UltraStar’s Desert Cinema

I have come here several times before, but I won’t be returning. I thought they would have figured out the 3D issues they were having before, so I was excited to see the new star wars movie here. First, it was a long distance from the closest parking spot (as usual). Then, there was a gaggle of people that seemed to take an inordinately long amount of time to purchase 3 tickets. Then we get to the counter (outside box office) and we have to wait because he is out of 3D glasses.
Then we get inside to buy popcorn and there is a transgender person having a melt down at the concession stand, slamming her purse down demanding to see the manager (plus neither concession stand lines were moving and there was only 1 frantic person behind the counter for a total of 2 visible employees working there that day. Then, we get into the theatre and the volume is really loud (for the seniors?). I immediately regretted not bringing ear plugs. Then, we realize the 3D glasses are the dark tinted sunglass type that considerably darkens the movie when wearing them, but the movie shown is not brighter to accommodate for this.
During the movie the person behind me fell asleep and was snoring plus there was the obligatory phlegmy cough somewhere close by. And given the choice of watching the movie too dark to make anything out (with semi blurry 3D images) or nice and bright but blurry the whole time, I chose the latter option. The seats here are the only ones that makes my left sciatica flare up, so an hour in I am squirming around in pain. Lastly, the restroom is always a zoo after the movie here, so you have to sprint right out as credits begin to roll unless you want to wait in line to wee. So, sorry, the employees seemed nice enough, but I will not be back.

Sad sad sad. Im sure the worker is a great person. But, whoever is managing this place should find a new line of work. No excuses. Dont tell me its because of new years. Grow up amd firgure ot out… There is no one at the consession. Its been 25 min. Waiting for a diet coke. Lets be honest. You blew it. Do not come here. Plus, its ghetto.

Love the Thursday night Throwback Movies with Jersey Shore. Love some Bawdy Drag Queen Humor. Good crowd. $ 5.00 fun night. Grab some friends and bring them, the more the merrier!!!

The best movie theater to see big screen movies in the area. Yes they are trying to cut corners with minimum staff but put that aside as it doesn’t get any better if you can find your movie there. Highly rated

Saw Jurassic World here, but the movie was a bit out of focus. Also, regular sodas are a whopping $ 6 each, but hotdogs are only $ 1! Great crowd (no kids or or teenagers being obnoxious.) Nice big screen.

I can only echo most of sentiments by previous reviewers. We come in at 1:20 for a 1:30 showing of San Andreas. The outdoor ticket kiosk is closed. We go inside to buy tickets at the concession stand. There is a line of maybe a dozen people waiting to buy tickets. There’s no one there. Finally, the guy who was just serving popcorn and drinks becomes the ticket seller. He sells about 4 tickets and leaves to work concessions again. Comes back, sells two more and then he’s summoned to show the new guy how the microwave works. Obviously the place is run by a skeleton crew. I think 3 people were running the whole place on a Sunday. The line crawls at a snails pace. No time to get popcorn as there is quite a line for that as well.
Ticket prices and concessions are very reasonably priced… if you have time.
The seats… OMG the seats. Embarrassing. Think coach seats on a 2 ½ hour economy flight but without a bag of peanuts or beverage service. The seats don’t move at all… Nothing. The armrests don’t move either. Neither do my feet because they are glued to the floor by spilled drinks from eons past. I have to wait for noisy scenes to either cross or uncross my legs because of the giant sucking sounds.
The whole place seems like it’s on the verge of being abandoned. Sad even.
I gave this place 2 stars because of I recognize that they’ve made improvements
to both the screen and the sound, otherwise it would be 1 star. The rest of the place is a mess.

We come off the mountain several times a year to go to the IMAX and take a swim at the timeshare. Yes I have a slight sore back when leaving, however I like the fact that the place is usually pretty empty. the back 3 or 4 rows are the bestfor viewing. Bring a pillow.

