Movies can still be pretty long, plus its nice to go to the bathroom or get a refill on popcorn or drinks without missing some of the film. It could also give a few minutes for reflection.
Why don't movies have intermissions anymore?
- Thread starter Professor James
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Intermissions cut into profits. Say the theater runs 10 movies a day in the same theater. With a 10 minute intermission in every movie you would have 100 minutes worth of intermission time in one day (the length of an average movie). Why have intermissions then when you can squeeze another screening time in and get money for those 100 minutes?
But yeah, I agree that it would be nice to have intermissions in movies, at least in the long ones. I was busting for a pee pretty bad by the end of The Hobbit.
But yeah, I agree that it would be nice to have intermissions in movies, at least in the long ones. I was busting for a pee pretty bad by the end of The Hobbit.
I guess because of very tight screening schedules. I mean, directors have to cut their movies in order to fit them into cinema theater format, so that they can screen more movies each day, intermissions would totally mess up that scheme and just hurt theater owners.
Movies aren't THAT long anymore. The last movie I saw with an intermission was Il Gattopardo, which ran 187 minutes. The Dark Knight Rises - which I think is the lengthiests movie I've seen since - ran 165 mins. and didn't get an intermission. The Hobbit was only 4 mins longer; still no intermission. So maybe your movie needs to be at least 3 hours to get an intermission?
It's all about the money. Less intermissions means they can show more movies per day which means they can earn more money. Theaters aren't as popular any more as they used to be, since home cinema sets and just people watching movies at home in general are becoming more common. (I think partially because of the costs involved in going to see a movie.) So theaters need to make up for that in some way.
Not that I agree with it. I liked the intermissions in movies lasting 1.5 hours or longer.
Not that I agree with it. I liked the intermissions in movies lasting 1.5 hours or longer.
Makes me crazy that the theaters won't do this for *kids* movies. Telling a child to "just hold it" in a publicProfessor James said:
place is a *baaaaaaaaaaaad* idea......
At least kids movies tend to be ridiculously short these days.
I always wanted someone to put a toilet at the back of a theater. The interior would be all stainless steel with a huge drain in the floor, for easy cleaning of course. In addition to proper ventilation, I imagined it would have a small porthole made of reinforced one-way glass so patrons wouldn't miss any of the movie while they were on the can.
That, and I've always wanted a theater where the seats recline deeply and the screen is higher up, angled down. That way every seat in the house is a good seat.
Oh right, the original thread.
Cool thing is that when I bought the Lawrence of Arabia DVD, it had the entire intermission on it. It played through, just like it did in theaters, orchestral music and all.
That, and I've always wanted a theater where the seats recline deeply and the screen is higher up, angled down. That way every seat in the house is a good seat.
Oh right, the original thread.
I think Dirty Hipsters is right. I know that the time crunch goes back to at least 1986 where James Cameron was forced to cut almost 20 minutes from Aliens in order to get more showtimes in theaters. It's mentioned on the DVD commentary by his ex-wife/producer at the time, Gale Anne Hurd.Dirty Hipsters said:
Cool thing is that when I bought the Lawrence of Arabia DVD, it had the entire intermission on it. It played through, just like it did in theaters, orchestral music and all.
Sometimes they do but it depends where you watch the movie and obviously it depends how long the movie is.
Most movies today are only 1 hour 30 minutes or sometimes 2 hours. which is now considered an acceptable amount of time for one sitting but they rarely reach over 3 hours. That a deliberate move by the studios since a 3 hour movie could easily be split into 2 movies and make double profit.
I remember Return of The King had an intermission. But I'm not sure if I've ever seen a movie run for that long ever again.
Most movies today are only 1 hour 30 minutes or sometimes 2 hours. which is now considered an acceptable amount of time for one sitting but they rarely reach over 3 hours. That a deliberate move by the studios since a 3 hour movie could easily be split into 2 movies and make double profit.
I remember Return of The King had an intermission. But I'm not sure if I've ever seen a movie run for that long ever again.
You could also just have a screen in the door of the stall. That is an awesome idea, Fizzy!FizzyIzze said:
And, that's cool about Lawrence of Arabia. Is that the Criterion Release?
the country i live in malta ( tiny island south of sicily ) they still have intermissions at the cinema. Its quite handy realy u get to go for a fag and to the toilet mid film
The last time I can think of when the movie theatre I go to cuase I used to work there had an intermission, it was for the final twilight movie and only cause they were showing all of them up righ tbefore the midnight release.
In truth, movies arent exceedingly long, only ones like batman and the hobbit being "long" any more. the general idea is most likely screening time for theatres though honestly if you cant wait I dont know. I wont judge I guess. personally ive never had to get up during a movie, mostly cause movies draw me in and Im more inclined to watch and forget about the popcorn and drink. only itmes I do have to get up is when im with somoene else and then I just ask what i missed. Its not like you're gont for ten minutes.
In truth, movies arent exceedingly long, only ones like batman and the hobbit being "long" any more. the general idea is most likely screening time for theatres though honestly if you cant wait I dont know. I wont judge I guess. personally ive never had to get up during a movie, mostly cause movies draw me in and Im more inclined to watch and forget about the popcorn and drink. only itmes I do have to get up is when im with somoene else and then I just ask what i missed. Its not like you're gont for ten minutes.
I like your idea better. Someone seeing a glass window would probably be tempted to smash it, and a TV monitor would be pretty cheap in comparison to reinforced one-way glass.frizzlebyte said:snip
You could also just have a screen in the door of the stall. That is an awesome idea, Fizzy!
And, that's cool about Lawrence of Arabia. Is that the Criterion Release?
I bought the Lawrence of Arabia DVD for my dad a few years ago. I believe it was the 40th Anniversary DVD with two discs but I'm not sure if that's a Criterion edition. Damn, the 50th Anniversary Edition looks really nice. I might have to pick that up. Have you tried buying cheap boxed sets from Amazon UK? It's--freaking--amazing how cheap you can get stuff from the UK. It's a shame really. I feel guilty about it.
That reminds me of the time Joe Dante was in town and he presented Gremlins 1 & 2 in a row at the movies. Fun times!Desert Punk said:
It's probably because they haven't thought of it or they don't think people would accept it in general. I mean there's 45 minutes of ads before a movie these days they could easily put 10 minutes of them in the middle of the film and sell more overpriced unhealthy food.
If they start implementing intermissions at the cinema I go to, my visits there will go from two to three movies a year to zero. I would much rather wait a couple of months and watch it at home without any annoying interruptions.
I can think of one reason, one GREAT reason for intermissions. They can act as downtime. One of the limitations on certain films (mainly your 'grim war' films like Beneath Hill 60 or Kokoda, or your high intensity action films) is that the viewer can be easily overstimulated and it ca be hard to give them necessary breathing time. By introducing an intermission into such a film (assuming a standard running time) you could throw a lot of traditional pacing requirements out the window and throw more at the audience in your limited time frame.