Kukui Grove 4 Cinemas

This theater has a nice hometown feel and there’s plenty of parking in the surrounding area. The popcorn mixed with arare was something new to me and tasted yummy… other theaters should pick this up! Service was meh but we already knew what to expect after reading reviews, so it didn’t really bother us. Line management was nonexistent and it’s basically a free-​for-​all when you’re waiting to enter the theater. Upon entering and getting settled, I was surprised at how comfortable the seats were. Clips from a music concert were playing on the big screen while we waited, a nice change from the usual commercials you see at major theaters. The movie didn’t start on time (about 5 – 10 minutes later) but I was fine with that since the concert was still playing on the screen.
TIPS:
* Try the popcorn with arare. It’s a nice, crunchy surprise while you watch your movie.
* Bring CASH to purchase your movie tickets.

Honestly if there was an option for no stars, that’s what I would rate this theater. It seems like because they’re pretty much the only theater on this island, that they don’t give a crap about anything. They never ever start a movie on time. Every movie I’ve watched has started at least 15 to 30 minutes late. Especially if it’s a big budget movie. Hey I get that they want to fill the seats before the movie starts, but if a time says 7, then start the Damn movie at 7, everyone knows what time it supposed to start so if they’re late, then it’s their own fault. Another factor that makes them start movies late, is the fact that a lot of movies now days, especially Marvel ones have scenes after the credits, and these guys don’t take that in to consideration, when they set the showing times, so by the time they finally get done cleaing the theater for the next group, it’s already past the time the movie should be starting. Another thing is that not all movies come here, or if they do it’s weeks after it’s already been released. We really need a REAL theater here to give these guys competition so they step up their game, because being that they’re the only ones here, they seem to take advantage of that. (That could also be the reason why the staff is rude most of the time)

When on the island, we always enjoy this theater. It is definitely old school. Friendly customer service and the very best popcorn anywhere and my husband prides himself on popcorn worthiness. It’s great evening entertainment for the family.

I wish I could give negative stars…
We have been coming here for years… Never really had a problem… Even going in just to buy popcorn… Until today. My daughter and her friends went in… The owner was extremely rude to them and assumed they were 15. (Mind you, there were 3 of them, all of whom are 12). I understand you are running a business and others have probably lied about their age to get a cheaper ticket, but to stare at them and continue to ask how old they are?! Would it be like that if an adult was there? One of the girls felt bad and scared and told the owner she was 13 just to pacify and shut her up! When I called the business later– she was so rude and hung up the phone!!! It’s really unfortunate that this is the only theatre on this side of the island… Shame on you Mrs. Blair for treating kids like shit and being a total bitch when it’s so unnecessary… Again, I understand you’re running a business… But that certainly isn’t the way to treat your customers!

