Ask HN: What makes a great movie theater experience?

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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