Best Audience Reactions

[Mofo Rising]

I'm definitely in the camp that views audiences as an integral part of the movie-going experience.  A good audience can improve a bad movie or make a great movie even greater.  Conversely, a bad audience can mar the viewing of an otherwise great movie, or make an alright movie pretty stupid.

Example, JEEPERS CREEPERS was not a great movie, but the audience in the theater I was in started yelling things at the screen halfway in, which made viewing it pretty fun.

UNBREAKABLE I took an immediate dislike to.  It didn't help that the audience was laughing at the dramatic moments, ie. the kid pulling a gun at the table.

My all time favorite audience were the people I saw METROPOLIS (the anime) with.  The entire theater was keyed into the movie.  More so, they understood  the movie and what it was trying to do.  It made a great movie that much more enjoyable.

Anyway, that's all set up for my real topic, best audience reactions.

HANNIBAL was, in my humble opinion, crap.  Two hours of boring punctuated by several  minutes of gore.  That said, the end scene (you know which one I'm talking about) resulted in my favorite audience reaction ever.  Nervous laughter, cries of disgust, general uncomfortableness. . . I savored every moment of it.  You don't get that from your regular movie.  Hell, the JACKASS crowd paled by comparison.

So. . . stories?

P.S. After writing this post I read the "Worst Movie-going Experience" thread and realized there must be a lot of cross-over, for which I apologize.  (Especially that JEEPERS CREEPERS thing.)



Post Edited (11-08-03 22:58)

[Scott]

GODZILLA 2000 - Seen this at the theater on opening night. The theater was about 1/3 full, but they were true Godzilla fans. I know I've told this story before about how the parents who brought their children to see what they always wanted to on the big screen and there he was with a close up at the end with that famous roar and the city in ruins. Just brought tears to the eyes. It was my greatest theater moment.

[Scott]

The audience applauded in a meaningful way. Great moment.

[Dunners]

LOTR movies, old and young, smart and stupid, fat and thin..they all loved the movies and applauded and screamed with excitement. Was a wonderful experience to share.

[Eirik]

Fatal Attraction.  In one scene Glen Close takes Ann Archer's kid to the fair without telling her.  Ann Archer freaks out because she has no idea where her child is.  She loses control and frantically speeds off in her car.  Tension rises as she looks left and right at the face of every child on the street desperately trying to find her kid.  She begins to scream and curse at everyone and everything, her frustration and fear reaching a boiling point when suddenly BAM!  She rear ends the car in front of her and is hurled into the windshield.  The audience sits for a second in total gaping silence...  Then some guy yells out: "Jeesh!  Women drivers!"  Laughter (men) and angry words (women) erupt in unison.

[Ellie]

When I went to a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". The audience participated in a big way. People were dressed as characters in the movie. I couldn't hear the movie because the audience was telling it word for word. Even with all that commotion halfway through I fell asleep. I couldn't believe how much of a following that this wierd movie had.

[dean]

last year i went to a screening of donnie darko that was showing at an outdoor cinema at the botanical gardens, the sort of thing you get friends going to and have a picnic and all that fun stuff.  people kept 'ooooh'ing and 'aaah'ing throughout the whole thing [especially the 'why do you wear that stupid human suit' line!]

it's great when audience participation makes a film so much better, especially when everyone is totally engrossed in a film.

[Neon Noodle]

I can still remember the last words of the movie "Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story" when Linda Lee Cadwell said people still remember the way he died, I prefer to remember the way he lived.
There was a standing ovation, people clapping all over the theater.

As far as the BEST one from my memory? My father and I went to see "Platoon"
 in the theater when I was a freshman in high school. As the credits rolled, we heard sobbing sounds behind us - there were 4 men in uniform in tears as we left. That one still sticks with me.

