The dictionary says that a gimmick is "an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, esp. one designed to attract attention or increase appeal." By definition, this 4-D movie experience - with moving seats - is simply a gimmick and truly doesn't add to the quality of the entertainment that the movie brings to the viewer. Terrific movies will still be terrific without the moving seats, or 3-D glasses for that matter.
While moving seats may not add to the quality of the movie, but will definitely make up-and-coming action flicks and similarly related genre movies more fun, lets examine what really makes a good movie. All the gimmicks that can be invented to make a traditional 2-D movie more rich in displaying on-screen graphics with the latest-and-greatest 3-D technology and more real in a 4-D experience will really continually be just that: simply gimmicks. At least until the real-life version of the Star Trek The Next Generation Hollodeck is invented.
This new 4-D experience is basically doubling your admission and it's a technology that will never likely be put in mass production for home use. Can anyone really justify the cost? Does anyone really want to justify going to see Iron Man 3 for $20.00 a person, only to have a your seat jiggle around? I must admit, I would actually love to experience it, myself, but at nearly $20.00?
Let's contrast the 3-D & 4-D experience with what consumer's probably find more value in: quality entertainment. I think that most parents (and even a fair amount of adults without kids) would agree that ensuring the movies they and their children watch need to be free from content that... well, really isn't necessary to get the point across, like sex, profanity and the like.
We have all probably had embarrassing, even cringe-worthy moments where we thought "Why did they include that" What will we remember more, the jiggly seats or that embarrassing moment? What's going to create a deeper impact?
If you've got teenagers you've likely heard "There's a great movie, with just this one part... But it's really short!" Or perhaps you are leery about something that is coming up and you are hovering over the skip button on the remote... and then perhaps forgot to use the button even.
In the end it really does come down to the preference of the person. I know people that would snub something like the ClearPlay DVD player that I've been referencing, saying it's censorship, etc and would say that jiggly seats are the wave of the future for movies. But when it really matters, what is it that you are going to value more: vibrating seats, or skipping that embarrassing, awkward or offensive content? Do you value the experience that is $15.00 - $20.00 per movie viewing, or skipped content for nearly any movie you can rent or buy, that can be obtained and viewed in anyone's home that has a ClearPlay DVD player?
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