as time goes by there seems to be a growing trend amongst those people lucky enough to afford it / mental enough to spend all available cash on it: home cinemas. huge screens, incredible sound systems and luxurious seats are popping up in seemingly spare rooms and basements larger than my entire flat.
however this is also giving a few movie geeks a real chance to shine and it seems they’re not content with a simple in-home movie theatre decent enough to hold a premiere in - they clearly want to be fully immersed in the worlds created by their favourite films.
so, in no particular order, here are 10 of the best themed home cinemas on earth…
1. indiana jones cinema

this amazing indy-themed room was designed by home theatre expert doug charrois for larry and colleen halliday in canada. the room even features ‘replicas of the holy grail, a jacket, hat, whips, torches and more—including the idol from the opening of the original movie’.
more info here.
2. the batcave

above is possibly the sleekest home theatre i’ve ever seen. it was created by canadian-based experts ‘elite home theater seating’, who, as the name suggests, specialize in hand-made, custom home theater furniture for ‘high-end’ clientele. and bruce wayne.
more info here.
3. the enterprise ncc-1701d cinema

based on starship enterprise ncc-1701d, this stunner consists of a cinema, bar area and apparently ‘one of the largest kaleidoscope hard-drive based storage systems (..) in a residential installation. at last count, there were eight servers with 3,816 dvds’. there’s even a red alert button which brings on red flashing lights and appropriately tense music.
more info here.
4. the bridge

trekkie gary reighn decided to cut out the middle man and design & build his home cinema himself on a relatively small budget of $15′000. his basement was cleared to make way for the creation and from start to finish took 2 years.
more info here.
5. evergreen ultimate theater

apparently ‘one of the most technically and structurally advanced private theaters in the united states’, this phenomenal star trek home cinema even contains motorised sliding doors, as requested by the unbelievably rich client who paid around $3′000′000 in total for the transformation.
more info here.
6. titanic

the ceiling dome in this titanic themed set-up contains 1′230 fiber optic light strands in order to provide the artificial night sky and entry to the luxurious bar next door can be found behind a motorised bookcase. the whole project was designed by donny hackett of ‘casa cinema design’.
more info here.
7. the death star

it doesn’t get much cooler than this. the 10-seat death star home cinema was designed for vic wertz and lisa stevens and includes, amongst other things: automatic doors, a twinkling fiber optic star field and a thx sound system. the best fact? the room was designed by doug chiang, lead designer on episodes I & II.
8. the nautilus

this beauty was built as a result of film geek randy moran’s love of the nautilus submarine from the film 20′000 leagues under the sea. he hired ‘dillon works inc’ to build and fabricate all the trusses, wall panels, screen frames, and portholes and ‘acoustic innovations’ to supply the plush red seating.
more info here.
9. the pirate cove

the pirate cove was created as a result of avs forum user pkonold’s love of the pirates of the carribean disney ride and movies. to make the atmosphere as authentic as possible he and his wife ensured that when seated ‘you feel like you are floating down “the bayou” at night. to accomplish this we have built a star field in the ceiling, complete with real constellations and shooting stars!’.
more info here.
10. the sci-fi cinema