I have been told that this theater has a special viewing on Thursday nights for old movies. I’ve called two numbers to get information on the times and the movie (s) playing. The two numbers have endless information which is almost too difficult to understand. The two numbers I have are (760) 324‑7333 and (760)328−7100. Neither has a person to speak with. I finally went to the Yellow Pages — NADA — for Imax, UltraStar’s Desert Cinema, movie theater, cinema etc., etc., Very frustrating.

Hoooolllllly moly the screen is literally huge. It was almost hard for me to look at the whole thing, I felt like my eyes were barely big enough to pay attention to half the screen! Haha
Sound could have been louder, maybe a bit more bass. Chairs don’t recline or have any sort of movement, and the arm rests don’t move. Hard to snuggle up on my man’s shoulder! But overall, decent. Will need to come back for a 3D movie.

I haven’t been to this theatre for a few months, but I wanted to see the movie, Interstellar (2D), again, but on the really big screen.
The theatre is no longer an IMAX. IMAX as moved into another theater in the desert, but the screen is the same size.
First of all, first showing (on a week day) is an incredible $ 7.50 per ticket, but the bargains continue when you go to the concession.
You can get a medium size popcorn and a medium drink for $ 6.00. The popcorn can also be refilled once, while in the theater. Interesting, they do not sell large popcorn bags.
The theater improved their sound system to 11.1 surround system and you can feel the richness of the sound. I tried counting the number of mounted speakers on the wall, but lost count. They also replaced the big screen, so now it is pure white.
The picture quality was great, considering portions of the movie was shot in IMAX. I did not see any distortion. On a screen that big, it is best to sit at top two rows.
Is there difference between IMAX and UltraStar theater’s UltraMAXimum, yeah, about $ 4.50 for the same movie at the same hour.

Awful. Completely unimpressive movie experience. The seats are extremely uncomfortable, stale tasting popcorn, dirty stained carpets. We went there to see Interstellar… could have gone and seen it in comfort at the Mary Pickford right next door for less money (or several other theaters in the valley). Worst Imax experience ever.

In response to Joe, the IMAX theatre is no longer in the building there
in Cathedral City. It is now an UltraStar Cinemas.
We just went there to see the Planet of the Apes in 3D. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND
anyone going here. The PICTURE QUALITY is terrible.
With the 3D glasses, the film was so DARK you could hardly make out
what was happening. And it is true, the seat are the WORST. …
so uncomforable. Here is an article I found from the Desert Sun
newspaper about the transition. I hope it helps. Thanks.

I recall seeing a film at this theater a few years back and having a better experience, so I’m not sure what has changed in the past few years. Like Jason, I also saw «Gravity» and the stretched out version made me dizzy and a little sick. I couldn’t figure out where to buy the tickets, I stood in the wrong line for ten minutes only to learn that they were selling them at the popcorn stand, then had to go back for the 3D glasses. Not a well coordinated effort. It seemed like 2 people were running the entire theater, including ticket sales and popcorn/​soda. A little disappointed in the seeming confusion as to where to stand, where to buy stuff. Signage would help.

I really enjoy watching most movies here; there needs to be some changes (besides the new glasses, which is good start). First, the seating is uncomfortable, especially if you see a long movie. Second, if they are busy, sometimes, they can get unorganized. 3^rd, honor the rewards program, a few times, they forgot or where too busy. This place has a lot of potential, I love it when they give out free posters or times When they’re not busy, the staff is always friendly. The theater always seems clean (I can’t blame the staff on how disgusting guest get when they throw food everywhere).

Saw «Gravity». kind of. It was painfully blurry. Apparently they didn’t get the IMAX version so they stretched the one I could have seen at any theater but still charged more for a blurry version. We told the guy after and he was well aware and suggested we go see it next door. Couldn’t they have told us when we bought the tickets to walk next door?
So yeah… If you wanna see an IMAX there, make sure to ask them if it is an actual IMAX version.

