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!"

Comments

Thinking of switching...

[Tomahawk]

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.

Re:Thinking of switching...

[sgant]

I don't find this at all in theaters...in fact, it's the opposite for me.

Watching at the theater, the movie has your undivided attention. At HOME is where the movie experience falls short.

I don't have a ton of money, so of course I don't have a home theater so I have to watch everything on a 27" TV...

But watching a movie at home you have:

-people talking openly: wife asking who is that, what happened there, did you hear what happened to so and so down the street...it's even worse when her family is over here to "watch a movie" which includes everything other than actually "watching the movie".

-kids running in and out of the room with various things/problems

-The ability to pause and go to the bathroom...now many people think this is an advantage, but it breaks up the movie experience and cuts into the flow of the story etc etc.

-Phone calls in the middle of the movie.

At a theater I get none of these things. Yes, there are other people there, but when the movie starts, we get so absorbed into the movie that I don't notice the guy slurping his drink, or really anyone talking. Has it happened in the past? Oh sure, you hear a cell phone go off or one or two people whispering/talking a little, but STILL it's not as distracting as all the things I mentioned above when watching a good movie.

I also don't have a short attention span, so I'm not easily distracted by minute and harmless things.

Neither

[DrSkwid]

I watch it on region free DVD before it comes to the cinema

Re:Missing option: Refuse because of the trailers.

[numbski]

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. :(

I'm done with movie theatres.

[venomkid]

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.