Movie magic: wind, water and creepy-crawlies

I am not sure if I am fan of 4-D movies anymore. I am at Universal Studios at Resort World, Sentosa, watching the most amazing 4-D movie.

As the hero steers his ship through the choppy waters, the sea winds brush my face, too, and as he hoists the sails, I feel the cool spray touch my cheeks as well. When his ship hits land and he goes ashore, the bees buzz close to my hair and when creepy crawlies touch his feet, I feel the same tentacles under my chair, crawling up my leg.

As the movie proceeds, I am not sure what to expect next and I lose track of the plot. That’s the magic of 4-D, I am told, but I am not convinced if I want to feel water, wind and insects as I watch a movie. Realism is fine, but maybe not that much.

Universal Studios, Singapore opened early this year and the theme park has unique zones, each built around a familiar blockbuster movie or television show. I am here for the day, prepared to fly through the sky on roller coasters and watch the shows, but more importantly, I am here to see the movies I love, come to life.

Later, as I stroll through the theme park, through the carefully created Hollywood boulevard, through the palm trees and the famous Walk of Fame, the Egyptian pyramids and obelisks of The Mummy and the sets of Waterworld, I try and figure out how many ways cinema can change the way we look at life.

There are movies that entertain, some that inform, those that scare us out of our wits and others that waste our time. And yet, each brings with it, a unique experience that either influences the way we think or transforms the way we react.

The next stop is at Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lights, Camera Action’ for some incredible special effects. The audience is taken to New York city where a Category five hurricane has been announced. We stand in a boathouse by the harbour, where the sea is deceptively calm, and wait for the action to begin. Suddenly, a wind starts up which soon turns into a terrible hurricane. Lightning flashes, the sea grows wild, a wind roars and a ship is driven right into the boathouse. Some seconds later, the hurricane is over and we are back in the calm boathouse all over again.

I realise that for a few breath-taking moments, we had seen the power of good cinema. It is the medium through which mere mortals are capable of facing insurmountable odds, doing incredible things, facing extraordinary dangers and achieving the impossible.

Back to 4-D movies and there I am again, at a theatre in the Far Far Away Zone watching the Shrek 4-D Adventure. I wear my Ogrevision glasses and on the screen Princess Fiona, Shrek and the Donkey zip through the air as my seat jumps and bounces along with them. This time, I keep my feet tucked under me for fear of stuff creeping over my feet, but I still can’t avoid the air and water spray.

One day, movie makers may help us fly, sail, drive or spin right along with them. The waters in a film may wash me away and the winds will ruin my hair. And with Bangalore always at the forefront of movie technology, maybe we will be the first to get that far ahead.

But for now, I am grateful that I can sit in a soft chair, feel the darkness wrap around me, watch the screen light up and transport me to another world, where troubles have slipped away, and I am the invincible hero of a new adventure, each time.