pros and cons of cinema vs home viewing

Things, I mean technology has come a long way and now you can have the same sound and big screen, in clear plasma or LCD to enjoy a movie..I prefer it but the feel of a movie in a theater is something different. I think it is the experience, I remember seeing Alien on the big screen for it's anniversary and it was like, "whoa" this is cool...but I also do enjoy within Alien on blu ray at home with no noisy kids or teens yelling every five minutes...

im intrested cain do you feel the films should or could be released simultaneously with the release date of the movie given the choice i would love to buy prometheus or rent it on the day or week of its general release date.

There is nothing that can replace the cinematic experience in a well-equipped theater. I didn't go out to cinema as often as I used to because: 1) Movies nowadays tend to be made for 14 year old girls & video gamers with ADD. 2) Movie audiences nowadays are mostly loudmouthed, smart-ass punks who behave like gangsta wannabes, teenage thugs, annoying douches who discusses every single turn of the movie plot with their partners, assholes with cellphones texting. And Hollywood wonder why normal college educated people & older adults stay at home

Every time (for the past 6 years) I go to see a film at the cinema I always say "never again! I hate the cinema". And usually splash some more cash at my home cinema in the weeks after. I feel ripped off. For the £20/£30 it has cost for me to take myself and the Mrs to the cinema plus get a baby sitter I don't think I get the experience that £20/£30 deserves. It seems the cinemas I frequent take no pride in their showings, the seating is bad and crammed, the refreshments/snacks are very expensive, there are massive queues to get your snacks/drinks. The sound is poor quality and sometimes the picture is out of focus. I wonder how they can't staff the drinks stands sufficiently, it is as if they don't know their own showing timetable! Why the hell do they put seats so far forward it is guaranteed to give you a bad neck?

The prices as well, as I agree with SoX2000, are not helping let alone the costs of food as well when you get inside and it is not like they can give you a refund for a crappy movie we paid over 20 dollars for...I mostly stay at home now... There was an experiment to release the film the same week as the movie came out in the theaters..it was like 80 dollars for the film and I think they were doing this for the Ben Stiller heist movie... Don't get me wrong..I will see Prometheus but I might wait till it has been in the theaters a week , I am not one for the teens there making noises and what not... But..I wish they would release it to DVD first, they would make so much more money I think as well... Yet, I will see Prometheus in the theater...because I want to experience it on the big screen but that will be the only I movie I see in theater this year along side with the Dark Knight...

We have to remember that the snack bar brings in most of the revenue for the theaters as only a small cut of the movie ticket pricing goes to the theater. Without those rediculous popcorn prices there may not be a theater at all.

If I had the choice on release day I'd watch Prometheus at home. But since I can't I will be at the Cinema. I'm going to try and find a showing at a small independent cinema if I can find one, I'm sure they'd take much more pride in their screenings. One thing I do like about Cinemas though is that no matter how much the Mrs says "turn the volume down" they won't =D I like it loud :) I have to keep my viewings at home way below the THX reference volume if she's watching.

With the size and picture quality of todays tv's, I think it is having an impact on the number of people going to movies. Yes its fun but when you can barely hear the movie because of rude teenagers its just not worth it, but in the same breath I will be going to see this movie because..I...Just.. Can ... Not ..... Wait!!!!

Can't stand going to the cinema anymore, most people don't know the correct etiquette for the cinema and are just plain rude... Last film I went to see was ruined by some knob-cheeese taping his feet like he was rehearsing for Broadway, he shut up when I gave him a mouthful but by then I was too wound-up to enjoy the rest of the film... With the advent of large LCD/LED screens and cheaper surround sound set-ups you really are better off staying at home.

i wish i Knew where the users on this forum were from nationality speaking to compare the experiences in the prospective countries . I was under the impression the USA had top notch facilities in their cinemas

My local cinema, an AMC outlet in Richmond, Indiana USA is nice. Four bucks for the first show in the morning, six bucks for shows up to 5:00 PM. The snacks are always pricey but that's how the theatre makes a profit. Maybe chow down before going to the show. Plus management does a good job of keeping the rowdy ones in check. And it's kept clean too. It has ten screens and I'm sure Prometheus will fill three of those on June 8.

