Odeon Luxe West End.

 

For Pressure. At first sight, the Odeon West End doesn't make any sense, especially you've booked a ticket online and seen how large the main auditorium has to be. It's just a façade on the end of a hotel. But after stepping through the front door you're confronted with an escalator downwards and discover the whole thing is under ground, like so much of London.  The Wikipedia page for the site mostly describes its predecessor, one of the most important cinemas in London, which was owned by a host of film companies across the years, was the base for the London Film Festival, hosted numerous premieres but was eventually demolished to make way for the hotel complex which is currently here, the basement screens the replacement measure.   

Odeon Huddersfield

 

For Acme vs Coyote.  Somewhat outside of the central conurbation, next door to Hudderfield Town AFC, I immediately clocked this as an ex-UCI and sure enough Cinema Treasures tells us it opened as such in November 1997 then became an Odeon in October 2004.  It has clearly seen better days with the Pizza Hut having closed due to the recent bankruptcy and the built in The Rope Walk pub boarded up (the CAMRA website says it closed initially for lockdown in March 2020 then shuttered completely at the end of January 2022).  The Costa remains open.  The interior is a bit dated although the auditoriums have been refurbished recently.  During the film a tiny red light shone from the just above the screen like a dead pixel.  When I mentioned this to the usher, I was told it was part of the ring system for the hard of hearing and nothing could be done, to which I just shrugged.  If that was the case, why isn't it apparent at every other cinema screen I've visited?

Odeon London Tottenham Court Road

For Toy Story 5.  Cinema Treasures charts the fortunes of this spot, its path to Odeon not too dissimilar to lot of high street screens.  Opening in 1981 as the Classic 1-2-3 Central Cross, it was taken over "by the Cannon Group and it was re-named Cannon on 6th December 1985. It was taken over by MGM Theatres on 6th March 1992. Taken over by the newly formed ABC Cinemas chain on 19th July 1996. Merged with the Odeon Cinemas Group, the cinemas were renamed Odeon on November 10, 2000."  

Screen Two is a typically wedge like auditorium of the kind which happens when a newer cinema is trying to pack in as many screens as possible in the real estate they've bought.  Still warm outside, the air-conditioning was cranked up so high I shivered.  A few talkers led to me moving a couple of times.  The usher was kind enough to give me two cups of water because I clearly looked dehydrated after my adventures in Greenwich.

In the corridor to and from the screens, there are photographs from film premiers in 2014, presumably from Leicester Square, which is a bit strange considering that isn't here.

Photos from other franchise releases did feature, but most of them showed someone who'd since been cancelled or should have been.

Odeon Greenwich

For Moana (the live action remake).  Took the cable car across the Thames and walked half an hour in the scorching hot weather.  When the back of my neck started to burn the only thing I had was a spare t-shirt.  A red one.  With X-Wings on the front.  Avert your eyes.

There's your treat for this blog's twenty-fifth birthday in a few days.  I was just starting to grow out my beard ready for The Odyssey to add some light haptic understanding of the culture in Nolan's epic.  I should probably buy a hat or remember where my towel is.  

This colosseum shaped edifice doesn't look like a native Odeon build and sure enough, as Cinema Treasures explains, it was originally a UCI site, part of The Filmworks sub-chain.  It hasn't changed much comparing their old photo to this close-up I took on the day and Google Street View.  The Pizza Hut is still open.

As you can see this is one of the locations which is still Fanatical About Film because it would be probably quite awkward to replace the sign.  Having missed the midday lieMAX screening, I settled for the next available and once again on this adventure found myself in a completely empty auditorium but for myself.  Due to the incredibly hot weather, the aircon was cranked up inside and since I'd only worn a t-shirt, I froze.  Had to deal with a low end buzzing sound from the speakers throughout which I mentioned to an usher at the start but wasn't dealt with.  The manager had apparently been informed but did nothing/forgot.

