movie opens. Home theater, as great as the image and sound can be, feels somewhat "canned" compared to seeing a movie when it opens in the theater. (This is coming from someone who has recently spent an ungodly amount of money making my dream projection-based home theater).

I even saw Star Trek at the Drive In! In terms of sound and image quality most home theaters would crush it. But the experience couldn't be beat and I wouldn't trade it for seeing it in a home theater.

After experiencing a properly setup commercial theater, it would be difficult for a $5000-$10,000 home theater to stand up to it. Yes the bass may go lower and the highs higher, but the scale of the theater and the openness of the sound is hard to compete with in a good quality commercial cinema. I want to hear one of the Danley and Meyer Sound cinemas personally(which I will do). Hopefully I'll have mine up and running in a couple of years. If you were to take the best from each category though, I think the home theater would win. Mind you, it would probably look like a small, expensive commercial theater;)

Interesting responses & comments all.

My reasons for opting away from going "out" to the movies, and instead enjoying my HT experience more, are just not because of the "negatives" I mentioned in my 1st post involved with the former.

For me, the POSITIVES regarding my HT enjoyment are way more important. I may be biased, but I think I've got super PQ on a more-than-big-enough screen, awesome surround sound, kool "aura" & lighting (ie. cinema atmosphere), limitless refreshments & "popKorn" (not to mention a beer, cocktail, or a meal if I so choose), and most importantly --- COMFORT & CONVENIENCE. I dig watching a late nite or early weekend morning movie in my pjammies!!!! :D

I bet most HT owners in this forum feel the same way about their HT's. If not, "upgraditis" beckons. :)

My teenage girls, though they too love our HT (they use it every week), still enjoy going out to the movies for primarily the same reason I did when I was their age --- SOCIAL FUN. They go out to hang out with their buddies, and in a few years, "dating" will begin. :( For my wife & I, "date nights out" now are spent either alone or with friends at a nice restaurant, at a concert, or at a pro-sports game. Now, for a movie it is "date night IN" at the crib in the HT --- we LUV IT & prefer it over the "old skool" way of movie-going :cool:

One final point . . . ECONOMICS play a huge part in my opinion. I spent a substantial chunk of $$$ (ditto for all HT owners) to attempt to recreate (or improve) the cinematic experience in the comfort of my own home. (Trust me, it was not for the "future re-sale value"). My staying home for movies is my personal way of "maximizing the return on my investment." Accordingly, it makes absolutely no financial sense for me to spend $$$ on a movie out in a theater, when I know that I'll probably rent or buy the Blu-ray and view it later in my own HT. I'm in no hurry, and I can wait the 2-4-6 months (or how ever long it takes to be released).

I haven't set foot in a theater since the day I hung my projector.

ditto better sound and picture less hassle more convenience, enjoyment of the work and investment--dont see why id leave the house....

I haven't been to the movie theater since I hung my screen in my own theater last year...

I LOVE being able to pause the movie to go to the bathroom, or get some food that didn't cost a fortune.

Plus popcorn that is perfect everytime... and pizza... We often have family nights friday night with a new movie, and a pizza.


Once ticket prices hit $7.50 here I started looking at the cost to do a theater myself. Taking my family to the movies was costing me $50 a week, for just one movie, and barely any food...


I was paying a minimum of $2,400 a year to go to the movies. It was a no brainer to put in my own (since it cost only $2,000)... And my feet never stick to the floor, and I never get irritated by kids kicking the back of my seat, or constant noise in the theater. Plus my movies start exactly when I am ready... And I don't waste gas driving to and from the theater.


I would never go back. I LOVE my theater, and last week I picked up Tiger woods 10 for the Wii, so now it is also a golf simulator.

I go a few times a year now but there aren't any venues which are better than my home theater. Even the IMAX conversions fall short in some aspects of both audio and picture quality. This isn't even considering the seating, convenience and glass of wine in my hand.

I go to see movies that I don't want to wait to see. Star Trek in IMAX, Benjamin Button etc.

One issue is that getting my wife to go out to a movie is hard since she feels even more strongly than I do that it's simply better all around at home so why go out, just wait for the BD.



Art

Movie going used to be a big part of our entertainment activities but since I added an HT, we do not go. Recently, I was very tempted to see UP in 3D but when I mentioned this to my fiancé, she said "why subject ourselves to the annoyances and discomfort of a public theater when we have this fantastic comfortable space to watch movies?" ... My kind of girl:D:cool:

I rarely go. For me its like once every two - three years.

We go around Thanksgiving time and around Christmas time, as a family. Otherwise, we wait for it to come in the mail from Blockbuster.com.

I dont wait for it to hit blu-ray and I still catch it on my bigscreen lol. jk of course!

Rarley go. My house smells much better, there is nothing sticky anywhere, and nobody is constantly talking, but I do miss spending $20 for $2 worth of snacks.:)

I only go on big blockbuster that I absolutely HAVE to see on the big screen... This year's were Watchmen and Transformers 2.

Like other folks here, I wait for the Blu-Ray and enjoy it much more on my projector (even if I have very crappy sound). :) I wanted a small soda at TF2, 4 $ CDN :mad:

I never go to the movies anymore... I had a theater in my old house and that spoiled me. The theaters are full of people talking over the movie... you can't pause to go to the bathroom and the snacks are WAY over priced. I undertand they have a massive screen and loud sound... but for me it just isn't worth it.

I went a full year without a theater while I was building my new one (75% of the way done) and I still didn't go to the theater.

The only movie we saw this year was Star Trek and that’s because I’m a huge fan… I just didn’t want to wait until Oct or Nov for the DVD release of the movie. After seeing the movie both my wife and I agreed that we enjoy watching movies better in our HT. We feel that we get more immersed in the movie at home. Our HT screen takes up so much more of our field of vision that I just get locked on to it as apposed to the theater where the screen is huge but in relation to our seats there is more peripheral stuff in our field of vision making their screen feel smaller.

