Odeon Cinema, Brighton

This place has taken quite a bit flack in the past and, to be honest, it was relevant. However things have improved but there still remains the Parking problem if you need it. There may be deals with Churchill Square but it still comes as additional cost. Why not slightly raise the price of a ticket and offer free parking for punters ??

The dirtiest filthiest cinema I have been to, the term 'Flea Pit' must have been coined just for this dump.
As mentioned above the carpets are a health hazard god knows what filth is in the seats as its to dark to see but you can smell it.
The carpets and seats are covered in chewing gum and the place reeks of vomit.

For gods sake get the carpets and the seats cleaned or one day health and safety will close the place.

There was no way I was going to allow my children eat anything here I will not be going back at least not until it has had a major deep clean.

The carpets are gross - only the chewing gum saves the pattern. The toilets are filthy. The food is overpriced, the aircon too warm. But all modern cinemas are ugly, inside and out. This is also true of the Odeon.What sets it apart is how truly offensively ugly it is. It is not just a bit anaesthetic.

One evening - two architecture gods got really drunks and had a competition to see who could create the ugliest building. One of then squatted over a hole in a cloud and shat out a lump of concrete, when it fell to earth it crushed the seafront Regency buildings where it landed. And it would have just sat there like a huge pustulating carbuncle on the face of a particularly sexy friend. But the other god of architecture was not to be outdone, so he tossed a golden crown onto the roof of the concrete turd.

However, it has perfectly good screens playing perfectly mainstream films and perfectly pleasant bored staff to sell you overpriced food. Plus it's on the seafront so you can contemplate the breeze after any particularly harrowing WII based death films. So it gets five stars from me.

For a cinema it is central though because Brighton is by the sea you can always feel the breeze and although I am ok with the seaside I personally prefer to be inland because it's warmer particularly in the larger cities like Manchester and London.

Anyway a nasty 70's type architecturally building sitting ill at ease with the victorian and edwardian splendour that is Brighton's sea front.

There are an array of multi storey car parks here and you can get a discounted rate from the cinema can't recall what it is.

8 screens here, though not cheap and would not recommend buying refreshments here OK for a day's shopping and a meal and cinema in the evening or even a dirty weekend away but would not visit personally for a night out unless in the summer. I find sea side resorts even Brighton very depressing particuarly in the period after Christmas when this place isn't just cold but positively bleak as are most seaside resorts.

With it's seafront location, this Odeon lends itself to be easily included in a night out. Despite only being an 8 screen cinema it tends to show a wide range of films and balance the range better than the Brighton Cineworld do.

One of my favourite things about the Odeon is the 'Director's Chair' screening every Tuesday. This is essentially a screening at around 8pm of a slightly more independent or smaller movie that might have had a shorter run at the cinema and offers film buffs a second chance to see it.

Prices on snacks are what's to be expected from a cinema, but I don't mind it too much as I know that's where the cinemas make their money. There is also a Ben and Jerry's Cafe attached, proximity to such a range of ice-cream always helps things.

One issue I found with this Odeon though is that they don't accept student discounts at the weekend. They do have a loyalty 'Premiere Card' which seems alright, you only have to see 4 or 5 movies to get results from it.

Good for a movie - Orange weds etc... take your own food and drinks as buying in there is a definate no go, as they charge an absolute fortune... Popcorn u may as well go XL if you do buy it as the small is tiny and only about 50p less.

run of the mill odeon…ok but pricey…never try buy treats or food from inside they charge rediculose amounts…brill screens and sound though :)

Easy to find cinema on the sea front.

The building is a little too big and felt a bit creepy being sent up in a lift to an unknown layout.

The screen was a good size and seats were comfy.

These were allocated and an unsher helpfully showed up to where we need to sit.

The 3d presentation was crisp, though we had to rummage out our own 3d glasses from in front of the auditorium doors.

We got lost on the way out as the cinema is so spread out and felt quite isolated with such gaps in design and direction.

Still you can’t beat the central location. The different types of seat vary in price depending on where you’d like to be positioned. Obviously middle center is the predictable favourite.

Its central so easy to get to, tickets are reduced before 6pm so a good place to start of your evening or to end your shopping trip. Its opposite the seafront so a godd stop off in the warmer months. However after 6pm its pricey though if you park your car in the churchill square carpark you can get your parking paid when you buy a ticket for the cinema after 6pm I think. The screen near the cafe on the ground floor is small but the free previews often held in there are good-you have to sign up to various film sites not the cinema to get them. There are two other floors of much larger screens and they are great to view big blockbusters on. However seriously over priced and plastic food so bring your own. As long as you are not too obvious you’ll be ok eating it. Its great if you are intown anyway especially the pre evening prices but as someone else said you could buy the DVD a few weeks later for the cost of two tickets.

