Cinemas in Rotterdam: great night at the movies!
In Rotterdam’s cinemas you can enjoy all kinds of movies from Hollywood blockbusters to Asian art movies. The good thing about watching movies in the Netherlands is that they are all shown in their original language with Dutch subtitles. So there’s no need to learn Dutch when you want to visit a cinema in Rotterdam! But please note that some of the kids movies are shown in both the orignal language as well as Dutch, so make sure you pick the right version! Almost all cinemas in Rotterdam are opened all year round including public holidays. Usually a movie ticket is cheaper in the morning and you need to pay an additional charge for a 3D or 4D movie. When you visit a movie with your family there are family tickets available with a discounted price. Currently there are four cinemas in Rotterdam, all with multiple screens. In the center you can go to Pathe Schouwburgplein and Cinerama and in the south of Rotterdam you can visit Pathé De Kuip or LantarenVenster.
Cinemas in Rotterdam centre
There used to be several small cinemas in Rotterdam centre, but most of them have been converted into shops or clubs. For example the clubs Villa Thalia and Off Corso still have the name of the former cinemas. Nowadays all of these smaller cinemas have been replaced by the most well known cinemas in Rotterdam, Pathe Schouwburgplein. Pathé Schouwburgplein has got seven screens and the biggest movie theatre of the Netherlands with almost 700 seats. You will be guaranteed of the ultimate cinema experience thanks to the IMAX sound and screen. The unique thing about Pathe Schouwburgplein is that it is one of the first cinemas in the Netherlands to have a 4D movie theatre. With 4D you experience movie effects yourself in the movie theatre by moving chairs and water effects. When there’s an airplane flying in the movie, the chairs move so that it seems as if you are on the plane yourself. When laser guns are being shot in the movie, you feel the wind whizzing past your ears. If you are a true film lover, watching a movie with this new 4D technology is definitely recommended! In addition to Pathe Schouwburgplein there is another cinema in Rotterdam centre. The beautiful old cinema Cinerama is the oldest cinema in Rotterdam and has seven movie theatres with a total of more than a thousand seats. In Cinerama you can see the latest Hollywood blockbusters but also non-commercial alternative films or documentaries. Cinerama has a nice lounge in seventies style where you can drink before or after the movie.
The biggest cinema of the Netherlands
In the South of Rotterdam there is another Pathe mega cinema named Pathe De Kuip. Pathe De Kuip is the largest cinema in the Netherlands with 14 movie theatres and is located close to the Feyenoord football stadium (named De Kuip in Dutch). A new movie starts every few minutes in this cinema in one of the movie theatres on the three floors. In the cinema there is a large store where you can buy snacks such as popcorn, chips, candy and drinks. When you want to eat out before the film starts, you will find a number of restaurants close to Pathe De Kuip such as Happy Italy De Kuip, Mr Wok, Shabu Shabu, Kampong Kita, KFC and De Beren. Pathe De Kuip is easy to reach from the motorway but also from the center of Rotterdam with the express tram.
The different cinema of Rotterdam
The fourth cinema in Rotterdam can be found just outside the center on the Wilhelmina Pier and is called LantarenVenster. LantarenVenster is the alternative cinema of Rotterdam and maybe it’s better called a film theatre instead of a cinema. In addition to films, LantarenVenster shows theatre performances as well. Unlike the other cinemas in Rotterdam, you won’t find large American blockbusters in LantarenVenster, but cultural movies that are screened in one of their five smaller theatre rooms. LantarenVenster’s offer includes classical films, documentaries and many good films for kids and shows movies which are usually not shown in the regular cinemas. You can find plenty of good and nice restaurants on the Wilhelmina pier in the vicinity of Lantarenvenster, so it’s easy to combine your night to the movies with dinner!
International Film Festival Rotterdam
Once a year, around January or February, the cinemas in Rotterdam are used for a special occasion: the International Film Festival Rotterdam, or IFFR for short. During this biggest film festival in the Netherlands you won’t be able to see the latest Hollywood movies in the Rotterdam cinemas. But you can get a taste of the majority of the films that will be shown in the Netherlands during the rest of the year. In addition, there are many short and long films from all parts of the world that are not shown in the Netherlands outside this festival. There will be plenty of smaller, independent and artistic films produced by little-known directors, but occasionally there is also room for the ‘better’ Hollywood film. Tickets for this festival are very popular and therefore you best buy them in presale.
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