These Effects Wizards Made ‘Twisters’ a Blast at 4D Showings

First you get the aroma of the meadowlands. Then, a vision of an Oklahoma prairie fills the screen and, as the grass undulates, a soft breeze wafts over you and your seat sways. The wind is not ominous — not yet.

These sights, sounds, feelings and scents open a 4D presentation of the tornado thriller “Twisters.” For the past decade and a half, companies like CJ 4DPlex have turned splashing and shaking moviegoers into an art, fine-tuning their instruments to lure fans into theaters. Carefully tracking through each scene, they look for moments to heighten the experience in a way that adds meaning without distracting from the narrative.

In a typical 4D presentation, audiences pay on average $8 more than the price of a regular ticket to sit in pods of four chairs that can pitch and tilt subtly or with extreme force, using technology first developed for military flight simulators.

Extra mechanics inside the chair can punch you in the back when, say, a Nazi lands a blow on Indiana Jones, or buzz to the rhythm of the thumper that attracts a giant sandworm in “Dune: Part Two.” As Paul Atreides and Chani ride the worm onscreen, the chair shakes so violently that there is no mistaking their peril.

The smells in a 4D theater — options include “gardenia,” “burning rubber,” “gunpowder” and “beef town” — come from a tiny opening in front of the seat. Some films have custom scents. “Wonka” had a whiff of chocolate. “Beauty and the Beast” had a touch of rose. There are also holes that can blast cones of air and water, good for the first jump scare in the horror prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One.”

Then there are the flexible straws that hang between your feet and wag quickly back and forth smacking your ankles. This might simulate what Raymond Diaz, the general manager of the Regal Times Square theater, described as “a critter running around the floor.” A frightening prospect in New York.