bad audience

I really don't know much about the audience in other countries, here they are-at least most of them -so disturbing! Almost everybody use their mobile phone, they're talking,laughing, eating ,etc... what about with them in your area?

[Arwen Imladris]

I thought that the audiance was pretty good. The last time I saw it the only thing that I reamember that was bad was that somebodies cell phone rang, but that was only once. But then again, I was probebly too enhralled with the movie to notice anyway!

[Arwen Imladris]

Woo! I'm a haunting spirit! When did that happen?

[Birdland]

Sounds like people in Hungary treat the movie theatre like the Groundlings did in Shakespeare's time. Any dog fights down in front? Comely wenches selling oranges? People attacking the screen if they don't like the actor's interpretation? <P>When I lived in L.A., audiences seemed to act just as badly (this was before cell phones, I'm sure it's worse now.)<P>But now I live in the heartland of Ohio, and we are all well-behaved hobbits here. We only make noise at the appropriate moments, don't put our feet up on the seats, and pick up our paper cups when we leave the theatre. <P>It sounds a little boring, but at least you can hear what's going on.

I've never sat with a really noisy audience before... I think there was one time where there was a person beside me explaining the whole movie to a friend (which got a bit irritating, as he was talking quite loudly), but it's never been too bad.

[Gorothlammothiel]

Hummmm audiences....let's see....<P>The 1st time I saw the film the audience were really good....it was the first local showing so all were "fanantics"......<P>The 2nd time I had a young mortal couple in front of me who were kissing all the way through......<P>The 3rd time the gut next to me fell asleep...<P>The 4th time the guy next to me fell asleep (again)but this one was snoring...<P>As for the 5th,6th,7th and so on,the audiences were good because by this time, most mortals were fed up of the film so once again it was "fanatics" only....<P>My last time was the best...everyone appreciated the film and all the detail....i loved that audience.....

well, I'm trying to ignore them, but it's almost hopeless... let me tell one of my worst experience: In Lóthlorien when Frodo took a look into the mirror...later he says something like,I know what I have to do...then somebody said -Frodo, just jump on her(Galadriel) then he says: I'm just scared to do it...Can you guys imagine how bad the audiance started to laugh?

[Raefindel]

Last night a kid in the theater was playing with a lazer pointer but someone got up and got an usher to show him out. <P>The TTT trailer was cool , by the way.

[Genandra of Mirkwood]

The movie started a second run in my area this week, I went last night and the **whole** movie there was a bunch of teenage boys talking. Kind of a murmur... too quiet to bring an usher, loud enough to drive me crazy. Where's a wizard when you need to turn some people into stone temporarily.

For the most part, the audiences have been well-behaved here, if not amusing. People openly wept when Gandalf fell, and when Aragorn cut the head off the uruk-hai a guy stood up and cheered with up-raised arms. It was really a kick and made it enjoyable.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> and when Aragorn cut the head off the uruk-hai a guy stood up and cheered with up-raised arms. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Hey, I did that too .

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

I get so annoyed at bad audiences. Laser pointers are the worst!<BR>Luckily, I didn't really have any bad experiences with LOTR. The worst I got were noisy theatre hoppers coming in and out during the movie.

[Sîdhrîs]

In my area, the behavior of the audience depends on the movie. The LOTR audience are mostly well-behaved, probably they are just too fascinated to do other things.<BR>But the audience of any of those high school teenage movies really sucks... Talking, shouting,throwing popcorn, cell phones... But on the other hand, who needs to know what's happening in these movies, it's always the same

[Maikadilwen]

First time I saw the movie, no one even breathed. Second time, there were 3 girls behind us,who were screaming each time anyone on the screen as much as jumped or turned quickly. Third time it was only people who had already seen the movie, so there were a lot of comments. Some of them were actually quite funny. I've had two VERY bad experiences in cinemas. None of them whit LOTR though. Once I was sitting in front of a guy, who had already seen the movie (T2) which I had NOT and throughout the entire movie, he was telling his friend what was going to happen NOW. Another time (SW ep.1), a family were sitting behind us, and one of their children were too young to even read the subtitles. So what did they do? Well, then the parents just read the subtitles loud for the child. <p>[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Maikadilwen ]

[Bramblerose Gamgee-Took]

When I went and saw it, thier was about ten people in the whole cinema! But it is a really small town, so that was most of the town-folk!

[The_Elf_Girl]

The only thing that has been disturbing is that every time I have watched the movie (I have seen it 6 times) someone have been running to the toilet.<BR>The last time I saw it there was a couple beside me who were arguing through the whole movie: <BR>But when the movie was over everyone just stopped breathing and no one made any noise because of the TTT-trailer. That showed have much everyone is longing for the movie.

