IIG

The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan, and Brotherhood of the Wolf. I heard so many great things about the theater experience for all of these films, but for one reason or another I never made it out.

Why So Blu?

Brotherhood of the Wolf was great. I actually drove a bit to see it.

Pizza

it used to matter to me if i saw a movie in the theater. Now, I'm just grateful to just see a movie I wanted to see no matter the medium. As much as a solid movie-going experience can add to a film's enjoyment, it can also destroy it when you got jerks in the audience.

fumanstan

Watching Bloodsport in theaters would have been pretty cool.

Alan Smithee

I actually saw Bloodsport at a theater with some friends, we'd gone to see "Moving" (with Richard Pryor) and snuck into Bloodsport afterwards. It was a crappy shoebox theater with a fixed 2:1 screen and MONO sound that's thankfully long gone now- memorable thing was some idiots talking through much of it (including saying "Aw, c'mon, show some woman ass!" when it showed Jean-Claude Van Damme's butt) and some guy getting up in the middle and telling them to "shut the fuck up" and me replaying "This theater doesn't have Dolby anyways, so it doesn't matter if you can't hear it!" Rented it on VHS when it came out much later and enjoyed it infinitely more in stereo.

bluetoast

Dude even in the 80's you were talking about audio quality (and to a random patron at that)? Nice.

Alan Smithee

Yep- already had TWO VHS Hi-Fis at that point (OK, one of them was technically my dad's, but I was the one who used them the most!) Theaters with mono sound were still prevalent back then- at the crappy theater in question, they had 6 screens with stereo in the 2 biggest houses but mono in the other 4, without even indicating that in their advertising so you could make sure your movie was playing in the "right" ones. I quit going to that theater altogether (in fact, Bloodsport was the last movie I "saw" there) and any others that didn't have the right equipment in 100% of their screens. Watching a stereo movie in mono was even worse than watching something in pan and scan.

It sucks that now that 3D's come back, I have to make sure I'm going to the "right" showings since they do separate 2D showings of them- and most of the time it's not even because the screens aren't equipped for 3D, but they run 2D showings anyways for the people who don't want to pay extra (instead of just getting rid of the stupid upcharges! First 3D movie I saw at a theater was Treasure of the Four Crowns at that same crappy theater, with mono sound but every showing was in 3D!)

bluetoast

Damn, good shit for the 80's. You also had a VCR rewinder didn't you? But wait, what's the issue with 3D these days? Are you saying that your local theaters don't designate whether the showing is in 3D or 2D?

Bluelitespecial

I would have loved to have seen Braveheart on the big screen, I was too young in 1995 to have seen it in theater.

fumanstan

They also run 2D showings for the people who hate 3D, although I swear you seem to always ignore that facet everytime 3D discussion comes up.

hanshotfirst1138

It's probably less expensive to show the film in 3-D than in 2-D by virtues of running less equipment. Don't digital projectors count the number of times an DCP is shown and lock after a certain point to make sure that the cinemas are paying what they should be for the proper number of exhibitions? A little Orwellian, but it kind of makes sense.

The perverse irony here is how hard it is to get the damn mono on so many frigging releases now .

UAIOE

I watched on on my 32in TV. But it was HD.

I made up for it by seeing "Godzilla" in the theater twice. Both times on giant screens.

I saw "The Matrix" & "Brotherhood of the Wolf". The Matrix was a blast, and BotF was great despite half the theaters speakers being blown out.

JimRochester

I prefer 2D to 3D and I have an aunt that gets nauseous watching a movie in 3D. Has nothing to do with an upcharge.

Alan Smithee

The people who hate 3D can go see another movie that was already SHOT in 2D. I'm sure there's people who hate color too, but they're not doing separate black and white showings for them. Or in my case, showings of movies with Jennifer Lopez with all of her scenes cut out! Point is, it's been a pain to make sure I'm going to the "right" showing, and you often have to already know if a movie is even IN 3D or not to make those decisions so you could inadvertently go to a 2D showing without knowing the movie was available in 3D. The way some 3D Blu-Ray releases are handled, it's almost as big a pain. It's like the whole widescreen/fullscreen thing a few years ago which proved in the end, you can just force people to watch the right version and only a few of them will complain and some may even grow to like it.