I’m going to be sitting here for a couple of hours and I can’t help but think how sore my back will be driving home. At first I thought the screen was very good, then I noticed the streaks. There was something else showing the age of the IMAX system at this particular theater– there were several times when large specks moved across the screen. Almost as if there was dust allowed onto the film (but I thought this was a digital projector– maybe it isn’t). Whenever there was a very bright scene I could see The theater was stinky with half-​completed repairs throughout, my overall impression was that this place was old. Not recommended. Not worth the money.

The seating is terrible. The theatre, dirty and unkept. The whole business had a unkept feeling. Nobody collected tickets, bathrooms floors very pooled and wet, and not in a just mopped way. Employees were pleasant enough, but all other facts legit.
On the plus side, screen was good.

Not that many IMAX’s around anymore. And while having a big screen is… well…big, I did not appreciate sitting in the closer rows of the back half of the stadium. Big enough and close enough that my eyes were darting left and right trying to catch all the action. By the time I realized this, it was too late to discretely move. I wish I had seen Jim C’s tip about sitting only in the top 4 rows.
We came for the 3D version of the most recent release of Hobbit. And being old, we opted for the senior, $ 11/​ticket. Yeah, I looked old enough, I passed with flying colors. If we had arrived earlier, we could have even gotten in for the low, low price of $ 9.75. That is the early bird special, for everyone, but reserved for the first showing only. You can call me a tight wad.
The seats? They were ok, but not my favorite theater seats. A bit snug, and you can’t snuggle up to your honey because the arms won’t lift up. But other than that, just another theater.
The movie? Great. Lots of action and beautiful camera takes. Wonderful to see in a wide screen theater, but I could have done without the 3D for most of it. It would have been just as thrilling. Granted, the 3D made me jump and blink a few times.

Seriously? Are we all going to the same movie theater here? This place is awful! We went to a weekend screening of the Dark Knight, first off, there are no previews for other films, and they started the movie early! We had no time to buy popcorn or drinks, so we ran into get seats and planned to go back out after we sat down to buy refreshments (the film was already about 5 minutes in).
Yes the screen is huge (it’s IMAX, duh), but the sound is terrible. It comes from one direction only, directly behind the screen. The surround sound in my house is better. So within about 10 minutes into the film, I run out to buy food, and literally there is no one in site and the snack stand is completely closed. A semi-​stoned teenager wanders out of the office and I ask if I can at least get a bottle of water. He says no, everything is closed (really? don’t they want to make money on concessions?), so his solution was to give me a tiny cup of warm water — no ice even.
The theater is FILTHY. You can tell they don’t clean anything between shows, because there was already bags of popcorn, sticky spilled sodas and candy boxes everywhere right when we sat down. Plus it’s so OLD and shabby. I don’t know when they opened it, but it can’t be from this century — just look at the bathroom fixtures. Speaking of, the bathrooms were so ridiculously dirty, both me and my date noticed the board where the workers were supposed to sign off on cleaning — they were 4 days out of date! They clean the restrooms every 4 days?!? Not that it didn’t look that way.
We stayed to watch all the credits after the film, and by the time we were heading out, all the employees were gone and they were literally turning off the lights and locking the doors. Which means, they weren’t even going to clean the theater AFTER our show, the last of the night! So gross!
It’s really disappointing, because across the parking lot, the Mary Pickford is generally really nice, clean and the sound and picture quality are great. It totally puts this place to shame. If an IMAX corporate employee were to visit this location, I guarantee you they’d pull the IMAX name off that marquee. It’s a real bummer, because I love going to the movies and I so wish this place was better.
It’s Premium IMAX ticket prices ($ 16/​per person!!) with Dollar Theater Charm.

Definitely the biggest screen in the Valley. I understand that this IMAX has recently upgraded to an all-​digital system, and it shows in the picture and sound. I know Cathedral City has to pay for this new equipment, but $ 4.50 for a large Coke?!?
TIP: Don’t sit any lower than about the top 3 – 4 rows — this will put your eye level at about the middle of the screen.