# Have you ever sat in the front row at a movie theater? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772 "2013-01-20T03:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/41 "2013-01-20T13:59:36Z")
I never have, but that’s only because I’ve spent decades learning how to scout out the least crowded movie times. If the theater is more than a third full, I haven’t done my job correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/42 "2013-01-20T14:05:59Z")
It happens. You’ve never been forced by large crowds to sit somewhere less than ideal at a theater? ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/43 "2013-01-20T14:32:34Z")
Well this is a relief. I’ve only been in the front row once, for The Musketeer, in the seat at the very front corner. You wouldn’t think a shitty movie like that would be full, but there you go. Anyway, I had to turn my head to see the whole screen and I literally could not tell what was going on. I’ve always kind of half-worried since then that I have some sort of perception deficiency, because why would they put seats there in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/44 "2013-01-20T14:40:46Z")
Not the front row, but we did have to sit in the first five rows the other week. We were late because we had to save some puppies from a burning building, and when we got there the film had just started. Asked a lady in one of the good rows if she could possibly move over one seat so that we could sit together there, but she flatly refused. Fine, so we sat in the front rows, which were absolutely awful, so we went back but she still wouldn’t budge even when we politely enquired as to the reason, and then her boyfriend became aggressive. Fortunately some other people in the row, who had probably guessed about the puppy situation, kindly moved over. Then the woman kept glaring at me when I occasionally checked my phone for messages, which I have to do because I am a Samaritans volunteer. The film was _Rashomon_, by the way. Pretty good. > **[I'm not giving up my seat](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679213)** > > So, last night, my SO and I decided to do dinner and a movie. I had been sick for a while, so I was excited to get out and have some fun. We had dinner, and arrived at the theater about 30 minutes early. As you can imagine, the theater was pretty... ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/45 "2013-01-20T15:28:51Z")
I saw _Never Cry Wolf_ from the front row - it was actually pretty good for that picture, because you really felt the enormity of the tundra landscape. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/46 "2013-01-20T15:30:57Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Many times. > I like how immersive it is. Haven’t tried it for a 3D movie though. > > Although your neck can get tired from having your head at that angle for so long. > > I like to sit in a seat close to the center, left/right wise. > I’d rather sit in the center front row then off to the side in a low row. > And if it happens that you’re going to have to sit in the bottom three rows you may as well take the front row. It has more leg room. You might want to be really sprawled out because of the neck thing. This. Though actually I prefer to sit as close to dead centre of the seating area. And my front-row sitting was all when I was several decades younger… ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/47 "2013-01-20T15:38:44Z")
Yes, for a showing of Errol Flynn’s _Robin Hood_. We were stoned at the time. I believe we chose to sit in the front row, but I don’t remember much about it. Another time for a showing of _Dangerous Liaisons_. The front row was all that was left, and I felt like it might have been possible to crawl right up Glenn Close’s nose. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/48 "2013-01-20T15:39:34Z")
Never in the front row at the movies that I can recall. I know I sat too close to the front at least once or twice as a kid and found it very unpleasant. I did once end up in the front row at a stage production of _MacBeth_. I figured it wouldn’t be as bad as the front row at the movies, as there was a little more space between the front row and the stage and all the action would be within about 6’ of the top of the stage rather than stretching up to the ceiling. It wasn’t _awful_, but I still had to keep my head awkwardly tilted back the whole time. The upside for some in attendance was that from the front row we could see right up all the men’s kilts. (None had “gone regimental”.) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/49 "2013-01-20T16:05:51Z")
Twice. Not my choice. Once at a showing of “A Bug’s Life” that was sold out, and the other at the NYC premiere of “Death to Smootchy” at the Ziegfeld and that was the seat I was given. Awful both times, my neck was so sore after and I had to keep turning my head to see both sides of the screen. I don’t understand why anyone chooses to sit there. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/50 "2013-01-20T16:21:43Z")
I used to always sit in the front row. I stopped when they started with the multiplexes that jammed the front row too close to the screen. It should normally be about three rows back, but theaters started putting seats in those spaces, which put you too close. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/51 "2013-01-20T16:39:03Z")
I voted “at least once” because I know I did a few times when I was a kid, but my most memorable experience may have been either front row or one back, I don’t remember for sure. It was when the original “Alien” was first released. A friend and I went to see it at a theater showing it in 70mm on a huge curved screen. We got there late and the only seats left were up front. I had a horrible cramp in my neck by the time the movie was over. (And just about crapped my pants when the face-hugger jumped out of the egg.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/52 "2013-01-20T17:12:53Z")
Yes, but for live theatre, not a film. For films, I prefer to be somewhere from the middle to the back, depending upon the screen size. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/53 "2013-01-20T17:36:37Z")
I was in the front row one time when I was about 12. My mom took me and two of my friends to the movies and when we walked into the theater it was so filled up already that we had to scatter and the only empty seat that I was able to find was in the front row. I don’t remember where my mom and two friends were and that is if they were even able to find an empty seat like I was. The lights had already gone down when we first walked in, so I don’t know where they were. God bless you always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly P.S. The movie that we were there to see was Beethoven 2. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/54 "2013-01-20T17:55:04Z")
Yup; Once that I can recall - for The Two Towers, because the theatre was basically full. It was a pretty wretched experience. While I don’t recall any nausea as a result (which my wife does) I remember being intensely frustrated at basically not being able to see the whole screen at once. This was made even more vexing by the fact that we were off center, so I had to sortof crane my neck for everything to not look tilted. Definitely too close. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/55 "2013-01-20T18:06:35Z")
> [@porcupine](#): > > Once, for one of the seven times I saw Star Wars in 1977, when I was 12. The initial appearance of the star destroyer was even cooler in the first row. > > That was the only time I’ve ever sat in the first row at a movie theater. OK folks, it’s trivia time. Without looking it up, who can tell me the name of that Star Destroyer? Also, for bonus points, what’s the name of the Corellian Corvette on which Leia is travelling? ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/56 "2013-01-20T19:14:12Z")
I have one time. For **Avatar**. In 3D. We went two weeks after it opened…on a Wednesday…in the AFTERNOON and it was almost standing room only. It was basically the only place left. (And we got there a half hour before the movie started, b/c I wanted to play a video game.) I ended up having to keep my eyes closed thru almost the entire movie and didn’t even understand the fuss over it. (I was so nauseated by the end that I ended up hanging my head out the window the whole way home.) Later I watched it on TV and thought—this is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/57 "2013-01-20T19:23:46Z")
I was a kid, and thought it would be cool to sit that close to the screen. I did not forsee the required neck angle for viewing, that part sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/58 "2013-01-20T19:45:50Z")
As a kid, my friends and I did just for kicks. It was OK for about ten minutes, then things got boring. We moved back to the middle. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/59 "2013-01-20T19:58:06Z")
Used to do it a lot when I was a kid, but not since. The summer before last, a friend and I went to see the last Harry Potter movie at a theater where you can book seats. She got confused and accidentally booked second row seats (she thought there was another section in front of that when booking). It was miserable - my neck hurt, I got an eye strain headache, I couldn’t see everything because my glasses couldn’t cover enough of my vision … I still give her crap for doing that. The movie was pretty good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772/60 "2013-01-20T20:45:00Z")
Tim Burton’s **Batman** - no other seats available. I stood at the back of the theater for **Raiders of the Lost Ark**. Makes me wonder if the days of “standing room only” movies have left us for good - never had a problem since the explosion of 30-screen Megaplexes. Kinda miss it sometimes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-sat-in-the-front-row-at-a-movie-theater/647772.md?page=4)