I don't live super-close to Hollywood, but have always wanted to see a movie at the Cinerama Dome there. Last August I made it to that theater, first went shopping for several hours at Amoeba across the street. After that I went by the theater, they were showing "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" and it was starting in about 15 minutes. I almost bought a ticket at the automated kiosk, but I knew this movie was in 3D and there was nothing indicating the upcoming showing was in 3D or not. I found a live person to ask and they said "No, the last 3D show was at such-and-such." Having not known as much about the movie, I might have just seen it in 2D and found out later that it was shot in 3D. (And this movie WAS really shot in 3D, not post-converted.) Needless to say, I didn't see the movie there, but I did later buy it on Blu-Ray which does NOT have any 2D-only edition out.

The upcharge for 3D IS very stupid and greedy however- the earlier 3D movies didn't charge extra, they were just happy that you wanted to pay ANYTHING to see them!

hanshotfirst1138

Or there could be an available choice for those of use who have no interest in 3-D. My app lists 3-D, 2-D, LIEMAX, LIEMAX 3-D, and sometimes even 4K subdivided by showtimes and theater. Just pick the one you want. I wish it'd show 35mm screenings, but that's a separate issue . There room for choice, especially when it's a big multiplex movie. Digital is certainly easier to screen over and over again.

Hokeyboy

Loathed (and continue to loathe) Moulin Rouge. Empty-headed spectacle at its worst.

My top 5 movies are Brazil, Seven Samurai, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Godfather. I've only seen Seven Samurai in theaters (when I was 12, which would be over 30 years ago, eesh) but I would see any of others in a heartbeat. Especially Brazil.

d2cheer

Well...I was looking forward to The Interview...

nando820

Jurassic Park - my parents were either too cheap or didn't have enough money to take me to the theater

Pizza

Thank you your highness.
I did made sure I saw Sin City 2 in 3D because I heard the 3D was a home run, and it was.

fumanstan

That's pretty fucking stupid, especially given most of the movies you see in 3D were shot in 2D. Are you seeing the "right" version for those? Honestly, lots of people prefer 2D for various reasons, not just price. Also, every theater I go to, website, or movie app, makes it really clear which showing is 2D or 3D. As is just about every Blu-ray release as well being clearly labeled. I don't see how this is so difficult for you.

OldBoy

is this on Blu-ray R1?

Why So Blu?

No. I have the French HD-DVD, currently the best version in high definition. On DVD, the 3-disc Canadian import was the best one to get, with deleted scenes, extras, etc.

Alan Smithee

Conversions are a grey area- I honestly wish they didn't do those at all, as it just confuses most people about "real" or "fake" 3D. But I know some movies (like Piranha and Gravity) were shot with conversion in mind. On the other hand Noah got a 3D conversion in other countries against the director's wishes.

Some people prefer black and white for various reasons also. Does that mean they should show color movies in black and white?

But most of the time, if the showing is only in 2D, they DON'T tell you if the movie has any 3D version (real or converted) available. I know from experience most people just go to whatever showing starts at the time they want. Ideally, there would be a message indicating "This movie was originally shot in 3D, but is being presented here in 2D," just like the "Formatted to fit your screen" messages. I always thought theaters should have disclosed when they were showing movies with stereo soundtracks in mono also. (Though the indication used to say "Dolby Stereo in Selected Theaters," more accurately it would have said "Dolby Stereo Except in Theaters That Are Too Cheap To Install The Equipment." )

fumanstan

I don't want to take this thread off track since it's not about 2D vs 3D, but to me it basically sounds like you're either too lazy to do the research on movies to know that they're available in 3D, or unwilling to use the resources available to you to look carefully enough at showings to find out the format they're in. Neither of those should be hidden or obscure enough to cause you pain, but maybe that's just me. Either way, glad you love 3D but don't force it on the rest of us that don't

The black and white movie comparison is just silly.

joliom

Not too many. These are the only ones I can say I regret not seeing when they were in theaters:


Aliens
Evil Dead 2
Hellraiser
Miracle Mile
The Last of the Mohicans
Dark City
Pan's Labyrinth
Oblivion


Plus lots more that were from before my time, of course.