Whilst there is certainly a buzz about the Odeon, particularly when the latest blockbuster is showing to a full house, and it is great that in the days when most cinemas are now bland multiplexes with tiny screens, they have retained the huge main auditorium intact, I personally feel the Odeon is over-hyped, over-priced and does not offer facilities that come anywhere close to the Empire across the Square.
The entrance foyer is crammed between the street and auditorium with very limited space on the Stalls level. The slate of the screen (due to the high location of the projection box) is very noticeable from the middle of the stalls forward. If it is busy, avoid the stalls as the seats are not raked sufficiently and your view will be partly obstructed by a tall person who chooses to sit in front of you. Added to which you can feel tube trains rambling underneath your feet.
Upstairs seats in the Royal Circle do offer good sightlines but these are the only ones that do and they come at a price – £24 the last time I went there (Mamma Mia last year or the year before that?).
The main screen at the Odeon is a maximum of 15.85m x 7.92m whereas at The Empire (which has a smaller auditorium â€" 1,330 seats compared with the Odeon’s 1,683) the screen size is 18.26 x 8.14. Sitting in the Rear Circle at the Odeon, the screen looks so small in comparison to the size of the auditorium that it feels like you are watching a portable television. Some seats even have restricted views.
The sound is good but on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is the best, the Odeon would not warrant 6 or 7 compared with 10 for the Empire’s 56kw THX certified system.
So why is it that distributors cannot see that the enjoyment of a film is enhanced by the Empire’s superior facilities but still choose the Odeon?
Whilst there is certainly a buzz about the Odeon, particularly when the latest blockbuster is showing to a full house, and it is great that in the days when most cinemas are now bland multiplexes with tiny screens, they have retained the huge main auditorium intact, I personally feel the Odeon is over-hyped, over-priced and does not offer facilities that come anywhere close to the Empire across the Square.
The entrance foyer is crammed between the street and auditorium with very limited space on the Stalls level. The slate of the screen (due to the high location of the projection box) is very noticeable from the middle of the stalls forward. If it is busy, avoid the stalls as the seats are not raked sufficiently and your view will be partly obstructed by a tall person who chooses to sit in front of you. Added to which you can feel tube trains rambling underneath your feet.
Upstairs seats in the Royal Circle do offer good sightlines but these are the only ones that do and they come at a price – £24 the last time I went there (Mamma Mia last year or the year before that?).
The main screen at the Odeon is a maximum of 15.85m x 7.92m whereas at The Empire (which has a smaller auditorium â€" 1,330 seats compared with the Odeon’s 1,683) the screen size is 18.26 x 8.14. Sitting in the Rear Circle at the Odeon, the screen looks so small in comparison to the size of the auditorium that it feels like you are watching a portable television. Some seats even have restricted views.
The sound is good but on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is the best, the Odeon would not warrant 6 or 7 compared with 10 for the Empire’s 56kw THX certified system.
So why is it that distributors cannot see that the enjoyment of a film is enhanced by the Empire’s superior facilities but still choose the Odeon?