Well, when I went to see it for the third time it was a matine showing so there we lots of younger children. At the point with the most sadness and tension - when Boromir was getting shot - the whole cinema was silent - not a sound! But as Boromir gets hit with the first arrow this little kid in the front row says "oops"! It shouldn't have been funny really but it was. He only whispered it but because it was so quiet everyone heard it and started laughing. It kinda ruined the moment but it was so sweet I didn't mind.<P>However, not all of my cinema experiences have been that good. The first time I went to see it we got really good seats and were really looking forward to the film. However, sat behind us were some of those annoying giggly girls, who probably only came to drool over Legolas. Firstly they came in late. As if that wasn't annoying enough in their haste to get to their seats they spilt cola all over the seats, my friends and I, and the people sat behind us. Then they took ages to get settled, moving around, talking, slurping drinks, and rustling crisp packets. The of course they had to spend ages discussing how much they had missed and who's fault it was. <BR>Then for a little while, up to about Weathertop they were quiet - and I say quiet, not silent with rapt attention like myself - but then one of their phones rang, they let it ring about five times then picked it up and talked into it for about 5 minutes. For that all they got was a reprimanding glance from one of the ushers. <BR>After Rivendell two more phones went off, and more drink was spilt. Then in Moria, at the scary bit, thay all screamed in unison. <BR>The same happened when they were surrounded by the elves in Lothlorien, and when the orcs attacked at Amon Hen. *sighs*<BR>Then, at the end all they said was "oh, is that all, well, that didn't end very well did it!" <P>I felt like turning around and shouting at them, they totally ruined it for me, so much that I had to go and see it again a few more times

[dragongirlG]

I saw it with my English class the first time, and most of my classmates were horrible! My friend was forced to bring her 11-year-old brother with her, and he kept making all these snide comments that totally ruined the movie for me. And then after Lothlorien, during the Great River part, my other friend, who was sitting behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what time it was. I was pretty annoyed. Also, after Aragorn and Frodo get over the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, most of my classmates clapped. It was horrible. Then I went to see the movie two more times with my sister, and we had a nice audience. But my first experience was a nightmare.

[Lush]

Wow, the cinema gods must smile on me, because I have had extremely good audiences every time I saw FotR (which was, uh, seven times...please don't tell anyone! ). People have been quiet and polite, have cheered during the exciting parts, and were sorrowful during the sad parts.<BR>One time, the day my mother stood me up ( ), my experience was saved by the fact that I ended up near this sweet old couple who were big fans of the books. When Aragorn chopped the bad guy's head off, this little old man yelled something to the extent of "Men shall rise again!" The whole theater then exploded into applause. Then, it got very quiet again, as we watched Boromir die. You could hear a pin drop.<BR>All things considered, I was very lucky, and I hope I will be in the future as well. *crosses fingers*

Oh, the last time I saw it, the people sitting in fron of me got up to leave durring TTT Trailer, and I couldn't see. I wanted to slap them all!

At the risk of angering a whole section of people who read this, I must say that movie theater behavior has deteriorated terribly over the last thirty years. There used to be uniformed ushers who patrolled theater aisles every few minutes and enforced behavior. Today, the answer is to turn the sound up full blast to drown out the crowd. I have taught classes in Film History and Film Appreciation in high school and one of the first things I stress is that "movies are not a participatory experience". Since I teach at a big city high school with a mixed demographic, you can imagine how that goes over.<BR>Everyone should understand the difference between perfectly proper and acceptable noise - laughing, screaming, crying, at the normal prompts - and noise which is smart *** in nature and merely intended to tell everyone around them "HEY LOOK AT ME". I always worry when I get to the theater early and three or more teen age boys walk in wearing hats. And if you dare say anything to them, your life and health are in jeapordy.<P>Most audience behavior seemingly matches up with the type of film being shown. The frist three times I saw RINGS - the audience was almost reverential in behavior. It was like they were having a holy experience. That loosened up a bit as the months went on and the crowd mirrored the American demographic a bit more. <P>Interesting comment about the little kid and the first arrow hitting Boromir. I just saw it for the 11th time and that sick noise still gets to me as that first very thick arrow plunges into his chest. I guess some kids have just been totally ripped mentally by an overdose of splatter films and video games.<P>Speaking of audiences - please take note that RINGS just captured the #5 spot on the world wide all time box office list with over $816 million in the bank. If anyone would have predicted that a year ago they would have locked you up. It is still $95 million behind #4 Independence Day so that is probably a bridge too far. Remember InDay? For five minutes it pretends to be the X-Files, then 5 minutes of Close Encounters, then 10 minutes of Die Hard,then 15 minutes of Star Wars, and that was only for starters. Very interesting watching a woman outrun a nuclear exlosion. Yeah, that could happen! But enough fools saw it multiple times to make it #4 all time. I will be happy with #5. <BR>PEACE.

