A day at the Sun Theatre is an experience like none other. You walk through the doors and into the foyer, which may seem small, but the effect it has on you is by no means small. You immediately feel as though you’ve walked through a time portal and into the early 1900s.
The Sun was bought in 1995 by Michael Smith, who according to The Mail “is what might be termed a godsend to cinematic history”. Smith commissioned renovations that have turned this old fashioned cinema into a unique work of art. The Sun, which originally opened in 1938, seated 1050 people and had only one screen, has been turned into six cinemas with many of the original features still in place.
It was my first time at the cinema and I was amazed at the beauty of it. However, luck wasn’t on my side. The projector for the cinema I was in wasn’t functioning correctly and we weren’t able to watch the movie.
Don’t let this deter you, as i have had a similar experience at a Village cinema once where the actual movie reel caught on fire. The Sun Theatre employees did everything they could to try get the projector to work, which unfortunately left us sitting there for 45 minutes which was a bit too long, but were unsuccessful.
There were already attributes that were screaming out to me. Aside from the obvious look of the cinema, the price of food was the first as it was cheaper than that at, for example, Village Cinemas. The seating was the second. The spacing and layout of the seats leave a great amount of leg space and the person in front of you, no matter how tall they are, are never in the way of the screen.
To get a better feel and understanding of the experience of the Sun Theatre I spoke to someone who has been “over 20 times, but under 30”. She recalled the very first time she went to the Sun Theatre and remembered thinking “wow, this is so fancy!”
When asked how watching a movie at the Sun Theatre differs from watching a movie at, for example Village cinemas, she had a lot to say. “There’s less annoying teenagers, there are only 2 movie previews rather than heaps of ads at the start, there’s a nicer atmosphere, and hot guys work there.” The choc tops also play a big role in the experience for her as they are “hand-made [and] delicious”. She loves the old, art deco style of the cinema and the fact that “you can drink alcohol there”.
The Sun Theatre provides a stylish, unique and affordable way of watching a movie in a beautiful and comfortable environment. I will definitely pay a visit to the 1900s again in order to fully experience it and would recommend it to anyone who loves to watch movies and try new things.
For more information about the Sun Theatre and its history, visit:
http://www.suntheatre.com.au/about.php
http://www.suntheatre.com.au/history_quotes.php
http://www.suntheatre.com.au/history.php
Source of pictures:
http://www.suntheatre.com.au/about.php
Reel Experiences 
This is my favourite cinema. Michael & Anne have shown how you can create quality, boutique Art Deco (multiplex-style) cinemas without destroying the old cinema and also honouring some of the former cinemas from the local area.