The theater I go to is a 17-screen TInseltown. They were quick to upgrade to digital projection and have added 3D functionality in several theaters. I'd say their audio is above average. But I've been to some much lower-quality theaters, too. It all depends on location. The TInseltown is near the mall and additional, massive retail and corporate development in a wealthier neighborhood. So it gets a ton of traffic from people for whom price doesn't matter as much.

For me, Prometheus is a must to be experienced on the big screen first. I'll catch a weekday daytime showing when most people are at work - that way there'll be no chavs to spoil the experience - that's if this will appeal to chavs in the first place, which is highly doubtful. So that might be one good thing. In the Autumn, I will get it on blu-ray and indulge, savour and soak up the INTENSE experience - if SRS delivers on his promise of the 18 cut.

I live in a small town and have a three screen theater. I was really a craphole with old screens and projectors, then it was purchased locally and they did a complete restore with digital projectors, new screens and new chairs. Now it is really nice. I just found out that they are going to build a six screen complex here, which will be complete spring of 2013.

I'll be doing the same thing as Zeta, as I'm so sick and damn tired of: Fucking teenagers that never shut up while a movie is on. Those same arsehats kicking my seat. Once I turned around and said to the little prick doing it and said "Kick the seat again I'm going to snap your foot off and shove it up your arse." Of course, he kicked it again, so I stood up, turned around, (I'm about 6 foot 3 inches, and 90 kilos of muscle) and the little prick BOLTED out of the cinema after seeing how big I am. Idiots on phones. People throwing shit at the screen that ends up hitting me. The price of food. The lack of good seating. I can't sit too close to any screen as I get vertigo, and 3-d makes me puke. And most of the time, because I refuse to pay to watch advertising for 30 minutes before the movie I just paid 20 bucks to see, I can't find a seat close to the back or middle of the cinema, so I end up standing up the back of the theatre. Least I'm the first one out when the movie is over. But, for Prometheus, I'll be pre booking a seat right in the middle of the cinema for the first daily session. 9 am I'm hoping, or a midnight release if that happens. I will also be taking my lightsaber to smack any noxious little arseholes that even think about ruining this experience for me. Yes, my lightsaber is fully metal with a super strong polycarbonite blade. It's gone up against walls and taken concrete off them. Shouldn't be a problem at all against emo skulls. Sorry, I'm a bit angry at the world at the moment.

No apologies necessary, a couple of year ago the studios were experimenting with faster turn around's of cinema releases to dvd/ blue ray and to a point they still are... how would you feel about parallel releases of new films as in release dates for new films simultaneously being released on disc and download as the official theatre release date, and is it feasible with piracy so rife?

bummer; that´d be a pity, if released simulaneously in theatres as on blueray/dvd: you should mind the great spectacle in a public performance. If there was a raffle of tickets for everyone subscribed here untill now and there was free lodging included, you alteredstate wouldn´t have that negative approach. Public performance still is a form of social event that I (as well as most of my friends) don´t want to miss. By the bye I still prefer smaller theatres of my region and not those large cinema temples that, over the last 10-15 years came about to be most common here, too... and where mostly major studios flicks are performed!

I slowly built up my own home theater over the years and it is now comprised of 13 Satelites and 3 Sub woofers, DTS and 5.1 {soon to be upgraded to 7.1} Surround etc etc and a 47" LG LCD. I would not trade the experience of watching The Prometheus Blue Ray Special Extended Edition DVD when it comes out in my living room for 500 private IMAX viewings in some theater with 100 other people, although that would be cool to. But you get my point I am sure. For me the S O U N D...and S C O R E of S O U N D and E F F E C T of S O U N D in a film...all of it....everything you can hear.... Is maybe the 2nd most important thing in any film made in today's day and age.

