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Author Topic: Quality theater (like Northpark 1) in the Dallas, TX area? Jeff Wirz Film Handler Posts: 2 From: Dallas, TX, USA Registered: Jun 2003 posted 05-08-2006 01:51 PM                     Hello everyone, I "lurk" a lot on this site but after seeing MI:3 this weekend, I just have to find a quality theater. I grew up going to the Northpark 1 theater in Dallas, TX. It was perfection. Everything about it was always great. The film was always in focus and the sound was INCREDIBLE. I hated the day it closed and have never been happy with any other theater since. The Regal Gateway in Austin, TX was pretty good but I am in Dallas again so that's not an option. No matter where I go now, I almost always end up walking out of the theater. The focus is usually off or the sound is no where near the level where it should be. WHERE IS THE BASS?!?? Northpark is what really got me into home theater too. I have spent over $20,000 to be able to watch movies the right way, like Northpark presented them. My set up is now a 119" screen, 720p projector, and 7.1 with Buttkicker transducers. I had to have that "Northpark" bass. If anyone around the Dallas area knows of a quality theater, I will be there. The Galaxy was always lacking, as is the DLP at the Legacy. People just do not seem to care these days about presenting movies the way they should be heard and seen. Thanks! You can email me too: DELETED - READ THE RULES I apologize if this is in the wrong forum area. [ 05-08-2006, 07:04 PM: Message edited by: Brad Miller ]  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-08-2006 05:50 PM                        The area you posted in is OK, but you need to edit-out the email address you put in your post. That's TOTALLY against the rules (it's to protect you from spambots, I think).  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 05-08-2006 06:53 PM                     Since you already have all the equipment at home, just wait three weeks for the DVD....  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-08-2006 07:05 PM                     Such a theater does not exist in the Dallas area. There isn't even a close second. Sorry.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Wirz Film Handler Posts: 2 From: Dallas, TX, USA Registered: Jun 2003 posted 05-09-2006 09:37 AM                     Sorry about the email address. Hey Brad, that is what I thought. Oh well, I was hoping you may know someone in the area that actually cares about a good presentation. I do wait for DVDs most of the time but with the big blockbusters I really want to see it in the theater on opening day or even a sneak preview. I guess the glory days of seeing movies in the theater are indeed gone now. What a shame.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-09-2006 01:19 PM                        quote: Jeff Wirz I guess the glory days of seeing movies in the theater are indeed gone now. Well, in Dallas at least.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-09-2006 03:40 PM                     It's gone probably everywhere Mike. I have yet to find another theater anywhere which reached that sort of quality level. There have been some good seconds scattered here and there, but nothing as good as what he is wanting.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 05-09-2006 05:47 PM                     I guess the problem is that those of us that desire to open a theatre like that don't have the money to build one.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-09-2006 07:21 PM                        I feel very lucky to work for a guy who understands the true meaning of showmanship. After our re-model and upgrade, our theatre will be a true 'premiere' theatre. I just get to manage it and run it. I don't know if I would want to have all the headaches of owning it. Not to mention the financial risk of owning your own business. My goal is to build a theatre in my house. Why? Because even when the theatre I manage is the best theatre on the Eastern Shore of Maryland - why would I want to watch a movie with a bunch of idiots? And yes, I will screen some movies late at night or early in the morning when no one else is in the building - but it is still work. Everyone needs their time away from their job. Someday, I will have that private screening room in my house. In the meantime - if there are no good moviehouses left to see a film in - then maybe we are at the end of our rope in the theatre business.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-09-2006 07:31 PM                     The problem isn't the money it takes to build such a theater, like the Northpark 1-2. The problem has more to do with the exhibition industry's lack of desire to maintain a high standards level of presentation quality. Granted, it isn't really cheap to build one auditorium with over 1000 seats and have expert audio engineers custom-engineer the theater's sound system. However, a lot of theaters would have much better presentation quality if they just had some regular maintenance. I think a lot of theaters go at least a year or two between re-tunings, if not longer than that. The sound systems at Northpark 1-2 were retuned all the time. Repairs for things like blown speakers were carried out quickly. Things weren't simply left broken like they are in so many other theaters. I don't think you necessarily have to have a 1000+ seat auditorium in order to have a great theater. Although, there is a kind of cool rush you get when you walk into a really big screening room. Great projection and sound quality can occur even in the smallest of auditoriums if the theater owners would bother to invest in better presentation quality. With that issue being stated, I don't think "D-Cinema" as its called will greatly improve matters. Viewers are still going to encounter screens with dim and blurry projection quality and sound that is way out of tune, wimpy on dynamic range and lacking on the bass. I think the problems will persist because routine maintenance is more a policy issue rather than a "digital versus analog" issue.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 05-09-2006 07:57 PM                     It's not the cost of building one screen or even two. No theatre is going to be very viable with less than 8 screens. Any smaller and you have huge problems with one "dud" that you booked and is taking up screens that you need to bring in something that does business. Even if you can find an existing empty theatre to re-open, the sound systems will probably run $40,000 - $60,000 per auditorium depending on size. Figure 2000 seats at $150 a pop that's $300,000. So far we're at around $700,000 without a picture. Maybe you can do the screens, projectors, cosmetic stuff and concession stand for $300,000. So, if you found an empty 8 plex, it would take around $1,000,000 to get it up an running at a level like the description of northpark I & II. If you had to build the building, you're probably looking at $4,000,000 plus land for an 8 plex. If everybody is ready to chip in and create "Film-Tech Theatres" maybe we can do it!  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 05-09-2006 08:34 PM                        Cinema World 8 here in Eugene has a big "For Lease" sign on it. Hey, these 8 screens were renovated in 1995 and they were all THX-certified. It's a start. (I'm not suggesting it was ever in the Northpark's league, but in the right hands...) Of course, since owner Regal is replacing it with a new 15-plex across the street, they might have other ideas.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-10-2006 02:04 AM                     quote: Bobby Henderson The sound systems at Northpark 1-2 were retuned all the time. Repairs for things like blown speakers were carried out quickly. Things weren't simply left broken like they are in so many other theaters. Ummmm, we tuned the sound systems for every single film that ran in at Northpark. Even when the print moved houses, a full tuning would be performed. Also, whenever something was noticed that was wrong (blown speaker/dead amp), it was repaired that day as we had replacement EVERYTHING in the booth. This was a special situation however where all of the projectionists were competent though. Nowadays a theater is lucky if there is one person in the building with enough knowledge to even change out a blown driver.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-10-2006 02:33 AM                        so at the end of the day... was the northpark losing money?  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-10-2006 05:59 AM                     quote: Jeff Wirz People just do not seem to care these days about presenting movies the way they should be heard and seen. It's almost like theaters don't want to hire those of us with actual booth experience. It seems like they want the greenest people they can find. Sure, I could start all over again, cleaning piss of toliet seats, but is it worth it?  |  IP: Logged

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