I don’t see a lot of movies in the cinema, so call me slow if you like, but I think I’ve worked out why big TVs and DVDs and Bluray are getting so popular.
Freaking $18.50 for an adult, $13.50 for kids? (And this is at 10am on a weekday — I don’t know if their pricing varies at peak times.) Plus $4 each for Choc Tops, and $3.90 for a bottle of water. $61.40 for a movie with a snack? Gordon Bennett.
The silver-lining is there was only one other person in the theatre, sitting right up the back, so we got pick of the seats.
And the movie itself? Spectacular, but not deep. Enjoyable but not utterly brilliant. A little like the original, in fact.
21 replies on “Tron (and why home theatre is so popular)”
So true. Add another two kids on to this and you can see why have our set up at home.
It’s the popcorn price that kills me. Yet I just can’t sit in a cinema without one. It just feels wrong for some reason.
The popcorn would have to cost the cinema about 1/100th what it costs the customer. Even factoring the near minimum wages they pay the workers that make it and serve it that markup is still utterly crazy.
@Julian – I went to a cinema recently and they didn’t even have minimum wage infants serving – you had to do it yourself, then carry it to the checkout! I was appalled!
In Taiwan I pay about $7-9 AUD for an adult ticket (any time of the day) and about AUD $1.10 for a large 1L+ coke and about the same again for a popcorn.
Australian theatres are worse than Australian retailers when it comes to ripping everybody off.
We always try and get cheap tickets:
$11 for adults at Hoyts with RAC (like the RACV) if you buy at their outlet ahead of time. You used to have to buy a book of ten, but don’t need to anymore. They do cheaper kids tickets, but even at $11 you are saving on your kids.
Oh, and I remember that Greater Union got slammed a while back for not allowing soft drinks and food bought elsewhere into the cinema. So unless it is hot or smelly food, you can take your own in.
Yes, I too enjoyed the movie. It was grrrrr…
It was grrrrrr….
It… it was… I..
*snap*
IF WATER IS ENERGY, WHY WAS SHE CARRYING AN UMBRELLA?!
PROGRAMS WERE KIDNAPPED AND PUT IN THE GAME GRID BEFORE, SO WHAT ARE ALL THESE PNEW ROGRAMS DOING? DO PROGRAMS WORK 9-5 NOW?
RECOGNIZERS EVERYWHERE, AND THEY NEVER DID WHAT THEY’RE FAMOUS FOR!
GETTING TO THE EXIT PORTAL IS HARD, BUT THERE’S A TRAIN THAT TAKES YOU STRAIGHT TO IT?
@Julian Wearne
The popcorn is cheap as… I have been to both Village and Hoyts and it’s very cheap, you order 2 massive popcorn bxoes+ extra large or large coke, and it ends up being cheaper then getting them smaller and one box for everybody.
Well, maybe that’s if you go with a group it equates to being cheaper?
Keep in mind, the profits of cinemas rely heavily on their snack bar.
Movie ticket price tend to be okay/average, because the cinema outlets generally just pass on the cost of licensing to air them.
The snack bar tends to be outrageous for chocolate bars and everything other then popcorn+coke in order to make profit which it otherwise doesn’t really do with selling tickets.
Only $3.50 for water? A bargain. Try $4.50 at the Regent for a live show. It was Italian though. I don’t see movies out very often and I too was surprised at $18.
If you see it in 3D they charge a $3 per ticket surcharge. $21 a pop it cost us on the Christmas Day holiday. Lucky we only go to the cinemas once every 9-12 months or so ;-)
Expensive indeed! Add that to the price of the eating out in a restaurant that probably took place before or after the movie.The last time I bought popcorn in a movie theater (Jam Factory) I think it cost $7, just $3 less than the used hot air popcorn popper I got for $10 at Cash Converters. I usually pass on the rather expensive large drink / bladder buster to avoid missing any of the expensive theater experience. Having assigned seating in a movie theater was also a novel Australian experience for me. I’ve never encountered assigned seating at a movie theater in the USA.
Jed, many of our cinemas may now have assigned seating – but we don’t like it.
When/if I go to the cinema I drive to one that’s further away simply to avoid the assigned seating crap
most cinemas in the US will not let you take any sort of food or drink in with you. i distinctly remember one instance where a security guard confiscated my bottle of WATER while the movie was playing. he came by with a torch and made me get up and throw it away.
australian cinemas letting people bring in their own food/drink is great!
Daniel you need to buy a Palace Club card.
IIRC the cost is $20 but you get a double pass as a pressie for joining and tickets are about $12 each.
Alan
I wonder if our cinema operators are being “ripped off” by the studios because they are in Australia? What are their overheads? (Anecdotal evidence indicates cinema tickets are cheaper overseas. Why?)
@Alan, it’s $19 ($28 for two years)
http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/movieclub/adult/
Looks like a good deal (esp as it includes the Kino cinema in the City), but only assuming I was a more regular movie-goer. I suppose the cheaper prices could well get me going along more regularly (as is the point of it). Will consider it; thanks.
when we go to Dendy Brighton, I nip down to Coles (underneath the cinema) and buy a 4-pack of Peters Drumsticks or equivalent for $6 to share with the family. We also BYO water bottles from home – free!
But the cost of cinema tickets is a lot. No escape unless you join a cinema club.
I do enjoy the experience of the movies, but I agree with that cost I can’t afford to go regularly. Also I have a reasonably large telly and chairs that recline, so it’s much easier to enjoy something downloaded (or hired) at home.
And Tron really needed to have a bit more meat. We saw it gold class because we had free tix…I would have been disappointed to pay for it.
Yeah I refuse to pay full price now. I get a discount somehow or I don’t go.
The newly restored Westgarth Cinema at the bottom of Northcote hill is a splendid example of pre-war Art-Deco and a very comfortable theatre in which to watch films…very enjoyable. experience…
We greatly enjoyed “The King’s Speech” one of the finest films I have seen in years …Don’t miss it ..it’s great
Alongside the Westgarth Theatre (in High Street Northcote )there are lots of cheap eats ..and a wonderful Fish and Chip/Greek food place.. which serves lovely fresh fish,and is very cheap…
Daniel,
You can also buy movie tickets in advance for $11 (adult), $10 (student) online – I know that my University’s bookshop sells online, and will ship them to you as well. No requirement to be a student.
So, for $11 + $0.60 postage stamp, you’re good to go! Obviously if you buy a couple, then you’re better off postage wise.