If you live close enough, this is your go-to
For many, the AMC Burbank 16 is their favorite of the chain’s cinemas. It’s got it all: free parking, all the different types of rooms, many different food options nearby (including In N Out) and even fun places to drink before or after the flick.
If it has a negative, it’s a funny one, and maybe its most distinguishable oddity: the perpetually broken escalators. It’s been broke so long we just laugh. And make jokes.
Burbank is an odd duck as it is. Within walking distance of each other, the city boasts three AMC complexes: the Burbank 16 and Town Centers 6 and 8.
Combined they are sometimes called the AMC Burbank 30, but you shouldn’t trust anyone who calls them that.
If someone says they saw a movie in Burbank, the odds are they mean at the 16. The other two have their charm, but this is the one.
Recently the theater was in the news when a man pepper sprayed some moviegoers who were allegedly using their phones 40 minutes into the screening.
While we can understand his frustration, the movies is not the place where you take the law into your own hands. Either take them to the People’s Court, or go get a manager.
Collectively the three Burbank cineplexes raked in more money than any others in the US and Canada.
Not far behind were The Grove, Century City and Universal CityWalk which came in at #5, #6, and #8, respectively, which is mighty good.
AMC Burbank 16
125 E. Palm Ave., Burbank
Pros: Every type of screen, good food, free parking
Cons: Those sad, broken escalators
The reason movie cinema snobs love the Burbank 16 is because it has most of the premier formats:
IMAX with Laser is the screening you choose when you actually want to feel engulfed in the movie. Its laser projection is brighter, sharper and more consistent than the older xenon IMAX systems, and the steep seating plus calibrated IMAX sound are set up to keep the presentation intense. For movies shot or formatted for IMAX, this is usually the version filmmakers had in mind before multiplexes started offering six different definitions of “premium.” Likewise this theater does not have IMAX 70mm/15-perf for film. This IMAX is strictly digital. It’s theater 1 just to your left as you enter.
Dolby Cinema combines Dolby Vision projection with Dolby Atmos sound and AMC Signature Recliners, which is mighty badass, especially when you’re not expecting it and just waltz into the room and realize what you lucked into. Blacks are blacker, the highlights are brighter and the colors pop. Atmos moves sound around and above the audience instead of simply blasting it from the front and sides. It is one of AMC’s most complete premium formats and the first thing you should look for if you’re not seeking out an IMAX situation.
PRIME is AMC’s house-brand premium auditorium and nothing to sneeze at. It’s laser projection and upgraded surround sound won’t make any friends of aficionados of film and Atmos, but who doesn’t love a nice power recliners. After a primo sesh in the parking lot, easing the seat back in a Prime room is something that should be experienced once a month.
SCREENX (above) is what happens when someone realized the sides of the theater have real estate too. Someone asked, “why not show some of the movie on there too?” The newest Spider-Man, which apparently was shot for screenx, was pretty cool. Gotta say.
XL pairs a screen at least 40 feet wide with a 4K Barco laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound, so this is not just some standard room with a bigass screen and mediocre audio. While it is not Dolby Cinema or IMAX, it still delivers a legitimately large, bright picture and immersive Atmos sound in the 241-seat Auditorium 8.
70mm is yet another flex AMC Burbank 16 has, as it is one of the relatively few LA county theaters that can project movies in that beautiful format. Originally installed in 2015 for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, recent 70mm screenings have included The Odyssey, One Battle After Another, Sinners, and The Brutalist. The larger film stock can produce noticeably finer detail, richer texture and a more distinctly filmic image than a standard 35mm print, especially when a movie is actually photographed or finished with 70mm exhibition in mind.
Did you know: The Burbank 16 was originally the Burbank 10?
The OG AMC Burbank opened at 140 E. Palm Ave. on December 12, 1986 as the AMC Burbank 10. The theater became a major success for the chain who invested in it and in December 20, 1991, they added four additional auditoriums, turning it into the AMC Burbank 14.
Two of those new rooms featured early “amphitheatre seating,” a precursor to the stadium-style seating that would soon become standard at multiplexes around the nation.
By 2002, AMC was really ready to rock, so in the parking lot of the old theater they erected a 16-screen cineplex across Palm Avenue.
The old Burbank 14 screened its final films on June 19, 2003, and the new AMC Burbank 16 opened across the street the very next day, June 20.
Who knew nearly 25 years later that cineplex would be something to jump for joy over.
Food and drinks before and after?
Girl, hear are you options within just two blocks of the screens:
Barney’s Beanery — American sports-bar food
Buffalo Wild Wings — wings, burgers and sports-bar food
Chipotle — where you go when you forget you live in LA
Don Cuco Mexican Restaurant — Mexican and Yucatán-style food with a full bar
Fantasia Billiards — sports bar, burgers, pizza and pub food
Finney’s Crafthouse — New American gastropub
Flavor of India — North Indian, Punjabi and tandoori dishes
GRANVILLE — New American with a full bar
Guisados — Instead of Chipotle, take yr boo hear (below is one of their mini taco samplers)
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Japanese yakiniku and tabletop grilling
India’s Tandoori — Indian and Pakistani curries and tandoori dishes
Kabuki Japanese Restaurant — Japanese and sushi
Kalaveras — Mexican and Latin food with a full cocktail bar
Kopan Sushi & Ramen — Japanese ramen and sushi
Mama Hong’s — Vietnamese, pho and banh mi
Octopus Japanese Restaurant — Japanese and sushi
Over/Under Public House — American gastropub and sports bar
Palma Ristorante — Italian, steaks and seafood
Silverlake Ramen — Japanese ramen and rice bowls
Slice House by Tony Gemignani — New York, Sicilian, Detroit and specialty pizza
Story Tavern — American/British pub food, beer, whiskey and cocktails
Terrace Restaurant & Lounge — Mediterranean and Lebanese
The Boiling Crab — Cajun and Creole seafood boils
Wild Carvery — New American sandwiches, burgers and salads
Wood Ranch Burbank — American barbecue, ribs and tri-tip
Yard House — New American gastropub with a large draft-beer selection.
previously:
Stop one:
Atlantic Times Square, Monterey Park
