Cineplex South Bank — Local services in Brisbane City

By all means come here, but don't expect to actually see your movie unless you bus or get dropped off. They advertise parking, and when you call to double check exactly what parking is available, they clearly state there is parking on site. What they DON'T explain is that the parking they have isn't even enough to cater for half of one cinema, let alone the whole five cinemas they have here. Parking was full and no other parking available in the area - I had to wait until a spot became available (which meant waiting until another movie finished). Then later when our movie finished, there were cars arriving for the next session, spilling out onto and up the street due to the inadequate parking. Cineplex could easily avoid this if they had an option for you to reserve parking when you book a ticket - or if they didn't mislead people like myself, who called to specifically ask whether there is enough parking or whether they should make other plans.

That was the first problem. Then when I was buying snacks for the movie, the lady next to me dropped the sugar drink she had bought and it splashed all over my legs and feet. The staff member behind the counter simply said "oh sorry" and gave me a single small serviette (only after I asked for it), as they had forgotten to refill the dispenser. I didn't need an apology - I needed to be dry and not sticky. It wouldn't have been difficult for this staff member to go and get more serviettes.

The third problem is one that has been mentioned already by other reviewers - some seats flex backwards and some are solid. This means you might enjoy the movie, or you might have a sore back by half way through (either way you won't know until it's too late). The seats are also extremely narrow, so you can expect to be pushed up against other peoples shoulders unless you're petite (standard sized males need not expect to fit next to one another). I suspect the people who say the seats are comfortable, are either pudgy with a lot of protective 'padding', or are very small so the seats feel large and accommodating. Either way I am a 5'11" 83kg male (fairly standard) and I had a sore back by halfway through the film. My girlfriend couldn't even lean on my shoulder because the narrow seat meant that I had to push my shoulders in and up to fit.

The fourth problem is that since the cinema doesn't wish to implement booked seats, the 40 or 50 odd seat long rows fill up with people leaving seats empty half way along the row because they don't want to sit next to anyone. This means that for other people to find a seat, a staff member literally had to pause the previews, and stand in front of the screen with a microphone telling people to move along and fill the seats next to them so that the rest of the customers can fit. This is a very strange problem that could be easy fixed with a quick booking modification to the website, and numbered stickers on each seat. I do love the whole "first in best dressed" thing like the old days... But it simply doesn't work when you have something like 360 seats and intend on filling every single one of them, and then you don't allow people in until just five or ten minutes before the session begins. You can't exactly "be seated early" like they suggest, when they only leave a twenty minute gap between each session.

Despite all that, the screen (Cinema 5) was actually fantastic - enormous, clear, bright, great colours - the screen and cheap price are the reasons the review has more than one star. The excellent screen distracted us from the problems so we could enjoy the movie. If one were to simply comment on the screen alone, it is excellent value for money.

The problems I have mentioned are VERY easy to fix, relatively cheap for a cinema that packs well over 300 seats per session, and wouldn't require more than a week of downtime to implement cinema by cinema (they could continue operating the other four cinemas during this time and as such continue making money). So I'll be avoiding this place until these issues...

I've always loved going to South Bank cinemas since living in Brisbane for the last seven years. However my experience today was off putting. I went to see the movie Napoleon because it had Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Ridley Scott, so should be a great movie. I was relieved when I sat in the air conditioning as it was stinking hot outside but it was actually too cold after an hour to the point of freezing. They must have money to throw away. We were in there for an hour and a bit and it was a boring script, i was disappointed in the movie, (not the cinemas fault). My daughter left and I stayed and tried to get into it but with the cold and a movie that wasn't great I decided to leave and get our usual bite to eat afterwards. When I went back to get my parking confirmed ended, they told me I had to watch the whole movie, and if I leave before then I had to pay $35 for the parking. It was a three hour movie and apparently it's written on the card you get. I asked for the manager and he said he needed to check on the camera when we came in and left to see if we were telling the truth. So off he went and came back saying he couldn't see us coming in. So after another conversation and off to have another look he returned to tell us that we weren't in there long enough and insisted that we have done this before. Apparently some people want the free parking that comes with the cinema tickets and instead of paying $35 to park they buy the tickets which are really cheap and then go off and do other things in South Bank. So it was really the fact that we didn't like the movie, didn't ask for our money back as I knew we had been there a while and then to be accused not only of trying to get cheap parking but that we had actually done it before, left me speechless. I'm in my 50's and he was talking to us like young criminals. So just make sure you watch the whole movie even if you don't like it, or leave early, 15 minutes, and you can get your money back as I have done once in my life, or you might be met with accusations of parking theft. He seamed to resent the fact that restaurants in the area benefit from his customers who use his cinema car park. I can only say that if he focused more on the air conditioning temperature he would have...

THIS PLACE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE UNTIL THEY HAVE FIXED THEIR LEAKING ROOF & REMEDIATED THE MOULD & STEAM CLEANED LITERALLY EVERYTHING!!

Any review saying this place is clean is FAKE!

We used to come here a lot years ago so tonight decided to try it out again, knowing it’s old and scuffed. But what we were confronted with was far beyond that. There were several buckets left both up and downstairs to catch the leaks from the roof (hasn’t even been raining that hard). Yes downstairs was old, worn out, hand driers not turned on in bathroom, limited snack selection, but we were expecting that. However upstairs, walking into cinema 3 we were IMMEDIATELY confronted with the heavy cloak of dust & mildew.

Rounding the corner to the seats & the smell only got worse - the smell & air SO HEAVY & THICK I HAD TO BREATHE THROUGH MY SHIRT. We tried to stick it out but after a few mins two other ppl walked in & immediately back out bcuz of the smell. We followed soon after and saw them downstairs asking for a refund, which we also did. To their credit the attendants didn’t hesitate to refund us and one of the young guys asked if we’d be willing to wait to see if it was an easy fix. Knowing it’s not an easy fix & starting to cough already, we accepted the refund & left.

I am allergic to mould and within 5 mins of leaving I had to take 2 antihistamines because the glands in my throat were swelling & I was coughing, and had to take another very heavy duty antihistamine when I got home as well as use asthma puffer etc. My partner, who doesn’t have ANY allergies, ALSO had to take an antihistamine as his mouth was itchy. We threw our drinks & popcorn out as they stank of the smell there & we didn’t trust it.

The attendants were lovely, I’m sorry, & we used to LOVE coming here, but will not be back until it is completely remediated. This place is now a health hazard - there are plenty of cheap ticket cinemas around Brisbane - go ANYWHERE but here!

IGNORE AT YOUR...