Memorable theatre experiences

EVIL DEAD & EVIL DEAD 2, Lincoln Center (NYC), Oct. 2002-Phenomenal print. I wasn't the biggest fan of ED2 after watching it at home and voiced such concerns on CHUD. People here told me that this was just one of those movies best watched with an audience. Evil Dead went over pretty well, but ED2...well, I loved it. It seemed so much funnier and chaotic when people were responding to the film as compared to home. When Ash builds his chainsaw, the audience got quiet, the music roared, and then Campbell uttered one word: "Groovy." The applause that followed reminded me why I was a film fan in the first place.

I can remember 3 right off the top of my head.

1) Seeing the modern Godzilla remake ( Devilin) with my friends Jon and Kris and the film melts while Godzilla is roaring in the middle of a NY street. Everyone in the audience gave out a collective "whoa" because they thought it was part of the movie, as if one of the news media's cameras had melted covering the monster. We started laughing hysterically as soon as the edges of the film started disappearing.
Our laughter continued in reference to the crowd's initial reaction until I realized we really shouldn't be laughing at the intelligence of the audience, since we were also paying to see this movie on an opening weekend night.

2) My wife is a big fan of all things Titanic, so when the movie came out I knew the suffering was coming.
I decided that if it had to happen, it should at least be minor event. I drove to Louisville to see it at Showcase Cinemas on the 'huge friggin screen'. I sat there reminding myself that Kate Winslet nudity is certainly worth sitting through this movie. I estimate it was at the 2 hour mark that film itself tore in the projector. They told us we could either get free passes for a future movie or see the next showing, which started in about 30 minutes (plus free popcorn and coke). Thus, I had to sit through it from the beginning once more. I'm not saying it's a terrible movie but because of the circumstances I hope to never see it again.

**Spoiler**

3) I saw The Sixth Sense with a group of friends (my 2nd time). The theater was sold out on our showing.
Our friend Jamie didn't turn her phone off and it rang at about the time Bruce Willis' character is talking to Haley Joel Osment for the first time in the church. She let it ring and ring without answering it, pretending it wasn't her phone. The phone rang again and it was her boyfriend checking up on her. This is a very quiet scene and she answers the phone in normal volume voice and the volume of the phone was such that I'm sitting 2 people from her and can actually hear the boyfriend. We're shooshing her along with others nearby. The conversation went like this...

Jamie - " What? Oh, I'm here seeing a movie right now."

BF - " What are you seeing and when are you going to be home?"

Jamie - " I don't know when I'll be home. Oh, I'm seeing that Sixth Sense movie."

BF - "I've seen that movie, it's pretty good. I never knew Bruce Willis was dead the whole time"

Jamie - (In a rather loud and OMG sort of tone) " No way! Bruce Willis is already dead in this movie??"

Cue initial stifled laughter for the rest of us and then heaps of embarrassment for what happened.

I have so many, but I'll just mention a few...

I saw Memento in a little art house theater. After it ended, no one got up to leave. We all just sat there amazed by what we just saw. Finally, the person next to me asked me a question and that just opened up the floodgates for everyone to engage in a giant discussion about the movie. We were so caught up in trying to figure out what happened, and who played whom, etc. that we forgot that we were all complete strangers, which is rare for a town known for its thugs, rapists, and self-absorbed elitists. WE were so absorbed in our discussion, the ushers had to ask us to leave so that the cleaning crew could get the theater ready for the next showing. I always remember that feeling of excitement we had whenever I pop in the DVD.

I also have a special place in my heart for The Phantom Menace. I was at the midnight screening of its premiere (which happened to be my birthday) with a great NYC crowd. There was such unadulterated excitement due to Star Wars returning to the screen after so many years that there was literally a buzz in the air. There was also a sense that something historic was happeneing and we were a part of it. I get chills just thinking about how fun that night was.

