Mission Valley Cinemas

2109 Avent Ferry Road,
Raleigh, NC 27606

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MSC77
MSC77 on October 24, 2022 at 7:36 pm

A chronology of Raleigh’s 70mm presentation history has recently been published. Mission Valley is mentioned numerous times.

cmbussmann
cmbussmann on September 6, 2019 at 2:44 pm

Willem Dafoe wasn’t in The Keep.

raysson
raysson on February 26, 2016 at 1:10 pm

TOP GUN was the only 70mm Dolby Stereo presentation in the Carolinas upon it’s general release at Raleigh’s Mission Valley Cinema on May 16,1986. Charlotte, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem were absent from the 70mm presentations of TOP GUN.

raysson
raysson on March 30, 2015 at 3:58 pm

King of Film: Mission Valley had a 70mm print of RETURN OF THE JEDI but was absent from the 70mm, 6 track Dolby Stereo presentations in the Raleigh area. Only Charlotte and Winston-Salem were the only theaters that presented JEDI in 70mm, 6 track Dolby Stereo…..

See the website digitalbits for further information:

www.digitalbits.com/columns/history-legacy—showmanship/remembering-return-of-the-jedi-30th

The 70mm,6 track DOBLY STEREO presentations of JEDI:

Charlotte: Park Terrace

Winston-Salem: Thruway

KingOfFilm
KingOfFilm on September 15, 2014 at 2:47 pm

I saw RETURN OF THE JEDI in pure awesome 70mm, 6 track Dolby here in June of 1983. One of the more memorable movie going experiences of my child hood.

raysson
raysson on July 2, 2014 at 4:25 pm

Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry in SUDDEN IMPACT eventually played on two screens for one week.

December 16,1983…playing at MISSION VALLEY 5

Screen 1: William Hurt and Lee Marvin in GORKY PARK

Screen 2: Barbra Streisand in YENTL-DOBLY STEREO

Screen 3: Clint Eastwood(Dirty Harry)in SUDDEN IMPACT

Screen 4: Mel Brooks in TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Screen 5: William Dafoe in THE KEEP

raysson
raysson on July 2, 2014 at 4:19 pm

December 9,1983…..THE MISSION VALLEY CINEMA 5

The grand reopening of the Mission Valley Cinemas

SCREEN 1: Natalie Wood in BRAINSTORM

SCREEN 2: Barbra Streisand in YENTL-DOLBY STEREO

SCREENS 3 AND 5: Clint Eastwood in SUDDEN IMPACT

SCREEN 4: The Oscar winning WW2 adventure DAS BOOT

THE COMING CHRISTMAS ATTRACTIONS:

William Hurt and Lee Marvin in GORKY PARK

Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft TO BE OR NOT TO BE

William Dafoe in THE KEEP

I have the original ads for the Mission Valley 5 grand opening from December 9,1983.

raysson
raysson on July 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm

Raleigh’s Mission Valley Cinema held the World Premiere of BRAINSTORM on October 6,1983. The movie was basically on location in North Carolina with locations in the greater Durham-Raleigh area as well as Research Triangle Park, Chapel Hill, Kitty Hawk, Wilmington, and a few other North Carolina locates.

The Christopher Walken-Natalie Wood science fiction thriller was one of the 70mm-6 Track Dolby Stereo presentations that got the North Carolina engagements in October,1983…Those theatres are…….

Charlotte: (Plitt)-Park Terrace III-[70mm Dolby Stereo]

Raleigh: (Litchfield)-Mission Valley 1 & 2-[70mm Dolby Stereo]

Other cities within the state of North Carolina got the general release showings in November,1983. Only cities of Raleigh and Charlotte were the engagements.

raysson
raysson on June 20, 2014 at 4:57 pm

The largest auditorium seats 500.

Micah
Micah on June 17, 2014 at 6:27 pm

Mission Valley held the world premier of Brainstorm on 06 October. The film was made in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Kitty Hawk, and a few other NC locales.

raysson
raysson on June 17, 2014 at 6:19 pm

NOW SHOWING AT THE MISSION VALLEY CINEMA I & II For June 4,1982

CINEMA I-“STAR TREK II:THE WRATH OF KAHN”-Dolby Stereo

CINEMA II-Albert Finney and Carol Burnett in “ANNIE”

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on October 9, 2013 at 2:35 am

I saw “Charlie’s Angels” (the first film) here in 2000 – the concession stand sold “BladderBuster” sodas the size of a popcorn bucket (do they still sell those?). Ambassador was running the theater then (as they still do); “Charlie’s Angels” at the Mission Valley was a better experience than at the Carolina East 4 (by then a Carmike DUMP) in Greenville a couple of months later: second-run film (previously shown in Greenville at Carmike 12) in a decaying theater at first-run prices ($6 when they should have charged $1.50 tops). Karma comes around: Mission Valley is still in business while most of those old Carmike shoeboxes disappeared in bankruptcy.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on August 10, 2013 at 6:58 pm

