Your single most memorable/special Theater experience?
06-24-03, 10:15 AM
#26
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Orca - Sorry, can't remember the date or theater. My first non-Disney movie in the theater. I felt like I wuz all growed up!
The Private Eyes - with Knotts & Conway. Saw it in 1981 at the Jerry Lewis Cinema. Remember that feeling you got when you were 13 and spent an early summer day walking to the theater with a couple of buddies to see a funny movie, and then re-enact it all the way home?
Dawn of the Dead - Around 1983, at the good ol' J.L. Cinema. My first "cult" movie. Midnight showing, happy teenagers, and a gory classic. Sweet!
Honk!
The Private Eyes - with Knotts & Conway. Saw it in 1981 at the Jerry Lewis Cinema. Remember that feeling you got when you were 13 and spent an early summer day walking to the theater with a couple of buddies to see a funny movie, and then re-enact it all the way home?
Dawn of the Dead - Around 1983, at the good ol' J.L. Cinema. My first "cult" movie. Midnight showing, happy teenagers, and a gory classic. Sweet!
Honk!
06-24-03, 10:17 AM
#27
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Independence Day - first movie I viewed where the audience cheered and clapped. Everyone cheered when the weakness to the city destroyers was found & clapped when the credits started.
06-24-03, 03:06 PM
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Wow, I'm seeing alot of really great resonses! This is probably the most successful thread I have started yet. I only wish that I was old enough to see Star Wars in the theater.
It's wierd when I started typing my original oost I was thinking only of Almost Famous, but it got me thinking about the other one (Basket Ball Diaries) and that brought back ALOT of memories.
I know it's off topic, but does anyone ever wish that they were young again? Even for a day? It sounds wierd coming from a 21 year old but to be in a place in your life where you have no worries or obligations seems pretty sweet right about now.
Sorry to get sentimental and off-topic, keep the replies coming!
It's wierd when I started typing my original oost I was thinking only of Almost Famous, but it got me thinking about the other one (Basket Ball Diaries) and that brought back ALOT of memories.
I know it's off topic, but does anyone ever wish that they were young again? Even for a day? It sounds wierd coming from a 21 year old but to be in a place in your life where you have no worries or obligations seems pretty sweet right about now.
Sorry to get sentimental and off-topic, keep the replies coming!
06-24-03, 03:10 PM
#32
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Snatch, on the night of its US debut.
Sold out show, and the entire audience was really into the movie. As the credits appeared, everyone got up and clapped. A movement like this is usually reserved for fanboy films. It was just great fun.
Sold out show, and the entire audience was really into the movie. As the credits appeared, everyone got up and clapped. A movement like this is usually reserved for fanboy films. It was just great fun.
06-24-03, 03:17 PM
#33
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Originally posted by TCG
i'm just curious as to what happened the 11 years between. did you not go the movies once during this time?
i'm just curious as to what happened the 11 years between. did you not go the movies once during this time?
06-25-03, 05:19 PM
#34
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Opening night for Jurassic Park: June 1993
What a fantastic thrill ride seeing that for the first time and having no idea what was going to happen next. It's a rare movie that can really grab you like that, that can alternatively wow, and scare the crap out of you.
It's pretty passe now, but CGI was pretty new stuff at the time, and full sized, life-like dinosaurs in daylight was simply unheard of.
What a fantastic thrill ride seeing that for the first time and having no idea what was going to happen next. It's a rare movie that can really grab you like that, that can alternatively wow, and scare the crap out of you.
It's pretty passe now, but CGI was pretty new stuff at the time, and full sized, life-like dinosaurs in daylight was simply unheard of.
06-25-03, 05:24 PM
#35
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1981 watching Raiders of the Lost Ark with my grandfather who was visiting from India. He hadn't seen a movie at a theater in about 40 years(no lie). We liked it so much that we both sat through it twice.
06-25-03, 06:19 PM
#36
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I would say it would have to be the re-release of Star Wars: ANH on January 31st, 1997. It was the classic nostalgia trip with some new stuff thrown in to boot. I would almost say that I was there with literally 70% of my dorm, including the cute girls who decided to go with their boyfriends. It was like one of those showings where you crammed as many friends into a dormroom as possible, but instead it was a theater. The biggest markout moments were the new shot of the Millienium Falcon and Han Solo coming at the last minute to rescue Luke at the Death Star.
Since the theater didn't do ticket sales until forty five minutes before the movie started, there was a line around the building almost, and it was very festive with people cooking on little grills and making it a true event.
