Today, I went to the San Diego Zoo with family. Our ticket came with a 15 minute 4D experience of one of three films. These films were Rio, Happy Feet, and The Martian.
We ended up picking The Martian, and I pretty much knew what to expect, except I didn't. We were greeted with the 3D glasses, the air-blowing and vibrating seats, the smell-o-vision, and that annoying rat tail that whips your ankles to shit.
I thought to myself "oh they're going to take a 15 minute chunk of the movie, and add those gimmicky effects."
Nope. They edited the entire film down to 15 minutes. The. Entire. Film.
For anyone who's seen The Martian, you'd know that the film couldn't even work as an hour long film, being filled with so much exposition and build-up.
I was in awe, I had never seen anything like this before. This didn't even work as a short film, with absurd cuts making for jarring transitions. The story presented was mangled, and I know this is a "ride" but it would've been way more beneficial if they just took the climax and added all those effects and what not. I felt bad because one of my relatives said she's never seen the film. What a way to be introduced...
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Edit: wording