Lastly, a friend and I skipped work one day and snuck into a showing of Jason X. It was mid-afternoon and the theater was completely empty. We are suckers for cheesy movies and didn't expect it to be any good, but we were gonna have fun with it any way. Right after the trailers ended and the movie was about to begin, a man and his gaggle of kids (there were literally 7 or 8 of them) walked into the theater and sat right behind us. We were annoyed, but didn't care too much as we snuck in to see the film anyways. So the film starts and the man starts shouting at the screen. My friend and I are pissed and get ready to sit through two hours of "Oh no he didn't" or "Don't go in there"- type phrases. Except the dude was really funny. It was like we had our own private version of MST2K. After awhile I started to recognize the guy's voice and I swore to my friend that the guy was someone famous. Sure enough, I turn around and its Tracey Morgan. Needless to say, we had a blast and I gained a renewed respect for Tracey. He is way funnier in person than he ever was on SNL.

South Park: The Movie was an amazing experience for me. The entire audience really opened up and laughed together all the way through and it really built upwards, I can remember moments where I had trouble breathing.

I accidentally found the sweet spot in the cinema for The Matrix. The sound was directly in the middle of my head and I was sitting right in the middle of the picture, it was perfect. Same thing for Swordfish, surprisingly.


I had the entire cinema to myself for Ocean's 11. That was very weird, I kept getting looks from the security guards.

PULP FICTION was a great experience for me because it was so cool to be in a packed theater full of people, myself included, who heard a lot of buzz about the movie but really had no clue what it was about. The back and forth between shock and laughter was truly unique.

THE PHANTOM MENACE was memorable for me because it's the only movie I've seen in a theater with my 2 older brothers as an adult, and I have a hard time picturing that happening again as we all get a little busier as the years tick on. That might contribute to the reason why I actually like that film.

On a more humorous note, about a year ago I took a girl to see OPEN WATER. I know a lot of folks really got into that one but I could tell early on that it was a movie that I should have waited to see on disc. The scene popped up where they show the lady topless and since I didn't think a moment like that would be in the film I immediately said "Jackpot." It wasn't loud, but the theater was quiet enough for it to be heard, and enjoyed or annoyed, by a good number of people.

Probably my proudest moment in a theatre was when watching some Warner Brothers release on its opening weekend, with a theatre packed to the gills, when all of a sudden the Catwoman trailer was unleashed upon us. I'm sure you all remember this trailer in its shitty splendor, and after the trailer finished and the audience sat in a collected stunned silence I knew what I had to do.

"DC SUCKS!"

My shout was supported by a laughing and cheering audience.

In a crap theatre in Sterling, Virginia- on the opening weekend, I saw Willow. I was with my friend Andy. We were 16 and immediately noted that aside from parents, we were the oldest people in the theatre. It was also a sold out showing and we were forced to sit in the second row from the screen. The kids surrounded us. Laughing at not funny parts, getting way too excited and spilling popcorn and cokes all over the place.

At one point after the halfway point a kid gets up from the far right of the 1st row. He, probably having to go to the bathroom and not wanting to miss any hot midget action, decides to SPRINT to the center aisle. This would be all good if every other 6-10 year old kid hadn't already spilled their drinks, leaving a pool of soda at the bottom of the theatre. The sprinting kid then proceeded to WIPE OUT and break his arm.

So there we were, trying to marvel at the hijinks of Madmartigan and those god damn brownies with a kid screaming at the top of his lungs because he broke his arm in a Ron Howard film (thank god it didn't happen in the Paper). Some random mom grabbed him after what seemed like a long time and took him away.

I dunno what was particularly memorable about it, but I fondly recall seeing FOTR with my family on the first day it opened, first session at the cinema, the day after Christmas. That was kinda good.

I had some fun seeing The Matrix Reloaded as well, with friends. We went after school, and it had been all the buzz during the day, and there just seemd to be heaps of people we knew at the theatre.

Oldboy sure was something as well.