Probably the only other one that might compete would be Interview With a Vampire my senior year in H.S. The buzz for that movie was through the roof and I think almost half of the High School was there that night. A good horror movie is great to see with a full house, shame those don't happen much any more. (Good horror or full crowds wanting to see them.)
Since the theater didn't do ticket sales until forty five minutes before the movie started, there was a line around the building almost, and it was very festive with people cooking on little grills and making it a true event.
Probably the only other one that might compete would be Interview With a Vampire my senior year in H.S. The buzz for that movie was through the roof and I think almost half of the High School was there that night. A good horror movie is great to see with a full house, shame those don't happen much any more. (Good horror or full crowds wanting to see them.)
Last edited by Dr. DVD; 06-25-03 at 06:25 PM.
06-25-03, 06:53 PM
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Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan are probably the two most memorable experiences for me. With SPR I was speechless and in awe during the entire film and for two hours afterword.
06-26-03, 09:29 AM
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The initial midnight showings of both Star Wars Episode: 1 and 2. The crowd was very, very enthusiastic, there was laughing, screaming, clapping, clever one-liners yelled, it was great. Both times I left the theatre thinking I had seen a wonderful movie.
In both instances I saw the movie again that weekend. Both times I had a tough time making it through the movies as I slowly came to the realization that I hated them and that it was the crowd that was everything. The crowd was completely silent. Experience is everything.
In both instances I saw the movie again that weekend. Both times I had a tough time making it through the movies as I slowly came to the realization that I hated them and that it was the crowd that was everything. The crowd was completely silent. Experience is everything.
06-26-03, 11:18 AM
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Going to the Norwest Theater in Detroit, a local neiborhood theater back in 1977 to see Star Wars. I didn't want the ride to end!!!
1993 going to see Jurassk park with my frat/football buddies in Frankfort Kentucky. This is the movie that lead me into home theater. I was total blown away by the style and sound of this movie. Awesome experience.
1993 going to see Jurassk park with my frat/football buddies in Frankfort Kentucky. This is the movie that lead me into home theater. I was total blown away by the style and sound of this movie. Awesome experience.
06-26-03, 12:31 PM
#41
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I find it hard to single out one movie memory/experiences and even though I posted earlier: I have to say that food+movies always are memorable in my mind:
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - opening day, my friends and I were interviewed by Channel 5, which was across the street from the theatre. Were pretty close to the front, got there really early, had an entire pizza from Armands. One friend was raving about the pizza and not the hype around the movie which was pretty funny.
"Bull Durham" - same friends, different theatre, so hungry we managed to bring an entire Chinese meal into the theatre. My Japanese American friend managed to buy a child's ticket tricking the ticket guy by her height.
-----
"Henry and June" first NC-17 movie with my high school friends (see above). We were quite shocked
-----
Got sloppy drunk with a friend while watching "Showgirls"
The cinema verte camera movement in "Blair Witch Project" which gave my sister and I motion sickness.
My friend and I nearly lost out dinner on our laps at the perversly qrotesque slimfest known as "The Fly" (Cronenberg)
Other memorable Movie going moments:
The "Star Wars Trilogy" (unaltered original versions) at the American Film Institute's Kennedy Center theatre. My friend and I did a complete Mystery Science Theatre commentary through out all three movies, completely ridiculing the films without annoying anyone around us.
"Star Wars" 1977, Uptown Theatre, first row, nuff said.
"Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" - in the pre-excitement of seeing this movie, I inadvertantly (and not on purpose) slammed the car door on my sisters hand - I felt really bad
My parents inflicting David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" on my sister and I, we had nightmares for weeks.
The only film I saw completely alone: "Treasure Planet" there was something comforting seeing a movie on a weekday with no one else in the theatre.
I'm cheating here but the interactivness of "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and "The Muppets in 3D" (my friend slept through the entire short film) at DisneyWorld.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - opening day, my friends and I were interviewed by Channel 5, which was across the street from the theatre. Were pretty close to the front, got there really early, had an entire pizza from Armands. One friend was raving about the pizza and not the hype around the movie which was pretty funny.
"Bull Durham" - same friends, different theatre, so hungry we managed to bring an entire Chinese meal into the theatre. My Japanese American friend managed to buy a child's ticket tricking the ticket guy by her height.
-----
"Henry and June" first NC-17 movie with my high school friends (see above). We were quite shocked
-----
Got sloppy drunk with a friend while watching "Showgirls"
The cinema verte camera movement in "Blair Witch Project" which gave my sister and I motion sickness.
