Starlite Drive-In Theater

I want to start by saying what a great hidden gem of Bloomington. The place is like having a time machine in your back yard. The quality of the screen is decent for what it is.The concession are not bad.The CUSTOMER SERVICE is WONDERFULLY EXCELLENT. I dropped my wallet in the area I was parked and the kind lady went out to look for it right away and found it.This place needs a little TLC but over all it is a wonderful change of pace than the average movie night out. Do your research and come prepared for a good experience.

We've been coming for many years. I can't even remember the first time I visited the Starlite. But with the recent pandemic, it's better than ever. I liked not being just packed in with cars and also having some distance between people in both the snack bar and the restrooms. Everyone behaved themselves and followed the rules. We saw Jaws and Jurassic Park which were perfect drive-in movies! It had been a hot day, so I thought the night might be kind of stuffy, too, but the humidity dropped and made for a great night. Didn't get back home and settled down until 3 am, but that's OK. The past few months have been a little rough, but the Starlite made it all better. Look forward to coming again soon!

While the movie selection may not be as art house as some hoosiers would prefer, how can you not enjoy a vintage drive-in like this. Come here with a six pack and a bench seat.

The Starlite is an excellent traditional drive-in with some modern upgrades like a digital projection screen. I saw Deadpool 2 on June 10, 2018 with one other person and we drove my midsize sedan and sat in lawn chairs behind the car. The pricing for movies is fair, especially if you plan to stay for both films. My favorite part is the ablity to bring your food and drink into the place without it being a huge deal, but we still bought 2 drinks and a bag of popcorn for only 8$ with unlimited refills. The only issues I have with the Starlite is that the area in Bloomington has karst topography which means there are few flat areas and rolling hills, this creates huge bumps that unless you are driving an SUV or Truck, you will bottom out. The entrance and exit drives also have branches and potholes that make it difficult to drive though, espeically without much signage or lighting in the night. It adds some charm to the place no doubt, but after it rains before the movie the field is hard to traverse without being wet. One of the things that doesn't make this 5 stars is the constant turning on and off of car lights when people start their cars to recharge their battery. Next time i will bring a portable radio instead of listening through the car speakers like everyone else. Much better than an indoor theater, i will be back.

Fun and affordable. The concession was easy to find and pricing totally reasonable. They ran low on popcorn, however we were able to get some .

I have been going here for over 50 years, friendly staffers, great atmosphere, good food and not expensive at all.

This is quite an eye opening experience coming from an Asian who doesn't have this kind of things back home. I love how up to date the movies are, sometimes they have 2 movies, sometimes 3 movies and the price now is $8 per head. The gates are open at 7pm but the movies start after 8:30pm. Plus, CASH only for tickets and for food. So make sure you have enough before you arrived... it's kinda in the middle of nowhere.

Great Atmosphere for a drive in movie theater with reasonable prices on food and a great selection of snacks.

The Drive-In theater is a dying breed of the cinematic experience. It's not uncommon to hear the cries for the conservation of these relics of the past. In the not so distant past of the 1950s, it was an enjoyable past time relished by families and friends to simply take your vehicle out to a field, dial your FM radio to a station, and watch a movie projected on a large screen. But, the preservation of this experience is failing as the digital age has provided the most enjoyable viewer experience in our very own living rooms, bedrooms, and even our pockets. That is why it is the utmost importance that a Drive-In theater perfects every single detail to keep the customers flowing. In this regard, Starlite Drive-In Theater has failed the cinematic world. A marker largely missed by Starlite is its upkeep. The essential prerequisite of a drive-in is it takes place outside with some ramshackle concessions building somewhere on the premises with restrooms. This building is not welcoming to those who expect proper sanitary conditions. The bathrooms were appalling. Picture this: It's nighttime and it's a good stopping point in the flick to use the restroom. You walk into this stonewalled, cramped cell labeled restroom. Its illuminated by a faint, purple, overhead gas light. Trash and even urine smother the floor. Your senses are drowned by the cold atmosphere, the rank smell of excrement, darkness surrounds you, and you taste that hot dog about to make its way out of your gullet and into the nearest trashcan. Sadly, even the sinks weren't functioning, leaving its mark of uncleanliness with you as you strut your way back to the car. If this wasn't bad enough, there is little respect to the upkeep of health standards in these times of the world's covid pandemic as little regulation from staff allow the concession patrons to pile up in one room and have no spacing in lines for social distancing. Speaking of arrangement, seating rules are very poor with Starlite. A growing trend with some movie theaters is the ability to pick out a ticket assigned to a seat. A fair system as if one plans ahead a week in advance to watch a movie with the respective establishment, they should be afforded the opportunity to pick a desired location before the person who decided on a whim to go the day of the film. Therefore, Starlite is poor as it only functions to serve those who can show up first to nab the front row seats even if you bought your tickets online in advanced. Hopefully one isn't forced to far away from the screen as that destroys part of the charm of the drive-in experience and its daunting screen. If the actual viewing experience is unreliable, what is there to say of at least hearing the film? Some drive-ins implement some sort of audio system such as speakers instead of requiring the patron to drain their car batteries. Starlite is not one of those drive-ins. If the moviegoer apprehensive to killing their delicate car and needing a jump after the four to five-hour pass time then perhaps they could at least sit outside of their vehicle and listen to others playing the movie, right? If lucky enough, you might be able to make out the faint dialogue from some brave soul's machine. Of course, this is taking place in a public setting in which the movie experience is a social one as well and thus the random floating conversations of others is both commonplace and distracting. In my recent experience, a man with a bullhorn continually commented on the movie and when a martyr came up to threaten him to stop, the man continued by shouting the rest of the film. Starlite did nothing about this incident. There was no removal of the man or the demand he let others sit and enjoy. However, I was not surprised at this point of Starlite's laissez-faire approach as children as young as six were spotted at this R-rated film dealing with sexual taboo. Quite the embarrassment as children ask their parents what they're witnessing If this is the "drive-in experience" that so necessarily needs to be preserved, then the community needs to wake up to reality and notice that real change is needed to make an actual worthwhile experience or not have it at all

Wonderful old drive-in. We've seen several movies here in 2018 and 2019 and have enjoyed it every time. Friendly staff, good prices, nice concession stand where you can buy a whole pizza or a big tub of popcorn. And the best part is the fresh air, and the cool experience of watching a movie with strangers out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It's not that far from town, but it feels like it is. They really should advertise to IU students, but I almost hate to suggest they do that, as I don't want it to get too crowded!