Nerdy Money: The 10 Coolest Home Theaters

Image via Complex Original

So you were gifted a pretty nice TV over the holidays and now you're working to put together an ideal viewing situation. Good for you. For most people, setting up a home theater usually means putting a massive TV and a few speakers in the basement &#8212which is fine, it works, but it's not very exciting. With a little creativity (and buckets of guap), a few individuals are taking their A/V set-ups to ridiculous new heights: custom built, cutting-edge screening rooms with dorky pop culture themes and an unbelievable attention to detail. From the Batcave to sunken submarines, Complex takes you inside 10 of the geekiest, coolest home theaters in the world....

By Yang Goh

Star Wars

Built by: Dillon Works
Price: Between $500,000-1 Million
Highlights: 10 seats, THX sound system, DLP projector, automated doors, fiber-optic star field

Commissioned by two former presidents of the Official Star Wars Fan Club, the beauty of this Death Star-themed theater is in its details&#8212the automated doors slide open on their own, as if you're using the force; the walls are lined with a fiber-optic star field; and a large collection of DVDs is housed behind a replica Han Solo frozen in carbonite. As Yoda might say: "Impressive, it is."

The Batcave

Built by: DC Audio Video Systems
Price: $500,000
Hightlights:Eight motorized recliners, 110” screen, DLP projector, surround sound

Holy Big Screen, Batman! Whenever Christopher Nolan finally releases his follow-up to The Dark Knight, we're guessing this will be the ideal spot to watch it. Complete with molded stalactites, fake bats hanging from the ceiling, and a 110” flatscreen with a $40,000 state-of-the-art cinema projector, this is a home theater worthy of Bruce Wayne himself. No word yet on whether a butler named Alfred will serve drinks to your seat.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Built by: Dillon Works
Price:Between $500,000-$1 Million
Highlights: 10 seats, hand-fabricated components, surround sound, cinema projector

Decked out with rusted steel moldings, a hand-sculpted screen surround, and a full-scale replica dive suit, this home theater was elaborately created to resemble the Nautilus submarine from Disney's 1954 film adaptation of the Jules Verne classic. Ornate as they are, some of the room's decorations aren't just for show: The velvet wall panels help improve the theater's acoustics, while the ceiling hatch hides the overhead projector.

Titanic

Built by: Donny Hackett Design
Price: $45,000
Highlights: CinemaScope projector, custom 120” screen, secret motorized bookcase door, surround sound, 1,230 fiber-optic light strands

Sure, the thought of sitting through James Cameron's corny, three-hour epic—in all its “I'm flying, Jack!” glory—makes most dudes nauseous. But it's hard to deny that the film's production design was anything less than dope—a fact that one Tennessee-based family took to heart when designing their home theater. With a lavish, massive-domed ceiling, and a motorized bookcase that swings open to reveal a hidden pub, this theater has all of the Titanic's elegance&#8212with none of its impending feeling of doom.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Built by: Paul Konold (DIY)
Price:$30,000
Highlights: 10,000 ft. of fiber-optic star field, surround sound, projector, 400-disc DVD changer

If you can't make it out to Disneyland for the real thing, this DIY Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired home theater seems like a decent enough substitute. Built by owner Paul Konold, the theater incorporates several design elements and actual props from the original theme-park attraction. The walls are adorned with hand-painted murals depicting scenes from both the ride and movies, while stars twinkle across the ceiling overhead. Captain Jack's favorite part, we're assuming, would be the fully stocked bar at the back of the theater.

Horror

Built by: Tom Spina Designs
Price: $50,000-100,000
Highlights: 62” Plasma HDTV, custom sculpted tables and shelves, massive collection of authentic horror movie props

When horror-movie enthusiast Wesley Cannon started dreaming up his ideal “Man Cave,” he employed master prop-builder Tom Spina to turn it into a shrine honoring his favorite genre. The media room features authentic items from movies like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street strewn across its custom-built, rock-textured tables and shelves, while the adjacent museum space contains full-scale models of characters from classic horror flicks.

Submarine

Built by:JBFX
Price:$100,000
Highlights: Seven seats, sonar/ocean sound effects, working periscope, glow-in-the-dark “Plutonium” torpedoes, full bar, 10' screen, surround sound

Need a good place to just sit back and watch Shark Week? With a working periscope, glow-in-the-dark plutonium torpedoes, and a decrepit, rusted steel interior, this insane masterpiece is the closest you'll come to exploring a sunken submarine without strapping on a scuba tank.

Star Trek

Built by: Ask the Advisors
Price: N/A
Highlights: 12 seats, realistic sound effects, motion-activated airlock doors, eight servers with 3,816 DVDs, private bar/seating area, surround sound, cinema-quality projector

If you bag an extra-terrestrial chick, this faithful recreation of the bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation is the perfect place to take her. The theater itself is connected to an adjoining bar and ready room by a set of motion-activated airlock doors, while a “Red Alert” button on the control panel turns the LED light system red and flashing, and authentic sounds from the show come blaring over the speakers. It's also just as impressive technically as it is aesthetically—the hidden A/V closet contains eight servers with a library of 3,816 DVDs.

Money Ain't a Thing

Built by: Kipnis Home Theaters
Price: $6,000,000
Highlights: Ultra-high-resolution digital cinema projector, 8.8 channel audio system using 16 18-inch subwoofers

While this screening room doesn't have a “theme” per se, it's still worthy of this list by its sheer outlandishness alone. A few years back, Jeremy Kipnis set out to create the perfect home theater—and he meant business, pouring a cool $6 million into developing what he calls the “Kipnis Studio Standard.” The results are mind-boggling: Kipnis' complicated sound system—which is comprised of 35 amplifiers and 37 speakers—circles the entire room and pumps out 11,315 high-quality watts, while his $100,000 Sony projector and 18-by-10 foot screen provide a picture that's four times the resolution of standard 1080p HD. We just hope we're not in the area the day someone accidentally turns it up all the way and causes everyone in a 30-mile radius to go deaf.

Stargate

Built by: Visual Concepts Louisville
Price: $70,000
Highlights: 1080p HD projector, dedicated light projector, 10' screen, motion-activated pneumatic doors, 6' fiber-optic StarScape display

Ever wanted an intergalactic wormhole portal in your basement? Neither have we. Nevertheless, one committed sci-fi fan had this massive 10-foot “Stargate” installed to serve as the screen of his home theater, along with custom wall and ceiling moldings. The most impressive feature in the room, though, is the six-foot fiber-optic ceiling dome that displays sky murals, stars, and sunset effects.