Over the Christmas weekend, I decided to return to the cinemas – after a long hiatus – to catch The Matrix Resurrections, as I was quite a Matrix fanboy myself. For this special event, I decided I should watch the film in one of the special theatres, instead of the usual cattle-class ones.
I was deciding between Shaw Theatre’s Premiere at NEX and GV’s Deluxe Plus at Funan, and decided on the latter. After all, Funan’s cineplex was opened in late 2019, which was followed closely by the Covid-19 shutdowns. This means that other than being the newest cineplex in Singapore, it was also the least used. This sounded much better than a 12-year-old leather seat in NEX!
What is GV Deluxe Plus?
GV has a diverse range of cinemas that it can be confusing what we would be spending our money on. For example, it’s straightforward that Duo is like Gemini, but with hand rest between the “couple seats”. Similarly, Gold Class Express is a Gold Class “minus”, which seems to be the same when Deluxe Plus is touted as “Premium” when compared to the usual seats.
Usually, I would direct my readers to the official page for the most accurate and authoritative information on whatever I was reviewing. But in this case, the official page’s info barely gave a clear idea of what to expect. Similarly, many reviews online weren’t detailed in what one would expect, which makes me real worried whether spending twice that of a normal ticket price would be worth the money.
For starters, one can think of “Gold Class” as an airline’s First Class seat, while “Gold Class Express” is Business Class. Therefore, Deluxe Plus can be considered as the Premium Economy seats.
Admittedly, I have only tried out GV’s Gemini, IMAX and normal seats. My review here is purely based on my experience at Funan’s Deluxe Plus, without much comparison to GV’s other cinema offerings.
Details of My Ticket
I bought a seat in the 2nd last row of the centre block. Contrary to popular belief, the last row isn’t the best one. In fact, those who sat in the last few rows will always be disrupted by the ongoing movement from latecomers and toilet goers. The last row suffers the most with light pollution from all the entering/exiting taking place.
My ticket was also one that was a “Dine-in Set”, meaning there was complimentary food and drinks (will elaborate later).
All in all, I spent $34.75 on the ticket, which was slightly double that of a ticket in a normal hall on the same day.
The Deluxe Plus Seat
The seats in the cinema were arranged in a 2-4-2 setting, with a total of 5 rows. Due to Covid’s restrictions, only 2 seats per row were opened for booking in the centre block. Due to Covid restrictions, only 2 seats per row in the centre block were opened for booking. This meant that there was no one seated beside me, before and behind me. Quite a bit of luxury in terms of personal space!
Viewers were treated to a spacious leather seat, which could be reclined slightly (and noisily). According to the website, the seat in the Deluxe Plus version could not be reclined. And compared to the Gold Class, there was no leg rest.
Speaking of legs, the leg space was generous. Sans Covid, when the hall is full, those in the middle seats would not have to twist and turn to get in and out.
The seat also came with a USB port for charging handphones. This port was built in with the buttons to recline the seat. Each seat had its own hand rest, so I need not jostle for space with my neighbour. The hand rest was also wider than my fat forearms. Not that I really cared about that space, since the seat width was so generous, I had to slant my body in order to reach the hand rest.
With the ample hand rest came plenty of space, not just for the cup, but also any food that I brought in, which was like… doughnuts, nuggets and a packet of caramel popcorns. All these, without having to infringe into the space of my neighbour.
Food & Service for Funan’s Deluxe Plus
The reception area of GV at Funan was an intimate one, which I think was simply because the cineplex wasn’t as huge as its seniors. The staff were friendly and explained to me patiently what I should be expecting for my ticket.
Basically, each “Dine-in set” ticket came with a serving of food and drinks, which we could collect at the entrance of the hall. That being said, I still bought some more food, as I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The food wasn’t waiting for me when I reached the hall. After all, I was there 10 minutes before opening. After a while, 2 staff appeared with a trolley of drinks, which I claimed with my ticket.
The food was only served after the opening advertisements were shown, but by the staff right to my seat. That being said, the spicy drumlets were piping hot, so they weren’t scrimping on service quality.
However, the drink was a bit of a let down, as my lemon tea tasted very watered down.
And if you must know, there were 8 spicy drumlets in the set.
Parting Words
Unlike Gold Class, the “premium” service of the Deluxe Plus was more casual. There was no pre-show lounge food, but food (no options though) was served to the seat when ready.
Compared to the furry linen seats in the usual theatre, I preferred the leather seats as they felt cleaner and free from weird smells left from thousands of viewers who sat in the seat before me. Being old means I couldn’t stay in a position for long and the ample space of the Deluxe Plus’ seat gave me that freedom to toss and turn without disturbing other people.
Of course, I also chose a “premium” hall because I knew that few parents would be crazy enough to spend twice the ticket price to bring their kids in. This meant that I could watch the movie peacefully. In fact, everyone in the hall was mature and quiet (not even chatty folks or those who added to light pollution by being constantly on their phones). I guess the hypothesis that only people who seriously want to enjoy a movie would pay more for a ticket is true here!
The extra personal space due to the Covid restrictions will be short lived. Much as I enjoyed that, this is perhaps the last in many years that I will watch a movie in a cinema.
But perhaps I will try a Gold Class experience, for the heck of it.
Till then, stay wanderlust!
Book your Deluxe Plus movie ticket at Funan now!