Spartacus, don´t tell me that you haven´t had already those surveys on 'how important is it for you (as auditor) to watch a film in 3D', yet. When asked, I told them that it´s mostly sci-fi/ fantasy or action flicks or computer animated movies that I´d ‘love’ to watch in this manner. I'm sure that many can abstain from watching a polit-thriller shot in 3D but in the same line no one would complain on improvements in sound reproduction that you attach great importance to. In my opinion a smaller theatre meanwhile can match up w. big movie house auditoriums, even if not from a technical point of view. Their speakers aren´t equipped w. that large l.f.o. bass booms behind screens, indeed. But they´ve satellite speakers or horns all around as well to give you a spatial sense of sound. We have four of those smaller (indie)- theaters in our town: When our local film festival takes place, there are even more (take a converted multi-purpose hall). There, for instance, are shown films which otherwise are also performed at the 'Cannes-Film Festival' of France. Not a bit of fidgety Philip in the audience but lots of film formers!

I absolutely loved "Cinema Paradissimo". Thought and still think it is a TRUE MASTERPIECE in film history. Did you ever see that film? If Not, Please see that film and then continue this discussion, I am anxious to hear what you would have to say about it.

its not negative to have a preference vanilla i stand by my reasoning. Anything's possible in the world of the hypothetical ! Unless you do indeed have a raffle ticket and i win it i wont change my mind.

@alteredstate: you make a lot of valid points in both the pros and cons of the contemporary cinema experience, with all it's faults and delights i guess for me it all comes down to how badly i need to see a film when i was in my early / mid-twenties, me and a one time friend would go to see almost all the big summer movies when summertime would roll around, and we were all too happy to deal with all the negatives you mentioned in your post, we'd even see a decent amount of films off season as well (all with drinks / popcorn / the vigor of our youth) we were both cinephiles and we did our best to be respectful of the other audience members, and we did our best to keep the munching of the popcorn to a stealthy quiet (for the most part) cut to now, and i am (sadly) willing to not go to a theater these days, and i am almost okay with waiting for whatever films i wish to see to come onto my cable channel line up (sad i know) with that said, there is something about seeing a film on a giant screen, with (hopefully) amazing film quality and great sound to match. the last film i couldn't wait to see and enjoy on a LARGE screen was TRON:Legacy. i saw it in IMAX 3D. the "3D" wasn't all that, but the sound in that particular theater was quite good. there is a scene early on in the film, where a recognizer flies in front of the camera, and the sound effects for that particular shot made our theater seats shake! aside from that, i can understand how going out to a theater has lost it's appeal now that i am in my forties. the tickets prices make me cringe, and the prices at the concession stand are A B S U R D..!!!! at the same time, i know for a FACT that i can NOT bypass experiencing PROMETHEUS on the BIG SCREEN. i was never one of the lucky ones to have seen ALIEN in theaters, i've only ever seen it on video. so i am making it a point to watch PROMETHEUS when it FINALLY comes out in June (can NOT wait!) and Spatacus...wow man! that sounds like a choice setup you've got, i can only imagine how great PROMETHEUS will look on your setup sweeeeeeeeet!

Shardy you put your points over wonderfully and i'm in total agreement i will also be seeing prometheus at the cinema and hopefully my experience will be a Pleasurable one in both my enjoyment of the film and the cinema experience . i'm about your age mid forties and i used to love the cinema experience to, i was probably an Irritating little tyke to in my youth but in recent years or the last time i went to the cinema in my home town of the uk i was surprised at how little it had changed in terms of the picture quality and Facilities it was the final star wars film that i saw and the picture was terrible. Now i also know how well the cinema experience can be if the theatre has all the mod cons in place and has a digital projector /screen but as far as i'm aware there's not a cinema for miles near me that does and for that reason i'm pissed about it. I think the closest cinema to me that is up to date is some forty miles away that's a pretty hefty price to pay to see a film you want to see when you consider the British rail system is the most expensive in europe. Alas i will make a day of it with some friends and pay the extra and travel for fear of having the film ruined by the poor outdated traditional system i have in my hometown .

