Retro Video Shows What a Trip to the Movies Was Like in 1987

Movie theaters experienced a golden age in the 1980s. The popcorn was cheap, the blockbusters were entertaining, and there were no smartphones to distract from the experience. Whether or not you were around for the decade, you can travel back in time with the video above from the YouTube channel Vampire Robot.

The retro footage shows a busy movie theater in Los Angeles, California, on the weekend of March 27, 1987. It opens with a clerk ringing people up and handing them their tickets before the camera shows customers buying snacks and drinks. Later in the video, the people crowd into the theater to select their (unassigned) seats. Movies playing at the cinema that weekend included Platoon, Hoosiers, and Crocodile Dundee.

Modern viewers will notice several differences between the video and today’s moviegoing experience. One is that people used cash to purchase nearly everything, which is no longer the case. According to Capital One, 47.8 percent of Americans don’t …