For years, movie enthusiasts have put on 3D glasses for what has been known locally as the ultimate cinema experience. However, all that is about to change as T&T is poised to usher in a new age in cinema viewing—the 9D action cinema. The 9D cinema experience still uses the familiar 3D glasses, but it also adds a wide range of special effects including moving seats, wind, rain, smoke, lightening, fog and aroma. The man behind the local arm of this franchise is Devaughn Joseph and he explained that the experience will forever change the way people watch movies.
“You have special effects like wind and rain and snow and fog, so you might feel a sprinkle of water while you are watching the movie. “You have snow falling, bubbles, etcetera, so you feel as though you are actually in the movie as opposed to just watching it,” he said. Scheduled to open its doors to the public at the end of October, the cinema will be located in Valpark.
Patrons will pay $30 and $25 per movie for adults and children, respectively. The cinema has a library of over 100 specially designed 9D movies including Shark Island, Prehistoric Adventure, Crazy Roller Coaster, Dinosaur Park, Through The Forest, Snow Swoop, Space Flight and Pyramid.
Speaking proudly about his reasons for opening such a facility, Joseph said he did it because he likes to make people smile. “I felt as though that this sort of entertainment would have done well in terms of bringing families together, bringing friends together and essentially people coming together and having a good time and enjoying themselves,” he continued, adding that all the equipment is currently being tested and retested in preparation for the opening. He added that unlike movies at traditional cinemas, the 9D action cinema, which can hold nine people at a time, promises a totally different family experience. “It’s almost like you’re escaping reality and entering a whole new world of virtual reality. If you have never gone on a roller coaster and you would like to experience what a roller coaster feels like, you could come to the 9D cinema and ride for six minutes and you will get all the twists and turns and all the different things that come with it,” he said, noting that all of the rides offered are between three and ten minutes in length. “It fits in nice in the sense that apart from it being for the family there is also a level of excitement coming from feeling that you are now in the movie.” “For that little time that you’re in there you’d actually feel like you’re in there longer because of all that is taking place on the screen,” Joseph continued.
And just how safe is the 9D cinema? Joseph assures that the facility has passed all the necessary safety inspections and the seats are equipped with seatbelts which must be worn. “It is extremely safe in the sense that we have safety mechanisms whereby if anyone wants to stop or come out of the movie, we could stop the movie and let them come off.” However, the public is advised to exercise discretion when going on the rides. “Because the seats move and jerk, we are asking that people like pregnant women and those with heart problems desist from riding because we don’t want anyone to experience any sort of condition while enjoying the movie,” he said. “It makes me feel good to be able to allow people to get this experience for the first time in T&T and I am hoping that we can set up and bring it to more areas.”
Speaking on the topic, tech writer Mark Lyndersay who described the 9D action cinema as a “stationary ride” said the experience needs to be very special in order to hold the public’s interest. “I think people will go and have fun. This isn’t really a cinema, it’s a stationary ride, normally referred to as an “experience” of a sort that’s pretty common in amusement parks,” Lyndersay said. “A 55-inch television in the average living room competes quite well with the average large screen cinema without the hassle of travelling and parking.” “To draw people out of that comfortable shell, screens have to be bigger and more immersive (IMAX, 3D) or experiences have to be very special.”
Local filmmaker Yao Ramesar said while the 9D cinema was a good idea, in the future, it could also be used as an educational tool and expanded to showcase more of T&T’s indigenous culture.
“I would like to see where we fit in with our own T&T content,” he said. “On a more serious level, it could be used for disaster preparedness. Imagine if you take people who are supposed to be responders in T&T for say an earthquake situation you can use it as a simulation.” “You have things rocking and you see chaos going on onscreen and everything is smoky and misty, you can practise keeping your focus and discipline in the middle of all that melee.”