ok, so the screen isn’t the biggest and the seats are slightly lacking but inside dr. david winn’s home cinema can be found: a hydraulic alien bursting through the wall, a talking robbie the robot and both the predator and the creature from the black lagoon behind bars. the cinema, including all collectibles, cost approximately $100′000.
more info here.
Okay, that Titanic setup rocks. I’m not a huge fan of the movie– it just looks really comfortable and pretty. As much as I like Star Trek, I’d hate to sit in the Bridge and watch movies… I mean, that’s where they WORK, duh.
Interesting list. I guess this is more than enough proof that money doesn’t buy taste.
great post deputy!
The Batman cave and Star Trek rooms were kind of hot
Beautiful!!
Good to see that people with more money than anyone would ever need are actually spreading some of it around. I wonder how much of this gear is built to impress, rather than enjoy a good movie.
WoW That´s incredible O_O
¡¡¡Manda huevos….!
Here’s even more pics and details on the Star Wars Death Star Home Theater
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/designing_the_death_star_theater/
OH YEAH! I see your point — loved that bat cave/room - -shoot, loved them all!
Nope. Don’t believe I’d care if I never had to leave a home like that.
frickin’ amazing
Love the titanic one!!!
They’re all crazy cool. I wish the Death Star was a little more pimped though. They should have one of those life size Han Solo in Carbonite hanging on the wall. I guess if I ever have the opportunity to do it I’d like the Mos Eisley Cantina… drunk Jawas outside and all.
Fake, those were definitely photoshopped!!!
I agree with Davex; the Titanic room looks comfortable and less distracting than some of the other theaters.
Holy damn those are some ugly rooms.
I think even if I had one of those in my house i’d still opt to sit in the lounge room with a small TV and no sound system.
Then again, with a movie room like that I imagine the others wouldn’t be far behind.
The bat cave one will be great for scary movies. I also like the star wars one too. These puppies cost hundreds of thousands.
Dang. Definitely cool. Even the Bat Cave one, which could look really bad if not done right.
SO the sci fi theater is a bit nuts. He has a 50,000 Robby the robot but only a $2500 video projector, I think someone has their priorities mixed up!
I’m with davex and mischele…the Titanic room looks cozy and luxurious, the rest are tacky and expensive. But they all certainly live up to the article’s title.
These cinemas may be built by geeks who love their genre movies. But they don’t seem to by built by movie-loving geeks.
The real movie-geek would build a home cinema that would maximize his (her? possible but unlikely?) enjoyment of the movie. And like a previous poster, I doubt all this frill really does that. It just shows a love for a specific movie or genre, but hardly improves the viewing experience. Ambiance isn’t nothing, but it certainly isn’t everything.
Where are the technical details? Systems maximizing the viewing experience, high tech screens, innovative sound systems, force-feedback in the chairs, subtle lighting adjustment, smooth integration of extra features, special purpose software for rendering industry grade movie formats, image enhancement software, etc.
The only hint in that direction is the mention of the number of movies on one of these people’s harddrives. But frankly, 4000 * 5 Gb is a nice 20Tb but that’s on the fast track to old news already…
These are awesome. Dillon Works built the nautilus AND the Death Star theater.
This article does seem to focus on the aesthetic design, but I actually worked on the Death Star theater and trust me, the equipment was spec’d out for serious movie appreciation.
Incríble lo que llega a hacer la gente cuando está podrida de dinero y son unos egoístas, porque teniendo tal cantidad de dinero para gastar en ver (y aunque suene a tópico lo digo) una caja tonta, ya podrían hacer algo más productivo para el bien de la humanidad como medicamentos y alimentos para niños pobres.
cheesy and ugly as hell, most of them…
Geeky and cool as they might seem, the rooms that are all white and shiny are not setup for good movie watching. For best setup, always keep it dark and creative lighting to a minimum. (Love the batcave!)
Menuda mierda de habitaciones, con toda esa pasta ke san gastao molaria invertirlo en algo mas interesante y menos freak
Menudo mundo chabales
Madre mia, hay autenticas frikadas xD La verdad es que no me impartaria ser dueño de alguno de ellos
Aunke si que los hay feos…..feos…..
That’s just freaky
typical yankees.
for that kinda money they could have made a low budget feature film just for the hell of it
putos frikis
Nice set ups! And I thought some of the cubicle setups here at Microsoft were interesting. Nobody has a workstation as elaborate as these theatres, yet the developers seem to like them.
Jim Stroud
Technical Sourcing Consultant
Microsoft
http://mymicrosoftcareer.com/has/jobs/
They are all great!!
nothing can beat the bat cave …
hehe …
I love all of them so awesome I really like the pirate cove cause I love Pirates of the Caribbean that my thing but I love all of them I can’t choose! ^-^
Haber si me toca la loteria y me agencio uno de sos.
As a studio designer, there are some wonderful looking theaters here. Now have a look at world-class-leading LEADER HOLLYWOOD FORMAT ™ LHF ™ systems at http://www.picasaweb.google.com/leadercinema Have a look at the Maui Hawaii waterfront installation for Bowie’s manager.
Enjoy….
http://www.leadercinema.com
La batcueva mola muuuuucho!!!!
