My Korean Summer 2013: Day 15 - Korean movie theater (MEGABOX)

[Korean Movie Theater]
Last Sunday I went to MEGATRONBOX in Sinchon with one of my classmates. This movie complex is literally a humongous box attached to the former Sinchon train station. The building also houses some shopping venues but at the hour we went, only the theater was open.

[TICKETING]
We hopped into the elevator and took it to the lobby floor. Upon exiting, we found the ticketing area. Now, you may think:

"Nathan, movie theaters are movie theaters, they are all alike regardless of where you see a movie."

        "DENG! (Korean onomatopoeia for a wrong answer)"
        "Korean movie theaters, in my opinion, are the system to mimic"

Ticketing is done using a number queuing system. Instead of waiting in line (as in many USA theaters) for who knows how long, you just take a number and wait for an attendant to ticket you. You say the movie title and how many people you have in your party. Then you...choose your seats! No more getting to the movie theater mega early to get the best seats, just pick the ones you want out of the available ones! Better yet, many times people reserve tickets and seats via mobile apps! EVEN BETTER! Plus our tickets were less than $9.00 each...on a weekend night.

[CONCESSIONS]
"But Nathan, the concession prices must be just as high right?"

       "DENG!"
       "They were quite reasonable."

I bought a soda (~20oz) and paid...KRW 2000 or less than $2.00! In the states I know I've paid almost $4.00 for the same size. Not only this but the group in front of me got 3 of the same drink size and a small (medium maybe?) popcorn for...KRW 10,500 or less than $10.00.

[THEATER]
The theater was actually very similar to the USA. Although, there were no seats on the floor level. They only had stadium seats (besides, who wants to crane their neck for 2.5 hours). Also, there were no movie trailers shown (maybe a few but not in the style of the USA). Regular TV style commercials played before the film. I can't remember any specifics but it was basically like watching a commercial break, then the film kind of abruptly started after a notice about emergency exits.

[SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER]
The movie we saw was Pacific Rim, which unfortunately, I can't recommend it. It was just painful listening to the dialogue. Even the fight scenes were sometimes too dark to really see all the cool looking monster and robot details.

[WRAP UP]
Anyway, if you are in Korea and have a night with not much to do, why not see a movie? Most American movies are left with English audio and Korean subtitles. Animated movies are sometimes dubbed so just be careful or ask before you buy the ticket.

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