Odeon Rochdale

For The Devil Wears Prada 2.  Originally opened by ABC Cinema is 1998, it was bought by Odeon in 2000 and rebranded.  But most of the decor doesn't seem to have been updated, including the small red dot matrix displays pointing to each of the screens with the titles of the films on them (which in modern Odeons has been replaced by a boring old PC monitor).  Saw the film in Screen One, the largest auditorium I've been to so far outside of Leicester Square and alone, my own private screening room the size of a church.  The screen itself is huge, as big perhaps as the ABC Cinema on Lime Street and so I moved back into the middle of the stalls.  Both the projection and sound quality were perfect, and this was one of the best cinema experiences I've ever had, so much so that at the end I asked to speak to the manager to tell her as much.  She was thrilled, pointing out that most of the time she's only on the receiving end of complaints.  

Odeon Preston

 

For Akira (1988).  Classic out of town multiplex, though it has few facilities in direct vicinity other than the Burger King opposite.  Originally opened in March 1990 as part of the UCI chain but it was taken over by Odeon in October 2004.  As the photo on Cinema Treasures shows, it apparently hasn't changed much since then other than some landscaping, particularly the removal of two boulders from outside the front entrance.  The duty manager says there is some refurbishing going on, including the replacement of seats in Screen 5.  There were three of us in the auditorium for Katsuhiro Otomo's masterpiece: me at the front, someone in the back row and an older gentleman, who knew the names of all the staff and just seemed to turn up in the afternoon to watch whatever was on, the usher explaining the basic plot of Akira to him beforehand.  The cinema is opposite a housing estate; frankly if I lived in one of those houses, I'd probably do the same.

Odeon Oldham

For EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert.  It's another Odeon with a statue in front (see also), on this occasion Annie Kenney, the suffragette who seems to have partly inspired Carey Mulligan's fictional character in the film Suffragette (2015).  Possibly my favourite suburban Odeon so far.  Opened in 2016 at about the time of the AMC takeover, it was built as an extension onto the existing but derelict Oldham Town Hall, retaining the fixtures of the Grade II listed building whilst still installing cinema screens into the interior, along with a massive Costa Coffee on the ground floor.  It's most noticeable in Screen Two, which used to be the old court house.  An usher allowed me to nip in and take some photos which I've haphazardly collaged together here:

So as not to affect the existing fixtures, the screen is a massive version of the pulldown kind you often find in conference centres, lecture theatres and people with big living rooms.  Behind is the original crest or coat of arms.  There's a much better image here, along with some history of the scheme.  If I'd known about this I would have booked whatever film was showing here, but instead I'd opted for Screen One, which has a more traditional auditorium with stadium seating.

In the corridor leading up to Screen One is a small display of items from Oldham's original Odeon on Union Street, including these actual advertising banners.

 

All of these films date from 1967 when Rank still had ownership of the chain and were in the process of expansion.  The rest of the areas are littered with old leather chairs from its time as council chambers.  There's also an old door attached to the wall (not pictured) with no explanation of where it came from.

Odeon Bromborough

Film  For Crime 101.  Part of the Croft Retail Park, this is some way from actual Bromborough which made it a tricky cinema for visit, necessitating a long walk from Bromborough Rake Station.  This was mostly along a street called Mark Rake (translated from Old English as "boundary path") and there are several people in the world for whom that is their name, including this surgeon who was interviewed for the Royal College of Surgeons' oral history project.  Originally opened in 1991 as an eleven-screen multiplex, Odeon Bromborough was remodelled in 2019, with the number of screens reduced to seven. Perhaps this was to make way for some of the restaurants in the same block, including the Popeyes next door. No complaints about the film viewing: the large screen was not too close to the front row, although the speakers rattled a lot during the louder bits.

Odeon Warrington

Film  For "Wuthering Heights".  Warrington's original Odeon on Buttermarket Street in the city centre was a typical Oscar Deutsch art deco special designed by John Gummersall and opened in 1937.  After several refurbishments, it closed in 1994 and was demolished to make way for a Yates's Wine Lodge which is now a Wetherspoons (Chester Cinemas has a shot taken during its closing week).  This current building opened as an AMC in 1988, though it quickly rebranded to UCI after the takeover (h/t to Cinema Treasures for the history and a photo which includes the original ridiculous glass canopy).  In 2004, it became an Odeon and in 2019 it was refurbished to become the current Luxe offering with a smaller capacity and many more recliners.  The interior also manages to include a bar area and a sit-down Costa Coffee.