Disclaimer: Yes, I’m from Oahu where there are a plethora of theater & movie options and I do watch quite a bit of movies on a regular basis…
With that disclaimer out of the way, I have to unfortunately add another low scoring review for what used to be a favorite cinema establishment for me and my friends way back in the day.
First off, it’s true that because this theater is a small family-​owned & operated chain, they do have quite a bit of restrictions and limitations on what they can do. For instance, unless a movie is a huge blockbuster that is opening wide like the new Star Wars movie, chances are slim they won’t get it on the opening weekend. Some other movies that aren’t as big, you may see them come here but don’t count on it.
The concession stand here has the usual variety of snacks and drink which are the standard fare for any theater. This is no surprise. Overall they have a decent selection of movies for the 6 auditoriums, so chances are decent that you’ll find something that you want to watch. The auditoriums are relatively clean considering how busy they get too. Beware that they don’t have stadium style seating either, so if someone tall sits in front of you, you’ll be watching the back of their head. This isn’t too bad however since there are a few theaters like this on Oahu too, the ones at Kahala Mall are like this for instance.
Now for the bad parts…
1. The show times on the signs outside, on the phone message & the website can be wildly inaccurate. This is a pretty big one to me because nothing is more frustrating than planning an outing or your day around a movie you thought would be playing at a certain time! Imagine my surprise when I showed up for a 4pm showing of the Point Break remake on a Tuesday afternoon, only to find out there is none! Sure, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they pulled the showing because not enough people showed up to make it worth their while but some people showing up is better than nothing…
2. In line with point number 1, the start times are often delayed from what is on the signage or website & phone message. Over the summer when I was visiting, I saw Jurassic World with friends, and they delayed the movie by 15 – 20 minutes to pack the theater! I get it, they want to maximize their money from each showing but what about those who showed up on time and have other plans around seeing the movie? I’ve been to movies in other theaters that used to be on this island or Oahu & usually they start playing the trailers a few minutes after the stated start time. Show up late? You snooze, you lose!
3. CASH ONLY! This applies to buying tickets, snacks from the concession stand & gift certificates. This is also probably why you can’t pre-​order any tickets for big blockbusters like Star Wars and will wait in a long line like people in the city do… Except that it’s not so much because of excitement as much as necessity that dictates this. Since you can’t buy tickets with a debit or credit card, that also negates being able to use a 3^rd party ticketing service like Fandango and their mobile apps for iOS (iPhone) & Android smartphones. Basically, you have to take a crapshoot & just drive down near the showtime you expect to watch and hope it’s still playing at that time… Which given point number one can be a real pain!
4. Outdated projection & surround sound. Yep, this is to be expected but considering they are the main player on the island, you’d think they would invest in decent projectors and get Dolby Digital or something similar. Sure, I don’t expect IMAX-​size screens & projection or Regal’s RPX or Consolidated Wars’s Titan XC screen and Dolby Atmos but they could stand to upgrade and maintain what they have. Make it worth going and paying he price to see a movie at the theater rather than waiting for HBO or for the Bluray to watch at home.
So don’t get me wrong, I get that this theater is a small family-​owned & operated business on a small island that’s not a city. But there is at least one other theater on the island in Waimea that seems to draw a decent & loyal crowd because they provide the quality service and viewing experience at the cost of a slight inconvenience of having to drive further. This coupled with the fact that previous theater operators here that drew a far lesser crowd delivered on-​time and for a similar cost & it’s hard to see why these guys can’t do the same since they’re one of the only places left on the island.
They’re not the worst place to watch movies & certainly not the best but there’s a lot of room for improvement! +1 star in the hopes they take that criticism to heart about the first 2 points about timeliness. They could easily be a 3-​star place and address the main complaints such as those and people would start reviewing them better. We’ll see in a few years if they’re still around or a more major player comes in and takes their place & provides what the local folks want…

This theatre is horrible, old and out of date. The customer service is less than adequate with the exception of some of the consession stand ladies. We bought SW advance tickets thinking we would get there and go in right away but instead they stuck us all in the same line with people that had NOT bought them in advance. We were lucky enough to get in since it was the advance showing of the movie and they were smart enough to make all 4 screens SW. Later the same week we decided to go watch ‘Joy’, when we arrived we had to stand in the same long line for SW. We met two elderly ladies who were there for SW and who also had bought advance tickets for the standard SW showing, since one of them get sick if she watches 3D. They stood in line for over an hour just to find out that the showing they had bought tickets for was sold out. The poor ladies had to go home! What kind of crap is that?! This cinema needs to shut down and let a modern cinema come to the island already! The screens suck, the consession stand sucks, the service sucks and the fact that they don’t even accept cards is enough to not want tot come here… but WE don’t have a choice, do we?! Monopolies don’t help the economy.

Small little theater in Lihue. A little hard to find with all the construction! Staff was nice and the theater seats were very comfy! Reasonable prices for markdown matinées. Overall a great find to escape the rain and entertain our son!

Our flight isn’t until 10 pm so we decided to catch a movie. Cute theatre but cash only. I thought it was cool they played music video from an old Wolfman Jack Show. This is an old school theatre so don’t expect a big selection of movies. People were nice. I liked it. Popcorn hot and freshly popped!

The bad reviews on here are silly. It’s a small town theater with great prices and that homey, small town vibe. I think it’s easy to forget that Kauai is a small town with close knit locals. The popcorn and drinks were a reasonable price! The tickets were only $ 9! If you put your feet on the seat, of course they are going to be irritated, it’s rude! There is no room to put your luggage in the theater! Customer service goes both ways, you are kind to people, they are kind to you.

