AMC CLASSIC Murfreesboro 16 — Attraction in Murfreesboro

OK, I just got home from this place after watching Jumanji with my two oldest kids (11, 13) and I just had to Google the reviews this place may have received lately. I noticed quite a few 5 star reviews here recently, so I'm here to tell you folks, they're lying!! Those reviews most likely came from the manager of this location and his friends and family after a beg session! Seriously, it was so horribly ran, it would almost be worth the small fortune, they're wishing they was worth, they're trying to charge, just to go back and witness it again for the entertainment value! This is my very first review, but this place definitely deserves one! I hope sincerely that someone reads this that has some type of control over this place and can use this as an eye opener and shut this place down completely and only reopen it when it's properly cleaned, as well as able to be ran by someone who made it to high school as well as stocked with proper snacks and drinks that EVERYBODY could enjoy! Or, if the top person in charge of this place is fully aware of how it's being ran already and is still choosing to open it to the public in the shape it's in, you need to be a decent human being and do what's right, quit your job and go back to flipping burgers because you are not a smart person and some intelligence is required to be a manager. I'm going to list a few different smmfh moments from my night and then just cross my fingers for this place, turn my back, and pretend it just simply vanished for the remainder of my natural born life and I also hope this review is seen by others thinking about going to this place. DON'T! The sad part about all of this, this place really does have potential to be quite a nice theater, if ran properly. It really is a shame. Anyways, without anymore delay annddd....... ACTION!!!!

SCENE 1: Walking up to the place after parking, my kids ask me why it looks so nasty in the parking lot. I didn't notice it until they said it honestly, but then I look around and it's bad! It had obviously been months since any kind of parking lot sweeping or maintenance of any sort had been done to this place. Overflowing trash cans and all that. Although this can simply be overlooked and not really mess your night up, I felt it was bad enough to be addressed.

SCENE 2: After making it into the movie without incident, my daughter informs me that she forgot my water when she packed our goodie, NOPE I'm not paying that, movie bag. It's 3 degrees outside so I decide to just go buy myself a beverage from concessions. Then the fun begins! I'm waiting in line and I over hear this couple discussing whether they are gonna go return their tickets and leave. Evidently the man had diabetes (I believe) and this place didn't have ANY type of diet soda he could drink and something else that happened that had them pretty pissed off. They decided to just go watch the movie anyways and dude was just gonna have to be thirsty, I guess. Finally after about a 15 minute wait in line I make to the cashier, I didn't even look at prices honestly, I was too busy making fun of this place in my head, to pay attention really. After the diet soda incident and reading all the signs talking about the 100+ soda flavors they was ballin' with now, I decide to get just a SMALL soda and see what the fuss was about and I swear to God when that dude said $6.75 for ONE SMALL SODA, he caught me off guard and I seriously couldn't speak there for a minute! If any of yall are paying that much and are OK with it, look me up on Facebook because you can come and watch a movie over my house! THAT'S NOT OK! Anyways, I paid for it because I was in a hurry and I didn't wanna explain to my kids why I'm returning 30 minutes later empty handed. When I make it to the soda machine with my cup the first one said it was completely out of everything except CocaCola and Spirite, which was cool with me because I wanted Coke anyways. My cup gets about halfway full then it shuts off and says it's out, HA! I then move to the other machine and...

Review Updated for visit on 9/3/2022. Rating changed from 4 stars to 3 stars.

My wife and I came to see an 8:00 PM showing of Minions: The Rise of Gru. While we enjoyed the movie itself, this review is exclusively a review of the theater and its facilities, not the movie.

This movie was showing in a large number of theaters, and it was National Movie Day, so tickets were $3.29 in all the theaters. This theater was relatively close to our dinner location, it had later show times available than other theaters, and we had been there several times before over the years, so we decided to see the movie here. As I went to purchase my tickets on Fandango, I noticed from the Fandango description that this theater was the only one that did not offer the option of reserved seating, and it was the only one that did not offer any premium seating options such as stadium seating or recliner seats.

As soon as we walked into the lobby area, we noticed that there was a line that was doubled back on itself with roped in lanes. The line extended past the roped lanes back to the door at the entrance where we came in. The layout was confusing. Several people asked employees where the line was to present your tickets to get into the theaters, as it was beyond the concessions area and not obvious when you came in. Also, it turned out that the main concessions line was where you paid for your food and drinks, but you could only get your food at the counter. For your drink, you received an empty cup and had to get in another line to use a drink-vending machine to fill your cup. I much prefer getting in one line and getting my drink at the same time that I receive my popcorn. The popcorn was very dry and lacking flavor. The whole lobby area also seemed a bit cramped when it was busy. It felt dated and low-end and in need of a redesign to better serve its customers.

