Movies are a tremendous source of entertainment for most people. It’s probably because even people who have little in common can find a movie to enjoy together. The moviemakers apparently understood the need to create films that appeal to a wide audience. Otherwise, the good guy wouldn’t take time out in his pursuit of the bad guys to kiss the girl. The girl wouldn’t get herself in a wreck that required a heroic rescue before she got her guy. And – perhaps the most obvious example of all – the cartoons wouldn’t have such great humor that appeals to the adults almost as much as the children.
Technology has played an important role in broadening the appeal of most movies to encompass a wider audience. Consider the movies of a half-century ago. There were spacemen on Earth and earthlings in space, but the scenes were usually very plain and the almost everything was left to the imagination of the view. Today, the vistas are bigger than life, futuristic scenes are more incredible than the average imagination could have conjured on its own and the stunts are unbelievable – because they are humanly impossible.
But even when we’re watching a stunt that can’t possibly have happened in real life, we’re awed and amazed and can’t wait to see it again. And again. And that’s the beauty of the movie experience today. Not only are there thousands upon thousands of movies to watch, many are available to buy, rent or download onto your PC. You can watch them as often as you want, shelve them for awhile and watch them again.
While technology is playing an important role in the movie-making process, it’s also important for movie watching. The fact that many movies are now digital files on DVD allows moviemakers to apply a myriad of special features into the movie file itself. Surround sound is one of those special features and if you have a home theater set up with surround sound, you’ll be able to hear the special effects just like you do at a commercial theater. Ever wonder how it is that a door squeaks to your right, while a woman screams to your left? The answer is surround sound technology and a DVD has ample space to store those kinds of programming features.
You and your spouse will probably never agree on every single movie. But with the many movie titles available for you to rent or own either on DVD or to download to your computer, it’s likely that you’ll find something that you both want to watch tonight. And maybe even something that you both want to watch again.
Hanumant Bhansali
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