At The Drive In
May 26, 2009
Over the weekend I went to our newly reopened Drive-In in Greenwood, SC (http://25drivein.com: not the greatest website but I guess it gets the job done.)
What did I see you ask….I saw the Double Feature of Star Trek and Wolverine.
Star Trek was still awesome. Wolverine was not as bad as I had heard…but I could have done without the Professor X thing at the end…value add…nothing.
The drive in is nice. The owners have spent a great deal of effort in getting things in running order. The bulbs they bought for the screen are incredible. It’s the best outdoor screen I have ever seen. They are having some trouble with the audio broadcast though. You have to find a good parking spot to pick up the audio on your radio and even then you get the occasional interference. But I have confidence they will work this out eventually.
One last thing about the drive in. Compared to the regular theatre…it’s cheap…$7 for adults and $5 dollars per kid. For a double feature of 2 new run movies…That’s like $3.50 for each movie for me… Their concessions are cheaper than most places too…especially since you can get burgers and fries in addition to the normal popcorn.
How about you? Do you have a local drive-in?
I never was in a drive-in. There is one nearby, but I guess the drive-in-culture is not that big in Germany. At least I can’t remember anyone even talking about it the last 15 years.
We have some cool open-air-places during the summer, mostly at public swimming pools. When I was younger I went to those occasionally and brought a nice lying-chair or to the back-seat out of my old car. But sometimes they are not allowed to turn up the volume to a satisfactory level because of neighbours.
I loved going to the drive-in when I lived in Salt Lake City, but I don’t think they have one in Albuquerque. Bummer.
I have vivid memories of going to see TRON at the local drive-in when I was but a wee lad… I remember laying on the roof of Dad’s pickup truck on a blanket (he kept yelling at me because one end of the blanket would keep falling across the windshield and blocking his view) with the little speaker thingie sitting next to me, enjoying the fresh air and totally in awe of the spectacle I was watching.
If drive-ins were to make a comeback, I can guarantee I would go to more movies. Even with less-than-stellar sound, I’d MUCH rather sit in a lawn chair in the back of a truck and watch a movie with a breeze blowing than sit in an air conditioned theater.
I wish Theatres of all types were more about experiences and less about stuffing you into a seat and selling you some popcorn.
I agree with that wholeheartedly, Brian! Honestly, I’ve never really understood why drive-in movies haven’t survived in my area. I’m in Wisconsin, granted, which means there are bad weather months… but I still don’t understand how you couldn’t make a profitable business model in the nicer months, especially considering the brisk tourist trade of my immediate area. To my untrained eye, it seems like there’d be less overhead overall: a leaf-blower to clean up trash each night (and a rake and bag when you’ve got it all piled up), maybe a lawnmower once in awhile, and a couple of people manning the concessions and gate. *shrug* Maybe it’s the cost of getting the movies themselves?
There’s an old abandoned one about 10 minutes from my house… I wonder if anyone’s ever going to do anything with it. Hmmmm….
Thanks for the info on the drive in. I’ve been looking for one thats still open here in SC! Thats not too far away to drive. I totally agree with you about how underrated these are. We used to cram into cars for $10 car load night when I was younger. Good times, Good times
We have a Drive In here in Valpo Indiana. The 49er. Nice place. We go a lot in the summer. We sat in Line to get in for almost an hour to see “Smithsonian and Star Trek.”
It’s hard for a drive in to be successful because most people want to be in a climate controlled, surround sound, sticky floor setting to watch a movie.
That and the “season” in the mid west is shorter than in warmer areas of the US.
It seems like I drive past Valpo at least 2-3 times a year (GenCon in Indy, Origins in Columbus, family & friends all over)… maybe the fiancée and I will have to stop some evening and watch a movie. Thanks for the tip!
We had one here in San Antonio, but it closed down a few years ago. I think it’s been torn down and leveled off too.
I loved it though. Two shows for the price of one like you said and they would run the first show again – so it went 1-2-1. You could go later and still catch both shows!
When I was a little kid and saw Star Wars for the first time – drive in! It was the second show and I kept falling asleep and waking up trying to figure out what was going on.
When I lived in Canonsburg, PA we had a drive in not too far away in Brownsville that plays new releases as well, I was last there in the summer of 2000 and saw Scary Movie and… Oh bloody hell, I cant remember what the other movie was. It was a fun experience and I wish I had a drive in near me in Philly. I would love to go to a drive in again.
We have a small (and old) drive-in theater here in the metropolitan area of Boise, ID… It’s not as cheap as yours, though, which kind of stinks. Last I checked it was about $11 for adults, which means that it’s .50 cheaper than the big movie theaters. We do, however, have $1 movie theaters here, which are awesome! The movie ticket is $1, and then the concessions are regular price. We LOVE those theaters!