Ultra Star Theaters

This theatre was okay. Heard they are turning it into a fancy Arclight theatre which is super fancy– bar inside, lounge areas, etc but the ticket price will jump to almost $ 20 a person.

CLOSED! Shame on Ultra Star for not letting its customers know they were and did shut this theater down! If you call the movie line it just rings and so does the guest line. If you go to the Ultra Star web site they say nothing about the theater being gone. If you write customer service they will not respond either. It takes a drive by to figure out what the deal is. Last I checked they had other theaters so I am not sure why they would alienate the local base with this lack of information. Guess I am giving Edwards a try!

Closing tomorrow (5÷2÷11), very sad indeed.

Projection, sound, seats are terrible. Popcorn is ok. I heard they are closing theater and remodeling or relocating. Sounds like a good idea. It is about 10 years late.

Best value for going to movies. Check the San Diego UT for $ 6.00 coupons on Fridays. The theater is old, but the sound and image are first rate.

Good place to go. Not crowded most of the time. You do not usually have to go early to get a good seat. The sound and image is good, but the seats are old…
Main place I go to see movies

Not the best theater around obviously.

I really enjoy this neighborhood theater. I always enjoy the experience. There’s never a long line, it’s a chill Carlsbad vibe. A lot of families in a nice shopping center so you don’t feel like you’re going to get mugged or run over by a teenager blaring their bass. The service is great by the employees also. It’s not the most technically advanced mega-​theater, but unless I’m seeing the latest techno film, I want the whole experience and Ultra Star La Costa delivers.

This is the worst theater that I have ever been to… in the United States. The place seems to need many renovations and they charge a ridiculous entry price of 10.50 that actually good cinemas like Regal or Edwards charge. I have to skip and say that the seats were the most uncomfortable theater seats I have ever sat in and we had to go through 5 chairs before we found seats that weren’t defective! I even sank into and hurt myself a bit on the first one ! I had a date with me and I hated the fact that the arm rests would not lift to make the seats «cuddle friendly» for me and my lady friend.
That’s not all that was defective about this place, there were like 3 vertical lines on the screen that REALLY bugged me the whole time I was watching the movie. While I thought the quality of things couldn’t get worse, I was shocked when I went to the bathroom and there were no mirrors! I was really thrown off by all these things that I’m so used to being done right at the other theaters that do all these things so much better that I didn’t think theaters could have a lower standard. I was very wrong and definitely do not recommend this place unless you really just want to see a movie… and are possibly alone. I gave this place 2 stars cause I’ve actually been to a worse theater… In a third world country.

This theater sucks. It was probably the height of the movie-​going experience in 1983 or whenever it was built (ooh, cup holders built into the arm rests!). Today it is the most uncomfortable theater I have been to in the area. Though my friend says the theater at the Plaza Camino Real in Carlsbad are even worse.
The theaters are small, the seats are uncomfortable, the screens are tiny, the viewing angle – even from the back – is bad. If they played art-​house films or $ 3 movies, maybe this place could be salvaged. But they play the so-​called blockbusters, and I think they pick the bad ones.
I just thought of a couple semi-​redeeming qualities: they have a parents and baby day during the week, they do cool things like simulcast the inauguration, and there are some good eateries in this particular strip mall. So, they get bumped from one to two stars.
But I am not coming back.

Alright, so I am giving Ultra Star five stars based on the context of a specific purpose. If you are going to see, say, The Dark Knight, and want to be able to take in every little detail of the film, then this is not the theater for you. Ultra Star is a smaller theater. My boyfriend has complained that the seats don’t allow for the best viewing, but again, if you are seeing a movie that is either going to be a) very popular and/​or b) mind-​blowingly detailed in how it looks, this is not your place! Ultra Star is best for seeing a casual, no-​big-​deal movie with a friend or two in the afternoon, after grabbing a drink at the fabulous La Costa Coffee Roasting (try the vanilla chai!). They used to be more low-​key with less traffic, but since AMC Encinitas closed, they get more crowded at night. They still try to keep business personal and have their staff give a brief introduction before each movie about deals or special «family movie showings» they may have going on. Don’t go here if you’ve been waiting a year to see a particular movie. Go here if you want something low-​key in the afternoon.

Sorry, I just dont agree with the previous post on this place.
If we look beyond the harsh exteriors of this place, its quite charming.
This theater is situated right across from the Mall and has a little free standing box office outside (which I think is very cool).
Second, this theater is in Carlsbad. Carlsbad. Its not really known to be a high traffic, crazy and energetic place.
Perhaps this is why I like this movie theater. It is tucked neatly at the bottom of a hill and has a very slow and lazy way about it.
There is no rush to get to your seats or buy your tickets.
Since there aren’t a lot of people going to this theater, you can be sure that you’ll always have the best seat.
It might be a small theater, but the theater rooms are new and very clean.
Go for a lazy afternoon and you’ll know what I mean.

This place has really lower the standards of movie viewing.
This theater is one of the worse in the area. They never really have any new or updated movies, or some of the more popular movies that are coming out; it won’t be here to watch and so my friends and I have to drive out further to the other movie theater.
their popcorn is stale. their staff is rude. people were talking all loud in the movie and when I went to complain, they staff still didn’t ever do anything about it. their staff really needs to watch all the young teenagers who sneak alcohol into the theaters.
I would say the only good thing is that they offer movie mondays or tuesdays mornings to parents with children to run around and cry.

This was one of the most notable movie theater experiences I ever remember having. After spending the entire day moving out of my house, I went to see the 10:45 PM showing of the new Tarantino/​Rodriguez film «Grindhouse.»
The movie was excellent. See it.
The theater sucked. Here were the high points:
1. We bought our tickets online. No one ever asked us to see them. In fact, the only people we even saw working there were manning the snack bar.
2. Speaking of which, I left the theater mid-​way through the three-​hour movie in search of food, and the conversation went something like this:
Me: «Can I please have a pretzel?»
Employee: «Do you have exact change?»
Me: «No.»
Employee: «Well we don’t have pretzels anyway.»
Me: «Okay, what do you have?»
Employee: «Nachos, but only if you have exact change.»
Me: …
3. The seats are horrible. Ouch.
On the positive side, the picture and sound technology wasn’t bad. Still, it’s worth the extra 15 minutes drive to the stadium cinema.