Is Home Theater Technology Killing Movie Theaters? - Page 8

I think avatar and the avengers have been the last two movies that everyone must see. many saw them.

Jacob

The biggest problem I have with going to a theater is the same as I have where any crowd gathers.
Fully 1/2 of the people there are not there to watch the event, they are simply there.
Talking, using the phone, getting up and getting refreshments, bumping/kicking seats.
Why did they even come to the theater ???
If you call them out on it, it just causes a bigger disturbance.
I have a lot invested in audio/video equipment and its worth every penny.

I suppose if you listen to people who have no clue what is going on in today's modern theaters you would believe that. For a long time, up until about 5 years ago, this would be true that the movie theater was stuck in stagnation and the home theater offered far more pleasurable viewing. Primarily, IMO, the home theater offered privacy, which is something no commercial theater will ever achieve. But, as far as the actual movie technology is concerned, the changes beyond home theater offering have been numerous in the past 5 years. Going from the ancient stage, single screen house to the multiples and stadium seating that was the only innovation in a hundred years. During the past 5 or so years the theaters experience have offered far more than is possible with today's home theater. Here are a few that I have noticed and I don't go to the theater very often-
1. New huge sound systems with multiple channels, far more than the basic 5.1 or even the latest 11.2 we have in home theater.
2. Same movie offered in various viewing formats, 2D, 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D, now 48 fps( HFR) Today, we now have home theater 3D, but the others are only available in the commercial movie theater.
3. 4D, and 5D concept in some special theme park theaters where we can experience circle 360 in 3D with motion seating, water spray, odors, breeze in your face and even action that touches you around your feet to expand the movie viewing experience

OK, some of you may not like these experiences but that is not the point. The point is going to a theater offers movie going experience like you can't yet get in your home theater. If you believe that Avatar is the latest and greatest and your HT experience can beat that then you obviously are quite ignorant of the possibilities and availabilities in the public commercial theater.

The thing that will kill a Movie theater today is that it does not offer these new innovations that people are willing to pay for and the competitor down the street does offer them. The HT only offers privacy. But, our beloved HT is of no threat to the commercial theater.


So, do I prefer my HT to the commercial theater? Of course, but I respect the movie house for what it offers and when a special movie comes along that shows me what I can't get at home I go and fork over about $50 for that entertainment experience I can't get at home. Last week I saw The Hobbit in 3D 48 fps. WOW! that was great. But at one point I became annoyed that the person behind me kept commenting and wouldn't shut up. Turning around and staring at them fixed that this time. I don't have to do that in my HT !

i agree.

To me Avengers is a sequel, and I go to see it for the same reasons that I went to see the last Harry Potter. I needed to know what happens.

I totally forgot about Avatar, which was surely a blockbuster that was produced for the big screen. Maybe production is concentrating too much on DVD sales and not enough on the big theaters?

Don, the vast vast majority of the theaters today do not offer the latest innovations you are talking about. Many movie watchers actually prefer the sound generated from a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system that you are sitting close to and in the middle of. From what I've seen in the last 5 years the only big advantage with the theater experience is with top quality 3D. The key there is top quality because a lot of crap has been tossed out there in 3D just so that they can advertise it as being in 3D. Larger sound systems are better but not that much better. The 4D and 5D you mention is not available to the masses and probably never will be. Saying that people are quite ignorant of the possibilities and availabilities in the public commercial theaters is a pretty bold statement. Using The word ignorant is actually quite insulting to those that don't necessarily share your opinion. Saying that HT only offers privacy is (I won't say ignorant, but overstated). If you've read the many posts here you'll see that privacy is only one of many reasons that so many feel that HT is hurting the theater experience. Convienience is high on the list, which of course incorporates many smaller but important items, like pausing for whatever reason, food cost, ticket cost, ability to watch a movie many times over, pride of ownership. And never underestimate the power of vanity. Who doesn't like to show off their HT.

To put it another way, the number of theaters with *any* of the innovations Don spoke of is...vanishingly small. At any rate in comparison to all theaters. And for most people (myself included), it's not a practicable option. Too far away from me, too much trouble to go to...

For the run of the mill theaters conveniently close to me, it's no contest. Mine sounds better, looks better. Every time my wife and I go out for a movie (which isn't often any more) I come out thinking I wasted my money. To expect them to implement any of those innovation is expecting too much. Not to mention that I don't think the vast majority of theater goers are going to be much interested. Not enough to pay a premium for it. JMO.

