Seattle is a pretty good place to go to the movies. There are huge theaters for the latest blockbuster hits as well vibrant small theaters for an obscure indie release. I’ve spent a lot of time checking out the different theaters in the area, so here are my thoughts on getting the best movie watching experience.
Movie Subscriptions:
If you go to the movies as frequently as I do, you definitely need to look into a theater subscription service. The two main ones you need to chose between are the AMC Stubs A-List and Regal Unlimited.
- AMC Stubs A-List: This is the program I use and as such this list is going to be biased towards AMC theaters. With your A-List subscription, you get to watch 3 movies a week at any AMC and week resets Friday morning. What really stands out is there are no extra charges for premium formats like IMAX or Dolby Cinema. You only have to see two movies a month to justify the monthly charge.
- Regal Unlimited: Regal Unlimited comes much closer to capturing the magic of Moviepass. You can basically see unlimited movies but you can’t see the same movie in the same format more than once per day. The downside is all the fees. You get charged fees for booking online and fees for premium showings like IMAX, 4DX, 3D, and ScreenX. I personally prefer AMC for the lack of fees for online orders and premium formats and because I rarely see more than 3 movies a week.
Here is my process when seeing a movie:
For most movies I either see it at the AMC 10 because I can walk there, or an AMC the works with my schedule because of A-List. Some movies I don’t care enough about to go out of the way to see in a premium format. For those that I do, I first check if they have been shot on an IMAX camera. If so, I’ll go the Boeing. If not, I’ll either make the drive to a theater with Dolby, or go to the Cinerama.
Theaters I like to visit:
- AMC Seattle 10: This theater used to be a Sundance theater before it was bought out by AMC. It still has kept the focus on indie films.
- AMC Pacific Place 11: Fun downtown theater with a lot of indie options.
- AMC Alderwood 16: A bit of a drive, but has the biggest IMAX screen in Seattle if the Boeing IMAX isn’t showing a movie.
- AMC Woodinville 12: A bit of a drive, but this has a nice Dobly screen that is usually something besides what’s on the Dolby screen at Alderwood 16.
- AMC Oak Tree 6: Near Green Lake, this theater trends towards a younger audience. Has really nice reclining chairs.
- Cinerama: This is probably my favorite theater in Seattle. It’s up in the air if it will reopen after Covid, but I’m really hoping it does.
- Grand Illusion Cinema: Seattle’s oldest movie screen. They have some really fun stuff shown here, definitely has some of the most personality of Seattle’s theaters.
- SIFF: The SIFF theaters have a great selection of indie showings to choose from.
- Northwest Film Forum: Has some really cool films they show.
- Boeing IMAX at Pacific Science Center: If you want to see something in IMAX, this is the place to go, it’s the only true IMAX theater in Seattle. Over the years, the requirements to be an IMAX theater have been watered down, causing many theaters to do a minor conversion where they get a slightly larger screen, move the seats closer to it, and upgrade the sound. This allows them to slap the IMAX logo on it and charge more, and as such these theaters are referred to by some as “liemax”. True IMAX has a 1 by 1.43 aspect ratio, but very few theaters that use the name can actually show a movie in this ratio. I got to see First Man at the science center and while most of the film is at a normal ratio, the last 17 minutes on the movie are in the full 1.33 glory. The space pod opens and the screen suddenly fills with the whole moon. It’s a jaw dropping experience. But unless you went to one of the few true IMAX screens, you would have the same aspect ratio the whole movie.
- Regal Regal Meridian & 4DX 16: This theater is fine. This has nothing to do with the quality of the movies, but I really hate the way this theater is laid out. It’s kind of a maze and the bathrooms are annoying to get to. This theater’s premium feature is 4DX, a 3D movie with moving seats and effects like fog or water spraying on you. I’m not a huge fan, the ticket is super expensive and not worth it. 3D has a darker picture and the things like the fog or smells were more of a distraction that pulled me out of the movie.