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Do You Go Out to the Movies or Wait for the DVD?
SpecialAgentXXX asks "After I see a movie, I usually end up buying the DVD to see the deleted and behind-the-scenes bonus material. So I not only pay for $20 the DVD, but also $24 for a pair of tickets, $8 for parking, and $12 for popcorn & drinks. But now that I have a home theater system, I've mostly stopped going to the movies and just wait half a year for the DVD. The only exception is watching a movie in DLP or the IMAX Experience like Harry Potter since those are better qualities than a DVD. Are more people doing this? The cost of going to the movies is now more than double that of a DVD!"
I can't afford going to the movies or to buy a DVD
You insensitive clod!
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I used to enjoy going to the cinema to see a movie, and certainly some of the really require a look in at the cinema - big screen, and all that.
However, I do find that other people in the cinema are annoying. Generally there are:
- people talking;
- people eating stuff from noisy bags;
- people slurping the last few drops of their drink;
- kids kicking the back of the seat;
- any number of other annoyances.
It's getting more and more difficult to actually enjoy watching a film in a cinema these days. With the advent of high-quality DVDs and home theatre systems, I'm moving more and more towards waiting for the film to come out on DVD and watching it, in peace, at home.
Here, a trip to the movies is a little cheaper that in the US. And DVDs are more expensive. But I think it's worth the extra money and waiting a big of time.
Granted, some films have to be seen in the cinema. I'll be there the 'Return of the Sith'. Sorry, but even if it's a terrible film, I will have to see it.
T.
By waiting, most people will either say it's good or bad.
Also there's been a loss in the "movie-going experience"
I mean, commercials in the intro, those stupid "No Smoking" jingles, at home, I can just watch the movie
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if it's something i haven't been looking forward to but was recommended by friends or such i will tend to wait for the DVD release. but if i've been really excited for something (like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Garden State) then i will make the effort to go and see it.
i will tend to also go and see films that do not see a wide release (and subsequently a smaller distribution for the DVD release) in theatres - foreign films fit well into this catagory but films like Barbarian Invasions and Station Agent qualify as well. i just had a chance to see Izo (the new Takashi Miike film) at the Vancouver Film Festival and as far as i know it was oner of the first screenings outside of Japan and wouldn't be available on DVD in North America for another 6-10 months or so.
only in some instances have i bought a DVD without seeing the film before though, most of the time we'll go on cheap night to the rental place around the corner and grab some interesting ones i've missed in theatres and then if i really enjoy it then i will make the purchase (but i'm very picky on what makes it into my DVD collection).
... on how much DVDs cost where you live ! Here they are about 5 or 6 times the price of a ticket (30 euros compared to 5 or 6 euros at most cinemas). Can you say overpriced ? That's why my collection of DVDs can be counted on a single-digit.
I still go to the movies, especially since they built that huge multiplex to replace the two smaller cinemas. The main difference is that I'm more demanding of the whole experience : I generally pick a morning session during work days of the second or third week after release, so that there are about 4 or 5 other spectators besides me in the room.
Another advantage of reduced audience, in addition to the total silence during the movie, is that you can just go to the other spectators and discuss the movie with them afterwards.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
Aside from the Alamo Draft House, movie theatres around here don't serve beer.
At home you can have cheap beer... and pause the show for the ensuing bathroom breaks.
that, and it's just plain weird going to the theatre on my own.
-metric
I still love going to the Cinema - no matter how much I upgrade my home system its still not the same. Sure, you can be unlucky and get idiot talkers occasionally, but bad framing (my number one old complaint) has been almost completely eradicated since the studios' piracy worries have led to staff actually being present in the booth again.
However, I've just recently become a Dad, and getting the opportunity to go out to the pictures is a rare and precious thing reserved for something really exciting. Even before then, there are so many films coming out I don't have time to see them, so I do a lot of catching up on DVD.
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Movies are way too valuable a way to kill time during business travel to waste seeing in a movie theatre. Airports, planes, trains, and ferries are full of people watching DVDs on their laptops or personal DVD players to fill all that 'wasted time'.
Your cost estimate is missing the amount you presumably shelled out to build that state of the art home cinema experience. How much "savings" from cheaper DVDs are you really making when you add that in? Or, in other words, how many DVDs would you have to buy instead of cinema tickets to make up for the value of your huge TV / surround sound? My pulled-out-my-ass guess is >1000 at least.
Of course I realise its nice to have a big TV and sound system for other reasons, but really...
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I watch it on region free DVD before it comes to the cinema
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Because I have a nice home theater, and because the quality is even better than many of the cheap theaters near my place.
I am also happy not to have to deal with kids talking during the movies. However, I kinda miss the "social experience" of going to the movies.
I go to the movies to see films that are well reviewed or are about material that just doesnt translate well to the smaller screen.
I buy DVD's of memorable films or stuff I collect (eg sci-fi).
I download films that I probably wont get to see or have had mediocre reviews but whose content appeals to me. I make a point of not downloading stuff I just "have" to see at the pictures.
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Add to this the free international postage many Region 1 DVD sites have (I used DVD Soon on this occasion) and it's a total no-brainer - Region 1 DVDs are the way to go for UK folks.
You can't beat the dollar theatre. During the week at night its a dollar. Weekend nights I think are like 2.50 or 2. I'm not sure. But the best is the 50 cent weekday matinee.
As for annoyances, I don't get too many in the theatres around here, even when its crowded. And when I get them, they don't bother me. I think they actually improve the movie experience somewhat. Sitting with a bunch of strangers is the way movies are meant to be watched, it definitely adds something.
The problem is that there are so few movies worth seeing even in the dollar theatre. I guess I'll see episode 3 for 50 cents. Other than that, I can't think of a movie I'm dying to see. It's pretty sad. All the movies I want to see I can rent at video barn where they have the HK imports and every Kung Fu movie ever.
