Your best theatrical experiences

If you can remember, what was your favorite theater experiences? I remember seeing King Kong a few years back and that was amazing. Also Jurassic Park 3D was nice. I remember being truly impressed with The King's Speech. What about you guys?

Might have to go with Django Unchained. Also, recently went to a screening of Psycho which i absolutely adored.

Django was nice and Psycho would have been a nice treat.

Star Wars in 1977. I was a wee lad, but I remember it quite clearly. The lights went down, previews played and then that 20th century Fox logo trumpeted its theme at the audience. Then everything got really quiet. Then, it happened. Movie magic.



The theater went right off the deep end when that Star Destroyer started crawling across the top of the screen. I was with my Mom, who had to be...let's see, 27 at the time, and a complete Science Fiction nut. She was up out of her chair almost instantly, the whole place went nuts, and I was just GLUED to the screen. I was seeing a REAL, LIVE spaceship fight. At least that is how it seemed to me, It was utterly convincing, and it changed my life forever.

For the nest few years, absolutely everything I did was informed by Star Wars. All my grade school friends and i did for the rest of my young school tenure was to pretend we were in Star Wars. We flew ships, had sabre battles, stormed the Death Star, acted like Jawas, acted like Wookies, pretended to save the princess, and squared off against Imperial forces hundreds of times over. As the sequels emerged, the immersion in Star Wars lore and culture only strengthened its grip on the kids of the nation.

No theater experience has ever had the same effect on me since.

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When I saw a river wild, they messed up the order of the reels.
Everyone was friends and then suddenly in the next scene it was tense with kevin bacon holding them at gunpoint.

I was a kid and I thought it was really funny.
They made an announcement and apologized.

Obviously mine cannot top yours by a long shot, but the cinema was electric when Yoda walked in ala John Wayne to take on Count Dooku.

I must say, that was pretty exciting, even though the rest of the film was pretty rough.

Here's some earlier ones, including mine.

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Jurassic Park was the only film that ever really excited me. I was only 11.
Been to the pictures a few times before that and obviously since too, but the anticipation of seeing dinosaurs for the first time, hanging around in the lobby for what seemed like an eternity...

...and the JP theme music and the trailers for it were being constantly repeated on the small screens dotted around the place.

I think that because it didn't fail my expectations it made it a more magical childhood experience.

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Best theatrical Experiance: The Avengers

Best 3D Experiance: Drive Angry.


Seriously I hate 3D movies unless it is a gimmick.

When i went to see the dark knight.
The scene just after the newsreel footage of the joker there is a long shot of a building and complete quiet.
It was a packed theatre. theres always people talking, texting, eating.
Everyone was completely silent. thats the only time i've ever seen that in a cinema.

Everyone loves movies. However those of us who would spend all of our nights in a dark theater by ourselves if we had the time know not everyone LOVES movies. For that reason my most memorable theater experiences are not of seeing my favorite films but seeing movies with people I love who are discovering something they love. Seeing Gone With The Wind when it was re-released with the women I spent 14 years of my life with comes to mind. Most recently taking my 5 and 4 year old to see The Phantom Menace in 3D. They have not stopped watching any of the 6 movies since and if possible are more obsessed with the Star Wars universe than I ever was. Nice thread Fuze I love nostalgia.

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Letterboxd

Revenge of the Sith and 300 featured the most incredible crowds I've ever been a part of.

I've never had a good experience watching a film in 3D. Even Avatar was a waste of two extra dollars, imo.

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I had a good experience with 3D ONLY when 3D is used as a gimmick. I had more fun at Drive Angry then I did at Avatar.

My most memorable experiences were from when I was a kid.

One was Earthquake with the Sensurround sound system - special speakers to simulate the sound and even vibration of an earthquake. Cheesy movie but memorable experience.

The other was Jaws when it first came out. I guess I was 10 years old and so was my friend whom I saw it with. At the end of the movie, her fists were clenched. When she opened her hands there were dozens of scrunched-up pieces of paper inside - the torn and squeezed remnants of her popcorn container.

99% of the movies I have seem were on dvd/vhs/blu-ray.

However, from the movies I have watched on the cinema the two that impressed me the most were:

The Matrix

Watched it when I was 10. Easily one of the most memorable film experiences of my life. Included it in my top 50 favorites because of it, though I haven't watched this movie from beginning to end again since.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I was 14 and on crack watching it. Lord of the Rings were the ideal movies for 14 year old boys. I have included the trilogy into my top 30 but I actually don't know how I would react if I watched these movies now that I am in my 20's. Roger Ebert even said that these movies are only good for teenagers. Though I still loved Star Wars (another movie for 14 years old boys) when I rewatched it in mid 2012.

There Will Be Blood

I was 17 and was very impressed by Paul Thomas Anderson's film at the time. Rewatched it a few months ago, still impressed.

Addition to my Jurassic Park post above.

The Dark Knight Rises last year.

Saw it on the day of release... cinema was empty apart from me and 6 other people...

Sadly, I drunk my gigantic bucket of fizzy pop too quickly and needed to nip to the toilet half way through and missed a couple of scenes.
I actually thought about peeing into the empty drink bucket I was that into the film.

Still though, it made a big enough impression that I found myself on here writing a review within like, 30 minutes of it finishing... I pretty much ran home so I could get on here and start writing.

Cloud Atlas was a perfect cinematic experience for myself. There was silence, there was no crackling, no coughing, just viewing.

...Until I cried at the end.

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Oxfords not brogues.

Maybe more important than the fact that you are now older is how the trilogy would appeal to you without the crack.

The first time I watched Pink Floyd's The Wall was in the theater and I was high as a kite, but only on pot. I've watched it several times since and still love the movie, but nothing compares with that first altered state experience - with a friend who was also high.

Now Guapo watches his movies high on Miyazaki.