MovieChat Forums > Rollercoaster (1977) Discussion > SENSURROUND anyone?

SENSURROUND anyone?

posted 17 years ago by Danny_N
8 replies | jump to latest

I remember seeing this movie in Sensurround. When the big screen scenes shot from the front of the coaster were combined with Sensurround, my stomach felt a little like I was riding an actual coaster. It was great. Unfortunately, other Sensurround movies (Earthquake was one I believe) actually caused damage to some older theatres showing the movies and they stopped using this process.

After seeing this movie on cable I started thinking about this technology. How difficult would it be to adapt it to these gaming chairs i see advertised? Any gamers know if this type of thing is used in video games? It seems to me that you could easily recreate this experience and even "retrofit" newer movies. On a high def big screen it would be awesome.

Of course nobody will ever do this and another great idea is down the tubes. I'm still waiting for Smellivision, but I think the fear of BLAZING SADDLES campfire scene killed that.

When they found Carbone in the meat truck, it took them two days to thaw him out for the autopsy.

[–] raceface 17 years ago

Yes, I remember them too! "Midway" had this as well!

[–] grambax 16 years ago

It was also used for the Battlestar Galactica film.

[–] MovieFan0107290 16 years ago

The only problem I see with adapting sensurround to the chairs you describe, the chairs just vibrate with the appropriate impacts in the game, the same as the Playstation 2 controllers. Sensurround wasn't all about the vibration, which of course had a pretty good amount of but also maximizing the bass through sound. Essentially sensurround is just a bunch of very powerful subwoofers designed to maximizing your sense of touch and sound syncronized to the visuals. Smellovision did the same with your sense of smell,

I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] CheshireCatsGrin 14 years ago

Saw it in Sensurround too. It was unlike anything I've seen since in a theater. However, due to the fact it is not just movement but also sound based I don't see it taking off on those gaming chairs. I have one of them and although the stereo speakers near my head are great, my arms are lifted off the chair as well as the bottom of my legs so I don't see it working.

DeeDee
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte 9 of 10
Close Encounters 10 of 10

[–] bagelboi 10 years ago

Sensurround was gimmicky but still cool when I was ten. I saw Earthquake in first run and recall noticing the metal light fixtures around the perimeter of the cinema were vibrating pretty good. It made the whole thing seem more real. I think it was used to better effect in Rollercoaster though. Between the slight shaking of the camera during the ride scenes, the visual element, the sounds of the riders, and the shaking sensation, it made me feel like I was on the ride too.

Has anyone else noticed that in the Rollercoaster sound track, during ride scenes when Sensurround was active, there is an almost organ like rise and falling sound? I notice it in every scene where I recall the effect being used. Is this an artifact of the Sensurround technology?

[–] bistis6 9 years ago

Has anyone else noticed that in the Rollercoaster sound track, during ride scenes when Sensurround was active, there is an almost organ like rise and falling sound? I notice it in every scene where I recall the effect being used. Is this an artifact of the Sensurround technology?

No, that's actually part of the score composed by Lalo Schifrin. However, it's mixed so low as to be almost subliminal in its effect. The track, titled PERSISTENCE, was not included on the 1977 Original Soundtrack release from MCA Records. When Schifrin's ALEPH label released an expanded ROLLERCOASTER in 2001, the track was included along with roughly 10 more minutes of previously unavailable music. In addition to PERSISTENCE, these extra tracks are: REFLECTIONS IN THE WINDOW, THAT'S HIM, TENSION ROCK, THE CHASE, and STAR AND STRIPES FOREVER. There is still a bit of unreleased music, however, including the film versions of CALLIOPE OF DEATH (different arrangement, with tons of reverb) and MOVEMENT FROM A STRING QUARTET (performed much faster in the film), the MAIN TITLE (a solo calliope rendition of the MAGIC CAROUSEL theme - you can hear a bit of it at the beginning of PROLOGUE/MONTAGE, but it's severely truncated and overlain with sound F/X), and a few action and/or suspense licks.

[–] irishm 7 years ago

Unfortunately, other Sensurround movies (Earthquake was one I believe) actually caused damage to some older theatres

That was my fear when I was watching it! I saw it in 1977 in a theater near Times Square; I have no idea how old the theater was, but I was seriously worried about chunks of plaster cracking loose and falling down on top of us. (I always worry about the wrong stuff... 30 minutes after we left the theater with no harm done, the damn lights went out and we were in the middle of the '77 blackout!)