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Cape Town – On Tuesday afternoon Channel24 was invited to the launch of the first 4DX cinema in Africa.
Nestled in-between the newly revamped NuMetro theatres at the V&A Waterfront, 4DX brings with it a whole new way of experiencing movies.
The hope, of course being, that moviegoers will get their butts off their couches and onto the moving seats of 4DX.
Some background:
4DX is huge in Asia. But like mega-big. In fact the headquarters for CJ 4DPLEX, creator of 4DX, is based in Seoul.
Nu Metro, who signed a deal to bring 4DX to South Africa, sent their Head of Technical to Seoul for 3 weeks to specifically train for certified status to manage the installation of 4DX technology locally.
This is the first 4DX cinema in Africa. With two more coming soon across South Africa.
What does 4D include?
4D is seen as the next step after 3D. In other words it’s the 3D experience plus some extras.
Those extras include: Chairs that move, water spraying in your face, wind blowing in your hair, lightning above your head, fog and smells.
Our experience:
As part of a demonstration we got to experience 4DX for the first time in South Africa. We’ll break it down below:
The screen:
It’s the same size as regular cinemas and movies are viewed with 3D glasses to give it depth.
The seats:
They move alright! Up and down and left and right. They even hover around every now and again. The movement changes from very calm to pretty extreme. (Nothing dangerous. There aren’t any seatbelts.) You definitely can’t have a bag or anything else on your lap. It’s a bit of a bumpy ride and you’ll have to hold on. (Pregnant women and children under the age of 5 are not allowed to take part in 4DX.)
The water:
Water is sprayed from the seat in front of you. It’s more like a mist than anything else. The wind element will quickly dry it anyway.
The wind:
My favourite part and definitely one of the top elements is the wind. You can literally feel the breeze in your hair.
The fog:
A small added effect that doesn’t really impact the way you watch the film.
The lightning:
Probably my least favourite effect. The flashing lights are a bit annoying and people with epilepsy should under no circumstances try out 4DX.
The smell:
Our demo had very little smell in it. So I can't say much about it. It’s a quick burst of aroma that quickly disperses. There are 11 smells and one of them includes a fart smell! For real!
The cost:
Tickets are currently priced at R150 each. That’s not too much if compared to Scene (R120) and 3D (R85) ticket prices.The Cape Wheel outside the V&A for instance costs R100 for a 15 minute ride.
Overall impression:
4DX is definitely something you have to experience. It’s not something you’d do for every movie but every now and again it will make for a fun day out. The elements are disruptive and they do take away from the film so don’t try 4DX thinking you’re going to sit back and relax while watching a new release. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is currently showing at the 4DX theatre at V&A’s Nu Metro cinema. I’d suggest watching it in 2D or 3D first and then maybe trying it out in 4DX later just to experience it in a different way.
(Photo: Supplied)