My friend and I nearly lost out dinner on our laps at the perversly qrotesque slimfest known as "The Fly" (Cronenberg)
Other memorable Movie going moments:
The "Star Wars Trilogy" (unaltered original versions) at the American Film Institute's Kennedy Center theatre. My friend and I did a complete Mystery Science Theatre commentary through out all three movies, completely ridiculing the films without annoying anyone around us.
"Star Wars" 1977, Uptown Theatre, first row, nuff said.
"Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" - in the pre-excitement of seeing this movie, I inadvertantly (and not on purpose) slammed the car door on my sisters hand - I felt really bad
My parents inflicting David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" on my sister and I, we had nightmares for weeks.
The only film I saw completely alone: "Treasure Planet" there was something comforting seeing a movie on a weekday with no one else in the theatre.
I'm cheating here but the interactivness of "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and "The Muppets in 3D" (my friend slept through the entire short film) at DisneyWorld.
Last edited by Giles; 06-26-03 at 12:53 PM.
11-14-03, 01:57 AM
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1) The premier of Rocky 4. I won it in a drawing at baskin robbins when i was in the 7th grade. my dad drove me into san francisco and we had an awesome night. whenever Rocky boxed everyone stood up and cheered him on like we were really at the fight...there were all kinds of famous people there that my dad kept pointing out but for some reason i could care less back then! it was awesome
2) sneaking mad dog into Braveheart (it was my 4th time seeing it) with a bunch of college friends and we ended up getting the entire theater to chear will wallace on every time he went to battle. we were pretty wasted and for some reason the theater played off of our chearing...it was fun (or funny)
3) LOTR...just the feeling walking into the theater thinking that this couldnt be really happening...what an epic movie!
2) sneaking mad dog into Braveheart (it was my 4th time seeing it) with a bunch of college friends and we ended up getting the entire theater to chear will wallace on every time he went to battle. we were pretty wasted and for some reason the theater played off of our chearing...it was fun (or funny)
3) LOTR...just the feeling walking into the theater thinking that this couldnt be really happening...what an epic movie!
11-14-03, 07:59 AM
#43
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the five all time movie experiences.....
5)Jurassic Park: 3pm showing. Opening day. It was insane. 3pm showing and it was packed. Everyone was going crazy. The first time DTS was used. AWESOME experience.
4)Philadelphia: Awesome movie. At the end, if you looked around... people were crying. Awesome how a movie can make almost everyone emotional.
3)Scream: What a freaky movie. The people were getting scared for everything. It was an awesome crowd.
2)Freddy vs Jason: Opening night.Man..... The people were just cheering each one. At the end, when it showed who won people were arguing and cheering and it was just great.
1)Star Wars Episode 1- 12 midnight showing before opening day. AWESOME PEOPLE, people cheering the Lucasfilm logo, and applause everywhere.
Honorable mentions: LOTR- FOTR, LOTR-TT, and Star Wars Episode 2
5)Jurassic Park: 3pm showing. Opening day. It was insane. 3pm showing and it was packed. Everyone was going crazy. The first time DTS was used. AWESOME experience.
4)Philadelphia: Awesome movie. At the end, if you looked around... people were crying. Awesome how a movie can make almost everyone emotional.
3)Scream: What a freaky movie. The people were getting scared for everything. It was an awesome crowd.
2)Freddy vs Jason: Opening night.Man..... The people were just cheering each one. At the end, when it showed who won people were arguing and cheering and it was just great.
1)Star Wars Episode 1- 12 midnight showing before opening day. AWESOME PEOPLE, people cheering the Lucasfilm logo, and applause everywhere.
Honorable mentions: LOTR- FOTR, LOTR-TT, and Star Wars Episode 2
11-14-03, 10:09 AM
#45
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At 22, i'm too young to have enjoyed the original star wars release in theaters, so I most enjoyed the special edition releases in 1997.
The atmosphere was amazing. People were standing in the back, and sitting in the aisles and on the floor in front. Between the People dressing up, the cheering when "a galaxy far away.." came up, and the cheering when han saves luke at the end, and everone applauding during the credits, and people cheering when certain actors were credited..It was jsut amazing. I will never forget it.
My second fav. was seeing Dogma at Kevin Smith's Vulgarton, and sitting next to his wife and daughter. It was especially nice afterwards with the Q&A and meeting Kevin & the actors.
