Gimmicks!

[Xiabei]

Speaking of movies... apparently now some theaters are going to try going back to the "immersive" gimmicks - blowing air, smells, moving seats, etc. Didn't they do stuff this like 50 years ago? My first thought was "What, movies are so bad these days they need to bring back gimmicks to keep people entertained?"

Granted, if really cool ideas are utilized, I can see how it might make a movie more "fun", but at the same time, if a movie is really good, it shouldn't need anything extraneous. And I can't imagine anything like this would become a standard.

If better movies were made, perhaps more people would go to the theater (and if it didn't cost and arm and a leg).

[srboone]

Yeah, it's called 4D movies and it's already in use in the South Korea. Read an article on it not to long ago. Experimental 4D movies could hit the US soon!

http://entertainment.time.com/2012/0...ater-near-you/

[Martin]

Smellovision!

[srboone]

Stink-o-rama!

[peteOcha]

We have some 4D, 5D, and 6D theaters over here, whatever the hell those are. There's one that has some rainforest adventure movie; it splashes water and the seats rumble and shake... Not my type of thing. What I want is immersive virtual reality video games!

[Xiabei]

immersive virtual reality video games!

I'd definitely be up for that!

[srboone]

Move to Japan. There's a district of Tokyo called Akihabara--it's the market place where the latest electonics are displayed and sold. Virtual reality games were being demonstrated there when I first went there in 1999. I'm sure the tecnology is available there by now.

[Teriw]

I think it would just annoy me. But fuck it, what doesn't right? HAHA

[srboone]

Well, at midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show we provided our own 4D effects, complete with flinging toast, squirt guns, newspapers!

[Martin]

That brings back memories of my youth!

Well, at midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show we provided our own 4D effects, complete with flinging toast, squirt guns, newspapers!

[srboone]

That 3 years ago for me (though I'd been doing that since the mid-80's)!

[Martin]

The last time I went was in '82 or '83. My wife has seen the movie at home but never been to a midnight show. At some point I will probably take her.

[srboone]

VIRGIN SACRIFICE IMMINENT!

[TerryE]

When I went to Disney/Epcot 15 years ago, they had a theater like this. It had a short movie based on Honey I Shrunk the Kids and had mist and smells, and a 3-D movie. At one point in the film thousands of mice were let loose on the screen. A wave of screams came back towards us, and then we felt something against the ankle. It was flimsy tubes on the floor blowing air and moving against the patron's ankles. Very effective. And yes there was a whole bunch of movies in the late 50s and early 60s that had this novelty. "The Tingler" is probably the most famous. I think seats were rigged with very slight electric shocks. Then again in the 70s there was "Sensaround" used in "Earthquake" and "Rollercoaster" which used rumbling sounds to shake the viewers, imagining the seats or whole theater was shaking.