Harper Theater

Normally I love going to this theater, it is close to home and near several of my favorite restaurants. However today Harper has lost my business. I checked the website the morning of the movie and saw The Revenant began at 6:15 pm. I made plans with friends to go to dinner then the movie. When we arrive at the theater I learn the website was updated at noon with new movie times. How is anyone to know your website is updating, especially if you don’t write on the website under construction or updating? This is not the first time Harper Theater has misinformed it’s patrons but it will be the last time they misinform me.

I love this neighborhood movie theater so glad it’s back!!! It’s an old neighborhood theater with new insides. The seats are great and the drinks are comfy. Thank you HMT for coming back!!!

Love this little 4 screen movie theater, you cant beat $ 6-​$ 8 all day ticket prices and there is no tax for the items at the concession stand. They also have a bar, but unless your getting either wine or beer, be prepared to pay an arm or a leg… Now they just need the reclining seats & it would be the perfect theatre.

The manager Travis felt unsafe on an slow Monday morning and asked My elderly mother, my sister & I to check our purses.. I was completely outraged as I’ve been here many times without ever having to have my bag checked. I watched as the people of color bags were checked and the others bought their tickets & went on their marry way. He stated they were checking for weapons and after he checked my bag I was even more appalled as he nearly looked inside … Like seriously why go throu all this trouble to make an customer feel uncomfortable??? Doesn’t make any sense now does it? I’m taking it up to management as he was clearly discriminating

Excited to have a theater in Hyde Park, wish it were run by professionals. Rookie operation. Sometimes the lights stay on when the movie starts, the sound levels are all over the place, the schedules are not properly synched with Google showtimes. The staff is well meaning but permanently seem to be in training. I’ll go there again, but I will try to avoid it.

Ok, maybe I’m a snob… probably am. But even so, this was hands down the worst movie going experience I have ever had. First, previews were shown with the lights completely on you couldn’t see anything. Second, the heat in the theater was about 110°. Third, everybody was moving around and literally having full on conversations during the movie. Fourth, the sound was horrendous (no surround sound, or at least it wasn’t on). The only reason I’m giving it one star is because the popcorn was decent.

Our theater was unbearably hot and had minimal soundproofing (the children’s movie playing next door was audible over our movie the entire time). The staff members were congenial and the concession stand was pretty standard. The prices are very reasonable, but it’s provably worth the extra cost and travel time to go somewhere else.

Came here for a 5:05 showing of Sicario. Arrived early as it is opening weekend & to my demise, there was a child’s party going on in the theater the movie was supposed to play at. Not only was the theater itself trashed, it took forever for the people to leave, & the staff to clean up the mess. It’s 5:26 & the movie still hasn’t started yet. How does this even happen??? Barely any apology from management or comp’d for anything. Definitely not trying to return here. It used to be a nice neighborhood theater with affordable prices but I guess you get what you pay for.

We attended the matinée showing of Ant-​Man.
After 30 minutes and multiple restarts, we were told that the movie had to issue a refund for the entire theater.
The issue is while they refunded the movie price… they told us that we were on the hook for the $ 1 per ticket convenience fee for online purchase.
Myself and numerous other patrons protested that while we understood having to pay for the overpriced snacks and even parking… it is fraudulent to charge for a convenience fee on a service they were unable to provide. I was told there was nothing they could do… and while the cashier called the General Manager on the phone, the GM refused to talk with me and I was told to come back in an hour to discuss why I was on the hook.
This is my neighborhood theater. I WANT THEM TO SUCCEED… but this is a process that should have been planned for and «TOO BAD SO SAD» is not going to encourage me to return
**UPDATE** I had to go through the hassle of calling my bank and they refunded the $ 1 concession fee per ticket. However, The Harper Theater management needs to provide a contingency plan for errors that occur due to their mistakes (faulty equipment, etc) so that their customer base doesn’t have to jump through hoops to receive back money for a service they were unable to provide.

