Immersive cinema thrills at Crown Regency's 4-D Theater

CEBU, Philippines - One doesn’t pay the hefty ticket and enter a movie house expecting to be doused with water, literally be thrown out of trembling theater seats or actually feel the dreadful sensation of a pack of furry rats brushing at your ankles, let alone anacondas slithering out their tongues inches away from your face. But if you’re a thrill-seeker who’s game for some one-of-a-kind entertainment, Crown Regency Hotel and Tower’s 4-D Theater experience should be a fun and memorable visit.

Unique 20-minute short films using high-definition digital 4D projection, audio and show control systems combined with a load of special effects, one is immersed in a rare cinematic journey where gushes of wind, unexpected spurts of water, leg ticklers, snow, steam and sea buzzers help tell the story.

At the 4D Theater launch, Philogene Florita, the hotel’s Corporate Communications Head escorted guests to the 18th floor where we got to view three adventure films that people of all ages would surely have a blast with. Only 20 slots per viewing is allowed, and no food or beverage whatsover is permitted inside.

The first film was “Dino Rampage”, a futuristic feature occuring in the year 2020 of a series of experiments on the incubation of ancient dinosaur eggs and embryos. When the scientists were right on the brink of a breakthrough, the genes of the dinosaur embryos mutate radically, dinosaurs develop overnight, breaking through the front doors of a museum and rushing on to the city streets, ravaging everything on its way. Viewers not only see the rampage, they likewise feel it with the timed seat vibrations.

In “Deep Sea Adventure”, we were transported to an underwater world from the point of view of a talking submarine, where creatures we never thought existed deep under the sea launched surprise liquid attacks. As a jellyfish swims by, so seemingly within reach from one’s seat, the audience also feels its tingling tentacles brush along their arms, creating a more thrilling experience.

The last short film, “The Lost Island” tells the story of Mike, a geographical magazine photographer who encounters an aircraft crash and falls on an uncharted island. Action and fright begin when he tries to find his way out the almost pitch black, gloomy and terrifying jungle. Just a few of the frights along the way is a ferocious Bengal tiger, spike-wielding tribal Aborigines and a fierce and enormous Anaconda. As a result of the 4D effects, we felt like we ourselves barely escaped from the dangerous jungle just as Mike does.

Which is exactly the idea of 4D Theater: to have all the human senses involved that disbelief is momentarily suspended. How else would you explain screaming adults who squirm in their seats when we must know in the back of our minds, that, c’mon, that isn’t really a real snake in front of us?

The sense-surround effects are dramatic but a fairly mild experience in actual physical terms so that it is family-friendly and most people can enjoy it without physical risk. But beware the seriously faint-hearted. If your child is easily startled, or if you have medical conditions related to your back, because the images on the screen appear so real and in-your-face, and just come out of nowhere.

Along with the hotel’s Sky Experience Adventure that include the Edge Coaster, the Sky Walk Extreme and the Sky Observatory on the 40th floor of the tower, this new form of entertaiment should delight kids and movie buffs who want to try something unconventional. Movie guide time slots are available at the 18th floor where the Vivo Gamezone is located, while three-film package rates depend on peak and off-peak hours.