04/02/2024
It was easily the most popular cinematic attraction of the 80's...
Every cinema had it displayed proudly in giant red characters on
their facade in bigger font than the brand new blockbuster just
released, and, it was there from the beginning of the 80s to the
very last day of 1989.
It was, of course.....
***70MM DOLBY STEREO***
Leaving aside the technical details of the technology, what did
this mean to the average punter? the cinema-goer paying one
pound and 80 pence to go and see the latest summer blockbuster?
For me it was a quasi-religious experience, I loved them all, an
awkward teen sitting in a huge auditorium, I could pretend I was
normal as I sat in the dark and emoted to the unfolding drama in
front of me, and it had to be a giant room for the surround screen to work properly, unlike the modern plex screens which are all the same shape, the widescreen cinema truly immersed the viewer in the story, picture it, a screen that was bigger than any of the Maxx screens on today's multiplexes,
protected by the longest curtains you are likely to see, the lights
go down, the background music fades into the blackness and for a
moment, the chatter of the packed room is silenced by their anticipation
for what is coming. the moment passes, the whirring of an engine
, the curtains are so large, that they require hydraulics to draw them apart.
the projector spits out its image onto the screen, and the curtains are still
dividing so the projected image is spilling onto the moving cloth until
until they come to a stop which causes their trains to swish back
and forth before coming to rest completely and there it is, the Paramount
Pictures logo is over a hundred feet wide, at least, that's how it seemed
when you are sitting in row three. I was truly there in the experience.
It cannot be explained to younger people who have not experienced it, for,
once you say the word "Cinema" the image of the multiplex immediately
comes to mind so it's a generational thing, I remember it, I lived in a
time of innovation, not just in cinema, it was the time of Bowie,
of Thatcher, Spielberg and Scorsese, of Live Aid, of The Troubles, and,
generally speaking, people actually got on with each other or at the very
least wanted to at least sit together and watch a film.
