Introduction
I don’t have the luxury of a home theater (fingers crossed.) And I am not alone, while the price of large televisions has dropped significantly, I have yet to witness a flat screen TV come close to the monstrous stature of your local movie theater screen. On top of that, the sheer depth of sound immersion available for the price of admission is negligible compared to what it would take to emulate the same environment at home.
Pro:
The Immersion
Hard to match. Expensive to match. Possible, but out of the reach of many. From its kaiju towering screen to its full surround sound system. There’s a guarantee you will feel something during any movie you might end up seeing.
Unless you have thousands of dollars to dispose of, large wall real estate, and tolerable family/neighbors. You might favor creating your own experience, as far as everyone else.
The grandest viewing experience you can find is at the movie theater.
Con:
The Inconsiderate
We’ve unfortunately all been there at least once. Like all aspects of life, there are people who don’t respect or show consideration of others.
This is shown at the movie theaters by those who can’t seem to figure out the power button on their phone, those who can’t wait to finish their conversations after the film, the cackling, the clappers, and all others who show disruptive behaviors out of thinking their hilarious or simply can’t compute outcomes.
Movie theater etiquette is what I would think is common sense, but you can’t expect everyone to have that. Luckily, a good patience and focus can drown these people out.
Pro:
The Experience
The feeling of nostalgia is real. It’s the best way of making a movie an experience. I believe for some flix, it is the only way of getting the most out what the filmmakers intended.
The smell of the buttery popcorn, the dark and calming atmosphere, and the soft cushiony reclining seats. You can’t be in your underwear like at home, but pajamas are welcomed as casual attire.
Take your friends, take your family, take your date, or take yourself. There is no wrong answer once the lights dim and the trailers for what is to come start playing.
Con:
The Inconsistency
Not counting whether or not you end up with teenagers in the back row or an infant that had to tag along. There are plenty of inconsistencies that you may run into when going out to the movie theater.
One of the biggest examples is cleanliness. Sticky floors and debris ridden floors happen when theaters don’t sweep their screening rooms properly between showings. That being said, I’ve seen plenty of people who have the exact same problem at their home so you run the risk going anywhere but home.
Other than that, earlier screenings often have the issue of sound systems not being tuned to the specific movie, so it may be too quiet or too loud at parts. Which, without having a remote like you do at home, can take away from the experience you paid to have.
Pro:
The Protection
I can’t be the only one who has had to take a social media break on the opening week of a movie I had been anticipating but unable to see immediately. People love to ruin things for others with no repercussions (it’s pretty much what the internet is for.)
Not waiting for a movie to come out on DVD or your streaming service can take weeks or for some releases even months. During that time, you are at risk of having that big reveal, or that heartbreaking character death spoiled to you by all of those who went to see it on release. Knowing these details going into a movie greatly decreases the impact of such event as you have been subconsciously preparing yourself for it.
That is the protection you get by going to the movie theater. You get to see the movie first and can be at ease when scrolling through social media that someone won’t spoil it for you in their feed or comment section.
In Conclusion
There are many more factors that lean towards and away going out to a movie theater, but in my opinion, to truly enjoy a movie, you need to see it in the theater. In a perfect world, where your theater was always clean, the patrons were always quiet and respectful, and the prices were always within reason. The movie theater would be the go to option for any blockbuster release, unfortunately, you can’t always count on everything going according to plan. Still, to do a film justice and see it how it was intended, you should see it in the theater.
Flix Family 