Odeon Camden

 

Film  For Sentimental Value.  Really friendly staff though its clear that the cinema itself hasn't had much investment for quiet some time with mucky staircases, broken seats and stains on the screen.  Sat at the front of Screen 5 which put the image directly in front of me which along with having to climb stairs to reach the seats in the auditorium offered Manchester Cornerhouse Screen 3 vibes.  Originally opened as a large single screen Gaumont in 1937 and has operated in various arrangements and guises over the years (full history at Cinema Treasures here).  As I was leaving I informed an usher I'd been chatting to about the stains on the screen, at which point she told me they'd be closing in five weeks so its unlikely to be replaced or refurbished.  Cinema Treasures explains that by the end of the year this ninety year old cinema with its Art Deco foyer will be demolished to make way for student halls.

Odeon Leicester Square

 

Film  For 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.  The chain's flagship and built as such by Oscar D back in 1937.    As well as a box-ticking exercise, this was the fulfilment of an ambition to visit the site of so many premieres and Royal Film Performances across the decades (although the late Queen stopped going after The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and who can blame her).  The cost always seemed ridiculous (at present £25 for the cheapest ticket, £32.50 in the Royal Box).  But with a MyLimitless membership, it's £3 and only because it's a recliner seat in Dolby Cinema screen.  For that price, how could I not ... spend £50 going down to London and back for it?

It is an absolutely massive auditorium on two tiers of the kind which used to be incredibly common in the UK.  Refurbished in 2018 to Luxe standard with a reduced seat count of recliners and the installation of a Dolby projection system which offers vivid colours and blacks which are blacker than black.  The sound echoes into the space in a way I haven’t heard since the ABC Cinema on Lime Street closed.  Here is the view from the very back row, at which point you’re probably going to get a larger image watching it on your phone:

What look like the arms of a chair are actually replicas of the Art Deco features which were removed in the 1960s but added during the most recent refurbishment and looked humongous from my front-row seat.  The cinema has four other screens which are about the size of the average Everyman auditorium and were added in 1990 by covering over what was the alleyway at the back of the cinema.  But honestly, I wish all Odeons were as obviously well-maintained as this.

All The Odeons

Film  In 2025, I began seeing films in a cinema again. Over the past ten years, the only films I've visited cinemas for have been big spoiler-prone franchise blockbusters. Partly it was the cost, but mostly it was the audiences, who generally didn't seem very interested in seeing the film, or spent the whole time masticating. But after experimenting with Cineworld a couple of summers ago, this year I took out an Odeon myLimitless subscription and have pretty faithfully been visiting these churches of cinema every week for at least six months.

The Liverpool One Odeon has always been something of a film presentation nemesis, a trend which continues to this day.  Up until this year, the last time I visited was for Fant4stic (curiosity kills the brain cells), a screening afflicted by a dodgy and quite noisy air conditioning fan which led to me receiving a refund (probably only fair considering the film itself). Actually no, it was for San Andreas where the restless audience was the problem as my seat rocked back and forth, not because of 4DX, but due to a group of teenagers kicking the back of the chair.

Which isn't to say it's been a complete cakewalk. Even during my first visit this year, Final Destination: Bloodlines, there was someone who was texting back and forth throughout the film and popping out now and then to make a phone call. Later screenings have been beset by dead pixels, light pollution through the windows of auditorium doors onto the "laser" screen, a fly which had landed on the projector during The Fantastic Four: First Steps taking up a quarter of the screen on occasion, banging auditorium doors, and persistent liquid stains on the screen.

But despite a number of issues since (and writing a lengthy email of complaint), I've kept going because it's just been nice to treat cinema as an occasion again. I've tried to train myself to be more tolerant of such issues and of audiences in general, and to keep myself focused on what's in front of me, rather than being micro-distracted by what's going on behind me (I always book for the front row, or as close to it as possible). Most of it has been Hollywood fare, but it's also nice to have seen what's in the film charts while it's still there rather than many months afterwards.

