Level 3
I've given up on our local Odeons as my last few experiences there have been awful, they're still on a mix of noisy old 35mm projectors and old 2K digital projectors (which they regularly leave the polarisation lenses on in 2D showings). The seats are also horrible and really cramped. Their idea of surround sound is poorly calibrated speakers with volume cranked so ridiculously high that it clips and feels like a mushy punch in the ear as opposed to natural surround sound with intelligible dialogue and directional effects.
So, now I've started going to the Vue just around the corner, the difference is like chalk and cheese.
The seats are comfortable, the VIP seats especially so, the toilets are clean, the screens iare a touch bigger and in better knick. The projectors are brighter and more natural (though the black levels are still too high), the sound envelops you more naturally. The VIP seats also happen to be roughly the same price as standard seats at the Odeon.
What annoys me though is that the cinema runs 4K projectors but they're still skimping on the resolution. This Vue cinema has signs on their website saying 4K projectors for our local cinema, the actual cinema has posters up around saying Sony 4K projectors and before the film starts you get an ad saying 4K, 4K!...also, I recently contacted the cinema and asked if they're running 4K projectors in all auditoriums and if the movie I'm seeing will be shown in 4K.
I was told that every auditorium is running a 4K projector and I was also told that..
The Dark Knight Rises
Shot in IMAX Film, Super 70mm Film & Super 35mm Film.
Available to cinemas as any of the following 2K DCP, 4K DCP, 35mm Reel & IMAX Reel.
..was definitely going to be shown in 4K.
Yet when I got there and the filck started up it was definitely still in 2K, while the movie was very good I felt quite let down.
It seems these cinemas can't grasp the concept of what it means to be using 4K projectors and what it means to be using a 4K source. It means practically nothing to be running a 4K projector if you're still running in 2K. And it's ridiculous when you consider 4K Digital Cinema Packages are becoming more and more readily available to cinemas, especially with big movies.
It really annoys me that cinemas still continue to skimp so much, the fact that our 32"-100" screens run at 1920x1080 yet the roughly 800" screens in the cinema run sources just a tickle above that at 2048x1080. Each pixel is literally 1.5cm-2.0cm square, even at a distance that's blurry.
Level 6
I don't like cinema's. I don't actually find the experience relaxing at all. I like being able to pause the movie, going to the toilet/grabbing a drink etc.
The seats have no leg room, and with my need to always fidget about and stretch my legs out, I can't really do it in cinema's, unless I pay a high price.
I also need subtitles, and it's not available, unless I go at specific times.
It's too dark, you can't see anything, it gives me headaches watching a huge bright/loud screen in a very dark room.
If you drop something, you're b*ggered to find it until the end of the movie and credits when the lights are turned back on again.
It's just not nice to be at the cinema. I prefer to wait for things to come out on DVD.
Level 3
xElfenLied_US wrote:
Ex friend of mine works in Vue, but that's another story xD
I don't like cinema's. I don't actually find the experience relaxing at all. I like being able to pause the movie, going to the toilet/grabbing a drink etc.
The seats have no leg room, and with my need to always fidget about and stretch my legs out, I can't really do it in cinema's, unless I pay a high price.
I also need subtitles, and it's not available, unless I go at specific times.
It's too dark, you can't see anything, it gives me headaches watching a huge bright/loud screen in a very dark room.
If you drop something, you're b*ggered to find it until the end of the movie and credits when the lights are turned back on again.
It's just not nice to be at the cinema. I prefer to wait for things to come out on DVD.
Plus, you can't do naughty things at the cinema, unless you want to risk people watching and/or recording you.
Level 3
Wretched_Hawk wrote:Complete opposite to you - I am never attending a (my local one anyway) Vue (if possible again)... I don't have time for details but lets just say every time I have been there has been a problem and some of them are similar to yours. It seems to be a location to location thing rather than a company wide thing. For every bad Vue and Odeon there will be a great one.
As you say, it tends to be more to do with locale than the brand, but then that shows the companies are lacking in any passion for the medium or the business when they can't maintain consistency in the brand or experience.
I really think the "motion picture theatrical experience" to put it classically is really lacking these days, unlike other industries their doesn't seem to be a standout brand of any kind, they're all average and inconsistent, which is sad for movies, their creators and their viewers.
shanethegooner wrote:
The Dark Knight Rises deserves better.
IMAX or nothing.
It was amazing.
I really wanted to go to an IMAX to see The Dark Knight Rises but there's not a single one anywhere near Oxford. 
Thought 4K would be the next best thing. I do feel slightly ashamed for now seeing it in 2K. 
For me the cinema is ruined by other people (talking, texting) more than the screen itself. I'm not especially sensitive to resolution, although when I went to see Prometheus, I did notice the screen was out of focus in the top-right.
I also think this 3D fad is a desparate attempt by movie makers to keep people going to the cinema as home entertainment systems allow you to get closer to the same effect at home. But currently I think it only works well on CGI and has a long way to go on camera shot footage before it will be worth the price of admission.
Level 3
InfiniteStates wrote:For me the cinema is ruined by other people (talking, texting) more than the screen itself.
Agreed, i've never really had any compants about the screen, but i'm not really aware of the finer details.
I tend to go just after midday during the week to see films, when it isn't too busy, to avoid talkers and people faffing with their phones. The people on phones are the worst, what is so important that you have to answer a text now? I went to see Batman on opening day, and around a couple of hours into the movie, there was a couple of people checking their phones 
Some movies are just better with a crowd, the last two I have seen (TDKR and Ted) are both the type. Comedies and big blockbusters just feel better on the big screen with lots of people around, and usually if you see them early, most people actually want to see the film.
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