While I waited in line at the concessions, my wife went to use the restroom off the main lobby. She found that the women's room had two stalls, one of which was occupied and one of which was a nasty mess, so she opted to use another bathroom once inside the theater area where the facilities were more acceptable.

Once in the theater, we were able to find seats to our liking. I did notice that as Fandango had specified, the seats were basic, old-school fold down theater seats. To be clear, there was nothing wrong with these seats at all. They were cushioned and reasonably comfortable and had the usual cupholders on each arm. However, in these times, theaters compete with each other to earn your movie dollars, and many now offer higher-end seating options such as stadium seating, recliner seats and reserved seating. By comparison, these seats were nothing special.

The saving grace here was that the visuals on the screen and the sound from the sound system were very good - there were no issues there at all. The volume was perfect, and dialogue was clear. The visuals filled the screen and were crisp and bright. When it came down to the business of actually enjoying the movie, the theater delivered a good movie-watching experience.

Overall, this theater is adequate and has some advantages like more late showings of movies and proximity to some good restaurants. However, the overall experience felt like this theater has fallen behind the times a bit and things like the concessions area, the seats and the lack of reserved seating all felt sub-par. Four years ago, when I gave this a four-star rating, that wasn't the case. It's not that this theater has gotten worse; it's that other theaters have since surpassed this one and made it look relatively shabby by comparison.

Given that this is not a discount movie theater and that ticket prices are comparable to other theaters, it doesn't feel like I'm getting the same value for my buck here as I am at other theaters. If location or available show times aren't the deciding factors, I'll probably choose other theaters...

I had an absolutely dismal experience this evening when my son and I went to this theater. The movie we saw was terrific. That was the ONLY good thing.

Now, I realize that Star Wars 8 is playing, and there's a lot of traffic to that show. Having worked in food service, however, I can tell you that it is horrid managerial skills that leave you with nothing but popcorn four hours after you open for the day. EVERYTHING else was sold out per the cashiers. Sadly, your being out of food was the least of the wrongs I suffered this evening.

Perhaps it is unfortunate for me that I do not have a wheelchair. Or a walker, or a cane. Something to outwardly show your employees that I'm physically disabled. I've considered myself fortunate in that I've not yet lost the use of my legs - though it is almost a guarantee with my condition that I one day will. Nevertheless, as a result of the horrendous condition of my spine, I try to time outings to events like this one so that I arrive in time to procure my ticket, any snacks for myself and my son, and then be seated in the theater. This last step is important because you saw fit to remove all of the available seating from the waiting area, leaving me and anyone like me without any relief. Your establishment is certainly NOT handicap-friendly in this regard.

When this was a CARMIKE cinema, there were benches in the hallways just off the lobby. There were tables and chairs in the lobby. Now, the hallways are cordoned off, and the "hall monitor" won't let anyone through until he's been informed that the film is seating. A 5:00 PM show should be seating by 4:30, usually. Especially when the show in question is only an hour and forty-five minutes long and you've blocked off two and a half hour segments between shows.

Yet I was informed that I would not be permitted to seat myself even on a bench in the hallway outside the theater itself (you left those, but removed the ones off the lobby for some reason) because the "hall monitor" had not yet been told that people could go into the theater. Funnily enough (/sarcasm), there were NUMEROUS people already in the theater when we were FINALLY permitted to go back fifteen minutes later.

The redesign that you've done on the lobby only makes it feel as though you are trying to herd people like cattle. The completely impersonal way that your staff treat customers is abominable. Your facility lacks basic necessities - such as TOILET PAPER and PAPER TOWELS or even a hand dryer - to say nothing of the amenities you advertise but don't stock.

I don't know if you fired all of the Carmike staff or not, but let me tell you a few things they handled better:

1. Seating in the lobby / just off the lobby
2. Ticket checkers were located in the hallways just in front of the theaters. In some cases, such as a major release (Star Wars), a second ticket check would be performed by an usher at the theater doors.
3. There were basic necessities in the restrooms.
4. Customers weren't expected to fill their drinks at filthy fountain machines.
5. Customers weren't expected to butter their own popcorn - and the stations are filthy and unkempt to boot.

Overall, the transition from Carmike to AMC has been horrible. I want Carmike back. Since I can't have that, I'd settle for a little common sense among the managers and staff at this AMC location.

For the record, I was fortunate enough to see "The Greatest Showman" this evening. I highly recommend the film - just maybe go somewhere else to see it. Somewhere the staff won't treat you like a ticket stub they can tear in half, drop on the floor, and tread all...