Among my favorite movies are Apocalypse Now, Lawrence Of Arabia, Once Upon A Time In The West and The Manchurian Candidate, but I do not have these on DVD and refuse to watch them on anything smaller than a theater screen. In my opinion, some movies are made to envelop you, to capture your eyes, your ears, and maybe even your soul for a brief period of time. They are not something to multi-task on a small screen with a world of distraction around you-they are worlds unto themselves you are privileged to immerse yourself into. Likewise with music-there is a lot of good music, fun music, out there that I like to listen to on the radio when I’m doing other things, but if I am listening to certain Moody Blues albums or various orchestral classics in my collection I either using my good headphones(not earbuds), or I am shutting off all background noise, shutting the door and playing it on a decent music system. I want to experience the full effect, every instrument, every voice. I want it large.
I agree (and have bought a large-screen television*!)
*if I ever have enough money, a home theatre upgrade is next…
Most Star Trek movies work o.k. on a decent size television screen, even on a first viewing, but I could not envision seeing Star Wars(the original) for the first time on anything other than a large theater screen. I saw that movie at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, and was blown away.
Likewise when I first saw Apocalypse Now at the Hollywood Cinerama-it was an experience that could never have been fully felt in a living room.
Yes, there are films which lose their impact on the small screen. Star Wars, as you note, is the obvious example. Fortunately, projectors are relatively cheap.
Doesn’t affect me too much one way or the other. I think the only big screen cinematic moment I’ve ever had where I was like, “Woaaah”, was when Asuka was churning through the winged angels in the Evanglion movie. And I’m somewhat doubtful that anything will ever top that (it’s a hell of a scene - let alone putting it on the big screen).
I’d gladly watch any Sergio Leone film on the big screen, or other beautifully shot film. But if the script ain’t no good, I don’t care whether it’s big or small. And the script is the same regardless of which size you show it at. I saw Avatar in as good a level of quality as it can possibly be seen at. It was still a largely crappy film.
Agreed. Having a home theater has really changed my attitude about my willingness to wait for movies on DVD/streaming. Now I can have the immersive experience for $5 or less without the hassle of driving, finding a parking space, or being distracted by the idiot in front of me who has to check his email every 10 minutes*. So while I agree with the OP that some films require a large screen, I feel fortunate that I don’t need to go to the theater to get that experience.
*Of course, if a film isn’t all that engrossing, now I can be the idiot checking his email every 10 minutes, and without distracting anyone but the cats.
I agree with the OP. Go big with ALL of it, or why bother?
Pet peeves of mine are the people who invest in a huge screen, but then listen to the movie through the crappiest TV speakers and think it is great. I’m not saying they have to have THX rated 50.1 surround sound with 50 megawatt amps. Just get a decent pair of speakers and a decent receiver at least.
I’ve never had a problem no matter what the size of the screen.
There are three possible problems with a screen that is too small:
- Either the picture is cut down to fit the screen, cutting out details, or
- The picture is “letterboxed”-the aspect is proper, but the picture is shrunk even more to make it work, or
- The worst of all-Pan and Scan. Some anonymous studio hack amateurly moves the camera back and forth amongst all the characters, deciding for you, out of all the director put up on the screen, what you should be focusing your attention on.
As the actress said to the Bishop…
The big visual screen is one component of the theater experience, but sound is another. Usually theaters have great sound systems
Anyone remember ‘Sensurround’? It was a thing for a few years back in the late 70’s and I remember seeing both ‘Midway’ and ‘Earthquake’ in Sensurround-equipped theaters. Basically, it was super beefed up sub-woofers and you felt the whole theater shake in your seat. I remember watching a movie that was next to a theater that had a Sensurround movie playing and the vibration/noise from that theater seriously detracted from the movie we were watching in our theater. Guess there’s a reason Sensesurround went away.
Another movie that used it was “Rollercoaster”-nothing like a jerky rollercoaster ride coupled with disturbing subsonics to make your movie-going experience a true joy.
OK, those are issues. But I meant that a movie on a screen the size of my phone is just as satisfying as one on a movie screen.
Sure, there are things you miss, but rarely anything important.
To a certain extent, this can be mitigated by simply moving closer to the smaller screen until the effective screen size (in your field of view) is the same as in a theater. This works pretty well with large screen TVs, not so well with phones.
The OP is fine and all, for personal preference, but what it means in practice is that you don’t get to see the great movies all that often. When was the last time any of those were on the big screen? And what towns still have a functioning Cineramadome?
Phoenix does have a program of old movies on the big screen. Here is the current list:
http://www.harkinstheatres.com/TNC.aspx
A nice selection this fall, (Die Hard as a Christmas movie?) but each is one day and one show time only. Plus you have to live in a market where theaters do this.
As a practical matter, the OP is like someone that wants to use vinyl. You may be getting a better experience, but is it worth the hassle? I want to see Lawrence of Arabia now, not wait until next summer and hope that Harkins shows it, and that I’m free that night.
I agree, I wish I had my own 60 foot screen, but my 60 incher does pretty good. If I wait for Star Wars to come back to the theaters I might never see it again.