I love going to the movies. Although I appreciate the convenience of On Demand and regularly stream rentals on my PC, nothing can top the experience of walking into an elegantly designed theater, smelling freshly popped popcorn, waiting for the lights to dim, and being engulfed by images and sounds that are larger than life. To me, going to the movies is a big deal.
In the ’80s, I lived in Denver, Co., which was home to the Cooper, a theater that showed 70MM prints of new movies. Instead of cramming 18 auditoriums into a tiny amount of real estate, the people who built the Cooper had devoted nearly all of its space to a single, colossal theater.
The Cooper was ahead of its time, as it featured steep stadium seating that put you in the heat of the action. It’s where I spilled my popcorn as a boulder descended on Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and it’s where my mother clung to my arm as she tried to keep from falling out of her seat while watching the climactic space battle in “Return of the Jedi.”
Today, it’s no longer economically feasible for a theater to house a single auditorium. To earn a profit, megaplexes like the Rave and the Majestic in Chattanooga must cram as many theaters as possible into their limited amount of space and show every new release. While this draws in viewers, the smaller screens and assembly line atmosphere of current theater chains has diminished the value of going to the movies.
This is part of why Hollywood is in trouble. Even though ticket prices are higher than ever, revenues are down, as is the number of people going to the movies. In 2011, attendance dropped a staggering 20 percent, despite the release of several blockbusters. Higher ticket prices in the midst of a slowly recovering economy, large screen televisions and video games have made staying at home too tempting to resist.
To lure people back to theaters, the movie industry is deploying new technologies that can’t be replicated in a living room, such as immersive 3D and bigger screens. This is similar to what happened during the proliferation of television in the ’50s. To keep the people of that decade going to the movies, a panicked Hollywood introduced several innovations, including CineScope and improved Technicolor.
While I enjoy a good 3D movie, I find the reintroduction of bigger screens more exciting, as a large viewing canvas is one of the things that makes going to the movies a transportive experience.
The first large screen format to emerge in recent times was the IMAX multiplex format. IMAX theaters became famous in the ’70s and ’80s due to their massive screens and stadium seating. However, a true IMAX movie requires the use of special equipment during filming and projection, so the format never became one for the masses until someone came up with the idea of converting multiplex auditoriums into IMAX screening rooms.
The result is nothing like the stomach-lurching experience of watching a true IMAX movie. IMAX screen conversions essentially involve removing a few rows of chairs and expanding the screen as far as it can go.
What’s more, the movies displayed in the converted theaters are rarely shot using IMAX cameras and never displayed with IMAX projection equipment, so other than the size of the screen, it offers nothing that differentiates it from a regular theater. The lure for audiences is the idea of what IMAX is, not its newfangled execution.
Now Carmike Cinemas has introduced its BIGD theaters, which have wall-to-wall screens, 7.1 surround sound and digital projection. My guess is the company didn’t want to pay IMAX for the right to use its name or technology, so it came up with its own large screen format. Fair enough. But does BIGD provide a better experience?
Chattanooga recently became home to the ninth BIGD theater in the world, located at the Majestic on Broad Street. It opened on December 8 with a showing of “New Year’s Eve,” which was hardly appropriate. These theaters were built with big scale, effects laden blockbusters in mind, not a dull, humorless romantic comedy. So I waited until the new Sherlock Holmes movie premiered at the theater, grabbed an extra two bucks for the BIGD surcharge, and headed downtown.
The Majestic offers ambience that’s unmatched in Chattanooga. Although sterile by traditional standards, the contemporary design of its lobby, the large screen TVs showing previews of upcoming movies, and the long concession stand effectively set the mood as you walk through the door.
Carmike wants its BIGD experience to be special, so you won’t have any trouble identifying the auditorium as you turn down the main hall. The BIGD marquee outside the screening room, which casts a neon green glow on ticketholders, is a nice touch, as is the tuxedoed doorman who welcomes patrons. He needs to get his facts straight, though, as the BIGD screen is three stories tall, not six.
Inside, a few hundred well-padded seats give the theater a “new car” smell. Although my eyes and ears appreciate the technical advancements available at the movies, my backside believes the real revolution can be found in the seating, which is light years beyond the stiff chairs that once filled movie theaters.
Genial doormen and comfortable seats are well and good, but what counts in a movie theater is what happens when the lights go out. With ticket prices at an all-time high, the experience needs to knock your socks off, proverbially speaking. While BIGD has its good points, your socks will remain snug on your feet.
The larger screen is nice, but lacks the wow factor of a true IMAX display. However, as a multiplex experience, it’s as good as it gets. What did impress me was the brightness of the image. BIGD theaters use Christie projectors with a light output of 30,000 lumens, which produces a picture with a higher resolution than HD. This could be a real boon when watching a 3D movie, as the glasses darken the image somewhat.
Providing the aural experience at the BIGD theater is a QSC DIGITAL audio system tuned to a 7.1 speaker array with 16 channels. The highs and lows are all there, and sound really good. Not phenomenal, but really good. Maybe I’m picky, but my ears were weaned on analog sound. I can still remember the thrill of hearing John Williams’ “Star Wars” theme literally explode at the Cooper, as though the orchestra was there, in the theater.
The clarity of the sound in the BIGD theater lacks the same punch.
Going to the movies is becoming a complicated affair due to the different technologies involved. There are 2D movies, movies shot in 3D, movies shot in 2D and then converted to 3D, movies shot in the true IMAX format, IMAX multiplex theaters, and now BIGD theaters.
And filmmakers are starting to mix and match these toys, which is only going to make matters worse. Director J.J. Abrams plans to film the upcoming “Star Trek” sequel in 2D, convert it to 3D, and use IMAX equipment to capture and project portions of the movie. So, where should you see it? If you don’t live near an IMAX theater, and you want to see it in 3D, a BIGD theater would be a good choice.
While I’d love for a theater chain to go for broke and build another Cooper, I also know that probably won’t happen in this day and age. That said, I appreciate the efforts of Carmike to give viewers something more than the average multiplex experience. These “raiders of the lost art” of movie-going have built something that makes going to a movie a bigger deal than it has been in a long time.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.