All of this preamble is to introduce the following list of every Odeon in the country in alphabetical order. A few months into visiting Liverpool, I began to wonder what other locations in the chain were like and how they compare to this city's interesting collection of architectural choices (seriously, why do the doors have windows?). So I decided to go and visit a few in other cities, a plan which quickly grew into a project to visit all the Odeons (yes, all of them) and also give a reason to go to places I wouldn't otherwise have a reason to visit.

So like all my other tick-box projects, I thought it an idea to start posting about them on the blog and then linking to them all in one place. The actual posts aren't going to be anything too elaborate, probably just a photo, a couple of observations, and a link to somewhere which has more information (because what's the point in ripping off someone else's research when I can just refer you to it). Some of them will be an expensive and logistical challenge through public transport, but let's see how far I get.

Note:  I've added some recent encounters but I'll do a proper catch up when I have a moment, plus include some which don't exist anymore at the bottom.  I'll delete this message when I'm all caught up.

Now:

Acton
Andover
Aylesbury
Basingstoke
Bath
Beckenham
Belfast
Birmingham Broadway Plaza
Birmingham New Street
Bournemouth BH2
Braehead
Bridgend
Brighton
Bristol
Bromborough
Camden
Cardiff
Chatham
Chelmsford
Colchester
Coventry
Crewe
Derby
Dorchester
Dudley (Merry Hill)
Dundee
Dunfermline
Durham
East Kilbride
Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird
Edinburgh Lothian Road
Edinburgh West
Epsom
Exeter

Gateshead Metrocentre
Glasgow Quay
Greenwich
Guildford
Harrogate
Hastings
Hatfield
Hereford
Holloway
Huddersfield
Hull
Islington
Kilmarnock
Kingston
Lee Valley
Leeds Thorpe Park
Leeds-Bradford
Leicester
Lincoln
Liverpool ONE
Liverpool Switch Island
Llanelli
London Haymarket
London Leicester Square
London Tottenham Court Road
London West End
Loughborough
Maidenhead
Maidstone
Manchester Great Northern
Manchester Trafford Centre
Mansfield
Middlesbrough
Milton Keynes Stadium
Newark
Northampton

North Tyneside Silverlink
Northwich Barons Quay
Norwich
Nuneaton
Oldham
Orpington
Peterborough
Port Solent
Preston
Putney
Richmond
Rochdale
Salisbury
Sheffield
South Woodford
Southend
Stafford
Stoke
Streatham
Swadlincote
Swansea
Swiss Cottage
Tamworth
Taunton
Telford
Trowbridge
Tunbridge Wells
Uxbridge
Warrington
West Bromwich
Wimbledon
Worcester
Wrexham Eagles Meadow

Lost in Time:

Chester

Leeds The Headrow

Liverpool Allerton Road

Liverpool London Road

Manchester Oxford Road

Oxford

Odeon Liverpool Switch Island

 

Film  For The Housemaid.  An "innovation" in some Odeons is the introduction of beds at the front of the auditorium.  Having tried one here, I would not say it's the "ultimate comfort" as suggested on the website.  The surface is rather hard (its the same leathery material used on seating) and its pretty difficult to decide how far up to sit.  Too low and you can't see the screen, too high and you might as well be on a recliner.  It's certainly not worth the prices.  With the Unlimited discount my single bed was £9, but for plebs its £20.50 for one, £31 for two and £37.50 for three.  It was also chilling in the screen so I'm glad I brought a blanket (history link).

Odeon Manchester Great Northern

 

Film  For It Was Only An Accident.  Originally opened as an AMC back in 2001, I know this very well from it being the end of frequent day trips to Manchester when there wasn't anything of interest at the Cornerhouse and being the wrong end of town for the Odeon Filmworks.  Housed in a giant cavernous building, this Odeon takes about ten minutes of walking to reach the screens via this pretty non-descript entrance.  Became an Odeon after AMC bought the chain and renamed all of their locations to the more familiar UK brand.  Not much of the interior has otherwise changed, including the seating which is still the AMC orange (history link).

Odeon Manchester Trafford Centre

 

Film  For Now You See Me: Now You Don't.  Adequate film well screened.  Was originally a UCI and judging by the layout (six screens on one side, the rest on the other) has been expanded since.  The IMAX was added in 2013.   The Trafford Centre is a really horrible place to shop.  Frederic Jameson would have loved it (history link).

