With the approach of Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure” June 12, I’ve found myself reminiscing about one of my most memorable moviegoing experiences – seeing “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” with a friend in a Toledo theater in 1977.
“Star Wars” had already changed our lives earlier that year, but the special effects and fantastical storyline in “Close Encounters” were beyond anything I’d imagined they would be. Near the end, as a small alien craft hovered over a group of humans behind Devil’s Mountain, my friend Rob and I caught each others eye and broke into the wide, unguarded grins of teenage sci-fi movie geeks.
I also recently found myself thinking back on my moviegoing experiences in Chattanooga. The ones that stand out most are the packed midnight Friday premieres – new Marvel releases, the latest Christopher Nolan film – when the entire audience seemed plugged into the same current, sharing an anticipation that turned strangers into a kind of temporary community.
Only instead of sitting shoulder to shoulder with a friend watching a Spielberg classic, I was alone in an AMC theater, squinting at an inexplicably dim image and eating popcorn that was barely more flavorful than the cardboard bucket holding it.
Maybe this is what it sounds like to grow older – to start sounding like someone who thinks things used to be better – but I can’t help but wonder: what happened to going to the movies in Chattanooga?
AMC follies
For the moment, I’ll stick with what’s happened to going to the movies at AMC theaters in Chattanooga.
I’ve haunted the two primary locations – the AMC Chattanooga 18 and the AMC Majestic 12 – for years. Both were once premium theatrical experiences, with well-designed smaller auditoriums, impressive large-format options (an IMAX screen at the former, a BigD experience at the latter) and a solid lineup of concessions.
But now I avoid AMC theaters altogether, put off by a list of complaints that has grown steadily over the past few years – and is frankly suitable for an Airing of Grievances at a Festivus dinner.
To paraphrase Frank Costanza, I’ve got big problems with these theaters – and now they’re going to hear about them.
At the top of the list is the lack of attention paid to aspect ratio. Case in point: when I took my wife to see “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the image filled barely two-thirds of one of the Majestic’s smallest screens.
By then, my moviegoing routine had evolved into something of a ritual: rising from my seat in a huff as the film began, tracking down an AMC employee and asking them to fix the projection. This happened almost every time, unless I was in one of the premium-format auditoriums.
As frustrating as that was, it was at least fixable. Dim projection, however, is not.
The last movie I saw at an AMC theater was the animal-gone-mad horror film “Primate.” Much of the movie takes place at night, but even the daytime scenes looked washed out and poorly lit. At least I could follow what was happening then, which was more than I could say for much of the rest of the film, where entire scenes were so dark I couldn’t make out what was happening at all.
Having reached the end of my rope with AMC Theatres, I went home and canceled my A-list subscription, which had allowed me to see up to four movies a week for $28.
It’s been known for years that some theaters reduce bulb brightness as a cost-saving measure. I can’t say for certain that’s what’s behind the projection issues at the local AMCs, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Regal to the rescue
Regal Cinemas Hamilton Place – the only Regal theater in the Chattanooga area – welcomed me with open arms. Or rather, with large, cushy recliners and enough aisle space to allow people to pass easily, even with my seat fully extended.
Regal HP, as I’ve come to call it, has been something of a cinematic oasis. Located near Hamilton Place Mall, it’s a smaller venue than the AMC theaters I was used to. The auditoriums are modest in size, with fewer seats to accommodate the oversized, fully reclining chairs and generous spacing. The screens, too, are smaller.
At first, I thought that might be a dealbreaker. I’ve been a large-screen snob ever since seeing “Close Encounters” and staring past rows of tiny silhouetted heads at a towering Richard Dreyfuss sculpting a mountain of mashed potatoes at the dinner table. But as it turns out, it wasn’t a problem at all.
My wife and I saw “Project Hail Mary” there – she prefers the seats over every other theater in town – and I barely noticed the reduced screen size. It helped that the image filled the screen properly and the projection was bright and clear.
Leaning back in my chair in Row C, the screen still filled my field of vision as Ryan Gosling made friends with an alien pet rock. It was one of the most satisfying, genuinely relaxing moviegoing experiences I’ve had in years. It felt like a Festivus miracle.
Now we plan our movie dates around what’s playing at Regal. When I go solo, though – usually for a big spectacle she’s not interested in – I head to the other place in town that delivers a supremely satisfying, if less cushy, experience: the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX.
