I have to strongly disagree. The experience of watching a film in a movie theater is completely different than watching it at home, even with a high end home theater setup.
First of all, the vast majority of people can't even come close to replicate this "technological experience" of movie theater. The huge screen as well as the audio system absolutely do change how you experience a film, be it Avatar or 2001 or Metropolis (the last two of which I've only recently seen for the first time on the big screen, and even though I have a pretty huge TV, this was an entirely different experience).
But aside from the technology involved, a movie theater is a completely different environment than your living room, it is designed to keep you entirely focused. I find I am much more immersed in a movie when I see it in the cinema. Also, some movies are just made to be watched as part of a larger audience (e.g. I can't imagine I'd find Borat even remotely as funny as I did when I watched it in a small theater packed with a cheering crowd).
On a somewhat more esoteric note, I seem to remember a study that showed rear-projection (like on a TV) had a different impact on the brain than front-projection (like on a movie screen). I can't find anything about this now and it might've been complete bogus, but maybe someone else knows something about this...
I cannot agree; far too often, there's someone having a phone conversation or otherwise engaging in completely unrelated chat with their friends at my local cinema. There's nothing you can do about it. That's in addition to the cinema having the volume set too high, and having to pay extra to reserve seats so you can avoid the 25 minutes of ads and trailers that come up before the feature.
a movie theater is a completely different environment than your living room
This is true - my living room doesn't have somebody eating out of a loudly crackling popcorn bag, people talking to each other a few seats away, a dude behind me who accidentally dunts the seat every now and then when he crosses and uncrosses his legs, a dim slightly out-of-focus picture with the top chopped off because the projector hasn't been set up properly, or a woman updating facebook on her smartphone in my eyeshot every few minutes+.
Truly magical.
+okay, admittedly that's a distillation of annoying Cinema crap.
First of all, the vast majority of people can't even come close to replicate this "technological experience" of movie theater
Massively disagree. The huge screen is really not of great importance. Given a good-enough screen, quality audio is what sends the experience over the edge. I picked up fantastic NHT speakers and a variety of amplifiers for well under $1k. Surround sound adds nothing, while a center channel is crucial for dialog.
As for the environment, set your living room up however you please. I've never had anyone munching popcorn and nachos (!), talking to the characters, jingling their jewelery, or texting in my living room.
I agree about Borat, though a room of friends would have given the same experience.
First of all, the vast majority of people can't even come close to replicate this "technological experience" of movie theater. The huge screen as well as the audio system absolutely do change how you experience a film, be it Avatar or 2001 or Metropolis (the last two of which I've only recently seen for the first time on the big screen, and even though I have a pretty huge TV, this was an entirely different experience).
But aside from the technology involved, a movie theater is a completely different environment than your living room, it is designed to keep you entirely focused. I find I am much more immersed in a movie when I see it in the cinema. Also, some movies are just made to be watched as part of a larger audience (e.g. I can't imagine I'd find Borat even remotely as funny as I did when I watched it in a small theater packed with a cheering crowd).
On a somewhat more esoteric note, I seem to remember a study that showed rear-projection (like on a TV) had a different impact on the brain than front-projection (like on a movie screen). I can't find anything about this now and it might've been complete bogus, but maybe someone else knows something about this...