Avatar induces physical illness

IAIN McGREGOR/ The Press

HEALTH WORRY: 3D technology has made the experience more comfortable for many, for some people with eye problems, a prolonged 3D session may result in an aching head.

Avatar photos

1 of 17

Reuters Zoom

FLY AWAY: A scene from Avatar.

Relevant offers

Music

The Great NZ Love Song Entertainment Quiz 10/2 Roxette's Auckland concert cancelled The Exponents join class of '81 Axed musicians to protest at Grammys The Myele Manzanza story Lady Gaga returns to NZ Seven guitars to commemorate loss Madonna 'fuming with M.I.A' Wellington's Homegrown festival sells out

Movie buffs are flocking in record numbers to worldwide blockbuster Avatar, but the experience of seeing it in 3D is making some viewers physically sick.

Auckland couple Tania and Raymond Lorenzen went to the film at Skycity Cinemas' Imax 3D theatre and had to leave early after being struck with sweats and extreme nausea.

Reports have begun emerging in overseas media about a "significant minority" of people suffering dizziness, headaches and nausea during 3D screenings.

After 10 minutes in front of the 27-metre wide screen Ms Lorenzen started feeling so ill she had to close her eyes to stop from being sick.

About half an hour from the end, they both had to rush from the theatre so Mr Lorenzen, who had been unaffected for most of the film, could throw up in the cinema's toilets.

Ms Lorenzen said she had suffered motion sickness in rough seas but never in a movie and put it down to trying to "follow everything" on the big screen.

"I just got extremely hot then I managed to calm myself down. It was just a total motion sickness and my husband got the same."

SkyCity Cinema marketing manager Lisa Chambers said more than 36,000 people had seen Avatar in the theatre and, while there had been reports of people feeling the effects of the 3D motion, she was unaware of anyone being "physically sick".

"The feedback has been primarily along the lines of a motion effect rather than sickness so not necessarily in a negative way.

Worldwide the 3D fantasy has raked in more than $1.3 billion.

A Reading Courtenay spokesman, in Wellington, said every session since the movie opened a month ago had been sold out and people should book a few days in advance to ensure a seat.

Some people had returned to see the film several times and "nobody's come out vomiting", he said.

The Daily Telegraph, in London, reported the movie was breaking box office records but "no matter how advanced the technology, a significant minority of the population cannot sit through a 3D film without experiencing discomfort".

- © Fairfax NZ News