The Northwest Film Center here in Portland did a Wong Kar Wai retrospective last year, and the screening of his debut film, As Tears Go By, was by far the best theatrical experience I've ever had. The theater was totally packed, which is so rare since the theater's an old, run down art house. There were really only two kinds of people in the crowd: middle aged couples who came to see a profound masterpiece from one of the world's most reputable auteurs and students from nearby Portland State University who had to attend the screening as part of a class. Before the show started, I overheard a number of PSU students bitching about having to come to some bullshit foriegn film, while the adults were praising "In the Mood for Love" and were so excited to see Wong Kar Wai's first movie. So naturally, the movie turns out to be a trashy Hong Kong action flick. Baseball bat beatings and firing guns down character's pants into their crotch didn't go over well at all with the adults, but the PSU students loved it. Gradually, the couples started walking out. By the end of the film, there wasn't any one left in the theater over the age of 25. It was beautiful. And to top it all off, the print was terrible, with the most laughable subtitle translation I could imagine. Countless words were mispelled. Verb tenses were all wrong, as if the English translation were done by a foreign speaker just learning English. And best of all, the r's and l's were switched throughout the entire film.

I was so dissapointed to be seeing Land of the Dead this summer in your everyday suburban multiplex. I was hoping to see at a more alternative theater which would ideally be packed with horror fans, but I had to settle for the multiplex. However, about two-thirds of the way through the movie, when Tom Savini shows up, the audience roared. I was stunned. I had no idea I was in such good company.

And finally, about this time last year, I saw the trailer for Ray, and the guy behind me said with complete sincerity, "It's so sad he died before he could see it."

Trilogy Tuesday. But I've gushed about that experience several times on these boards.....

Mortal Kombat. Keeping in mind, this was the height of Mortal Mania......but the audience, kids and adult fans alike, were out of their seats for this from the moment Scorpion and SubZero walked out. You could hear people imitating voices, yelling out "Friendship! Friendship?" when Johnny Cage drops the picture. Yelling "Fatality!" when Shang Tsung took a soul...and the ultimate was watching a near riot of applause and cheering break out when the big Reptile moment happens.... The movie will still have a huge part of my heart for that night. It was awesome.

Both Kill Bills had a collective audience moment worth remembering. The first one, it was hearing an entire audience shriek at "Bill....it's your bab--::BOOM::". The second one, it was watching an entire audience scream "WHOA!" when Elle gets her eye snatched out.

Ghost In The Shell: Innocence. Mostly, I remember a whispered chorus of "Wow" during the opening credits sequence. You just don't hear that in terms of eye candy anymore.

The Two Towers. The first time I saw it, this lady behind me was downright weeping during the scene where Gandalf rides down the hill toward Helm's Deep. Afterward I talked to her...turns out she was an art history teacher. She said, basically, that moment had brought all her favorite Renaissance paintings to life.

Lastly the Star Wars SEs and the prequels. Regardless of the audience reaction to TPM, every single one of these times, you were watching friends reminisce, speculate, families get together, discuss parts of the movie with kids.....seeing Star Wars in theaters was communion. And it was a blast each and every time.

I come from a small farm town in N.E. Pennsylvania. Now, situated on the outskirts of said town is a place called Job Corps. Basically, Job Corps is a compound that takes in inner city youthes who are at risk (whether voluntary entrants or court-ordered juvenile delinquents) and teaches them a trade. On some nights, the denizens of Job Corps are bussed-- in a baby blue school bus known the area round as "The Blue Bird of Happiness"-- to the local movie theater. When you seem the Blue Bird rolling up to the theater, you know you're in for something special. I was just lucky enough to be in a packed and stifling theater with the Job Corps for the premiere of Mortal Kombat. As the lights dimmed and the techno theme for the movie began to pump through the soundsystem, we were amazed to see three of the Job Corps crew leap to their feet in the front row of the theater and begin an elaborate synchronized interpretive dance. I say "interpretive" because their routine appeared to be a carefully choreographed dance/fight (think West Side Story with M.K. trappings). This, of course, induced the theater goers to go ballistic and soon everybody way yelling, "Finish him" and "Fatality!"

