tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post2995892967149436285..comments2024-03-28T18:32:38.243-04:00Comments on Poseidon's Underworld: Dipping into RollercoasterPoseidon3http://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-80571001008761157702020-06-08T09:13:02.125-04:002020-06-08T09:13:02.125-04:00Wow! Thanks for all the personal recollections and...Wow! Thanks for all the personal recollections and further information about the short-lived Sensurround. I completely missed out on experiencing it personally. Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-77257313529666849752020-06-07T20:24:14.290-04:002020-06-07T20:24:14.290-04:00Sensurround was a blast! "Earthquake" w...Sensurround was a blast! "Earthquake" was at the Branmar Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, and at the time was the exclusive engagement for the state. It ran for weeks, and I remember the theater lobby being decorated with any display materials they could find! The effect was very realistic, and since the Branmar was a single-screen house (at the time), volume was not a problem. People, kids especially, went to see it again and again. I heard of kids going to the rear of the theater aisle and when the quake started, grabbing their knees and rolling down toward the screen. What great times! Anyway, when the time came for them to show "Rollercoaster", the equipment was installed some weeks in advance. What an opportunity to bring back "Midway", which they did for two weeks! They even had the Sensurround version of the "Rollercoaster" trailer at the beginning of the show. Many years later, as a theater manager I saw the remains of the sound rack still up in the projection booth, along with a few cracks in the ceiling! By the time "Battlestar Galactica" came out, single-screen theaters were scarce, and I saw it at the Eric Twin West Goshan, in PA. The other screen was playing a current reissue of "Grease" and the boxoffice had a sign warning patrons about what they could definitely expect! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10190749832175548960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-17801770349807928382012-09-26T07:38:40.013-04:002012-09-26T07:38:40.013-04:00Doc, thanks for coming to this older post and shar...Doc, thanks for coming to this older post and sharing your Sensurround story with us! I enjoyed reading it. ;-)Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-18401777600959459442012-09-26T07:08:53.860-04:002012-09-26T07:08:53.860-04:00I saw Earthquake (at age 12) in the theater, and M...I saw Earthquake (at age 12) in the theater, and Midway as well. My family and I really liked the effect of Sensurround in both movies. The use in Earthquake was a bit gimicky (and by that I mean that experiencing the effect was as much a reason to see the film as the story), but in Midway it was used in ways that were more subtle and unexpected, so it created a sense of being inserted into the film.<br />Years later, we bought Midway on DVD and played it on my parents' new 58" screen with surround sound. Whenever a bomb went off or an airplane left a flight deck, the glasses in the cabinets in the kitchen would rattle. My Mom, fearing they would fall out and break, made us turn the volume way down, and then we couldn't hear the dialogue.Dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02421407307053187689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-87405357197141209062011-05-17T10:32:12.678-04:002011-05-17T10:32:12.678-04:00Love the sensurround article. One of the graphics ...Love the sensurround article. One of the graphics was from a magazine I published in 1994 called Movies on Laserdisc, where it says "Ride it in sensurround." I created that "ride it in" font and curved it, you must have one of my magazines? Very cool. mntwister@yahoo.com.mntwisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17383806009314270829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-56283394075506978362010-07-27T16:36:54.291-04:002010-07-27T16:36:54.291-04:00Wow...to have a friend who was an extra on a Brady...Wow...to have a friend who was an extra on a Brady Bunch set! :-) Actually, I'm kind of jealous. (The only reason I know that it's one episode, is because I'm kind of a Brady Bunch freak).<br />I'm with you: When I watch anything with a theme park involved (filmed in the 70s), I'm invariably looking at everything and everyone in the surroundings ("I had that haircut...I had that shirt...my brother had those same shoes...I rode that log ride..."). And I love the cheesy factor like the one you pointed out--"or their throats will get 'spore'!" HA! Now that's funny...Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05595514820176726864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-71066511240997839152010-07-27T15:03:20.050-04:002010-07-27T15:03:20.050-04:00Dean! Thanks so much for taking the time to give ...Dean! Thanks so much for taking the time to give your detailed account of SENSURROUND! How neat! I totally missed out, being about 7 when Earthquake was released (although I distinctly recall being taken to The Towering Inferno that same year, so it's a wonder I didn't go. My mom must not have wanted to see it?!)<br /><br />I will fix my remark about the Brady ep! I should have checked that... and I even have a friend who's in it as a chubby onlooker/extra! He would be appalled to know that I mislabled it as a two-parter! Thanks!Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-71867939077659399402010-07-27T13:22:26.275-04:002010-07-27T13:22:26.275-04:00...that should be "tailor-made" not tayl......that should be "tailor-made" not taylor. Duh, what was I thinking?Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05595514820176726864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-87463506255259802812010-07-27T12:29:13.595-04:002010-07-27T12:29:13.595-04:00I saw this, Earthquake, and Midway (on a school fi...I saw this, Earthquake, and Midway (on a school field trip no less), all in Sensurround. As a pre-teen, then teenager, the Sensurround experience was "way too cool." I loved it, although at times it seemed like the ceiling and/or walls of the theater might come tumbling down. [Maybe that's why it went away---maybe the theaters weren't built earthquake resistant. :-) Actually, my first job was working in a theater in 1978 and I was told the reason for it's departure was cost. The speaker set-up was too expensive]. But, I digress... <br /><br />The sensation of being in the theater (and if you were trying to be cool and sit in the back rows) was bone-rattling. It was LOUD and the vibrations from the bass seemed to make made everything rattle and shake. It was fun! And it made the movie Earthquake really come to life--It really felt like you were in the middle of the chaos.<br /><br />Midway and Rollercoaster on the other hand were a different experience. While the effects were there, they were used in a different way. For example, when a plane would land or take off from the Midway ship, you would get the obligatory propellers and engine drone. But, after a while it just became annoying and personally I started to dread any scene that had a plane in it. The bombs were kind of cool though. The same goes for Rollercoaster: A lot of the effect was used when you were viewing a roller coaster from ground level, but how many people have their ear (or body) that close to a coaster or it's tracks when looking at one? But, it did work when the camera shots were of actually riding in the coaster. You got the visual, auditory, and physical sensation of riding in a roller coaster. <br /><br />I think Sensurround was taylor-made for a movie like Earthquake. It worked like a charm and really added an interactive experience to the visuals. As an adult, I think I would be totally annoyed by Sensurround now. But, as a kid was great fun!<br /><br />...and just a footnote: That episode of the Brady Bunch is only one episode. A lot of people think it's two, because most of the on-location (travel) episodes were in two or three parts.<br /><br />...and Rob: The original urban myth about "Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players is that someone was shot and killed in the studio while they were recording and supposedly you can hear the shot and the scream in the recording. (We made up the silliest things in the 70s). :-)Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05595514820176726864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-59357253100295894442010-07-26T20:34:27.424-04:002010-07-26T20:34:27.424-04:00this is a film i will never watch. you convinced m...this is a film i will never watch. you convinced me. sorry. <br /><br />never liked the idea of a threesome, even when an errant hand reached over the body i was holding. (i leapt from the bed & fled the premises) but i could never figure out which bottoms i wanted under me, sam or timothy. for them, i may have been able to make an exception.normadesmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17325110017442011627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-33629600360441784132010-07-26T10:41:55.818-04:002010-07-26T10:41:55.818-04:00Yeah..... all that sort of thing falls into the U...Yeah..... all that sort of thing falls into the Urban Legend, "kid drinks Coke and eats 'Pop Rocks' at the same time and explodes!" category! lol <br /><br />Thanks for responding. I always love to hear other peoples' takes, reactions and memories about the topics here.Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006108502645191096.post-44662813898096455862010-07-24T01:08:26.762-04:002010-07-24T01:08:26.762-04:00I'm grinning just thinking about the name: Tim...I'm grinning just thinking about the name: Timothy Bottoms! He also showed up reprising his role from "The Last Picture Show" to great effect in "Texasville" (why hasn't anyone else ever heard of this movie-it's AMAZING!)<br /> Nice ass, too. <br /> But anyway. I've tried to watch "Rollercoaster" but man, was it a chore. Everything you have to say about it is correct--one of the few disaster films that just doesn't DELIVER. All I can remember about it is that for YEARS people told me someone's eyes melted together during a filming mishap-I was still young enough to believe such things were possible and was horrified just thinking about it.<br />Oh, also that one of the screams you hear during the song "Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players is actually someone really screaming when a real rollercoaster malfunctioned and they plunged to their death. (Well, this has taken a decidedly morbid turn, hasn't it? But that's what I was told, back in the day). Why do I get the feeling some publicist was working overtime trying to manufacture excitement about this movie?<br />As always, Poseidon, great post! I haven't thought of this movie in years!AKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02084216883655540363noreply@blogger.com