Darth Id said:

Saw Redux at the Waverly during the week before it closed.

And as far as I'm concerned, if you REMEMBER being WOWED by the stereo effect (I assume you're talking about the carpet bomb cascade scene), that is proof that you were taken out of the movie for a moment so as to appreciate the AWESOMENESS!!!!11!1

In other words, you were distracted.

I can't quite see the downside of being blown away by the artistry of film but each to his own. Also, given that AP starts on total black and the sound is only thing there is, I can't see what it is a distraction from?

I've stood agog at the viceral texture of Van Gogh's paint. But obviously a flat print is the superior way to experience his art, then I wouldn't have been distracted by all that beautiful brushwork ;-)

By the way, do you find life itself to be a distraction from reality? Given that you hear in stereo.

Anyway, I love Mono too, when it's appropriate to the film/album and the artist's intent. I've no desire to hear pre-stereo films beefed up to 5.1 or the like, I'd rather hear the original. But if a film was conceived with decophonic sound then that's the way it should be.