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Author: KLStorey

4DX Review – Rampage

This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of Rampage in 4DX format. This isn’t designed to a be a review of the movie as much is it’s a review of the 4DX experience for this movie.

Rampage opens with a scene in space. The smooth gliding of the motion seats is accented by drips of water timed to floating liquid on the screen. The astronaut falls against a wall and the chair kicks you in the back. Perfectly timed again.

Scents are used to set the next scene, one of the least used effects but one that really makes this scene shine. No snow effects but plenty of water effects are used including at least one scene where the rain effects are mixed with the wind effects creating a sense of chaos in the theater.

The motion seats can get rough in some scenes, be prepared for a wild ride with this film. During a plane crash scene, the leg ticklers were used, mixed with the wind and motion seats it was one of the more impressive crash scenes I’ve experienced in the 4DX.

While used multiple times the smoke effects seemed to be turned on for a shorter length than in most 4DX films, this meant less smoke in the theater but also meant the smoke had dissipated before the scene was over. Latency between the action on the screen and the in-theater effects is one of the primary issues with 4DX but with the effects slightly turned down the experience isn’t diminished but the latency issue is fixed.

The last third of the film is a non-stop action sequence where an city is destroyed. It is one filled with smoke, motion seats, wind, and strobe lights. The non-stop action means that, despite nearly two dozen 4DX screenings, this is one of the roughest 4DX experiences I’ve done. Sadly, the snow effects could’ve been used in these destruction scenes but weren’t.

While not all effects are used the ones that are go with the film perfectly. From the sci-fi space opening to the intense total destruction of a city, Rampage was made for an experience like 4DX. While most action films seem to feature only a few effects, like the motion seats and wind effects, Rampage embraced many of the other effects. It also mixed the effects in unique ways that make this a must do screening.

 

-Review Summary-

  • Use of 4DX Effects- 4 out of 4
  • Movie Overall- 3 out of 4

Other 4DX Reviews

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Ep 135 – Disney security, Disney labor shortages, and Disney housing

Breaking news of the Pulse shooter’s wife has use discussing safety at WDW. We look back to a 2015 episode where we discussed it in detail. We also talk about the questionable future of Vista Way. And the latest on a big increase in CMs headed to WDW and what a recent hiring event may mean about it.

Recording Date: March 29, 2018 at WPRK’s Studio B.

Show Notes

Security at Disney-

YouTuber’s issue with Disney security

Pulse shooter’s wife’s trial reveals new things about the threat at Disney

 

Port Canaveral gets post-Panamax cargo ships

Royal Caribbean CEO Hints That Ship Larger Than Symphony of the Seas Is on the Horizon

Vekoma bought by Sansei

Rick Scott hands fate of cardroom to Seminole County Commission

Vista Way– 13K new hires, 75K total employees by 2021, typhoon lagoon hired half of what’s needed, are incentives enough?

Sesame Place BGW plans are leaked

SeaWorld CMO Is Latest to Go in Executive Purge

Disney is working on a Grad Night movie

Disney-run government Reedy Creek faces personnel issues after consultant’s report

Iconic I-Drive hotel to add retail component

I-Drive Chamber endorses Jerry Demings in Orange County mayor’s race

Manatees Move Back In: South Florida Museum Manatee Rehabilitation Hospital Welcomes New Manatee Patients

Schlitterbahn will fight criminal charges after owner and designer arrested over child’s death

New Gerstlauer Coaster Going Vertical at Nickelodeon Universe at the American Dream

Big insurance payout may cover repairs to Mote-Morris house | Wiki on the house

Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach debuts with ocean views, 3 eateries

Drive Shack’s First U.S. Venue Coming to Lake Nona

Universal Orlando Property Appraisal Lawsuits End in Settlements, Refund

 

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4DX Review – Ready Player One

This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of Ready Player One in 4DX format. This isn’t designed to a be a review of the movie as much is it’s a review of the 4DX experience for this movie.

Ready Player One is an overwhelming crash course into everything pop culture of the late Twentieth Century and just as the film threw everything possible at the audience so did the 4DX. Slow camera linked motion in sweeping scenes was used, but it was more intense racing scenes that made the motion seats really sing. The use of fans and seats helped sell these scenes even more than similar ones in Cars 3, the use of the leg ticklers also added a great addition sense in more intense racing scenes. The ticklers made it feel as though we were just out of the grasp of those who were after us.