Midnight showing of Spider-man 2. Some dude about 5' 7" came dressed in a kiddie Spiderman costume. It came to his elbows and knees and was tight as hell, but it was such a cool idea. Everyone dresses as a jedi for Star Wars, but to dress as Spider-man, to me was genius. Yes I plan to wear a costume to Spider-man 3 if at all possible.

Saving Private Ryan. During the scene the character (I forget which one) in being slowly stabbed by the German soldier, a man in the audience yells out "Do something you stupid son-of-a-bitch".

Jackass: The movie. Packed house, mostly college students. 90 minutes of non-stop laughing carnage.

Opening weekend of Spiderman, the first one, and about 10 of my friends and I decide to go. The placed was packed, and we got stuck sitting in the last row of the stadium seating, don't ask why of all rows the last one was the empty one. The audience was really into the movie the whole time. Then comes the scene where Peter is visiting his grandma in the hospital and MJ comes in to talk to him. He's holding MJ's hand as Harry walks in and my friend at the top of his lungs yells, "HA! Where was your spidey sense on that one, huh?" The entire audience loses it with laughter and clapping, as being in the last row it carried across the whole theater.

The best moment by far was at the University of Minnesota there was a showing of the first Star Wars trilogy. I had not seen a New Hope since I was a kid. I am in an audience of all these young people and it hits me...none of these kids are old enough to even remember a New Hope coming out, maybe not even alive. Then the opening music starts and everyone is cheering so loud you can't even hear the music. I was choking back tears the whole time. Moments like this are when you know that movies are more than entertainment.

There was an old movie house in Atlanta (the name now escapes me, and it has since been demolished) that I only remember visiting once. That one time was for the Atlanta premier of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". I was 11 years old and I was there in a huge group of Trekkies (I don't remember the term "Trekker" being used at that point). Before the film started they showed the Goofy short, "Hockey Homicide". Despite the fact that everyone in the theater had seend that short dozens of times, we all laughed our asses off. The collective experience of just enjoying the show was amazing. Then the film started, and it got even better. People cheered scenes, laughter was loud and enthusiastic, and the theater erupted into applause at the end.

I miss those sorts of experiences (which is why I enjoy going to the Fox Theatre to catch films each summer; it recaptures a bit of that same feel). These days when I go to the movies I tend to get grouchy. There are so many inconsiderate people who seem determined NOT to get pulled into the movie experience that it detracts from my own enjoyment (loud conversations, ringing cell phones, and frequent trips in and out of the theater don't help).

When I was fifteen, my best friend and I went to the opening night for Return of the Jedi. Packed to the gills with young geeks, the noise that erupted when Vader turned on the Emperor was truly awesome. Movie magic right there, folks.

Hard Target- Went to see this when I was visiting my brother during graduation from boot camo, in a small town in South carolina. It was only me and another couple in the back of the theater. About halfway through the film, they left. I put my feet up and actually smoked a cigarette for the first and only time in a theater.

Star Wars trilogy [original]- Saw each and every one of these with my father. I can recall being just old enough to comprehend that Empire was going to end without being fully resolved and it made me mad.

A New Hope [Special Editions]- A friend and I thought it would be great to camp out for this at the Senator [a classic theater here in Baltimore]. We got there at 2am. It was January and freezing cold, and of course, no one else was there. We stuck it out, and around 5am a few more folks showed up, including a very cute girl. She ran out a bit later and brought back coffee and doughnuts for the small group of us. When we got inside, it was every geek's fantasy. Folks dressed up, lightsaber battles, heated SW discussions, etc. The whole place had an incredible air of comradery about it-- as we were all about to re-live one of the most important cinematic events of our lives.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" I was in the third grade. I remember being at school when the PA speaker in my class blared for me to report to the office with my bookbag. I was pretty damn confused. It turns out it was my mom, bailing me out of school early to see Indie kick more nazi ass on the third films opening day. This was before my mom went nuts, seriously.


"Chicago" This film disapointed me a lot. My wife and I were the only ones in the theater. So during Catherine Zeta-Jones' "He had it comin" sequence......


