4DX technology is not new and it has been used by cinema chains since 2014, looking to introduce an experience that watching a streaming channel like Netflix on TV in the comfort of your home cannot provide. 4DX offers the smells,thrills and chills of a Fairground Attraction, mixing 3-D and special effects that include vertical movement, smells, wind, fog, snow, even something called a bottom ticker. The 4DX technology behind it uses programmed movable seats synched to the action on the screen.
Avatar’s forest and underwater scenes lend themselves to experiences in the fourth dimension. But is the experience enjoyable and does it enhance the movie itself?
The response depends on which generation you asking. The baby boomers with their arthritis and dodgy backs?. The Millennials thinking too much about their mortgages and jobs to enjoy being tossed around on a hurdy-gurdy? Is Generation X and Generation Alpha more open to the four dimensional experience? They, after all, are the future of cinema.
Charlotte had a very different view of Avatar in 4DX from her parents . She loved the movie and was totally sold on the hype, it’s simple save the world message, and the experience of being violently thrown up and down in her cinema seat. Her parents, Krishnan and Lucy,were not so enthusiastic, comparing the experience to severe turbulence in a plane over the Himalayas.
‘I couldn’t even doze off, without being jerked back awake,’ Lucy complained
Once in and seated, there’s no turning back, unless you leave the auditorium. There is a button on your arm rest that allows you to turn the water effects off. No other effects can be turned on/off. All chairs move together. Drinks can be spilled over your neighbour and popcorn flies in the air. It’s a bumpy ride.
To watch “Dune” on a mere television is “to drive a speedboat in your bathtub”, declared its director, Denis Villeneuve.
Is 4DX a gimmick or an evolving experience in a changing technosphere?
CJ 4DPLEX, the company behind multi-sensory 4DX cinema technology, has announced that it had a record-breaking 2019, grossing more than $320 million for 4DX worldwide. It was the best year yet for the groundbreaking format, marking a 12% increase from 2018’s record $286 million. The chain has yet to publish post pandemic results.
A big issue for exhibitors is the set-up cost. A 4DX installation for a 200-seat auditorium runs a whopping $1 million. And not all films are suitable for the 4DX experience. Movies such as Dune, Top Gun, Avatar, actioned themed or anything from the Marvel franchise can be programmed to sync the moving seats with the visual action. Clearly a comedy is different. Can comedic effects be synched with four dimensional experiences? How about a Romcom?
4DX is not the only game in town. Also out there is Screen X, and IMAX 3-D, oth offering a different cinematic experience from your standard movie on a screen, with a lower set up cost, and focus on an enhanced visual and audio experience. But 4DX is the only one that will spray water in your face, waft pleasing odours and tickle your bottom at the same time.
