Not since the mid-90s. The last few I remember seeing were: Independence Day, Jurassic Park (a couple of years after seeing it in a standard movie theater), Twister, The Phantom, and Wolf.
Had to have been pre-1976, because my grandfather took me, and he died in March of '76.
We saw a double feature of* Evel Knievel* and The Doberman Gang, which I was convinced were two of the finest movies ever made at the time. (I was less than 10 years old).
Ghostbusters - 1984
Went with a friend, I don’t drive.
I have no idea where the nearest drive-in is to me now (San Francisco).
My family went fairly often when I was a little kid, in the early 1970s. My sister and I would be put in our pajamas before we went, and we’d invariably fall asleep in the back seat.
The last time I went to a drive-in was with a couple of friends of mine, to see a pair of bad sci-fi films, in the summer of '82 (I was 17). I can only remember what one of them was: Inseminoid (a cheesy rip-off of Alien). The only thing I can remember about it was that, when the alien knocked up the female crew member, its “tool” was a clear plastic tube, which amused the hell out of us.
Google is your friend:
Solano Drive In
1611 Solano Way, Concord, California
Valentine’s Day 2009, The International, in Sacramento, Ca.
If you’re looking for a drive-in, this covers the USA, Canada, and Australia:
Blacktown Drive-in run by Greater Union, still offers two screens with different double bills.
About 25 years ago. It was for “Staying Alive,” the “Saturday Night Fever” sequel directed by Sylvester Stallone. It has subsequently been bulldozed and a 12 theater multiplex opened on the site. There are no more drive ins in Tucson now. The last one closed a year ago. The owners couldn’t afford to make improvements and sold the land to a development company. It hasn’t been torn down. The new owners have no immediate plans for the property. However, they are a company known for developing shopping centers and the like, so that’s the likely fate for the property.
There are at least five drive-ins within a one-hour drive around here and about half of those are within 20-30 minutes. There’s everything from single-screen to four-screen setups as well. Caught a Despicable Me/Toy Story 3 double-feature back in July. Also saw How to Train Your Dragon/Iron Man 2 back in May. It’s just been a bad summer for movies I wanted to see, especially for a double-feature. I went a lot more last year.
Once. When I was engaged to my now-husband, he was astonished when I told him I’d never been to one, so he took me. First Knight, 1995.
What’s the fatal flaw in the drive-in business model that causes so many to disappear? Is it the limitations brought on by the single screen?
I haven’t been to a drive-in since 1968, when my then-bf and I saw a film that had just come out . . . *2001: A Space Odyssey. *It was a very strange experience, watching that film from inside a VW Beetle.
Saw Toy Story 3 a few months ago at the local drive-in with my daughter. I’ve lived within an 8 minute drive from this place for 10 years and yet had never visited it.
This movie didn’t play too well on the drive-in screen I think because it had a lot of dark, night scenes which were hard to see. We’ll definitely be going back next year though.
That’s got to be part of it. Plus, as many posters have noted, they would bring their own food and drink. Concessions have to be a huge money maker for the theater given the prices that they charge. Our local drive-in has a “No outside food or drink” policy but I can’t see it being enforceable.
It used to amaze me how much trouble some folks would go to to cheat the owners of drive-ins. One adventurous group crammed four adults into the trunk of a roomy vehicle just to avoid paying whatever the ticket price was then. Maybe $1?
The last movie I remember seeing at a drive-in was, I think, this one. That would have made it 1966 or so.
Quite true, that would be nigh impossible to enforce. From my armchair, it seems like the best strategy would be to turn concessions into an unbeatable grill fare that couldn’t be matched by the Ziploc baggies of snacks people brought from home. I’d want the drive-in to go way past typical ballpark offerings of nachos and hot dogs. Give me the best burger and fries in 100 miles. Or barbecue. Drive-ins are never hurting for space, so an outdoor cooking setup would capitalize on that. Plus, with set show times, it would be quite feasible to have lots of slow-cooked BBQ ready and waiting as soon as the first cars start pulling in. Basically, they’d have to play up the uniqueness of the drive-in experience as much as possible. Give the customer something they cannot get anywhere else.
The last time I was at a drive-in was 2001. Double feature: the first movie was The Fast and the Furious, and I have absolutely no clue what the second movie was. Which is weird, because I definitely went for the second movie. But it was the summer between junior and senior years of high school, and I was there with my girlfriend of the time, and the combination of hormones and opportunity took over at some point.
Abilene has the Town & Country drive-in, and it’s one of the most wonderful places in town. Two screens that each show a double feature every weekend night during the summer months for $7.50, which is cheaper than you can get one movie almost anywhere else in town. Mrs BomTek and I go about once a month, average, and just went last weekend to see *Easy A *and The Switch. We take the kiddo and the dog and have a good time. Good food, too.
The best part is, it seems to be doing really well. The gravel road up to the ticket booth, for instance, is very, VERY rough right now (the Kia Rio can’t handle it, and it feels like light off-roading in my truck), so they’re going to pave it. It seems like it’d be cheaper to just grade it down, so I’m encouraged by the fact that they’re spending the money to make sure it’ll be good for years to come.