I recently bought a groupon for the theatre (tickets for two + refreshment) for a Monday through Thursday. I found the venue was clean and everyone seemed pretty helpful! The sound was a bit too loud and the seats were super comfortable. I like that the prices for drinks and food wasn’t outrageous like *cough* ICON *cough* *cough*
Just come early to Hyde Park to find parking!

The customer service was the best part of the experience for sure! We went to see a 640pm showing of The Avengers. There seemed to be only one employee working and she was fantastic! Super nice, answered all of our questions (as we had never been here before). We had a Groupon and for the most part, Hyde Park businesses kind of scoff at you if you use a Groupon… but she was super nice and accommodating. The theater is small, but it’s a neighborhood theater. I will have to agree with the other reviewers, the sound is loud if not balanced. I’m not sure if it is the actual theaters deal or if the movie was poorly mixed. Could hear the background noises, but not the dialogue. But again, we did see an action movie…
I will say, there were a couple people (3 to be exact) sleeping in the actual theater in which the movie was showing. I had to physically CLIMB over one lady in order to leave my row. I just moved here from Seattle. Is this a thing here in Hyde Park? Buy a ticket to a movie and then sleep all the way through it? I thought that’s what the Green Line was for…

The tickets are indeed cheap, but overall you get what you pay for.
Honestly for the price, the theater and the seats are decent. However, they really need to work on the customer service. Not only does it take forever to ring up tickets, which means if you arrive at showing time, you should be prepared to miss the first few minutes of the movie.
It also seems like none of the staff communicates, and no one on shift seemed to know about a promotion they had displayed right on their front door, causing further completely avoidable delays.

For the establishment to be located in a very busy neighborhood it is a nice place for random weekend plans. The establishment is nice on the inside however the business is slow. The concession employees had attitudes when I expressed how I wanted my pop corn, the lady who gave us our tickets forgot to give me our 3D glasses and the theater is a bit small… Not an establishment to bring the whole family. One or two people max please!
There were no previews, our movie was scheduled to start at 7:25 however, it started 20 mins later. The sound was not loud enough and the seats are so close together that I was unable to see part of the screen due to the person sitting in front of me.
Overall it’s a well place of business. Like most businesses, it needs a bit of improvement.

If you keep your expectations low, then Harper Theater won’t disappoint.
I went to a matinée of Birdman on Saturday, 1÷24÷15. When I walked in the front door of the theater, the line to buy tickets wrapped around to the back of the lobby and was starting to queue up along the wall. There was only one cashier for tickets, and she was very slow. I finally got to the front of the line and paid the $ 6 for my matinée with a $ 5 bill and $ 1 in quarters. She put the money in the register, then promptly forgot I gave her $ 1 in quarters as she accused me of only giving her $ 5. I reminded her very kindly that I gave her $ 1 in quarters, then she gave me my ticket and mumbled the theater.
The movie projection was messed up; the projector seemed to have been bumped or propped up as the top ¹⁄₅ of the movie was above the screen. Since the theater’s curtains are black, you could still see the movie, it just looked kind of weird. But that seems like something they could have easily fixed before the movie started. Additionally, my fellow movie patrons felt like this was the kind of movie theater where one should comment on the movie… during the movie.
I feel like Harper Theater’s management isn’t malicious, just lazy. It’s not worth the disappointment I experience every time I go there, so I’ll just stop going.

Decent local non– big chain theater. Always on Groupon. Comfortable seats, pretty clean theater. Washrooms are decent, though one stall was out of order plus a hand dryer was too. Got tixs for Top Five. Previews & commercials were playing. I asked one of the workers who had braids about the volume. She told me that they do not turn up the volume until the feature starts. I asked her they want us to sit and watch a quiet screen for 15 mins before movie starts & she replied yes. My last time here I guess. I have been here before and the volume was always on. Maybe conserving electricity?