This thread as covered it all really. I thought it was only those of us who are into this that felt this way. Our new baby boy brought the in-laws out for visits. We were watching the Dark Knight Rises one night, all the kids were asleep so I turned it up a bit, lights down, and settled in. SIL's boyfriend couldn't believe the sound. He said he felt like he was in the movie. Looked at me and asked if I ever go to the theatres any more. I told him my free tickets on the fridge since July should answer that.

Sorry never intended to offend you- I'm old school English and use the word ignorant to define a person who is absent of knowledge in a particular area and not intending to offend. It doesn't mean stupid because if I wanted to call someone stupid, I would have used that word although not here on the forum due to our rules of etiquette. Most people aren't stupid, just aren't aware that there exists more than they realize. Many of the posts here admitted this. I am ignorant in many areas of life and never offended by that. I just choose to learn from others who know more, and impart what I have learned to those who know less.

I can understand that some people don't have access to state of the art movie theaters and would have to drive several hundred miles to experience these. For them they might as well not exist, but that is not the question of the thread. When IMAX first came out we didn't have any locally either but I recognized the existence and availability. Then, one was built 100 miles away and later 30 miles away. Today, we have several less than 10 miles from the house.

But lets compare a more common theater in the smaller towns in rural America. Even these have digital cinema's and THX sound systems, right. Please correct me if I am wrong. My point is to compare with a home theater and cost. To match or better the technical quality you would need to spend in the 5 figures to install a good home theater that would match the quality of these. Now you pay $20 for a BD 2D and you watch as often as you like. I don't go that often but I did go to see Avatar 4 times at the same theater multiplex to see in 2D, 3D, and IMAX. The person at the box office never asked me how many times I came to see that movie to refuse me from seeing it again. So the number of times to see it is never a limitation. hey even grant discounts for frequent visits and senior citizen status. I also know enough math to know that the cost of a home theater far exceeds the price at the box office, especially with HT upgrades and disk purchases. HT is no way to same money and I watch an average of 2 different new movies a day! So, my HT is amortized over more movie viewing sessions than most but still costs more, bottom line. I do agree with the vanity issue for some, bragging on what they built is part of the fun. Me, I am too private and rarely have guests, including my kids.

Privacy does afford more than just not putting up with others. Part of my privacy point is pausing to take care of other business, take a phone call, multitask and switch to something else if the movie is boring as well as skipping past commercials. When sharing the movie with others especially strangers, you can't do that.

My point remains that the modern movie theater is not going to die due to home theater being better technology. I admit I had my doubts in the 90's, though as the theaters were the same as in the 60's. Not today.
Edited by Don Landis - 1/1/13 at 6:06pm

One other huge factor in favor of the HT is that Movies aren't the only HT contributor. Probably for most of us the good old TV show is king of the week . Since almost everything is broadcast in 5.1 and HD that makes for a very nice experience. Many of the hour long dramas (Blue Bloods, Castle, The Good Wife, to name a few of my favorites) are better written and better acted then most of the movies I've seen. Throw in the NFL, college football, sports in general, all adds to the HT experience. I don't think that just watching movies on your HT keeps you from going out to the theaters, its all of the other HT options that satisfy your leisure time needs.

And don't forget video games. There are some great moments in video game history that a HT system can really bring to life. Like TV, there is no such thing as a cinema for TV broadcast or games, only at home can we experience those at their maximum.

Queue THX opening sound

Even though the original question regards HT's effect on theater going, maybe it can be morphed into, has the dramatically increased availability of HD TV's along with DVR's and almost unlimited programing along with gaming systems contributed to the decline in the general families outside leisure $$$ spending?

I rarely go to the theater anymore. I just find my home experience more satisfying. I might step out for Man of Steel though. Maybe.

On New Year's Eve, I watched Looper in my home theater.

This was a really symbolic movie for me. It was the first "big" movie to come to the cineplex after my theater was finished. I wanted to see it sooooooo bad! All the hype! 94 Rottentomato meter. Gotta go! Gotta see it at the cineplex!!!

But no no no. I couldn't do it. If I kept seeing movies at the cineplex then I'd never be really excited for a home theater movie release date.