As far as the audio goes I just prefer the sound in my HT over the MT…love the LFE of my sub!

For me I only went to the theaters to see transformers 1 and recently the second one. In between the release of transformers 1 and 2 I fell into the HT hobby and since went front projection. Ever since then I find it cheaper and more pleasant experience watching a movie at home. When me and the gf went to the theaters recently we spent $8.00 per ticket for a matinee move, and an extra $25 for popcorn, hotdog, and drinks. So we spent a total of about $41 for transformers 2.

It's funny my gf is a hard core twilight fan (the bluray is the most watched in my collection) and when the previews came out for the second one she said that we have to watch that in the theaters. After going to the theaters a friend asked her if she was going to watch it opening night. In her words not mines, "Um...I don't know I think I'd rather wait and watch at home." I swear when I heard that I thought maybe she'd let me upgrade some gear since she finally seems to appreciate my HT...sadly that was not the case.

Going to the theater was very fun growing up but it's really lost something to me in the past few years.


The theater is still a fun experience overall, and a stadium size picture and room is great, but for pure experience of the film-making I prefer to view it in a non-distracting controlled environment, with no loud people and I control the sound and video adjustments.


However, I have been to the theater in the middle of the day before a caught a film and been either the only person or 1 of 2-3 people in the room. And that is kinda cool, allows a much more focused view of the film itself..

I still go see blockbusters at the theater but tend to skip most movies (I don't have time and I have young kids). I MUCH prefer my HT over the theater in all ways. I seriously wish we were able to do something like buy the movie on the day of release to watch at home, I'd do it even for $50. I usually buy the movies on BluRay when they come out and watch them again. I skipped the last Bond movie in theaters and watched it at home, but of course by then I had already hear all about it from people.

I still go to the theater, but not by choice. My wife gets bored sitting at home all day (live in rural america, not doing anything) so she wants to go out. I prefer my living room ht, better pq and sq. Gotta make a comprimise though. Between the movie and popcorn and drink I can usually buy the movie on blu ray cheaper than going to the theater and then we own it.

Like many others here.. go for big releases or to get teh family out or when a group we want to be with go.

Recently did the midnite opener of Transformers II (there's 3 hours of my life I'll not get back) along with the kids.. they had fun doing something cool like that during the summer.

Prior to that we saw Star Trek, and I can't remember the one before that. "Up" mebbe?

But we probably see 2-3 movies a week at the home theater... and often will have a group get-together when the Blu Ray is released for a favorite, and that has a fun feel all it's own.

Once in a blue moon if my nieces and nephews drag me out to a movie they have to see or "they'll die" like Transformers etc... but much like Art and others have posted here I can't be bothered unless it's something I can't wait for home release for which is rare (I'm patient).

Cheers
Calvin

I just saw Transformers 2 at the IMAX in Seattle, 60'x80' screen and a 12,000 watt sound system. I have heard some pretty high end HTs but you would need to have an extremly beefy system to keep up with the sound quality at this IMAX, especially the LFE channels. I'm definitely not saying there are not better HT systems out there but there are definitely not many.

I don’t even have mine done yet and I haven’t bothered to go to the theaters in quite a while (did go see Star Trek, but I am holding off on Transformers 2.)

Is a quality commercial theater going to be better visually and audibly? Probably. But that is completely academic as the theaters close to me are a far cry from anything “quality.” And I don’t fancy a drive in the car that takes longer than the movie itself just to get to one.

Don’t even get me started on the old couple that get their seats picked 30 minutes before the next showing and then give you the stink eye if you even think of turning and walking down “there” row to pick a seat.

-Suntan

just on sound alone nothing beats a cineplex room, in image quality i'd say ht in the home likely be the best in some cases, though most cases nothing will completely blitz a cineplex projector for the fact you're running film not a compressed image on dvd player.....

unless you're spending between $50-500k per projector i doubt you're going to see the clarity in ht gear..


i think anything above 80-105 watts per channel in most ht room's is likely overkill in most cases given that most ht setups tend to be in small rooms to begin with..

even with less powerful speakers in play you should be able to replicate the same audio quality..

For me I only went to the theaters to see transformers 1 and recently the second one. In between the release of transformers 1 and 2 I fell into the HT hobby and since went front projection. Ever since then I find it cheaper and more pleasant experience watching a movie at home. When me and the gf went to the theaters recently we spent $8.00 per ticket for a matinee move, and an extra $25 for popcorn, hotdog, and drinks. So we spent a total of about $41 for transformers 2.

It's funny my gf is a hard core twilight fan (the bluray is the most watched in my collection) and when the previews came out for the second one she said that we have to watch that in the theaters. After going to the theaters a friend asked her if she was going to watch it opening night. In her words not mines, "Um...I don't know I think I'd rather wait and watch at home." I swear when I heard that I thought maybe she'd let me upgrade some gear since she finally seems to appreciate my HT...sadly that was not the case.

she's your gf, not your wife. Ignore her and do as you please

she's your gf, not your wife. Ignore her and do as you please

QFT - Enjoy the capacity to make decisions solo while you have it. As a husband it's not something you can or should do, but a GF has no say in your finances, that comes with marriage.

she's your gf, not your wife. Ignore her and do as you please

LOL, your posts are priceless! Keep 'em comin!

if engagement ring has been given he is already half way there, if this the case the gf will have some say in the matter... though i will admit whiskey has a point which is valid, then again the gf don't sleep beside whisky so the point might not have a base argument to contend with..


if no rugrats are around or a bun in the oven, then by all means get your ht gear now once the snot rags come along you will not have the available cash to waste on the gear...