You've got to be joking!

[mandragora]

Yesterday went to the cinema in the West End, the Odeon Leicester Square, no less. I don't tend to go to see a film in the West End because it's so damn expensive. Last time I went it was £12 a ticket - that's about US$23 at present exchange rates. That was last year.

So I was thinking that the ticket might be, say, £12.50. It wasn't. It was... wait for it £17 (about US$32). Jesus Christ. I could buy a DVD for that - less than that in most cases. I was gobsmacked. That is a gigantic rip-off par none. It's back to Wood Green (tickets £5.50, or £3.50 during the week) for me. Oh sure, the screens aren't quite as big and the sound quality perhaps not quite as good. But, it's at least £11.50 cheaper!

As for the film, that was Kingdom of Heaven. For a review, I suggest that you check out musesfool's entry here, which I pretty much agree with and is a very nice summary. Although I think I liked the romance bit more than musesfool did.

Comments

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

Movie tickets here where I am (SoCal) are about 10 dollars a pop, and "only" 8 dollars for the matinee, but it is cheaper to go to the movies in other states of the US. The big cities are more expensive, and SoCal is too (I guess because of the high AC costs - or basic greed). Where they really get you is with soft drinks, pop corn, and candy.It's extortion!

But movie going seems to be more expensive in Europe. I remember as a child in Germany it was already like 10 DM, which was a lot of money considering a childs weekly allowance, so movie going was a special occasion for us.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

movie going seems to be more expensive in Europe

I can't say about Europe, as I've only ever been to the cinema in Britain and Gibraltar (which always has the English language version of English language films) in Europe, but I think in general it is more expensive to go to the cinema over here, definitely. When I last went to the movies in the US it struck me as pretty damn cheap.

OTOH, £3.50 - about US$6.50 isn't too bad and I could have paid that little to see the film, even in London (which is normally more expensive than anywhere else in the UK). If only I'd known the extortionate West End price beforehand. Alas.