1LR Midnight Movie: Amazing Spider-Man - D-BOX Seat Experience

D-BOX seats... the next big hit in movies?

My wife and I have just returned from the midnight showing of The Amazing Spider-Man. I was so pumped for this film that I wanted to upgrade my seats to include the new feature, D-BOX. What's D-BOX? It's seats that move with the action of the film. It cost an extra $8 a ticket! So... was it worth it?

I'd say... maybe? It certainly was cool but I don't think I'd shell out the extra cash for just any movie. Also, D-BOX isn't without its down sides as well.

First, the chairs have a little panel that you can adjust the amount of motion you're going to get. I cranked mine to max while my timid wife set hers on almost nothing. "We paid $8 for these seats!" I said. "If we wanted to sit still we'd sit elsewhere!"

Once the movie started, the first big "bump" from the seat was when Flash Thompson hits Peter in the head with a basketball. You could tell quite a few people were new to the D-BOX experience because the moment was followed by "Whoa!" and nervous laughter. That first bump actually made me jump a bit.

During action scenes, the seat goes crazy, bumping and swinging this way and that. The range of motion isn't that great but it does add that tactile dimension to a film that is otherwise absence. The coolest movements came during the shots from Spider-Man's POV when he's swinging. The seat shifted quickly from forward to back to side to side. In this way, it brings you closer to the action on the screen.

But in another way it actually took me out of the movie. I found myself at times NOTICING how the chair was moving. And at that point it became a distraction from what was happening on the screen.

I've had several back injuries and I must admit that toward the end of the film my back did start hurting. My wife, on the other hand, admitting that she cranked her seat up to max once she realized it wasn't going to be, "so bad."

I found myself wondering who programmed the seat movements... was there some input from the creative team on the movie or not? It seemed to me that the soundtrack controlled the movements more than anything else.

D-BOX... interesting experience but I doubt I'll be a regular.