[Alcarinque]

I am sorry to say... I behaved badly one of the times I watched it (the 8th actually) but it wasn't out of place or anything (I hope)... my friend and I wanted to know what would happen if during Moria when you see the eyes of Gollum, we started hissing "it's mine, my own, my preciousssssss" we did it in a low voice, but the room was quiet enough for people in front of us to hear... they didn't say anything, mostly because they didn't even know what we were talking about... oh! and talking about bad behaviour in theatres...<BR>The girls in front of us jumped when the Black Rider appears, and spilled soda ALL over us... (same day we hissed...so, it was kind of a revenge...) it was awful! and there was a family whose kids were scared to death and started CRYING right in Moria!!!!! ARGH! Other than that (¿?) it was fine.And the first 7 times were great.

[ElanorGamgee]

The people in my local theater were very well behaved both times I saw the movie. The worst distraction was people going to the restroom, but that's perfectly understandable, considering that it's three hours long.

[Lhunbelethiel]

I've also been lucky the two times I saw FOTR. Though the first time I saw it, we got there later than expected (NOT before it had begun) the first week it was out and my boyfriend and I had to sit in the 2nd row! Ugh! Orcs are mighty big at that distance! Plus the guy next to us was obviously a big fan because he was laughing girlishly at inside jokes (esp. the shortcut to mushrooms bit) But it wasn't that bad. No cell phones either time and I live in the Silicon Valley where cell phones are as common as watches. The second time we saw it, I had read FOTR and could understand it better, so me and the bf whispered about a few things back and forth, very softly. (I swear) When Gandalf fell to the Balrog, I was teary and there were lots of people clearing their throats and sniffing. Everyone stood up to leave but then the TT trailer came on and EVERY SINGLE PERSON sat down and watched in awe. I was shaking! So exciting! As we left the theatre, this teen girl and her bf were walking out behind us, and she was whining, "I didn't like it. Too much fire and killing... blah blah..." I responded by loudly telling my bf, "Not enough killing and goriness! Can't wait for Helm's Deep!" bwahahaha!<P>I think there should be separate showings for people who have read the books and have respect for them, and for everyone else who hasn't a clue and might talk through the whole thing. ("Who's Saruman? Isn't he a good guy? Why is that thing following the fellowship? I don't get it!!")

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

My roomate's friend screamed in the breif moment when Bilbo went all evil on Frodo. That was funny, but it got annoying when people were still laughing five minutes later.<BR>...My most annoying theatre experiece ever was when a group of high school kids infront of me had a Sleep N Snore Ernie with them, all I kept hearing was "ZZZZZ.... I'm sleepy" Talk about annoying! That wasn't during LOTR, but it was annoying nevertheless.

[Bramblerose Gamgee-Took]

When I went and saw FOTR, I had drunk a <I>huge</I> coke before I went in the cinema, and I was busting to go to the toilet within the first five minutes. I lasted until they got to Moria, so I bolted out, and when I ran back in, they had just spotted Gollum. I really wanted to see that part too

[Orodhromeus]

That happened to me in The Lost World (Jurassic Park II). Since then I open up my coke within the 2nd hour of the movie.

[Susan Delgado]

I haven't ever had a really bad experience, but I have participated in the shenanigans you all are complaining about. A friend and I went to a midnight showing of <I>The Matrix</I> and I made jokes and sarcastic comments all the way through. It was really fun, and the other people in the audience were laughing (some of them), although there was a small group a couple rows ahead of us that kept looking at us like we were insane (especially once when we both cracked up at something my friend whispered to me). Boy, that was some of the most fun I've ever had at the movies! And, since some other people were laughing too, maybe it wasn't that bad?

[Nimrodel]

Last summer I went to a drive-in and the people next to me were smoking pot! People with kids were putting them back in the car and rolling up the windows, afraid they would get high!

[KingCarlton]

I really hate all the cellular phones going off in a movie theatre...Arrghh !<BR>People with little common sense keep their phones switched on while watching a film and then there are those who answer their calls loudly enough to beat the soundtrack.<P>~mutters incoherently~

[Neferchoirwen]

When I watched FotR, there was this kid who was jumping on his seat---well at least he wasn't in front of me. He was way at the edge of isle, and everyone could hear him laughing. God bless those ushers for handling the situation without stealing a scene!

