this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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I know it's not the point of the article but I need to express my annoyance at the fact that Christopher Nolan is encouraging dvd/bluray purchase so much. He explicitly designs shitty sound in his films supposedly to make them sound better for the theater (i question his success in that effort) and then doesn't adjust it for the bluray. So even then at home you have to adjust the sound up and down to hear the dialogue while not getting your eardrums blasted out by the action sequences.
Ok rant over. Otherwise I agree wholeheartedly, don't trust streaming services to keep your movies for you. Bluray is the way.
I’m convinced that it’s not actually any better in theaters, we’re just a lot more willing to bear painfully loud audio in a setting where it’s considered normal. There’s an argument to be made that it’s similar to concerts, but for my money I’d like to not have to wear ear protection in a theater just because some director figured minor hearing hearing damage is worth an especially “epic” crescendo.
I legitimately bring hearing protection to any Nolan films and any "Dolby cinema" branded theaters, as that's code for "we just turn the volume up until every word is painful for anyone under 65"
Even with in-ear stuff meant for the range, I can hear the films clearly because they are so loud, lol.
That's probably a good idea for others to start following, as this is becoming an issue in general.
https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/05/26/movie-theater-hearing-damage/
https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/blogs/party-music/why-are-cinema-films-so-extremely-loud
https://www.earpros.com/blog/movie-theater-decibels
tl;dr Movie theaters have gotten louder, and some movies(particularly action movies) can cause permanent hearing loss. It might not be a huge leap so that it's completely noticeable, but it's gonna chip away at people's ability to hear things.
They don't even design their sound to be good in all theaters, just ones with "top of the line" audio systems, which means the audio is likely to suck if you go to your local AMC or other chain.
He's also said before that they just don't care if some dialogue is inaudible, apparently shitty sound is just part of the experience, intentionally. Maybe we should stop buying tickets and Blu-Ray's of his movies until they start making good movies.
There are so many movies and shows with bad audio. I just leave the subtitles on all the time.
Every theater I've gone to for probably near 10 years has sucked. Something is always fucked up. Audio unbalanced or way too loud, projector just slightly unfocused, blown out, or off center. They must not hire a professional in any capacity anymore, just minimum wage teenagers. I made a mid/low tier home theater and I'd rather watch any movie at my house, because the video and audio is going to be better. It's actually ridiculous.
Wish he would just provide different mixes on the disk. You know, one mix for normal people, and one mix for Nolan's personal theater where he can benefit from a theater mix on a blu-ray.
Not true at all.
I saw The Dark Knight Rises at a cinema and I couldn't hear shit there either.
In fact most modern audio mixing is piss poor. Do yourself a favour and turn the subtitles on.
The only words I remember understanding in that intro opening night were "you're a big guy" "for you"
Apparently they patched it after a few days to make it more understandable but from what I saw on DVD later it was still pretty bad
It's not better in theatres, just louder. I actually had my hands over my ears in some scenes of Oppenheimer
Worse, he doesn't care if the sound overwhelms the dialog.
That he focuses on sound quality for the theatre is could be argued as understandable. But fucking over the dialog? Yea, fuck him