"Star Wars Prequels" Seeing the last two films with my son in theaters was a great experience. He loves movies and these were the big ones for us.

"The Thin Red Line" That was the night I learned about cinematography.

Okay, I hate that my most memorable movie experience is ALSO tied with this movie. Looking back on it now, it's kind of lame but as you said, when the movie was released it was at the height of it's popularity. Well I have NEVER seen an audience go as nuts as that opening night during the Johnny Cage/ Scorpion fight. Seriously. You had Grown men and Teenagers standing up cheering and yelling as if were a real fight that they had all bet their life savings on.

Not a great cinematic experience, but a movie going experience i will never forget.

When I went to see Sum of all Fears this old guy took his shirt off down in the front rows and started to wander around. It was by far the weirdest in-theater behavior I've ever seen.

Watching the credits at the end of ROTK.You see,those 3 years were the worst of my life.My father had a strike that pretty much crippled him, relatives were dying left and right ( 4 in 3 years ), my mother started taking anti-depressants and the medical bills killed us financially.Having these excellent films, based on my favorite books no less,porvided me with a way to get away from the doom and gloom of my life and for three hours made things okay again.So at the the end of those years,just when things started to look up for me, the trilogy ended.Watching the credits roll was like watching a friend,who helped when you most needed it, get up and say 'OK.Job done, see you later'.I was completely overwhelmed and even now,thinking about about it, I still get emotional.

Suburban Commando. I was 7 or 8 and Hulk Hogan was THE MAN back then and I just had to see it. My mother was actually enjoying herself but the violence was scaring me. So the part where Hogan is getting beaten up by the bounty hunters in the elevator comes up and I start SOBBING and yelling for them to stop hurting Hulk Hogan.


My mother quietly and QUICKLY got me out of there and spent the rest of the afternoon comforting me and teaching me about special effects and acting. Moms are great.


Spider-Man. It was my Graduation Day from High School and instead of going to Graduation Night, I went to see Spider-Man for the 6th time with my two best friends.

One of my favorite theatre moments was during FARIENHEIT 9/11, at a theatre in the Village. It was opening weekend for the movie, the buzz/hype was huge, and the theatre was packed.

So when somebody yelled "Go fuck yourself!" the first time Dick Cheney appeared on screen...the place went nuts.

thats pretty incredible.

i have a few really good ones... the opening of the ring was awesome because the entire theater was packed, maybe 300 seats, and it was like a rollercoaster ride. everyone got scared together, there wasnt anyone above it.

return of the king, also packed, but this was a 1000 person theater. heartbreaking and amazing, that was a movie experience.

saving private ryan, everyone's jaw was on the floor for pretty much the full running time, but especially the first thirty minutes. people werent even gasping, they just sat their with mouths hanging open.

oldboy... i am the guy that shows my friends that movie, none of them would have heard of it without me. this year at the film festival there was a screening and i took a bunch of people. smiling at their stunned silence when the movie was over was awesome.

but the best was a screening of braindead at the sb film festival. peter jackson had just gotten a modern master award and had a q/a at the big theater in town, and after it was over he shot over and introduced braindead. so after he talked for 20 minutes about the movie i shook his hand and then sat down and watched the movie with what seemed like a bunch of people that hadnt seen the movie before. that was fun.

Bump

Probably the only good memorable experiance was The Incredibles. The entire theater was packed with families, regardless of age. I swear, the audience was INTO this movie. No parent and child left the theater unsatisfied. It was magical.

-- Star Wars in 1977. Saw it at a drive-in. The screen was completely surrounded by stars, and it looked like the beginning of the movie was taking place right there in the sky to my 8-year old mind.

-- Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. Back then, you could go into a movie totally cold, and boy did this blindside me and my dad. With Spielberg and Lucas we knew it was gonna be good, but we didn't think it would be this good. As I've said elsewhere, the film might as well have been silent for five minutes after Indy shoots the swordsman -- people were cheering, laughing, and just in love with the film at that point.

-- My first Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1986. Because if that ain't memorable, you're dead.