Tickets are quite expensive for this cinema and some of the screens are quite small, however the auditoriums are generally well designed, with large capacity seating raked up quite steep to avoid the view being disrupted by the people in front, and to bring the screen down to eye-level. There is always a wide variety of films showing here and as previously mentioned it is sometimes possible to get free parking (although not always long enough to watch a whole film)

years ago, when i was young, this was THE cinema to go to. HUGE screens, perfect for seeing the wonders of Star Wars looming ahead of you. It felt so fancy to go up in the big escalators. Sadly, when remodelling the large screens were carved up into lots of smaller ones, and you rarely get the big cinema experience you used to. Having said that, if you plump for the posh seats at the back you get plenty of leg room and if you park in the right car park and get your ticket scanned you can get a couple of hours of free parking

It is my favourite mainstream cinema by far and i have seen many great films in there, however, over the years it has become seriously overpriced. Now the price of the tickets is fair enough, even though i could buy half of the dvd when it came out for the same price, but the food and drinks there are a rip off. Luckily theyre not to strick about letting you bring your own food. This cinema is though the best mainstream one in brighton and has good seats, good sized screens most of the time and have alot of choice.

this is a good cinema to go to with a far number of screens i do find the seats to be a bit uncountable but with it located right on the sea front 2 mins walk away from parking it does have allot going for it, especially if you want something to do before enjoying the nightlife

dmj1962’s said most of it, but this is pretty good for a multiplex cinema: three big plus points are that it is central (so not out-of-town) and accessible by public transport; it has a couple of very large auditoriums; and has a wonderful position on the sea front. The minus point is that the building is so ugly, even by multiplex standards. How did we get to here starting from the wonderful Art Deco heritage of cinema?

The food available is pretty much junk - I really don’t understand the attraction of mass-produced popcorn, which to me is like eating expanded polystyrene. And it seems to be coming in ever larger boxes - one couple the other night had a box about 1ft tall between them.

The drink selection in the bar is pretty limited,too - the only beers are in bottles (and nothing exciting at that), and they have two choices of red wine. It’s OK for a quick pre-film drink, but it’s not like a theatre bar. The views from it are good, though.

Be aware that West Street is the binge drinking centre of Brighton, so you could go to see a nice film on a Saturday at 7:30pm when it’s fairly quiet, and emerge at 10pm to face a stream of intoxicated youth, corralled by Police vans. It can be a bit of a shock. Turning hard left reveals a small side road (via some steps) to the car parks and Russell Place without having to run the gauntlet of West Street, or simply turn right and right again to go via the sea front. It’s not dangerous (too many Police for that) but may feel a bit intimidating if you’re not prepared for it.

What can one say? This is pretty much like any other Odeon multiplex cinema. It’s part of the complex adjacent to the Brighton Centre, and now has a large (and separately operated) bar complex beneath it. As modern buildings of its type go, it’s not the worst, but it definitely doesn’t work in what is a prime town centre/seafront location.

The interior is a warren of mezzanines and stairs, all decked out in the corporate colours with blue patterned carpets and cream walls. There are 8 screens in all, all of which except for screen 7 are wheelchair accessible (ie level access via lifts) and and have wheelchair spaces.

On the ground floor there is a shop and snack bar selling confectionery and popcorn, and from 17:30h daily there is a licensed bar open to patrons only. This actually has stunning views of the seafront, but they don’t seem to make much of it (a badly placed pillar doesn’t help, but you still feel it is a missed opportunity).

The film choice is your standard Hollywood blockbuster, and it doesn’t stray far from this tried and tested formula. The staff seem pleasant and efficient enough, and some of the screens are quite large, which is good for recent releases.

Prices are standard for non-London cinemas, with single adult tickets at £6 off peak and £7 at peak times (roughly week-day evenings and week-end afternoons and evenings). There are all sorts of discounts and concessions listed on the website.

One advantage of the central location is that it is very easy to get to by public transport: the main Churchill Square bus stops are 5 minutes away, the railway station 10 minutes, and adjacent are the huge multi-storey car parks of the Churchill Centre.

For performances with advertised start times of 17:30h onwards, customers using the Churchill Centre NCP 1 or 2 car parks get the first three hours free, provided they get their car park ticket validated by cinema staff. (This does not apply to the Russell Square NCP car park).