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For a while, the Cheap Seats theater in Burlington, VT had the *best* "courtesy leader" I've ever seen.
"The blondes... FAKE!!!"
"The (this)... FAKE!!!"
"The (that)... FAKE!!!"
Then they had a short, done with Barbie and Ken dolls about theater courtesy. The Barbie that was talking on her cell phone, disturbing other patrons, got a pair of jumper cables attached to her and shocked. (with special effects!!) The doll eating and throwing popcorn was sucked up into a shop-vac, etc.
At the end, they're all lounging together in a hot-tub, except it's a super-size soda.
I wish we could have more like this, instead of the thumpa-thumpa music and flying candy.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
I wouldn't mind the trailers, per se, but the last movie I saw was AvP, and it had been a year and a half since the previous time I'd gone into a theater. 3 things stuck out at me:
:(
1. The 'downloading movies is a crime' signs all over the theater. WTF? I just spent $7.50 to get into the movie, and you're preaching at us not to steal. Right.....and this was an afternoon matinee.
2. 22 minutes of trailers. !!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just flat out insane. Without excuse. Commericals commercials and more commercials. There's absolutely no excuse for it.
3. I made the mistake of not eating luch before I went. No big deal, just grab popcorn and a soda. I know it'll hurt, but I haven't been in a while....go up, toss a $5 bill on the counter, and place my order. They bring back the soda and popcorn, then tell me that I'm $3 short.
WHAT. $5 not only won't cover popcorn and a soda anymore, but THE PRICE OF THE TICKET WON'T EITHER. That's right, popcorn and soda now cost more than seeing the movie itself. Of course it's summertime, so I can't get away with wearing my coat and bringing in whatever I want...it's just wrong.
The theater is basically a scam to make you a captive audience for commercials and overpriced goods. Sad that's it has degraded so far.
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I've got a family of 4... To go to the theater with all of them means I'm out $30 just in the cost of tickets, and I'm restricted to family fare (My kids are 10 and 3). If I wanted to feed this bunch while there, it'd be easily another $20 - $30 (Just for some crappy snacks and drinks).
Like many of the other posters, I simply can't stand what the moviegoing experience has become. I don't like the crowds, and like the man once said: "In any sufficiently large group of people, most of them will be idiots." No place is this more evident than at a theater.
Home theater is where it's at.
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I go to maybe one or two movies a year. And they better be damn good movies. The last one I went to in a theater, I think, was Shrek 2 and only because my daughter bugged the hell out of me. Before that it was Hulk.
I don't rent movies. I don't do pay per views. I wait. I am patient. I wait for Blockbuster to finish quenching the surge of demand for a new movie, and then I buy it when it hits the "Pre-Viewed" rack. Even then I wait until they run the "2 for $20" sale. That's when I stock up. I walk out once or twice a month with an armload of DVD's.
Sooner or later I'll purge the collection and recoup some of those costs via eBay. For now, though, it's kinda cool knowing that I legally own over 400 DVD's and not a cent of my money has gone to the MPAA.
1) Sound
Most of these theatres are run by people with no real AV calibration experience as far as I can tell. They EQ the bass up too high, the mids too low, and the highs are shrill. This is one of the reasons I couldn't enjoy Matrix Revolutions; the low mid of the punches was turned into an oatmeal slap by the horribly configured audio system. And this was on Sony DTS. Much of the time there is also some kind of buzz in the background. This is why I had trouble watching X Men 2 and a few others.
2) Video
Lots of times the video ends up looking flat and desaturated. I'm not sure if this is badly maintained projectors or what. It's often off center and obvious when switching reels. I long for digital video.
3) Audience
I hate them. Loud, obnoxious asshats chatting on cell phones and commenting aloud on the movie. Kids brought to the WRONG movies, so they're asking questions or crying. The lip smacking of the teenage couple making out behind me. Rednecks with their laser pointers and minimum wage ushers who won't do anything about it. No thanks.
You'd think for nearly (or over in some cases) $10 a ticket, they could have someone come in and set this stuff straight.
I don't have a huge home theatre system but watching it on my ordinary 36" TV with my Wharfedales and my Onkyo receiver is a better movie experience by far than going to any of the theatres near me.
vk.
I used to go to movies. Not a lot, but I did go. When "Fellowship of the Ring" came out, I went.
The experience was pretty awful. From the house lights not going down on time and the light from the left-open doors shining on the screen to the sticky floor and talking/sneezing/coughing.
I watched, and muttered those now immortal words "I can do better than this at home"
A year later I had a DLP projector under the couch (852x480) and a 100" screen at the living room wall. It lives up to my claim - I've never even looked at a movie theater since.
My costs for the first couple of years works out to be $3-4/per hour of viewing. Cheaper than a movie theater and a lot more rewarding.
A.
...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
By buying a used DVD, you are taking a used DVD off the shelf that someone else might have bought, forcing them to buy the original instead.
This assumes that the same people who trawl through ex-rental bargain bins are happy to pay full price for a new copy. I imagine that this isn't the case for most of the '2 for $x' crowd. Also, a 1/4 price DVD is more likely to be an impulse purchase than a full price copy. I just impulse bought a copy of The Thirteenth Floor for AUD$7 -- it's a fun movie but I wouldn't have paid full price for it if the bargain bin was empty.
A less intuitive but more accurate visualization is the understanding that by supporting a market for used DVDs, you push the asking price for brand-new DVDs up past what their price point would otherwise be.
This makes more sense, but unless the price doubles due to the second hand market, one and a bit DVDs are supplying two customers, which is a gain for us and a loss for them (relatively speaking).
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