Theatrical Re-Releases Are Incredibly Important. Here’s Why! - Opinion
From Shane Conto
Have you ever seen a previously released film when it came back to the big screen? For most of my life, I thought this was a dumb idea. Why spend the money on something that I could watch on TV? I could just own it and watch it whenever, so what would the point be? You can find virtually anything on streaming (or elsewhere on the web). But I have certainly changed my tune over the years. Getting to see Back to the Future with my now wife along with one of my oldest friends was a great experience. I also saw Casablanca for the first time with that same friend when it returned to theaters. I surprised my mom with a trip to see Sunset Boulevard on the big screen. Ghibli Fest is one of the most fun cinematic experiences every year with getting to see these beautiful animated films on the big screen. But why is this experience so important?
Are you ready to start with the dark ages of modern life…the pandemic? There were a few important consequences of that time that helped me realize how important classics on the big screen can be. During COVID (and now on a smaller scale with the writers/actors strike), there was a distinct lack of content to put out in theaters. The state of the film was dire. But what special experiences brought people back to the cinema? Re-releases. I recall seeing Toy Story at a drive-in and it was such a delight to see Woody and Buzz on a big screen for the first time. Some of the biggest box office hits of the pandemic era were re-releases. They helped keep theaters afloat. Those same types of experiences are happening again (on a smaller scale).
But I did not go to a traditional movie theater for over a year due to my own personal situation during the pandemic. What did that absence reinforce with me? How important the theatrical experience is. Watching a film at home surrounded by the distractions of your busy day-to-day life is a challenge. No matter how great a home movie theater you have, it is just not the same as being there in a dark exhibition room with a giant screen in front of you. Sure, I have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey (one of my favorite films) plenty of times but I dream of seeing that in a dark theater with the classical music surrounding me and Kubrick’s impressive visual storytelling to life on screen. I have watched Mad Max: Fury Road at home SO many times since that initial trip to the theater back in 2015. That experience has never been replicated. The theater is the true cinematic experience and the opportunity to experience your favorite films and some of the greatest films of all time on the big screen feels more and more like a privilege.
What shifts in the streaming world are making this feeling even more apparent? There is a distinct lack of trust when it comes to streamers at the moment. Prices are soaring across the board which makes it quite difficult to take advantage of them all. With so many streaming services, it is hard to have access to all the films that you want to. The increasing uncertainty with how long films will be accessible on a service is becoming quite the issue. If a film doesn’t get enough viewers (or at least to the streamer’s standards), it will get dropped real quick. We can see the film world reverting back a bit to a more classic model. You might need physical media (which is slowly dying before our eyes). More importantly, you might have to wait until a film gets a re-release to even see it. Showing films in the theater has always been the standard and the best way to experience them. With such high levels of uncertainty, the industry might have to naturally move back to a more reliable and tested approach.
What a strange place the world of cinema is in, isn’t it? The various media of film viewing are jockeying for position. For the first time in a long time, the theatrical experience just might be getting back a bit of the upper hand. We might be able to see some of our favorite films for the first time on a big screen. We might be able to see some of those classic films in the way they were meant to as well. Watching a historical epic like Ben-Hur must be a totally different experience when you can see the epic scale on an epic canvas like a theater screen. Getting to experience The Exorcist in a dark picture house engulfed in the darkness of the theater which leaves you most vulnerable to William Friedkin’s scares. Getting a chance to laugh with a theater full of people while watching Mel Brooks’ classic Blazing Saddles would be an absolute delight. There are so many wonderful cinematic experiences out there to experience in the best way…up on the silver screen.