-- Star Wars Special Edition, first show opening morning in 1997. Like waiting for the Pope to appear on the balcony.

-- Fellowship of the Ring, midnight premiere in 2001. This roar goes up when Aragorn decapitates Lurtz that I didn't think could come from a crowd of people at almost three in the morning. Just a testament to how well-done that film is that it could hold people that long and that late.

-- Attack of the Clones, midnight premiere in 2002. An electric crowd that gave this film the loudest cheer at the end that I'v ever heard at the movies. Had me proclaiming it better than Empire at the time, but then, outside of the moment, it fell downwards.

I think I would have to smack your friend. Twice.

1) ROTK - very first session - 9am Boxing Day, Penrith Plaza Cinemaxx with about 10 of my extended family. I couldn't sleep the night before I was so excited. Hot outside. SWELTERING inside. Hundreds of people. Me dragging my cousin through the rush in order to secure 10 seats in a row whilst the others hung back to wait for my brother and his g/f. The only seats we can get in a row are 2 rows from the FRONT. With rigidly upright seats. With malfunctioning airconditioning. The sound from the signal from Minas Morgul seemed to wrap around the theatre then just DETONATE, the Witch-King's scream seemed to invoke primal fear. The collective gasps when Shelob creeps back out....me sobbing silently from the Grey Havens right through the credits because it was *really* all over, and I'd never have this kind of anticipation for the New Line logo appearing on screen ever again. Wow, I really lost it during the credits...Hands down most memorable cinema-going experience I've had yet.


2) FOTR first viewing in my home-town cinema. Not a great venue, but still. The second the New Line logo came up, then *black* and *silence* then Galadriel....just mesmerising. And then the prologue! My GOD. Walked outta there thinking I had been punched in the face. Just astounding. I had no prior knowledge of Tolkien or the film really so it was like discovering a new planet for me.

3) Matrix 1 at Broadway Hoyts in Sydney. It had been out for a while, but a uni-buddy and I hadn't seen it yet, didn't really know what it was about, so we blew off our afternoon lectures and took the plunge. Came out and night had fallen, and I was ready to take on the world.

A lot of my best memories stem from the Star Wars movies.

The first being A New Hope in 77 and being absolutely blown away with what I saw. I was only 5, and it left a print on my brain ever since. I judge almost all big epic sci-films based on this feeling I got from this movie.

I remember in Empire, the gasps of shock when Vader said "I am your father". Some people shouted out "don't believe him!!" The audience was floored.

In Jedi, when Vader grabs the Emperor and tosses him the audience screamed and cheered so loud that I'll never get that out of my mind and I think of it every time I watch it.

That was one thing I really missed about the prequels, there were a few moments, but none stood out for me like those top three did.


For a funny memory:

I remember seeing Star Trek 3 in a packed theatre and after Spock has been taken off the planet, McCoy has a serious talk with our unconcious alien.

At one point he looks all serious and says "Spock, I never thought I would ever say this but..."

And then someone in the theatre had the biggest belch I've ever heard in a movie theatre. It was good timing.

Double Header at the Drive in Dick Tracy followed by the premiere of The Rocketeer summer 91, as I was born in 83 my first truly memorable movie going experiance, also prob why I love Art Deco so much

Empire Strikes Back SE, yeah I saw new hope but didnt have my dad with me, and for Empire and ROTJ he came to both, and as Empire ranks in my top ten and a new hope somewhere in the lower 20's you know how I felt, the cheering at the "I Know" I will never forget

Schindlers List, never ever been in a more silent theatre, never seen people cry so quietly

FOTR with my mom, she kept telling me the movies would me moderatley close to catching the spirit of the books, and I just remeber watching her expression on opening night in a packed house

Black Hawk Down, me and the rest of guys on my dorm floor freshamn year opening night, DTS thetre, never felt a theatre so tense im my life, more than any horror movie I have ever seen, also when I realized Ridely made the Ultimate Tony Scott movie

The Incredibles, pure movie high, THX theatre, bunches of 8 year old to 12 year olds no really young kids, first time my expectatioon were suprassed bvy leaps and bounds, I literally was out of breath when the credits rolled

a fucking bear wandering through the drive in during some horror flick...being blown away by about 7-8 dudes who happened to have some fucking shotguns on-hand.

jesus.

