Why Going To The Cinema Used To Feel Like A Big Event

There was a time when going to the cinema was not simply something you did because you fancied watching a film.

It was an event.

You made plans, decided what time to go, worked out how you were getting there and, depending on your age, probably spent quite a bit of time negotiating with your parents about who was paying. Once you had arrived, there was the queue, the ticket, the sweets, the trailers and eventually the moment when the lights went down.

Today, watching a film is incredibly easy. You can sit on the sofa, open a streaming service and have thousands of films available within seconds. You can pause them, rewind them, change your mind halfway through and, if you are feeling particularly impatient, watch something else entirely.

But perhaps that convenience has taken away some of the magic.

For many people who grew up in Britain during the 70s, 80s and 90s, a trip to the cinema was something you looked forward to.

You had to actually go somewhere

One of the biggest differences was that watching a film required effort.

You couldn’t simply decide at 8.15pm that you fancied watching a classic comedy and have it playing five minutes later. You had to physically leave the house and travel somewhere.

That might mean walking into town, catching a bus, getting a lift from your parents or eventually driving there yourself.

The journey was part of the experience.

You knew where you were going, you knew roughly how long it would take and there was a certain excitement as you got closer. The cinema building itself had a sense of occasion that simply opening an app cannot reproduce.

The cinema queue

Then there was the queue.

Today, booking a seat online means you can often walk straight in. Back then, depending on the cinema and the film, you could spend quite a while standing in a line with everyone else who had decided that tonight was cinema night.

You could see the posters while you waited and hear people discussing the film you were about to watch.

There was also the moment when you reached the front and had to decide exactly what you wanted.

“Two adults and one child, please.”

It was a simple transaction, but it made the evening feel official.

You weren’t just watching a film.

You were going to the cinema.

Choosing your sweets was serious business

The cinema was also closely associated with sweets.

And choosing them was not something you did casually.

There were bags of sweets, chocolate bars, popcorn and drinks, with prices that seemed to become more shocking every time you went.

For children, the decision could be enormous. Do you get a large bag of your favourite sweets or several smaller things? Do you get popcorn? What about chocolate?

There was often a limited budget, which meant you had to make the decision carefully.

The person behind the counter would ask what you wanted and you suddenly had to remember everything you had discussed on the way there.

The smell of the cinema

Modern cinemas can be very polished, but older cinemas had a particular atmosphere.

There was the smell of popcorn, the slightly warm air, the carpet, the seats and that unmistakable mixture of excitement and anticipation.

Even before the film started, you knew you were somewhere different.

For children especially, the cinema felt enormous. The screen seemed impossibly large, the sound was loud and the darkness made the whole place feel slightly mysterious.

It was a completely different experience from watching television at home.

The trailers were part of the attraction

Nobody wanted to miss the trailers.

They were effectively free entertainment before the main event and could sometimes be almost as exciting as the film itself.

You would see what was coming over the next few months and immediately start thinking about which films you wanted to see.

Sometimes a trailer introduced you to something you had never heard of. Other times you were sitting there waiting for one particular film to appear.

There was no YouTube trailer compilation to watch beforehand.

If you wanted to see it, you had to go to the cinema.

The lights going down

There was always a moment when the talking stopped.

The lights dimmed, the screen changed and the trailers began.

That was the point when you knew you were committed. For the next couple of hours, you were going to sit there and watch the film.

There were no phones buzzing in your pocket. No notifications. No temptation to check what had happened on social media.

The cinema demanded your attention.

And because you had made the effort to get there, you were usually happy to give it.

The big films felt genuinely big

Blockbusters seemed different because you didn’t see them everywhere beforehand.

Today, a major film can dominate the internet for months. Trailers are watched millions of times, clips appear across social media and people discuss every detail before the film has even been released.

Back then, the cinema was often where you experienced the scale of a big film for the first time.

A huge action sequence, a spectacular special effect or a massive musical moment felt genuinely impressive because you were seeing it on a giant screen with a proper cinema sound system.

The experience could stay with you long after you left.

Going with your friends

For teenagers, the cinema was also a social event.

It was somewhere to meet friends without necessarily needing to organise a complicated evening.

You could meet outside the cinema, buy your ticket, grab some food and spend a couple of hours together.

And, importantly, the film wasn’t necessarily the most important part.

You were out.

You were with your mates.

You had somewhere to go.

The cinema was simply the centre of the evening.

The awkwardness of sitting next to someone

Then there was the seating arrangement.

Before reserved seating became commonplace, finding seats could be an adventure in itself.

You might arrive early to get a good position, only to discover that the people in front had chosen exactly where you wanted to sit.

If you were with a group, there was the inevitable search for enough seats together.

And if you were on a date, the seating decision could suddenly feel far more complicated than it had any right to be.

Where do you sit?

How close is too close?

Who gets the armrest?

Some things about cinema etiquette have clearly never changed.

The interval

Depending on what you were watching and where you were watching it, there could also be an interval.

This gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs, visit the toilet and, importantly, buy more refreshments.

The interval could also create a strange sense of anticipation.

You had reached the halfway point but still didn’t know how the story was going to end.

For children, it could feel like a welcome break. For adults, it was an opportunity to quietly discuss the film without disturbing anyone.

The walk home

One of the most memorable parts could be the journey home.

If you were a child, your parents might be driving. If you were older, you could be walking back into town with friends or catching a bus.

And everyone had something to talk about.

Was it any good?

Which was the best bit?

Did you understand the ending?

Would you watch it again?

You couldn’t simply look at a phone and immediately read hundreds of reviews from strangers. Your immediate reaction was your own.

You had watched the film, formed an opinion and talked about it.

Going to the cinema was expensive

Of course, one reason cinema trips felt special was that they weren’t necessarily something you did every week.

Tickets cost money, sweets cost money and getting there could cost money too.

For families, a trip to the cinema could be a proper expense. For teenagers, it might mean saving pocket money or deciding that seeing a particular film was worth spending your available cash.

That made the choice more meaningful.

If you were going to spend the money, you wanted the film to be worth it.

The cinema as a memory

Perhaps that is the biggest difference.

We still go to the cinema. Modern cinemas are more comfortable, the sound is better, the screens are better and the technology is astonishing.

But the cinema no longer has quite the same monopoly on the experience of watching a film.

You can now watch a huge Hollywood blockbuster at home. You can pause it to make a cup of tea. You can watch something else afterwards. You can even watch the same film again immediately.

When we were younger, none of that was possible.

If you wanted to see a film, you went to the cinema.

And because you had made the effort, it became an event.

A night out rather than simply watching a film

Perhaps that is what we really miss.

Going to the cinema used to be an entire evening rather than simply two hours of entertainment.

There was the journey, the queue, the ticket, the sweets, the trailers, the lights going down, the film and the journey home. Sometimes it was combined with a meal, a trip into town or a wander around the shops.

The film was important, but it was only part of the experience.

Today, entertainment is everywhere and available almost instantly. That is undoubtedly convenient, but there was something special about having to make a plan, leave the house and commit to an evening.

You knew you were going to the cinema.

And for a few hours, nothing else really mattered.

What film do you remember going to see at the cinema that felt like a genuinely big event?