The best cinemas in Hong Kong

Recently renovated, AMC’s Pacific Place outpost is now better than ever. With its location within Pacific Place mall and close to Star Street precinct, there’s plenty of options before or after your movie.

Number of screens: 6
Total seating: 583
Noteworthy facilities: The Oval Office, the cinema’s VIP experience, offers a private lounge with free-flow light refreshments, in-cinema made-to-order dishes, reclining leather seats and stewards ready to take your food or drink orders at the press of a button.
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $85 and Tuesday screenings cost $100 rather than the standard $120.
Special offers: Movie Movie members and American Express cardholders receive various discounts, usually 10-15 percent off.

Yau Ma Tei’s local cinema is the best in the city when it comes to showing indie flicks and world cinema offerings. The adjoining Kubrick Café is also a great place to grab a coffee and purchase a new book.

Number of screens: 4
Total seating: 460
Noteworthy facilities: There are no fancy screens or seats here, just Hong Kong’s most eclectic cinema programming.
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $60 and Tuesday screenings cost $65 rather than the standard $85.
Special offers: Membership also gets you access to the cinema’s large library of indie and art-house DVDs, available for free rental. There’s also an extensive collection of books on film and filmmaking that members can check out.

Situated in the heart of Mong Kok, this cinema – one of its five locations – was the first in the city to introduce 4DX seating in 2014.

Number of screens: 6
Total seating: 1,102
Noteworthy facilities: The cinema is home to a 4DX screen that uses state-of-the-art technology to deliver a ‘fully immersive cinematic experience’. The screen includes seats that heave, pitch and roll and comes equipped with environmental effects like breezes and smoky explosions.
Cheapest times to visit: Tuesday screenings cost $90 rather than the standard $100.
Special offers: Paying with EPS gets you a 10 percent discount. Citi credit card holders can get a range of discounts and even weekend buy-one-get-one-free tickets if they meet the monthly T&Cs.

Quite literally grand, this is the largest cinema in Hong Kong. Yet despite that fact and that it’s housed inside swish mall Elements, the programming here is surprisingly eclectic with screens often given over to film festivals and special showings.

Number of screens: 12
Total seating: 1,600
Noteworthy facilities: House 5 is home to the Standard Chartered Starsuite, a VIP screen for 23 patrons. It comes with remote-controlled fully-adjustable seats, USB ports, an exclusive entrance and a private VIP lounge offering a ‘Make Your Own Combo’ menu of bespoke snacks. 
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $80 and Tuesday screenings cost $85 rather than the standard $105. Also, on weekdays until 6pm (excluding Tuesdays) all adult tickets cost $90.
Special offers: Membership to The Circle ($220) or Upper Circle ($380) provides ticket discounts of 10 or 20 percent respectively as well as 10 percent off concession items.

One of Hong Kong’s stateliest old-school movie theatres – just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Star Ferry Terminal – the Grand Ocean has only one screen but bags of character.

Number of screens: 1
Total seating: 456
Noteworthy facilities: If you’re tired of Hong Kong’s dinky cinema screens and are seeking a more epic feel next time you go to the pictures, Grand Ocean’s 456-seat auditorium should do just the trick. 
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $65, special midday screenings cost $80 and Tuesday screenings cost $85 rather than the standard $95.
Special offers: Golden Harvest’s GH Moviegoer membership scheme doesn’t offer direct discounts on ticket prices, but it does offer money off snacks and movie merchandise.

Housed in Kitec, The Metroplex isn’t the easiest of cinemas to get to (we eagerly await the opening of the Tuen Ma Line and a dedicated MTR station here) but in many ways that’s an advantage as screenings are rarely too busy here.

Number of screens: 9
Total seating: 1,129
Noteworthy facilities: There are three VIP cinemas suitable for 20 guests, which are great for group bookings. The dine-in food service, with ‘chef’s choice’ noms, is also a cut above the usual movie-going grub.
Cheapest times to visit: Tuesday and morning screenings all cost $60 rather than the standard $80. Even better are the special $45 midnight screenings.  
Special offers: Those with credit cards from HSBC, Standard Chartered, BEA, ICBC, Hang Seng and Citi all get a 10 percent discount.

One of only two cinemas left in Central (the other is the smaller Emperor Cinema), a trip to Palace IFC makes for a swish cinema experience. Clean and comfortable, this spot is always a reliable option.

Number of screens: 5
Total seating: 544
Noteworthy facilities: There’s a wine bar where you can pick up some alcoholic bevvies to take into your film with you.
Cheapest times to visit: Morning tickets are $85 and Tuesday screenings cost $95 rather than the standard $120.
Special offers: American Express cardholders receive various discounts, 10 or 15 percent off depending on the account.

One of Tsim Sha Tsui’s main cinemas, UA iSquare is notable for having one of Hong Kong’s four Imax screens.

Number of screens: 6
Total seating: 822
Noteworthy facilities: Hong Kong’s largest Imax cinema, in terms of capacity.
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $60 and Tuesday screenings cost $80 rather than the standard $95.
Special offers: UA’s Loyalty Club programme costs $120 to join and, as well as other benefits, offers 10 percent off ticket prices and 20 percent off concession items. 

It’s a trek getting to the Airport Imax but the journey is worth it for Hong Kong’s largest Imax screen.

Number of screens: 1
Total seating: 324
Noteworthy facilities: The largest Imax screen in Hong Kong, this screen has excellent sight lines and a laser-aligned digital sound system.
Cheapest times to visit: Morning films are $90 compared to the standard $110.
Special offers: UA’s regular Loyalty Club discounts apply here, offering 10 percent off ticket prices and 20 percent off concessions for members.

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