Odeon Harrogate

Film  For Regretting You.  Not much to report here, other than it's the first occasion that I've noticed an Odeon serving alcohol and so bought myself a non-alcoholic beer and had tremendous fun during the screening because I was one of the few people chuckling with the film which triggered further laughter from the teenagers in audience at me.  It's one of the few Odeons I've encountered which has its own Wikipedia page, presumably because it's a Grade II listed building and nearly identical to what was once the Sutton Coldfield branch.

Odeon Glasgow Quay

Film  For Good Dog.  Some way out from the centre of Glasgow, a bus or metro ride away, this unusually has a timeline on the wall which describes Odeon's presence in the city, Which began on Renfield Street in 1934.  It's a history of the enshittification of cinema architecture and (possibly) photography from the beautiful to the functional.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959) is a real film.  It was a critical and commercial failure (which is probably why you don't hear much about it now).  Film Ink rake over the ashes here.  I really miss proper billings on the front of cinemas telling you what you'll find playing inside.  These days you either have to have an app or squint at a tiny screen behind the refreshment stand as you can see there was some overlap of about ten years between the two cinemas before the Renfield Street shuttered in 2006.  It's quite strange from this distance to see the 80's Odeon logo atop the current building.

Either way it's a pretty standard Luxe affair which prioritises smaller audiences in more upscale comfort and having spent much of the day getting to Glasgow and visiting the cathedral, reader, I fell asleep.  Fortunately, Good Dog is not a complex film, mostly consisting of the titular canine looking slightly perturbed towards the corners of its owner's house so even though I missed a good fifteen minutes, I caught up pretty sharpish for the finale.  As I gathered my things, the man sitting behind me said, "Bag of shite" in a broad Scottish accent, which is presumably what the filmmakers had to collect a lot of during production.

Odeon Coventry

Film  For The Strangers: Chapter Two.  As you know, I like to start with a picture of the cinema's frontage but Coventry's Odeon doesn't have a definitive entrance, so I decided to go with these two, neither of which is satisfactory.  Once again, we're gifted with a reminder that their slogan used to be "Fanatical About Film" because a sign would be logistically difficult and probably too expensive to replace.  For the record, I prefer this to the current tagline, "Make Movies Better," because, as is the case with The Strangers: Chapter Two, seeing it well projected with decent sound did not make up for its shortcomings.  There were about ten of us in the screening including a couple sat at the back talking loudly even after the film started.  Reader, I complained and the ushers did somehow convince them to be quiet.  The cinema began operating in 1999 along with the arena it is attached and judging by these photos of the opening night, doesn't look like it has changed much since.

Odeon Worcester

Film  For Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.  This was one of the occasions when it felt like I was seeing the decline of cinema-going in real time. Downton was the week's big release, and despite this being Worcester, which would seem like the ideal audience, and despite it being an early evening showing, there were only two of us in the largest screen: myself and a woman sitting at the back. The hugely attentive staff puzzled over the slightly muted, probably mono sound coming from the speakers, eventually comping both of us a free ticket. The manager is clearly very proud of the seven-screen cinema and the fact that it's one of the few surviving city centre originals. Cinema Treasures says it originally opened in January 1950 with a screening of Anthony Asquith's The Rocking Horse Winner, with the director in attendance. Frankly, it's probably my favourite Odeon so far, not least because the toilet is through a door directly in the auditorium, which meant I could still listen to the film whilst taking a whizz.

Odeon Crewe

Film  For The Bad Guys 2.  One of the few occasions when I've had to wait for the cinema to open before visiting (in the bar of the bowling alley next door).  Watched the film alone in a large drafty auditorium with some broken seats.  As you can see from this photo it originally opened as part of the Reel Cinema chain in 2005 and hasn't changed much since, right down to the yellow decor on the refreshment counter.  According to the usher, this was apparently covered in Odeon blue industrial fablon after the takeover in 2011, but immediately started peeling off so they just removed the whole lot and just left it, blinding audiences as they walk in.