Vaya loqueo el enterprais y la batcueva!
the nautilus is by far the winner
Ah man, the Star Trek evergreen is enough to make you change your life goals to “must. get. theatre”. Thanks so much for posting these!
I couldn’t agree more with grismar. Who the hell needs all that fancy stuff, if the movie experience is about the same as lying on a couch in front of an ordinary wide-screen Plasma TV? I’d trade any of these show-rooms (or cellars) for a two or more times wider TV screen, a perfect surround sound system and a comfy armchair RIGHT at the centre of the screen (I can’t stand watching movies from anywhere but the centre - it ruins the pleasure; and only two of the above have a centered chair.
cooool
Wow… This Batman cinema is amazing
elige la que mas te guste y con un poco de escayola y pintura nos queda de puta madre.
enterprise d will never go out of style ever, awesome movie room.batcave was freaking sweet too!!!!!!
So, if their favorite movie was “Psycho” they’d make thier movie room look like a bathroom?
jesus christ, you people need to find something better to do with your time and money. this is such a pointless waste. suffering people all over the world, and you spend 100 grande on a fvcking home theater? no wonder so many people hate americans (and the wealthy in general).
And the people starving to death all around the world…
ANDE VAS CON ESOS RIDICULOS HOME CINEMA QUE NO VALEN UNA MIERDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
My sheddies have had a go in their garden sheds as well, of course not as geeky or grand, but their own little spaces!
really geeky, i love it!
Yeah they look great,
It is a pitty though, cos new films don’t match the quality of those spaces…
i want the nautilus!!!! yeah!
A dir poco eccezionali!!!!!
A “cinema” shows film. these are just big TV rooms.
Some of these Home Theaters seem to have more Tech than Star Trek ! Good luck keeping them running !
Batcave & Nautilus rocks!!
la batcueva y nautilos los mejores, esta claro, los demas pura mierda friki
I’d be impressed if all these were one room that morphed into whatever movie you were watching, but can you imagine sitting in the Death Star with the kids to watch Bambi? Hmmm.
And for the guy with the sci-fi room to completely ignore me is unforgivable. My visor is opening…
GORT
1st INDIANA JONES!!! I wonder if i can afford something like this in my future…
Glad to see the Bush tax cuts went to something worthwhile…
Kopokipi ketatapa, humeasmazo.
Gahawkstre, tries!
It was just a matter of time before someone like Emily, the bleeding heart liberal, has checked in to lay on the guilt trip.
Impresionante. FLipante, sobre todo el de Batman.
Holy cow… is Emily an idiot or what?
Hey Emily, here’s a clue: these people made the money - they can spend it any way they want.
BUT… MORE IMPORTANTLY…
This $100,000 for an entertainment room has been SPENT. That means that a rich person PAID a bunch of working class folks to come into his house and build it for him. In case you can’t put two-and-two together (which I imagine is a problem for you), that means the $100,000 has been redistributed FROM the wealthy to the working class. That’s what makes the economy go.
But, hey… keep hoping that the rich guy DOESN’T spend the $100k on something so frivolous. It just means that a bunch of working class people won’t get paid.
Oh, wait… I get it… you’d rather the rich guy just HAND the working class folks the money! Yeah! That’s smart! Instead of promoting labor and job skills, you’d rather just promote laziness! Wealth redistribution r0×0rs!
Idiot.
I believe I have the horn…
Loved the Pirate one
I swear to you on my life, this is the best single web page I have ever seen in my entire life!!
If I ever get rich enough to afford the bat cave then I’m doing it. God bless you for bringing it into my life!
It would be fun watching star wars over there.
I love the Nautilus… and hell yeah if I had the money and space that would be the one luxury i would have.. I could live in the garage, who cares, but I would LOVE that theater! Also it just goes to show that all the geeks that got picked on in high school now have ALL the money!! hehe and my guess is that the star quarterback begs to come over for the superbowl!
Some of them aren’t so bad - I can’t imagine why anyone would put so much money and effort in to doing such a thing - but hey, it’s their money, not mine.
The worst designed one is clearly the Bat-cave theme. The rest are very geeky, but the only one which I would personally hate is the bat-cave one.
i dunno if this one has been added, its an audiophile geek cinema, rather than a themed one:
http://blog.audiovideointeriors.com/208great/
Yeah, but does it run Linux?
Hi! Loved your blog!
And found this subject extremely interesting! Congratulations!
I’m quoting you in my blog, if it’s ok with you…
Wow, what a collection! Obviously these people were inspired by the movies they watched. The bat cave is the greatest. Would love to see more of this stuff. Wouldn’t be suprised to see Harry Potter and other mystical ideas following these.
Add this Pirates of the Carribean themed home theater to your list:
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/diyer_sets_sail_in_the_pirate_themed_theater
Great theater photos, some over the top. Home theater is great way to show creativity and some of the theater owners are inspired people. You don’t have to have a huge budget to do a great theater. htmarket.com a home theater web site has some photos of their cusotmers theaters on their site.
their site is
http://www.htmarket.com
look on the side for the button home theater pictures.