And people wonder why I've never been to Canada even though I live in a border state.

After getting in a fight with my then gf I go to see Spierman 1. I wasnt realy wanting to see it. I got the only seat left watching and got a lump in my throat when the People in the movie boo and throw trash at the Green Goblin. After that i made up with my lady and got it on

-Titanic: Having to endure this film for the second time (firt time with parents, second with classmates), I was on the verge of a killing spree, when a guy screams "Oh, shut up and die already, I wanna go home!" during the raft sequence...absolutly hilarious.

-FOTR: Gandalf stands against the Balrog, a kid in the audience goes "Kick his ass!" in sheer desperation...that kid was the only one in the whole room that hadnt read the books. You bet his following reaction was priceless.

-Stir of Echoes: Female friend is startled by the rape scene (cracked nail) so hard, she sticks her hand in my arm so hard, her nails dig into my flesh and draw blood.

-Spider-man 2 teaser suddenly appears while waiting for a movie to start...the whole audience goes silent as Dock Ock appears, and Spidey swinging follows...

-Matrix Revolutions: Movie ends, credits star rolling...a die hard matrix geek (themed tshirt and all) scream in sheer frustration: "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"

-X-men 2: Wolverine's "holy shit" moment as Deathstrike's scret is revealed...and at least four people react just like him.

Fantastic Four: people laughing (not in mockery, but enjoyment), cheering and loving every single scene with Human Torch/Thing...absolutly proves how fun for a family that film ended up being.

I did this too. What a perfect moment. Of course, I never read X-men comics, so I wasn't expecting it.

* Opening night of Aliens on a U.S. Marine military base in Okinawa, Japan. The way the movie distribution system was set up on these overseas bases back then, we wouldn't get new movies until many months after they came out in the states, but this movie had been rushed over early as a special treat, so people were excited. And then it turns out to feature a bunch of Marines fighting aliens. The audience was so pumped up it was something else, shouting out cheers everytime a Marine got a shot in, laughing at the macho humor, etc. It was something else.

* Seeing the movie Drugstore Cowboy in the KOIN Tower Cinemas in Portland. The movie had been shot in Portland, so people like me were looking out to see what familiar locations were in the movie. Suddenly there was a shot where you could see the KOIN Tower in the background and there was a burst of audience laughter because of the twin oddity of the moment: we were sitting there looking at the very building that we were watching the movie in -- made it seem like the guys in the movie could be outside at that very moment -- and that building didn't exist in the time period the film was supposed to be taking place in -- it was an anachronistic goof.

Seeing the special edition of A New Hope in theaters. It was the first time I saw it, and I was with my dad. It was the most fantastic thing I had seen at that point.

RotK - The movie itself was amazing, but I went the day it opened and sat in the theater in shock as the credits rolled across the screen.

Revenge of the Sith, whether you think it's a good movie, was an awesome experience. My friends and I all went to a midnight showing at a local theater. We were all hyped on the buzz from the movie, and of the three prequels, it's the only one I remember as getting the most emotional reaction out of myself and the people around me.

just a damn shame I never stuck around to get my own to mow some wildlife off this earth...I'm not giving up hope though on hunting elephant with an rpg down in oakland.

Here's one that will make some of you jealous.

Times Theater in Milwaukee, around Halloween in the mid to late 90s.

First up on the program, a short by Georges Méliès entitled something like Pillar of Fire.

Second up, and the biggie, Edison's Frankenstein. Not a great film by any means, but certainly a historically important one.

Final movie on the docket, a newly restored, hand dyed, and retitled with new translations print of Murnau's Nosferatu. Great print and a great movie.