The wind effects were used in large swaths of the film but rarely not in a fitting way. In dream like sequences, the wind effects helped enhance the scenes even more than in more apparent scenes, such as the racing ones.

The racing scenes often led to crash scenes, and here the smoke effects were timed perfectly. A poorly timed smoke effect can give away an upcoming scene or linger way too long, a problem that nearly ruined Geostorm. Here the smoke seemed perfectly timed so that it appears just when needed and disappears before the scene changes.
Many of the effects were used more sparingly. The strobe effects, while only used a few times in the film, brought the action of the screen into the theater just as 4DX intends. The air cannons in the seats were rarely used, even in scenes that could’ve been enhanced by them.

What may be the least used in-theater effect for 4DX overall is easily the snow effect. While no scenes in Ready Player One called for the effect to be used in its traditional sense, here it was used similarly to Blade Runner 2049 where paper scraps were simulated with the snow. Here it was sold even more than in Blade Runner 2049 thanks to the paper in the film looking so similar to the snow in the theater.

The water effects were used in nearly every scene even remotely featuring water, possibly to the point of becoming repetitive though still not the level of Kong or even Ghost in the Shell. But the water effects do get more of a pass than other effects since viewers can turn the water off if they desire. Ready Player One did see the water effects used to simulate blood but it was much less gruesome than how Kong or nearly any horror film has used this same effect, but that could also be thanks to the much less gruesome action on the screen.

Overall, Ready Player One, while not in the upper tier of 4DX films, due mostly the repetition of certain effects while little use of others is definitely in the top quarter of 4DX films. The use of certain effects, while possibly only once in the entire movie, still help place it just above many other films of a similar style, including A Wrinkle In Time.

Ready Player One is a must see movie for any film or pop culture buff, and it’s an excellent introduction to the power of the 4DX experience.

 

-Review Summary-

  • Use of 4DX Effects- 4 out of 4
  • Movie Overall- 4 out of 4

Other 4DX Reviews

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Ep 134 – In the Loop’s Drew the Intern

Drew the Intern of In The Loop stops by the studio to chat about his recent U.K. trip, the current theme park bubble, and that infamous In The Loop Crayola Experience video.

The latest news on Tomorrowland’s redo, Florida’s 2017 visitor numbers, and the future of one of Orlando’s most infamous dinner shows.

Recording Date: March 23, 2017 at WPRK’s Studio B.

Special Guest: Drew the Intern

Show Notes

In The Loop Youtube Channel

Tomorrowland redo

Florida visitor numbers

Greyhound racing amendment moves forward Proposal 67 end it by 2020

Solar Bears playoff clincher is tonight

Pirates Dinner to reopen as soon as next month

KSC Exploration Grounds System gets $895 million

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Ep 133 – Parking Fees vs Resort Fees with Kill Resort Fees Founder Lauren Wolfe

We try catching up on the latest news with this episode. News includes a billion dollar upgrade coming to Royal Caribbean, the significance to the new name at Gary Goddard Design, a mystery around a deleted article on The Dis, and the big changes coming to Lowry Park Zoo.

Kill Resort Fees Founder Lauren Wolfe calls in to talk about the new parking fees at WDW, why Disney likely won’t be adding a resort fee, and her work on bringing light to these hidden fees.

Recording Date– March 16, 2018, in Studio B at WPRK Winter Park, FL

Special GuestKill Resort Fees Founder Lauren Wolfe

Show Notes

Gary Goddard leaves, Legacy Entertainment new name

Disney restructuring

DCL changes eastern Caribbean itinerary as islands still work to recover from Maria

Tomorrowland Expo party confirmed for MK

The Dis deleted an article on a mechanics death

Food prep employees at MCO picket

Vacation homes no longer pay school impact fees

Rocket launches at KSC might soon be 3x the current rate

Shrek 4-D leaving?

Lowry Park Zoo renamed, announces major updates

Brevard Zoo announces inclusion plan for those with special needs, Jeff Corwin announces he’ll be visiting the zoo

Magic Sports and Entertainment district

Royal Caribbean’s billion-dollar expansion

Crystal Cruise update

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