History Main / DriveInTheater

* ''Film/Northville Cemetery Massacre'' includes a scene where a bunch of motorcycles pull up to a drive-in theater (specifically, the now-abandoned Jolly Roger Drive-In in the Detroit suburb of Taylor).

* ''Film/NorthvilleCemeteryMassacre'' includes a scene where a bunch of motorcycles pull up to a drive-in theater (specifically, the now-abandoned Jolly Roger Drive-In in the Detroit suburb of Taylor).

* In ''Film/{{Heat}}'', Neil [=McCauley=] arranges to meet with Roger Van Zant's drop man in one of these drive-in theaters (the one in question was closed down and built over years after filming). However, an assassin is hiding in the drop man's pickup truck. Chris Shiherlis covers Neil from the roof of the projection building. The two of them take down the assassin. The pickup truck driver tries to flee, but just as he is about to exit, Michael Cheritto shoots him with a shotgun.
* ''Film/{{DeadEndDriveIn}}'', the Australian B (to be generous) SF/action/exploitation movie, was set in a CrapsackWorld one.

* Music/BobSeger's "Night Moves", which also features Matt LeBlanc as one of the moviegoers. The song was recorded in 1976, but the video was filmed in 1994 to help promote his Greatest Hits CD.

* Bob Seger's "Night Moves", which also features Matt LeBlanc as one of the moviegoers. The song was recorded in 1976, but the video was filmed in 1994 to help promote his Greatest Hits CD.

* Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" video features him painting the screen at a drive-in theater during the second verse. He fell asleep on the job and was still up there when the movie started.

* When Music/RascalFlatts covered "Life is a Highway" for ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', the music video took place at a drive-in with the movie playing on the screen and real-life counterparts to the main characters in the lot.

Many drive-ins have playgrounds for child patrons to use before the show.

They've also changed as technology improved. Originally, Drive-ins had physical speakers, attached by wire to a post, which you removed from the post, rolled down your window, placed the speaker inside, then rolled up the window. This often caused people to forget they had the speaker attached, causing them to drive off, usually ripping the speaker off the post and possibly breaking the window.[[note]]Most drive-ins ran a spot before, after, and between the features reminding you that your car was currently attached to a metal pole by a wire and telling you that if you did accidentally rip the speaker loose to bring it by the concession stand, usually in a humorous way trying very hard to imply "Hey, these things happen, we're not gonna be mad." Really, of course, the drive-in just wanted the speaker back ... reattaching it to the post is a lot cheaper than buying a new one.[[/note]] (Some very small ones just had a single, large speaker.) Today, drive ins have low-power broadcast transmitters, that send the audio to your car radio. Some drive-ins even have digital sound (usually the DTS format, since they are the only company that does installations for digital sound in drive-ins). This also means, if the car has good stereo, that the sound can be as good as that in a high-quality walk-in theater. Some drive-ins run AM as well as FM signals for the few people who don't have FM radio.

* One of the 3x3-tile commercial buildings in ''VideoGame/SimCity 2000'' is a drive-in theater, and one of the low-value commercial buildings in ''SimCity 3000'' is a flea market that looks like a run-down drive-in theater.

** An intact drive-in also appears in virtual Steelport during a mission near the beginning and end of the game. Unfortunately, once these missions in 50s Steelport are over the player can't return there and none of the objectives or side content use it for anything, its just there for effect.

* ''Literature/DiamondsAreForever'' has a scene in Las Vegas where Literature/JamesBond is in a cab being pursued by a pair of gunmen, and the driver attempts (unsuccessfully) to shake them by going to a drive-in where a movie is playing.

* ''[[Literature/DiamondsAreForever]]'' has a scene in Las Vegas where Bond is in a cab being pursued by a pair of gunmen, and the driver attempts (unsuccessfully) to shake them by going to a drive-in where a movie is playing.

* ''Film/MidnightCowboy'' opens with a shot of the Big Tex Drive-In screen.

'''The Rise:''' Drive-ins really took off after WorldWarTwo; by their peak in the late [[TheFifties 1950s]] and early [[TheSixties 1960s]], there were more than 4,000 drive-ins all across America. While they continued to show mainstream Hollywood fare for families, they also became popular with teenagers, who would come to see the latest {{B Movie}}s (which usually dealt with ScienceFiction monsters, juvenile delinquents, and [[TheNewRockAndRoll early rock & roll]]). Of course, teens also took advantage of the privacy factor, which made drive-ins notorious as [[MakeOutPoint "passion pits"]]. In the popular imagination, drive-ins are still associated with these tropes derived from the 1950s. However, this heyday couldn't last...

'''The Rise:''' Drive-ins really took off after WorldWarTwo; by their peak in the late [[TheFifties 1950s]] and early [[TheSixties 1960s]], there were more than 4,000 drive-ins all across America. While they continued to show mainstream Hollywood fare for families, they also became popular with teenagers, who would come to see the latest {{B Movie}}s (which usually dealt with ScienceFiction monsters, juvenile delinquents, and [[TheNewRockAndRoll early rock & roll]]). Of course, teens also took advantage of the privacy factor, which made drive-ins notorious as [[MakeOutPoint "passion pits"]]. In the popular imagination, drive-ins are still associated with these tropes derived from the 1950s. However, this heyday was TooGoodToLast...

* According to WordOfGod, going to Drive In Theaters is how [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]]manages to make tons of pop culture references despite being a WalkingTechbane.

* This might be how [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], who makes pop culture references all the time despite being WalkingTechbane, manages see most movies. However, it's possible that he just goes to normal movie theaters and is careful to sit far from the projector.

* On an episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Cliff, Norm, Frasier and Woody go to a Franchise/{{Godzilla"" marathon at a drive-in.

* A character is forced to watch the deaths of his friends in a decayed drive-in in ''FreddyKruegersSevenSweetestDreams'' story "Asleep at the Wheel".

They've also changed as technology improved. Originally, Drive-ins had physical speakers, attached by wire to a post, which you removed from the post, rolled down your window, placed the speaker inside, then rolled up the window. This often caused people to forget they had the speaker attached, causing them to drive off, usually ripping the speaker off the post and possibly breaking the window.[[hottip:*:Most drive-ins ran a spot before, after, and between the features reminding you that your car was currently attached to a metal pole by a wire and telling you that if you did accidentally rip the speaker loose to bring it by the concession stand, usually in a humorous way trying very hard to imply "Hey, these things happen, we're not gonna be mad." Really, of course, the drive-in just wanted the speaker back ... reattaching it to the post is a lot cheaper than buying a new one.]] (Some very small ones just had a single, large speaker.) Today, drive ins have low-power broadcast transmitters, that send the audio to your car radio. Some drive-ins even have digital sound (usually the DTS format, since they are the only company that does installations for digital sound in drive-ins). This also means, if the car has good stereo, that the sound can be as good as that in a high-quality walk-in theater. Some drive-ins run AM as well as FM signals for the few people who don't have FM radio.

[[redirect:{{Drive-InTheater}}]]