[NinjaFerret]

The first time I went to see LotR, my friends and I got there 25 minutes before the movie started, and we were stuck 6 rows from the front. It didn't matter, tho... The audience was well behaved, and everyone shut off their phones, etc. Judging by where we had to sit, I think it was mainly fanatically devoted followers of Tolkein, and this was like a week after it came out. <P>I went with my brother the second time, and we got very good seats. Once again, everyone behaved...I seem to recall an announcement asking everyone to turn off their phones or put them on vibrate. <P>The audience here looked generally dressed in black with lots of dragons on their clothing, many looked like they had just crawled out of their beds, lots of non-Abercrombie clothes (WOOT!), much columbia, EMS, etc. clothing, and handknit things...myself included. It was the underground fantasy crowd, and I felt very much in my element. <P>As everyone walked out, there was a collective "whoooaaaa... that rocked," and then many discussions about the characters, speech patterns, and mimicking (sp?) of various scenes. I would have liked to hang with everyone there afterwards.<P>May your luck exceed the stench of your oxters.

[Ainalondwen]

Well, let me see about my 9 viewings...<P>The first time I saw it there were annoying little children behind me in the cinema, one which kept kicking my chair, and talking through the whole film. <P>The second time was fine<P>Third time was okay, the person behind only occasionally kicked my chair<P>Forth, fifth sixth and seventh times were fine<P>eighth time annoying children talking through the film <P>Ninth time - Someone's phone rang, people rustling EVERYWHERE, children behind me KICKING my seat, children in front of me TALKING....AAARGH!!!!<P>Some people are just soooo rude.

[Auriel Haevasawen]

I am so sorry you had a bad experience in Hungary. I have now seen the film in five different UK cinemas and everyone has been very well behaved.<BR>Quote "and when Aragorn cut the head off the uruk-hai a guy stood up and cheered with up-raised arms." This was true of a little boy in front of me who was utterly spellbound and although sometimes his Dad had to explain what was going on when he said "Oh no Daddy Gandalf's dead what are they going to do?" I could have hugged him.

[Midgardsormen]

Very interesting reading everyone's experiences. My first viewing was on opening night...we got there an hour early and got good seats...unfortunately, although almost everyone was a fan...the girl next to me was with her boyfriend (he was the fan, not her). so for the first half of the movie, every time the scene was a bit quiet....she would noisily pull one crisp out of the bag and crunch it slowly between her teeth <BR>Luckily...she finally finished the bag!!<BR>Second viewing was good although there were some comment and a bit of rustling noises.<BR>Third time was fabulous....we had a power blackout, most people left and the the power came back and the 9 of us who were left were told we could see the rest of the movie...absolute silence...wonderful. Fourth time not so good. (not interested friend figiting the whole time)....fifth & sixth not bad....but the 7th time <BR>It was the first viewing with the TTT trailer. The whole cinema was full of fans...it was easy to know because we all reacted BEFORE things happened. It was wonderful!! And when the trailer came the atmosphere was electric!!!!!!! And everyone clapped at the end of the trailer <BR>So, overall, generally good. Only once did a mobile phone go off, and the person turned it off straight away. <BR>Given my experience I think getting tickets for opening night is the best as one is most likely to be watching with other fans.

[pippin_took0]

Last couple of times I went was in my small, cheap, local cinema (which has since stopped showing it ) and there was almost no-one there! I was probably the worst person there. All the other times it's been ok, though once there was this group of people not watching it at all, laughing really loudly, chatting, using their mobile phones, shrieking and having a popcorn fight.<BR>They REALLY annoyed me. But 5/6 isn't bad!<p>[ April 19, 2002: Message edited by: pippin_took0 ]

[Kalla]

I've not really had a bad experience in a movie theatre...now at a theatre or concert...I mean...turn the stupid cell phone off. If the point is to get out of the house and away from stuff like that, don't bring it with you. One time at a theatre, we had this trio of men...and yes I mean trio in that sense...that were, well, there was a reason we knew they were all togehter, and then they'd laugh and giggle really loudly. It was aweful, and very hard to keep from laughing everytime there was a guffaw from the front row. At least they stayed clothed and I couldn't see them too much because I was playing, but that is definately the worst audience I have experienced.

[Maikadilwen]

Here in Denmark, before the movie starts, a message saying "Have you remembered to turn off your cellphone?" shows on the screen. 5 seconds later more than half of the audience are busy turning off their phones. I think it just shows how ignorant people actually are, that they haven't done it already, before even entering the room.

[Jessica Jade]

Everyone is well-behaved when I see LOTR at my cinema! I remember when i saw the movie on opening night, the theatre was packed, and at the end, everyone applauded because LOTR was soo good <P>Can't wait til two towers...

[Araen]

1st time I saw it I was too enthralled to notice anyone doing anything.<BR>2nd time see 1st<BR>3rd time the theater was rather empty.<BR>I havea cute story for my 4th time. There was like one other family in there and they had a little girl who couldn't have been more then 8. She was perfectly well behaved. When ever something was mentioned that pertained to the Hobbit she got all excited. I guess she had read it. When we find out that Balin is dead she cried, litterly sobbed. When Gandalf fell she just stared at the scren in shock. Very funny I thought.