# Best place to sit to watch a movie in a theatre?



## iLabmAn (Jan 1, 2003)

So?

Where do YOU feel is the best "...seat in the house"? My friends and I prefer to sit a little past midway so that the screen is within the line of sight and allows us to view the film head-on.

Your thoughts? I am up for some changes.


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

I like to sit in the same place, in the middle. Spatial separation with sound and an eye level view.

The stadium seating offered in new theatres is a real pain when you sit in the front. The screen is so large, I can't focus on the actors or view the whole panorama without moving my head. I just walk out and get a refund if that's all that's available.


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## elmer (Dec 19, 2002)

It depends on the theatre, for me. Usually centre, but for the IMAX at the Collossus I prefer centre back since the theater is so short relative to the screen size.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

I usually sit 2-3 rows from the back in the middle of the row. Like ErnstNF, I hate the front row seats. But I usually get there in time for the good seats.


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

Some of the theatres are so small now (hello South Keys Theatre) that it barely matters at all where you sit. In the big megaplexes (hello AMC Kanata) I try to snag seats in the mid-section of the theatre where there is a walkway. That way, you get more leg room.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Middle slight above eye level I prefer for iMax and big screens so you are looking down just slightly. Easiest on the neck.

But I HATE anyone in front of me so I tend to get the seats just above the wheelchair area somewhat off centre.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

An afternoon show in the wheelchair area is perfect for me (long legs).

Unless there's a chairbound viewer who needs the area (usually that means they show up with able-bodied friends and want the seats near the wheelchair area, but sometimes they want to sit in the theatre seats and have the chair nearby) it's perfect. Naturally, you give up the seat if necessary.

Afternoon shows are usually the least busy, sometimes you're the first one to see the movie as most people go in the evening on opening day anyway.

Of course, afternoon shows are getting rare in some places these days.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

My favorite spot is the big comfy couch, with a beer in my hand and the remote close by and my killer headphones on...to catch every nuance of sound and fury (I like action movies and sci-fi)

Oh...and I always turn the phone off too.

Sometimes I even fire up a cigar midway through, after putting the movie on "pause".

Best seat in the house! Practically the only one, actually.

And the ONLY way to watch a movie, as far as I'm concerned.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

The last movie I saw in a theatre was in 1989 in one of those 12 screen complexes with about 50 seats per screen.

My ears were left bleeding from the deafening level of the sound and I vowed at that time I would never go back. I haven't.

I watch 100% of my movies either on satellite or DVD and my ears enjoy them because I control the sound level. As an added bonus, the admission is about a quarter the price and the popcorn is about one percent of the price. 

Cheers


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Uhh Gord this is getting a tad scary maybe we better compare birth certificates.....course the long legs are a contra-indicator










MacNutt indeed except for huge epic style where the big screen really works that's my preference too. The theatres are putting themselves out of biz, sticky floors, out of focus, bad sound overpriced food and tickets.  

The 51" DLP on my radar may just do away with them all together.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

With you on this one macdoc! Theatres suck, and the so-called "big screen" is actually no larger when viewed from the mid-row seats than the monster in my living room.

I've seen only two movies in commercial theatres during the past fifteen years. "Batman" (big disappointment) and "Star Trek Insurrection" (mild disappointment). I don't care if I never see one in a theatre again. Both were cursed with a rather small screen size, poor sound, were both slightly out of focus and I will NOT pay absolutely stupid prices for some cold damp half-popped pocorn and a tiny bottle of water.









They've lost me as a customer, forever.

IMAX is something altogether different. If we even have theatres in the future, I suspect that they will abandon the "warehouse multiplex" configuration and move back to a "major event" mode...either with IMAX or some other massive digital format that surrounds and includes the audience.

Until that time, I'm more than happy with my own living room.

And I am also hoping to buy a massive big screen sometime later this year. We will see how the business goes and what's left over after the next round of expansion.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

GASP!

Another similarity between us macnutt.

Curious is it not?

Cheers


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## minnes (Aug 15, 2001)

I am just about going the same direction as Sinc and Macnutt.
I am only going to see any movies in the theartre this year, If I think I might be seen in them, otherwise, I can wait 6 months or a year and see them on DVD
The breaking point happened last week when I went to see the Return of the King, some family brought to small whiney children , who drove me nuts for the whole 3 and a half hours. 
Oh well, I can enjoy a DVD better on my Mac anyway


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Poor kids - not the brightest move by parents to bring them to a 3.5 hr monster that might also scare them quite thoroughly.
My sympathies.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

I prefer to view on my own theatre screen, in my own room with my family and friends. Better sound, better picture, better food, cheaper, etc.

Occasionaly we do get out with the kids to see big films like The Lord of the Rings. When we did go to see this awesome movie, we sat and waited for over 40 minutes past the start time until someone finally came and started the show. When they did start it, they left the lights on and video off so we got to hear about 5 minutes before they stopped it. It took 15 minutes to rewind and restart. My joke to the family was that they accidentally rewound it back to some point in The Fellowship of the Ring and had to catch it back up. For some unknown reason the lights came back on after the intro scene right at the openning credits but went out again after about 30 seconds.

Fewer technical difficulties at home.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

What with communicable diseases like SARS (and others we haven't heard about yet) and the current move toward "cocooning"...I can only see the Home Theatre movement gaining some serious momentum.

The equipment is getting better and more affordable every day. Many of us here can already afford to have a system in our home that is superior to what we can find in the local Cineplex. Quite a bit better, actually.

High Definition TV and Blue Laser DVD's will bring this whole experience up to a level that the cheesy little screen movie houses can't hope to match. 

That's when we'll see new releases on our home screens...instead of the "big screen".

It's not very far off.

But I also think that there is room for a very specialised movie experience. Something like what we can see today at any IMAX theatre. A steeply pitched seating arrangement and a totally surrounding experience...perhaps even with some sort of aroma generator to really get the viewer into the experience. 3D without glasses is also a possibility. 

People would dress up and make a night of it. It would be more of an "event" than the current warehouse approach. Perhaps only two screenings per night, and a considerable ticket price. Dress up, hire a limo, and take your favorite partner out to an experience that would leave them gasping in awe...and feeling as though they had BEEN in that movie. Not just watching it.

Special feature length movies would be made for this new medium...one's that wouldn't work on the home systems.

Could be the next Big Thing. Who knows?

Or I could just be talking through my hat.

Any comments?


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## Ingenu (Jun 4, 2003)

> actually no larger when viewed from the mid-row seats than the monster in my living room


I agree, but these monsters cost thousands of dollars : I could go to the theater once a week, buy an overpriced popcorn and soft drink each time for 3 years for the same amount of money.

I don't wanna be the devil's advocate (I've worked in a theater for 7 years - it was my first job), but for me, the fun of going to a movie theater is not in the big screen, big sound, vibrating seats (!) or kids running everywhere; it's seeing a movie out of home, see people, cope with people.

My 2 cents.

Actually, I like to sit in the front rows.


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## Ingenu (Jun 4, 2003)

> What with communicable diseases like SARS (and others we haven't heard about yet) and the current move toward "cocooning"...I can only see the Home Theatre movement gaining some serious momentum


Again, it may be true, but it's sad, really sad : I don't want my home to be the place of a "quarantine".

Don't get me wrong : I like watching a movie at home, but not because I hate going to the movie theater.

Regards


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## Student P (Jan 8, 2004)

I Like the Middle too. its in just the right spot


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