Size does matter
When I want to indulge my inner big-screen snob, there’s no better place to feed that appetite than the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX.
I mentioned the IMAX screen at the AMC Chattanooga 18. It’s a respectable screen – larger and brighter than the rest of that theater’s offerings – but compared to the Aquarium IMAX, it’s a pretender.
The Aquarium isn’t your standard “premium format.” The screen alone – 89 feet wide and 67 feet tall – fills your field of vision so completely that the edges seem to vanish. I’ll never forget seeing “Avatar: The Way of Water” – a narrative slog but a technical marvel – and feeling like the rain in one scene was falling into my lap.
And when a film is shot for it, the theater can project IMAX’s full 1.43:1 aspect ratio – the entire image, top to bottom, exactly as it was intended.
The projection system – a dual 4K laser setup – delivers a radiant, razor-sharp picture. There’s no dimness, no haze, no sense of looking at a screen at all.
And then there’s the sound.
The 12-channel audio system pins you in place. Dialogue lands with clarity, while everything else – engines, explosions, the distant rumble of something approaching – moves through the room with weight and direction.
It’s such a complete, overwhelming experience that only 13 other theaters in the country operate at this level.
The one drawback is the seats. They’re fine – supportive, with backs that rise above your shoulders and armrests that lift – but they’re tighter than ideal. And if someone needs to squeeze past you, you might as well exchange names first, because the aisle space all but guarantees an introduction.
That minor gripe aside, the Aquarium IMAX delivers an exceptional viewing experience. It doesn’t run Hollywood showings as frequently as the multiplexes, but that scarcity only adds to the appeal. When something you want to see lands there, it’s worth planning ahead and grabbing a ticket early.
And then there’s one more surprise at the Aquarium IMAX: the crowds.
Where is everyone?
If you’ve been to an AMC or Regal theater in Chattanooga recently, you’ve probably noticed something unsettling: the crowds aren’t there. Even on a Saturday night during opening weekend for “Project Hail Mary” – a hit by today’s standards – only a handful of other moviegoers shared the auditorium.
My own observations are, of course, anecdotal. But the broader industry data backs them up, and the story it tells isn’t encouraging. Fewer people are going to the movies, driven by a mix of rising ticket prices, the convenience of streaming and shifting audience habits.
Put simply: why pay $16 for a theater ticket when the same film will hit your Prime Video account a few weeks later?
A Pew Research Center study shows overall theater attendance has fallen more than 22% compared to 2019. While ticket sales in 2025 more than tripled from their pandemic-era low in 2020, they still sit at less than half of 2002 levels.
Ouch.
AMC appears to be feeling the strain most acutely. As of early 2026, the company operates roughly 860 theaters worldwide, down from more than 1,000 before the pandemic. It closed 21 locations in 2025 and has signaled that more closures could come in 2026 as leases come up for renewal.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the AMC Majestic ends up on that list. On my visits, it rarely hosts more than a scattering of patrons. At some point, the math just doesn’t work – not for keeping the lights on and not for paying staff.
There is, however, some cause for optimism. Despite the sluggish box office, AMC is working to stabilize its finances by investing in its top-performing locations, according to a Yahoo Finance report. One can only hope that the once-thriving AMC Chattanooga 18 makes that cut. A meaningful upgrade there might be enough to draw audiences back.
Raiders of a lost art
There are signs that moviegoing isn’t dead – not even close.
Corey Cobb, director of IMAX operations at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX, told me attendance at the theater held steady in 2023 following the return of Hollywood releases. Then it climbed 25% in 2024, rose another 14% in 2025 and has surged roughly 175% year-over-year in early 2026.
Cobb says those numbers point to something important: Audiences will still show up for movies when the experience feels worth it.
I hope he’s right. It’s hard to imagine a world without movie theaters – a world where the only place to experience a filmmaker’s vision is on a living room TV, a laptop or, worst of all, a phone.
Spielberg’s newest film, “Disclosure Day,” arrives June 12, and its trailers hint at a return to his sci-fi roots – a story about alien contact that echoes the wonder of his early work. I even think it could be a secret sequel to “Close Encounters.”
That’s the 14-year-old in me talking – the kid who fell in love with movies in a darkened theater, staring up at a glowing screen, believing in something bigger.
And that’s an experience no streaming service has quite figured out how to replace.