I have to echo the original trilogy as well. I had seen all three with my parents, even got my mom to drag me to 12 showings of Empire the summer of '80. Everytime they open the door in Cloud City for some 'refreshements' and they see Darth Vader there instead of punch and cookies, Han shoots, Vader deflects...just awesome. I got scared and had to hide my eyes every single time. Without a doubt, my favorite scene in any of the six movies. And when they came back out with the special editions, and the first Death Star explodes, only this time with the new FX ring of fire... the crowd went apeshit. Very memorable.

December 2003, I meed fellow Chud people Kid Ego, Captain Eucalyptus, General Logan, Katanga and Fett at the only digital theater in Dallas to see all three LOTR movies. FOTR and TTT were the extended editions, so to see them on the big screen was probably a once-in-life-time chance, and at mid-night they debuted ROTK. And like many of the other people in this thread I teared up quite a bit as they rolled the credits to number 3. All the time and effort and emotion poured into these films just so...great. That feeling that you're taking part in something majestic. And to share it with peers you've meet over the internet...that was a cool experience.

And lastly, Greystoke: Legend of Tarzan. It was the first movie I fell asleep during. It wouldn't be the last sadly....

My most intense experiences are when I saw black hawk down, holy shit.... I was shaking with adrenaline when I got out. The same for braveheart, i just felt like kicking ass. Saving Private ryan at 2pm in the afternoon with me and like 80 WW2 vets in the audience, everyone was crying, and it was intense. A couple of years ago when i lived in Orlando, Fl, they had a special scening of Zombie...by Fulci at 12 midnight....It rocked.... laughs and good times about. That was my best horror movie experience.

My funny experience was when we sat next to some rude homey bitches during the crappy aliens vs. predator movie...they kept yelling and shit, so my buddy who was sitting right next to them, yells at them to shut the f up. This chick started on him going, "fuck you man." ANd I got adrenaline jumped right up in her face and real creepily go , "I'll fuck you." She looked at me in horror, and shut the fuck up.. We were laughing about it through the whole movie.

rofl, wow dude.

Bumping.

25th Hour (Union Square, Sept. 2002): With all the time I spend on the internet, discussing movies, it's very rare that I'm actually surprised by something. Now, I'd I'd read the book but I didn't remember much of it. I liked the cast and the director and hey, it was free, so a bunch of people from my floor went to a test screening.

Movie starts and it's going pretty well. Then that scene comes up. You can probally guess which one. As Norton's going through everyone who can get fucked, saying all these things, taking on targets left and right and doing it all fearlessly and brilliantly, the crowd slowly starts to realize that he's going up the food chain. He's taken on the cops and the President, he's taking on the church, is he really going to say what we think he's gonna say?

And then:

There wasn't a roar, but there was a distinct feeling of "Holy shit, he just said that!"

The rest of the movie was great, too. But I'll always remember my reaction of total surprise during that scene.

Evil Dead 2 (opening weekend)- Watching it in an old twin in Jersey with, maybe, ten other people in the audience.

Evil Dead 2 (15 years later)-
Watching it from the projection booth of a sold out show in a run-down 80 year old theater in Jersey... with Bruce Campbell.

Seeing Land of the Dead here in Munich, one month before the official opening, in a theatre full of appreciative gorehounds.

Seeing "Night and Fog" during a film class in college. This was long before Schindler's List. I'd never had such an intense experience--and it looked like the same was true for everybody else. When the lights came on at the end, just about everyone in the room was crying. Just stunned silence.

A midnight showing of Halloween on Halloween when I was in college. Campus was deserted when we came out of the theater. Everybody was just laughing and talking when someone in the back of the crowd screamed. People in the back of the crowd started pushing and running. Then everyone started running. A pack of people running and screaming throught the early morning streets in State College PA.

Watching the opening midnight screenign of FOTR with my daughter in Chicago. It was spellbinding. Until the film melted in the last ten minutes. Got a stack of free passes and some subtle trauma from that one.

An early screening of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in Chicago. Ang Lee and James Schamus were there too. After the movie, they hung around and fielded questions from the crowd, then kept up the discussion at a bar.

Oops