Ask HN: What makes a great movie theater experience?

[Macintosh007]

If you're someone that enjoys seeing seeing movies in theaters (and are reading this), I need your input.

I'm working on a side project - and am looking to create a list of the most important factors that go into making a great movie theater experience... great.

Things like:

- Screen size - Sound quality - Popcorn quality - Bathroom cleanliness - Seat comfort - Bonus offerings (food delivery, bar etc)

What would YOU say you care about most when visiting a theater? Any thoughts / feedback would be greatly appreciated.

BONUS: What are some of the nicest theaters you've visited where you live?

[defrost]

Catching fish while watching a movie; less common these days [1] but not at all uncommon when my parents generation went to the movies [2].

Seeing a local stage play open in a theatre [3] before it tours globally is pretty special, as is seeing the premeire of a film adaption in the same theatre [4] 20 years later.

I'm still fond of outdoor "walkies" (like an open air drive in but with no cars, just sling back canvas seating) fully open in a desert - it's a total bonus when you get both a great film and a kick ass meteor shower on the same night.

[1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-31/flood-warnings-as-bro...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Picture_Gardens

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_Nue_Dae

[4] https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+pictures+broome&tbm=isch

[jim-jim-jim]

I don't know if it's just me, but movie theaters seem louder now. Not the sound editing of the film itsef or anything. Just the volume of the physical speakers seems way cranked up now. So "reasonable volume" is at the top of my list.

This trend has been documented in live theater:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/opinion/broadway-loud.htm...

[Macintosh007 → jim-jim-jim]

Totally agree with you on this ones. One thing I don't like about the newer (smaller) IMAX theaters is that the sound is "so" loud. And the base often rattles the theater exposing annoying sounds

[kermatt]

I don’t go to movie theaters anymore because audiences suck. It been at least a decade.

Too many are not there to see a movie, but instead to laugh, talk, light up the room with their phones. Theaters don’t address this proactively, and getting up to ask them to do so means I miss part of the showing.

The odds of me enjoying a movie more at home are significantly higher, and it has nothing to do with the movie or the venue.

[smarri]

Braindump : Large comfortable seats, like sofas. Good range of food, hot and cold. Ease of ticket purchase, ideally online in advance, but a fast customer journey. Bathrooms large enough to service everyone after the movie, which is when there's typically a rush. Good and relevant trailers, I often enjoy these, but less other ads. Large screen, great sound.

[seattle_spring]

Zero tolerance for noisy people or using cell phones. Seriously, I'd take a crap screen with a respectful audience over a state-of-the-art system with a bunch of people talking around me.

[hobbitstan]

A great movie theater experience for me was living close to a very clean and nice theater that was a ghost town early Sunday’s. I’d go see movies and be the only one there.

[glaucon → hobbitstan]

An empty, but preferably quite large, theatre makes for a great experience. My wife and I went to see a movie on Christmas Eve and we were the only ones there, similar experience in a different year I was one of five in a 250 seat theatre in the days immediately after Christmas.

[henjodottech]

Ratio screen size / average distance seat to screen would be more important than just screen size.