[The Burgomaster]

ROCKY - The most electrifying experience I have ever had in a movie theater.  Nothing else comes close.  The theater was sold out and everyone was on their feet, cheering and applauding during the fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed.  The audiences reaction was not forced and they were not doing it to be funny or anything.  Everyone was TRULY into it, as if it were a live boxing match.  I have never been involved in anything like this since then.  (Although, there was a lot of cheering in the theater during the attack on the Death Star in STAR WARS, but it didn't reach the level of enthusiasm that I saw in ROCKY).

[jmc]

Have to say FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING...it was the first showing of the film.  I have never seen an entire theater of people completely captivated by a film like that.    Everyone was quiet, transfixed by the screen.

[JohnL]

I've never really seen the whole audience respond like that. When I went to see Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, my friend and I ended up sitting behind this group of teenage girls. During the first segment, one character describes how the Egyptians used to pull out the brain using a hook before mummifying someone. A little later, the mummy gets one guy up against the wall and then holds up a wire it's bent into a hook and starts putting it in the guy's nostril. All the girls in front of us screamed "EEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!". :)

[I luv dolma]

Yo, Can you give me an example from Jeepers Creepers? It was an okay film, but a lot of people that I know hate the film.



The best experience for me was The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Everyone was cheering when someone got munched on, it was great.

I like it when people laugh at not-funny parts during Godzilla 2000 and Matrix 3 (when Godzilla kills the guy on the building at the end, and in Matrix during when Agent Smith talks to the Oracle. Personally, myself I thought I was watching Scary Movie 3 during that scene).

[Susan]

Few movies i've seen ever really stirred the entire audience that gave such a memorable impression on my memory. One of them was "Schindler's List". It was a packed house and frankly I don't know that when it first came out everyone really knew what to expect...just sitting through a black and white film that was a new release was pretty unique. I forgot the audience was there, I was acutely aware at certain scenes that not a single breath could be heard..a rattle of candy...nothing. When the film ended I sat watching the credits, and turned around to expect the usual shuffle as people got up and left. (no matter the movie some always jump up at the first sign of a credit rolling) And well with this being a pretty long film....

Nobody moved...nobody even whispered. It was the strangest reaction I've ever seen that for a solid 5 minutes of the music playing at the end, not a single person got up to leave or even spoke...some wept, some looked deeply affected while others were perhaps not wanting to break that moment of unity we all had in sharing the same feeling. Eventually some began to get up..not that many really, some sat until the credits were completely over. I saw a few holocaust survivors in the back row - but i've never been to a film before or since where there was that kind of silence.

Those moments to me stand out more than cheers, I mean i've seen a bunch of dumbells cheering and clapping through "The Mummy 2" in mass unison..i guess it depends on the crowd.

Actually.."Natural born killers" had quite an interesting audience reaction as well now that I think about it.. But the most humerous time i've ever had in a movie was when I went to see..ashamed to admit anticipated to see the campy Stephen King movie "Sleepwalkers". That was an absolute riot, at first the audience was interested. Then they realized they had been hoodwinked...and angry jeers began. However, towards the end of the film I think their anger was replaced by sense of humor for just how ridiculously BAD this film was that people were shouting out comments, and nobody cared. When the cop was stabbed in the back with the corncob the audience erupted in applause and whistles. It was very bizarre..but memorable.



Post Edited (11-09-03 21:00)

[kirk]

Godzilla 2000 - nothing but me and a few dozen die-hard fans in the theatre.  We had a blast.  Cheers and whistles at the end.

slight threadjack - The wife and I went to see Freddy Vs. Jason and the theatre was filled with the usual 16-19 year-old morons who would not shut up. After about 5 minutes of giggling, cell phone foolishness, whispering, a BIG skinhead-looking chap (wifebeater shirt, jump boots, jailhouse tatoos up and down both arms) stood up and bellowed, "SHUT THE F&#* UP!!!!"

Absolute dead silence.  Not ever the usual "I wish he'd say that to my face" type bluster.  Just a whole gaggle of wide-eyed teens who were sure that they were about to die.

I smiled for the rest of the movie.

Kirk

[Lee]

Cabin Fever- When the old man replies to their question about the gun, the theatre erupted with laughter. I'm surprised the building is still standing.