This movie theater is weird.
We just saw the movie Gone Girl at Harper earlier today and the theater was packed full of people. The only available seats were in the first three rows which didn’t seem too bad at first because the screen isn’t that big. However, the theater is designed in such a way that the third row of seats is lower than the front two… We didn’t realize this until we sat in our third row seats and could only see about 50% of the screen. The rest of the screen was below the seats in front of us. Who designs a theater so that seats farther back are lower than seats in the front? What?
Also, the theater was filthy when we arrived. The empty seats all had a lot of trash in and around them. The floor was dirty and sticky. It seemed like no one cleaned up the theater after the last screening.
The sound wasn’t up very high so mostly we could hear people eating their snacks above the dialogue.
Bad experience. We’ll be going out of the neighborhood now for movies which is a shame because this theater is so convenient.
I just don’t get why it’s so dirty. That seems pretty basic. Just clean up after patrons leave. So gross.

This is a pretty decent little theater, as long as you don’t get caught in that second row. I’ve been here a few times now and enjoyed myself each time.
This most recent time I was granted the pleasure of sitting in the second row. Now I am not a fan of sitting that close to the screen but I was excited to see this movie so, a lady had to do what she had to do. And just as I was thinking this isn’t so bad I guess, then some people came and sat right in front of us. Well needless to say there went that thought.
The second row of seats is sunken down, and lower than the others, why I am not sure. But for that particular reason that makes that the worse seat in the house, especially if some people come and sit in front of you.
But I still enjoyed the movie we saw and had a great time.
Although I did not get any refreshments this time, but they leave much to be desired. The times I have tried their popcorn it always seems to taste old, and the candy I’ve gotten has tasted stale. So I have made the decision not to get anymore refreshments from here.
All in all though it’s a pretty good neighborhood theater.

Harper Theater isn’t your glitzy, glamorous multiplex giant screen theather. So if you’re in the mood for that, then this will be a disappointment.
However, it’s still a great theater. It’s extremely reasonably priced, especially for the Chicago area (I paid $ 6 for a 3D movie, unheard of!). You can buy tickets online ahead of time, and pick out your seats (otherwise, you pick your seat when you buy your ticket on the way in). I do echo what one other person said about the 2^nd and 3^rd rows-​I thought that would be a good location, but because of the way the floor dips it actually wasn’t a great angle. I’d recommend sitting a few rows farther back.
I wasn’t overly impressed with the food, I just got a popcorn and a soda, and the popcorn wasn’t that great. I’d likely give it another try, maybe try something different, but if the quality is the same I’d likely not waste my money. Though their website now says they have a full-​service bar, which is intriguing.
Overall, a really good value for the money, as long as you have the right expectations going in. It’s great to have a theater within walking distance, and even better that it’s inexpensive.

This is a nice and cozy place to go and catch a movie. I really like that you can get your movie tickets on line with never a problem. The young adults that work there are very nice and always make my popcorn just like I like it. The seats are very comfy and you can let the arms up if you like. The washrooms are clean
Parking is not a problem if you get in the lot just a few doors down it’s like 10 bucks for 4 hours so you can get a bite to eat before or after the movie.
You can always find a Groupon on the place.
But can’t use on the first week of a new release.
And that’s cool

If you go into this place as nothing more than a small neighborhood movie theater, Harper Theater is a good place to go. But you definitely have to go into it with tempered expectations. Even with the renovation and reopening its smaller than most of your other major theaters.
Its another business that is on Groupon alot so if you can manage to get the deal (2 tix, 2 drinks, 1 popcorn, 1 snack), its a GREAT value. And one of the best things about the place is it allows you to pick your seats.
Downside, again, is its small. So some things like service can be slow as at night, as they have the same people working multiple locations (ticket counter, food, etc). And because its small, noise travels. Also keep in mind this place is down the street from 2 major high schools. So its a chance you may get some rowdy teenagers.