Chuck1231 I am from Canada. but spent lots of time in Raleigh/Durham North Carolina.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on May 1, 2013 at 5:25 pm

I visited this theatre many times when United Artists was operating it. Lovely COMFORTABLE auditoriums, extremely clean floors (tiles) under the seats — far nicer than any Carmike dump!

raysson
raysson on May 1, 2013 at 2:55 pm

For further information go to this site: http://www.in70mm.com/news/2008/jedi

Further proof that cities like Raleigh,Greensboro and Fayetteville were absent from the 70mm presentations of this film.

raysson
raysson on April 30, 2013 at 3:53 pm

To: Mike Rogers and Michael Coate

I have the original newspaper ad from the Raleigh News and Observer that indicated upon it’s May 25,1983 general release that the movie RETURN OF THE JEDI did played here,but it was NOT mentioned anywhere in the ad that the film was in 70mm…NOR anywhere in the ad that film was mentioned in DOBLY STEREO. As Michael Coate quoted in on this site that the MISSION VALLEY and the CARDINAL were absent from the 70mm presentations. At the time the film opened MISSION VALLEY was a twin theater and the film played in it’s largest auditorium with a seating capacity of 515.

ONLY two cities in the state had RETURN OF THE JEDI presented in full 70mm-6 Track Dobly Stereo upon it’s May 25,1983 release:

Charlotte: Park Terrace

Winston-Salem: Thruway

raysson
raysson on November 28, 2012 at 2:23 pm

The largest auditorium at the MISSION VALLEY had a seating capacity of 500 that was equipped with a full 180-degree widescreen projection that was equipped to show bigger presentations in the 70MM format.

The theatre opened on March 2,1973 as a twin cinema under Litchfeld Theatres and by 1983 expanded to five screens under United Artists Theatres and also Ambassador Entertainment Group.

raysson
raysson on November 28, 2012 at 2:19 pm

This was also the same person who disrupted crowds during a screening of the James Bond “Skyfall” movie that also played at the Mission Valley Cinema that same night.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/27/2510253/raleigh-man-charged-with-disrupting.html.

raysson
raysson on November 28, 2012 at 2:16 pm

Disruption at local movie theater results in charges…. From the November 28, 2012 edition of the Raleigh News and Observer….during a screening of the new “Twilight” movie at Raleigh’s Mission Valley Cinema……

More details on this are located at this website…..

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/27/2510253/raleigh-man-charged-with-disrupting.html

raysson
raysson on February 27, 2012 at 1:35 pm

Chuck 1231: I have the original ads from March 2, 1973 grand opening of the Mission Valley Cinemas in Raleigh,aka The Mission Valley Cinema I & II. Source: Raleigh News and Observer.

raysson
raysson on May 27, 2011 at 2:37 pm

Speaking of the 25th Anniversary of the 1986 blockbuster hit TOP GUN, The Mission Valley Cinemas in Raleigh was the only theatre in the Carolinas that was given the showing in 70MM and 6 Track Dobly Stereo. It opened in general release on May 16, 1986.

**Source: The Friday May 16, 1986 edition of the Raleigh News and Observer.

raysson
raysson on February 21, 2011 at 4:16 pm

Did you know that a local television station is right next door to Mission Valley facing the intersections of Western Boulevard and Avent Ferry Roads?

WRAL-TV,Channel 5 of Raleigh is right next door to Mission Valley.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on April 14, 2010 at 9:33 pm

I remember taking one of the marquee.I assume you live in that area. It’s funny how people will live in a place and never think to snap a picture. Got a CT guy from ATlanta on and found out he never got around to snapping a picture of NORTHEAST EXPRESS DRIVE-IN in Atlanta.Driving home to Augusta I stopped off 1-85 and took several pictures Cliff never thought to do it,but I was able to mail him copies. I will try and locate the picture,I have hundreds of pictures,mainly in the South.

Micah
Micah on April 14, 2010 at 9:22 pm

That theater was once the Varsity. I think it operated as Studio I for a brief time before it closed. Soon after it closed Studio I & II opened just down the street at 2526 Hillsborough in the Electric Company Mall. That theater closed in October of 2000. It was a very unique and very small theater. Screen 1 had just under 50 seats and screen 2 just over 50. The old Varsity sat empty for a long time after McDonalds closed and it is now a textbook store. Do you have pictures of the McDonalds? I would love to see them!