Looper closed the loop, so to speak.

And... ehn. I was so saturated with the months of hype that Looper suffered unfairly. If Skyfall turns out to be another "ehn" disapointment, I may rethink my "no cineplex" pledge. There's an irrationality factor to seeing a new release at the cineplex on opening night, buoyed by mass media hysteria and social peer pressure. The enjoyment is no less real just because it's irrational.

I think.

I think.

I dunno.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into my Looper letdown.
Edited by cshawnmcdonald - 1/2/13 at 10:04am

I saw The Hobbit in 3D HDR and Dolby Atmos. I can't imagine any HT system even coming close to matching that cinematic experience. The subs in the theatre shook my chair in a way I have never experienced before in the cinema or at home.

But that being said, I do go to fewer movies these days and last year I think I only saw 4. It's not so much the cost, it's more the hassle of going out, finding parking etc. I have a modest HT system (BluRay, lossless audio 5.1 with 100" 1080p projector) but for most movies, that is good enough for me to wait for the disc release before I watch a movie.

It always boils down to content. If Hollywood puts out great movies, than you'll find me in line, albeit probably NOT on opening night, to see it. As long as the movies are worth the price of admission, I'm there. In fact, if the movie is that good, not only am I watching it in the theater, but I'm buying the blu ray or the online digital HD version. But that's the rub: there haven't been many movies that were worth the ticket price, let alone the ticket price + popcorn + pop + parking + plethora of other social inconveniences. This lack of good quality content is what makes me wait for the movie to land either at Blockbuster or Netflix. If an audience can wait months to see a movie, then the fault is not the audience's, but the movie creators'.

I saw Looper at the theater simply because I felt that I would not be as immersed in the movie as I would be if I watched it at home. I was right.

That said, I've also watched other movies at the cineplex for the same reason -- take The Dark Knight Rises, for example -- that didn't offer a better experience than that of my own home theater. (And yes, I'm taking some liberties with the term "home theater" here, since my 5.1 system is not exactly top tier, although it's no slouch, either.) Actually, it was better watching TDKR at home, thanks in large part to the creature comforts.

At least in your own home, you can turn off bad movies, without having wasted alot of money on gas, food, and drink. No matter how big a movie is, bad acting, disjointed scenes, unreal scenarios, and stock footage loops, don't inspire return to social cinema.

In the opening moments of DKR, A C-130 cargo plane captures, and tows a faster plane without a hint of air turbulence, AND manage straight-and-level flight after suddenly having it's Center of Gravity altered by 10,000 pounds? THat much sudden torque on a C-130 would have yanked it right out of the sky. Where's the reality check of the bad guy's pilot struggling with the controls? Give us something to believe.

I'm glad I saw it in my own home, so that I could treat it as an MST3000 episode. That was worth $1.07
Edited by biomedtech - 1/2/13 at 1:11pm

This.

I still go to theaters to see a movie I REALLY want to see ASAP (See: Patience not being a virtue) I would much rather sit at home, and movies I see in theaters I often to end up re-watching the minute they come out on blu-ray at home. Movie theaters around here are falling apart, they have built a few new ones and made some additions to exisiting ones, but after a year or two its like they stop caring.

I am dissapointed by soft looking picture and mediocre sound, I have seen very few movies in past years where it dident sound like there was a blow speaker somewhere, or the volume was way to low or lacked and punch to it.

The only theater worth going to around here is the Regal RPX, it's nice, but I feel like the projector is slightly out of focus, sound is great though. Every movie I've seen there so far that i've rewatched at home look a million times better.

At the risk of getting my man card torn up, I did go and see Twilight Breaking Dawn PT 2 with my Wife and Mother, the picture had a massive yellow hue to it, the volume was way to quiet, sounded muffled and there was a blow subwoofer, every time anything with bass hit, sounded like someone ripping up newspaper. I was dissapointed, voiced my concern, was told they would look into it and thats it, no guest pass, no im sorry.. just a okay we will look into it sir.

I believe that there are home theaters, even around the forum, which provide a much better overall experience than commercial theaters with perhaps some rare exceptions. I don't believe that this is the reason for the falling off of the commercial cinema though,simply the numbers aren't there. The reasons for the commercial cinema's dwindling are:

* Not enough great films
* Too many other ways to be entertained
* Expense


Art

Eve Everyone says my set up a sounds better than the movies. Mine isn't even a dedicated set up so I am sure that a lot of us here can say the same.