The atmosphere was amazing. People were standing in the back, and sitting in the aisles and on the floor in front. Between the People dressing up, the cheering when "a galaxy far away.." came up, and the cheering when han saves luke at the end, and everone applauding during the credits, and people cheering when certain actors were credited..It was jsut amazing. I will never forget it.
My second fav. was seeing Dogma at Kevin Smith's Vulgarton, and sitting next to his wife and daughter. It was especially nice afterwards with the Q&A and meeting Kevin & the actors.
11-14-03, 12:24 PM
#46
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Seeing "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" in December (Pearl Harbor Day, if memory serves) of 1979. Sure the movie sucked, but the anticipation (and crowds!) before the film was like nothing I'd ever experienced before...or since. It's a shame that movies don't inspire that kind of excitement anymore...but then again, this was in the day before home video, and when most people had three channels on their TV and no cable.
11-14-03, 12:31 PM
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Originally posted by DonnachaOne
Batman Forever, 1995.
It was the first afternoon show, when all the kids could get to see it. An auditorium full of preteens who had been waiting for this film more than Christmas. Small enough town too, so I knew everyone there, friends, family...
I was 12 at the time, so it seemed awesome. But to watch it with 200 of my closest friends... THAT was awesome.
It was the last picture show I saw in Ireland before I moved to America. The old cinema was closed, boarded up, broken into by the teens at night... it was finally demolished last year. And with it, went a bit of my past.
And thank YOU Mr. Peter Bogdonavich for stealing my metaphor!
Batman Forever, 1995.
It was the first afternoon show, when all the kids could get to see it. An auditorium full of preteens who had been waiting for this film more than Christmas. Small enough town too, so I knew everyone there, friends, family...
I was 12 at the time, so it seemed awesome. But to watch it with 200 of my closest friends... THAT was awesome.
It was the last picture show I saw in Ireland before I moved to America. The old cinema was closed, boarded up, broken into by the teens at night... it was finally demolished last year. And with it, went a bit of my past.
And thank YOU Mr. Peter Bogdonavich for stealing my metaphor!
11-14-03, 12:45 PM
#48
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Fall of 1997, Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL — 2001: A Space Odyssey, 70mm, remastered and one hell of a big screen. With just a flavoring of LSD, not too much, not too little, just enough. Ebert presented the film, but I didn't let that ruin the experience.
Early 2003, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL — Ernst Lubitsch's sublime Trouble in Paradise. I actually left the theater feeling high as a kite, without any consumption of trendy chemical amusement.
Early 2002, Facets Cinematheque, Chicago — Bela Tarr's Satantango. An epic cinematic journey clocking in at 450 minutes. Tiring at some points? Yes, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
2001, Landmark's Century Centre, Chicago — One of my favorite final shots, possibly never to be seen again (pray for home video), in Shinji Aoyama's Eureka.
2000, Music Box, Chicago — Finally seeing a sparkling Barry Lyndon on the big screen making it my favorite film since then.
Early 2003, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL — Ernst Lubitsch's sublime Trouble in Paradise. I actually left the theater feeling high as a kite, without any consumption of trendy chemical amusement.
Early 2002, Facets Cinematheque, Chicago — Bela Tarr's Satantango. An epic cinematic journey clocking in at 450 minutes. Tiring at some points? Yes, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
2001, Landmark's Century Centre, Chicago — One of my favorite final shots, possibly never to be seen again (pray for home video), in Shinji Aoyama's Eureka.
2000, Music Box, Chicago — Finally seeing a sparkling Barry Lyndon on the big screen making it my favorite film since then.
11-14-03, 12:45 PM
#49
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Biograph Theater
Chicago,IL
Midnight showing
circa 1978
I've been to a million movies, and plenty have been memorable, but that very first time experiencing RHPS at a crowded midnight showing is unlike anything else..........
Biograph Theater
Chicago,IL
Midnight showing
circa 1978
I've been to a million movies, and plenty have been memorable, but that very first time experiencing RHPS at a crowded midnight showing is unlike anything else..........
11-14-03, 12:53 PM
#50
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Seeing Jurassic Park opening day in a big theater in San Jose after eating All you Can Eat Breakfast at Dennys. after the movie going and watching some younger friends graduate from high school.
MST3K version of Robot Holocaust at the first MST-con. a room full of people who get all the humor and a MST that i had been wanting to see.
Evil Dead 2 at the bruce campbell book signing.
MST3K version of Robot Holocaust at the first MST-con. a room full of people who get all the humor and a MST that i had been wanting to see.
Evil Dead 2 at the bruce campbell book signing.