Posted by Curtin/Dobbs on 10/24/05 16:26

"John Harkness" <jharkness@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:c8tol19uji5lou4kfiosh5h7eh8e65d41t@4ax.com...
> On 23 Oct 2005 22:22:18 -0700, "Jordan" <lundj@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I sat down this week-end and watched Batman Begins and was struck,
>>immediately, at how much clearer it looks on DVD at home than it did in
>>the theater. I don't have a AAA home theater set-up, but I have a nice
>>51" rear projection 16:9 set and Dolby Digital/DTS 6.1 surround.
>>
>>I remember thinking when I saw it in the theater that it was a little
>>blurry, a little grainy, kind of hard to follow the action. I said to
>>myself back then "I wonder what it's going to look like on DVD?"
>>
>>Turns out it kicks ass on DVD. Has anyone else had this experence? I
>>first noticed it back when the Brendan Frasier version of the Mummy
>>came out. I used to blame it on the projectionist (or lack of a trained
>>one), but now I'm not so sure.
>>
>>- Jordan
>
>
> Just out of curiosity, wen did you see it in its run -- film prints
> don't have that opening weekend clarity for very long, and as theatres
> don't have actual projectionists any more to maintain equipment and
> prints, what you likely saw was a badly projected print.

On many occasions I've gone to see a movie on opening day and I've
encountered scratchy, worn prints. It's like my theatre was sent a
"screener." I'd say go ahead and complain, even though it might seem
fruitless as all the other theatre patrons are enjoying the film as they eat
popcorn from a trough and drink a bucket of soda. Who knows, you might be
the 100th monkey. My other word of advice would be to choose theatres that
consistently have good presentations; though, that might not be possible if
you live in Podunkville. I've heard that if you happen to live in the L.A.
area and go to the high-end theatres, you almost always have a good show
because that's where the industry types see'em (when they go to a regular
theatre). Does anyone know if that's true? Of course, all these things are
moot to me, as I've got small kids and Netflix is my theatre. :-)

....Curtin/Dobbs

>
> The opening weekend print I saw had none of those characteristics.
>
> By the way, when you're in a theatre and the print's "a little
> blurry", try complaining. They may send someone up to the booth to
> adjust the focus.
>
> John Harkness

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