Stay away from this place. Small theatre … Whoever is at the front helping people with tickets is RUDEEEE!!! We wanted to kill time before the airport and went here to try and watch a movie… Lady at the front didnt even greet us. Because of a previous review I asked the lady if we can bring our bags in and she said no you can’t take them in you have to leave them at the front here and pointed to a small area next to her. Yea I don’t think so. There is a reason why Im not leaving a bag in the car. Why the hell would I leave it in the front with a stranger?!? Really stupid and extremely rude and horrible customer service. Kauai really needs a better movie theatre. This place is a waste of space.

We ended up coming here twice to see a couple movies. Its small and somewhat older, but thats ok. The sound was awesome, Just older seats. Glad we came and would go back. Good Popcorn.

This place is horrible. They have strange policies, such as: cash only, you can only buy your tickets right before the movie starts, and they will not allow you to bring in any bags that do not resemble a purse. When we finally did sit down to watch our movie it didn’t start on time. If there were any other movie theaters in town I’m sure they would have to change their ways or they would be out of business in no time.

Last day here and raining so this is a fine CASH ONLY movie theater to see first run movies.
Old school seating (long non auditorium style)

The management is TERRIBLE. The attitude of the older women is absolutely unwelcoming. She has a major attitude problem and is rude when she speaks to other people. The place looks outdated and dirty. Too bad it is the only movie theater in Lihue. If there was another movie theater in Lihue, this place would definitely go bankrupt. The least they could do around here is get an ATTITUDE CHECK!

The owners should sell their theater to someone that can cater to a wider demographic. The weekly selection of movies has been sub par for as long as I can remember. You may as well look at the lowest rated films at Rotten Tomatoes, because that is what is showing here.

Don’t play music videos about sex and drugs before a Disney movie for kids. Just a thought. It should be common sense but then you are the only real theatre on the island so I guess you can do whatever you want. I was also very disappointed that when I brought up the issue I was completely ignored and the music videos continued.

Rude and Rude and Rude
I’m giving this theater one star not because of the popcorn lady… she was nice. The two guys cleaning up the theater were very rude and what more can I say, it was bad customer service. They rushed us out of the theater right after the credits. And yes, I rested my feet on the arm rest, but the cleanup guy could’ve said «please». No, he ordered me to take my feet off the seat. There is no Aloha here.
Also, no credit cards accepted. Only cash and one of those ATMs that charge $ 2.75 to withdraw cash from your bank account. At least Age of Ultron was fun to watch.

Came for an afternoon out of the sun, and decided to watch Avengers: The Age of Ultron with my girlfriend.
Pros: best popcorn ever — seriously, comfortable seats, pleasant atmosphere
Cons: no matinée, direct theater room access (people leaving during the movie let in very bright light), owner seemed preoccupied when we tried to buy tickets
Overall a pretty good experience — we will be back, if weather doesn’t allow for more beach time.

Not very friendly people. I don’t know them personally but I know i don’t care for their business practices. They’re very slow moving at the concession stand. You can look all over the walls and find no signs that say «Cash Only.» So we waited in line for our tickets without knowing and 10 minutes later (again, they’re slow) we come to find we need cash. Fortunately for you they have one of those shady stand alone ATMs.
So they’re one of two theaters on the island? I recommend staying home and waiting for the DVD. It’s that bad.

This review is soley based on my experience as a paton at this movie theater. For the record, I am in no way dogging the owners as individuals… because I do not know them on a personal basis.
Horrible business practices! If there was a –5 Stars rating scale, I would give it a –4…only because of the reclining seats! Terrible management style, ridiculous theater rules, cash only, and no matinée. AND, the unfortunate part is that the owners seem to KNOW that this theater is practically THE movie theater on island so people are limited in having choices for a movie experience. Thus, appears to be «milking» whatever is possible from the movie-goers…which, is absolutely unfair!
I am hoping Consolidated and/​or Regal Theaters find their way back to the Island.