Legacy Theaters Bristol 14 — Local services in Bristol

Visit: 5/7/23 1130am Film: GotG Vol. 3 Theater#9

I've loved this theater since I camped out for Phantom Menace tickets in '99. This is my first time visiting since Legacy purchased it and, man, I am disappointed.

The best thing about this theater remains the ticket prices. They are the lowest I've found in the area. The only other positive I experienced this visit was the customer service. Although concessions was understaffed, the two workers were patient and friendly with everyone.

Now for the bad.

The first thing I'd like to mention is the theater on our tickets did not match the theater playing our showing, creating confusion. Next, the local ads didn't start until one minute after showtime and ran for 15 minutes or so. Ads that typically play when people arrive early. Then the trailers were another 20 minutes. It was well over 30 minutes past showtime when the movie actually began.

Secondly, during the trailers, we could tell the volume was way too loud. Specifically, I could tell the center channels (responsible for most dialog and front-facing effects) were much louder than the surround channels. The surrounds actually sounded like they were blown out on the left side, which is why they may be compensating with center channels. LFE levels were unremarkable. Our db level app was catching levels ranging from 85-110 decibels at points during the film, enough to damage hearing. Don't believe me? Read the other reviews about the sound being too loud.

Finally, a minor quibble, but the seats are somewhat run-down and uncomfortable, but not unbearably so.

I don't want to give up on this theater, so I'm rating 3* for now as their fault seems to be that they're spread too thinly (e.g., not enough staff, too many concurrent theaters running with substandard equipment).

I think with some resource consolidation, extra staff, and consideration for their clients, they can improve...

My wife and I took our two daughters to see the 12:30 showing of the latest mermaid movie to spend time with them for Father's Day. Got there at 12:30. Got tickets and went to concessions next. The girls and I got the gigantic bag of popcorn and drinks to share. My wife wanted the White Castle burgers they have on their menu. They all had expired dates and couldn't use them. So my wife ordered a burger and drink. After standing there waiting 15 minutes, our movie was starting, my wife told me to take them on in the theater and she would be there as soon as she got her food. 25 minutes later, they tell her they were getting a delivery of buns any time and could fix the burger. If you are going to have this on the menu, shouldn't you have it on hand just in case someone orders it? She told them to forget it and just swap out for nachos. Even after talking to the manager on duty, they had the audacity to charge her 28 cents more for the difference! The manager more or less just said "sorry, 28 cents please." After waiting half an hour for food, they tell her that??? Don't you think you could have said something sooner??? And then the nerve to charge extra!!! Customer service has definitely a thing of the past! Tinseltown was ten times the movie theater this place is. To be fair, the young man working the counter did tell the manager she had been waiting all this time, but oh, no, had to have that 28 cents for the already crazy high food. He'll probably get fired for it. I like to support Bristol VA businesses, but I will go to the Pinnacle , Abingdon or someplace. I won't spend another...

I had never been to a Legacy theater before. So I was willing to give it a try. Not knowing anything about it, I went in open-minded. When we walked in, giving this theater used to be a Tinseltown, everything was the same. We peeked in the arcade before getting our tickets, most everything in there was the same, but they added a punching bag machine. It seemed rearranged but clean. We got our tickets and went to theater 4. All the seats were the same except worse. They were just as uncomfortable and way more worn than I've ever seen them. If the movie we went to see (Jungle Cruise, highly recommended) wasn't so good, I would have left and not thought twice about it. You would think that opening a new theater under a different name that they would update it. All they did was put an open now sign on the building. Most eerie theater I've ever been to. The only thing that was reasonable about the experience was the price. Great price, terrible quality. How does one theater close over a year ago and open back up ten times worse under another name? Marquee Cinemas might be pricy but...