@alteredstate: if a good cinema is 40 miles away, i can understand your angst! and if you do decide to go via the rail system, it's one of those situations where you must prepare ahead of time to ensure you make your screening time on time, as well as your return trip goes fine without any delays of missed departures on the way back when i read that some crap film is a "blockbuster" these days, i am not surprised, given that ticket prices are so completely jacked up. now if there was a theater that had their prices listed like they were back in the day, and said film made over 200+ million, then i'd understand the "blockbuster" moniker for that film. but these days....not-so-much given the fact that the information age we all now exist is has changed how we react and see modern days movies, i can't say for certain that PROMETHEUS will be one of those few films that was a 1970's cash cow, but i will hope and pray that the film itself is extraordinary, and that is makes the necessary theater grosses to get either one sequel, or two green-lit as supposedly Scott has planned ah, the power of the will to see a (hopefully) great film!

Shardy yes I cannot wait, at the same time I worry a little more each Month that goes by that I have become far too dependent on Electricity in my private life today. I would be bored out of my mind without certain material electrical devices, which cannot be a good thing !!! I call it being a "WIRED" junkie.

@Spartacus: dude....tell me about it..!!! it actually SCARES me to know just how much not only the world at large, but I depend on, and am addicted to my computer and the internet this is probably too much information but.... a while back, my internet cut out on me, i was told i'd have to wait 7 days for a tech to come fix the problem. i only own / use one computer in my apt, and at that time, i didn't own / use a smartphone when i got off the phone with my internet provider, and they explained to me that the soonest they could come repair the problem was well over a week away, i literally (kid you not) walked in a circle for about 2 minutes a C I R C L E...!!! lol! i can laugh now, but at the time it happened, i was just at a loss. and was wondering WTF was going on with me, that i felt compelled to make circles with my Nike's™ in my apt! i grew up before there was ever any internet, and i was disturbed at the fact that my pre-internet senses allowed myself to wander about my apartment wondering WTF am i going to do without ALL that info at my fingertips, the way having access to the internet has made me i am not one for "internet cafe's", so i went cold turkey for one week, and when my connection problem was finally fixed, i appreciated the web more than i ever had before - - but was also weary of just how DEPENDENT i had become (yikes!) cut to a few years later, when my one and only computer DIED, i was out of work, and didn't have a working computer / internet for 6 LONG months! i felt awful...like REALLY AWFUL the lesson learned, is that i am capable of existing without a computer / internet, it just really kicked my ass mentally, and made me realize just HOW dependent society as a whole has become in the digital age..... in other words....i am WIRED TOO!

so very true and so sad and I can relate completely. Also, very brave of you to be that transparent, I find it endearing and makes me respect you a lot for it. It's funny how sometimes the things we feel the most embarrassed about can sometimes be the things that other people can relate to the easiest.

thanx Spartacus. sorry that you can relate to me in that regard, but not sorry that you understand and don't judge in that regard your respect and kind words have not gone unnoticed. thanx man. =0)

I’m thinking about taking a trip to London’s venue cinema Empire Leicester Square on first day release, in its screen 1, with Dolby 56KW of power and THX certification on the biggest THX screen in the UK. Front and centre row has nice sloping floor that rises up to curved screen and looks smart. Rocker seating is comfortable and cinema lighting system is cool. Sound system is one of the best in London with 56KW on tap over an IMAX which is only 12KW. If all doesn’t go to plan then at least I can wait until the near end of the year, no not that end, I think that end is load of bollocks to scare people and make them paranoid. I’ll wait till the bluray comes out and watch it on the video LCD projector on cinema pro gear, with hopeful I’ll have all the 6 rocker seats installed by then.