The thing is someone doesn't necessarily need the state of the art HT for it to appeal to them more than going to the theater. If the person is happy with what they have at home, even if it were a cheap not even true surround sound from Walmart, that is going to be a factor on whether or not they really think its worth it to go out and pay the price to see something in a theater.

I also think that even the cheapest fake surround system (or nothing at all) plus piracy is taking a big toll on theaters. A lot of people really have very low standards for quality as long as they're seeing the movie. Even if it's a cam job. As long as sound is coming out of all of their tin can speakers, that is cool to them.
Edited by mix1983 - 1/2/13 at 5:30pm

Money spent on a movie in cinema - $2 per ticket
Money spent on home theater - $7,000
I have a home theater and logically, that's money not well spent, and everyone hates me for that. Everyone in my family goes to the cinema to watch movie, ditching me & my setup forever alone.

Is Home Theater Technology Killing Movie Theaters? It's not gonna happen in my town.

I need some of that $2 per ticket action.

In the UK prices of admission are going up and extra being charged for 3D and Premium seats particularly with ODEON one of the UK's largest chains (basically seats that are in the sweet spot of the Cinema) so its not cheap.

Not all cinemas are Digital and the prices can vary wildly from one day to the next and a particular time of day you choose to go Bank Holidays etc too, I have found year on year I am only going to see the major releases I saw 40 films in 2011 and 30 in 2012 at the cinema.

Some films get a very limited release not always at your local cinema and its not always possible to get to see them,when a film such as "Premium Rush" comes out its blink and you miss it.

I am lucky enough to have a CIH 7.1 Home Cinema, so if I don't get to see a particular film or miss it on release and other films don't get released another Joseph Gordon Levitt film "Hesher" here as there are not as many screens in the UK as there are in the US obviously your country is much larger.

I am safe in the knowledge that I can buy it on Blu-ray for less than the price of 2 tickest and watch it in the comfort of my own Home Cinema.

There are places and times a person can watch a movie for a dollar a ticket here. But those are not new releases. Best I can do here with coupons and discounts would be $5.25 for a 2D movie, $8.75 for a 3D movie, all new releases. Prices are higher for evening showings and Friday/Saturday night even higher. Last movie I went to was Hobbit HFR 3D and paid $17.00 for 2 tickets. Time was 12:30PM on a Sunday. I got senior discount applied.

My Home theater is a collection over many years but last 3 years upgrades represented about $15000 mostly to get good medium end 7.2 and 3D. Simple math says I would need to watch 882 movies either different or repeats in the theater to match that investment. That would be about 6 theater movies a week or about one a day. At home I do watch slightly more than that number per week with Blockbuster movie pass at the store but these are not all top rated movies, some would be those $1 cinema types. The real bottom line is I pay a healthy premium for the privacy factor. Something the theater will never offer.

A friend of mine has a 3D, 4K capable HT that provides an AV experience that is well beyond what it possible in a commercial theater.

People annoyances aside, my own system (non-3D) gives me as much if not more enjoyment than even the best IMAX Theater. My audio system is much better than a commercial theater and my projector and screen are more than adequate. The investment in time, $$$$$ and physical space in my home while not inconsiderable were well worth it for me.

I'm not trolling. I'm from Malaysia. Here, the government imposes heavy tax on non-essential items. HT item in here is priced at at least double, triple is the norm or more than what you guys in the States are paying for.
To combat piracy, cinema tickets are offered at low price. Normally $3. On movie day, it'll be $2. On weekend, it'll be $4.

In India, it's cheaper than that.

I've built my home theatre for less than $3000 includes 10" subwoofer and 1080p projector on 100" screen and PS3 for both movies and games, Our last movie that we went to was Avatar, I just did the math $90/week for every movie at the theatre for the whole family that's $360/month so it's $4320 a year. I just saved my self $8640 for the last two years that I said adios to the movie theatre, Enough for popcorn and a whole lot of blu-rays, Don't get me wrong blu-ray is no close to 4K quality but it's not worth 4 grand a year.

i thought cinemas only displayed 1080p like all other displays, they actually show their movies in 4K?