Report on: “FINAL FANTASY” & the near “RIOT” over the OVER-BOOKING at an advance screening of it

July 22, 2001 

Report on:  “FINAL FANTASY” & the near “RIOT” over the OVER-BOOKING at an advance screening of it

I came across a series of ARTICLES I’d written back in 2001, & decided I’d “re-format” & “enhance” those for inclusion in the web-site...

...  Things were very “different” 10 years ago:  It tended to be unusual to have “ADVANCE” screenings of films, & we felt lucky if we averaged one every 1-2 months.  (Nowadays, from various sources such as radio stations & newspapers & the internet & the like, we can at times run like 12 to 15 available a month)...

...  Here’s the FIRST of those 2001 write-ups: 

...  Perhaps you think everything is "easy" in reviewing films, Iet me give you some other "angles" on the reality of the situation-- including the near "riot", the "un-ending" major film, etc.:

...  An e-mail announcement was received from radio station Q101 (one of the strongest [most prolific] promoters of Sneak [Advance] Preview films [in CHICAGO]), which read in part (with the emphasis being mine):

...  “ You’re one of the first 101 people to register for passes to the Q101 premiere of 'FINAL FANTASY'.  Print this email and redeem it at the theatre to get admission for two people.  THIS EMAIL DOES NOT GUARANTEE ADMISSION! YOU MUST REDEEM THIS EMAIL WITH THE Q101 REPRESENTATIVE IN THE LOBBY FOR AN OFFiCIAL MOVIE SCREENING PASS... "

...  Unfortunately -- as I later learned from a “high-up” person at the GENERAL City Cinema North theatre at 2600 N. Western --, NO ONE from Q101 ever told THEM there was to be any such "exchange" [of e-mail passes for specific TICKETS for the screening], and a near-RIOT [thus] ensued at the venue:

...  Around an hour before show time, you had an unmoving line approximately a BLOCK LONG outside the theatre-- including people who already HAD a [specific] cardboard "pass"  for the film, [plus] the so-called "[Q]101" people holding [just paper] e-mails who had to stand in line to GET the cardboard [version, which was the “OFFICIAL” entry]...

...  [After getting the cardboard pass], they'd have to get back at the END of the line again to get in [to the building], after which the [cardboard] "passes" were to be turned in by everyone for actual "TICKETS" for the [advance screening] show. It was absolutely ridiculous [how unnecessarily COMPLEX & convoluted they’d made the procedure]!...

...  A ½ hour before the scheduled showtime, before people were really even let into the theatre for the film, Q101 reps advised people in the ever-growing line that the [official] "passes" were already "GONE" & that people without them should go HOME.  As people angrily pointed out, it was clear that Q101 hadn't sent out [the promised limit of] "101" notices, but more like TRIPLE that number were actually "floating" around!...

...  Most people understand that there may be a BIT of an "excess" to cover likely no-shows at such Sneak Previews-- but rather than any "bit", it was clear that the massive overbooking had either been done PURPOSELY (-- the web-site was seemingly still offering "chances" to be the “first 10I" people DAYS AFTER the 101 had been "chosen"--), or due to gross incompetence-- or a bit of both...

...  As one man angrily complained, he'd taken off work early from Lake Forest, picked up his young son (who was with him), suffered thru miserable rush hour traffic, arrived an HOUR early, & had [incurred] a parking charge-- only to be informed by a Q101 rep that his “first 101" email essentially meant NOTHING!...

...  As he commented, he felt the wording on the notice was purposely DECEPTIVE (& others ALSO complained about that)...

... Q101 has been having a bunch of problems recently:  on another recent Preview, they'd failed to disclose the STARTING TIME of the film in question on the email notices...  

...  Continuing with screw‑ups in the “FINAL FANTASY” film matter, people weren't even fully seated in the theatre until a ½ hour AFTER the scheduled starting time.  And, as a Q101 person remarked to the audience on a mic, there were still 15-20 or so EMPTY seats in what he described as the "chiropractic” section in the first 2 rows...  (In other words, with all the hassles & ill-will, they'd turned away MORE peopie than they should have...)

...  As to the FILM itself, ( a Japanese sci-fi production with [North] American actors such as DONALD SUTHERLAND doing voice-overs), "FINAL FANTASY' proved to have wonderful state-of-the-art human-like animation, with great “special effects"...

...  But, since the story itself is generally weak_, periodically confusing & stereotypical (with the evil military man causing all kinds of major problems for the 'heroes”), the fine visuals don't amount to more than a 7.5 star film [out of 10] overall (– & most people would rate it that only if they were really fond of action animation)...

  (o_
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