The first time I went to see a movie was with my Aunt Carol and my brother Mike.
PLANET OF THE APES (1968). I was 6. It was somewhere near Wappinger Falls, NY.
I was too young to remember. It was probably the 70s re-release of BAMBI. My parents told me I was traumatized.
I remember seeing MURDER BY DEATH (1976) in a theater, not sure if it was my first or not.
First movie I remember seeing at the drive-in was YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on August 27, 2024, 01:55:21 PMI was too young to remember. It was probably the 70s re-release of BAMBI. My parents told me I was traumatized.
Same here, except I don't really remember much of it....
Murder on The Orient Express.
I was 7.
It made a huge impression on me.
I will always be grateful to my parents for taking me there 😊😊🐢
Quote from: Rev. Powell on August 27, 2024, 01:55:21 PMFirst movie I remember seeing at the drive-in was YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.
I seen it at the Strand in Paw Paw! (not a drive-in, though.)
The first movie is saw at a drive-in was 2001: A SPACE ODESSY in 1968 or'69.
Probably "The Lion King."
Wow, the BAMBI re-release got a lot of us! It feels like that was my first theatrical visit, or the earliest I remember - but it was re-released wide to theaters in '75 and '82, which is either too early for me or too late. (By '82 I was a hardcore preschool horror addict, lol.) Maybe one of the local arthouses did a limited engagement of it in '79 or '80 - which seems like the right time frame for me to be entirely too young to see it and yet I saw it and had to be taken out in tears. I have the same recollection (oddly) about THE ARISTOCATS... which was re-released theatrically nationwide in December 1980.
Prior to ARISTOCATS, I clearly remember seeing EMPIRE in the summer of 1980 at the drive-in... possibly the same one that I still visit near my house, though there were several around here back then. I recall parts of it clearly, and I recall the football highlights that they played before and after EMPIRE (though they didn't interest me). The second feature was KRAMER VS. KRAMER, still hanging around after its Oscar victories. I think I fell asleep by the end of the opening credits and I've still never seen it.
Going by the release dates of the films I can remember seeing back then, I'd have to take a guess that Watership Down was the first one I saw in the theatre.
101 DALMATIONS, for my 6th birthday... must've been some kind of random showing / re-release thing?
I vividly remember having a packet of cola flavour sweets I was eating during the film, and thinking how weird they tasted. When I got out I realised each one had been individually wrapped, and I'd been eating them with the paper wrappers on! It was too dark to see that in the cinema
My mum would take to the theatre now and then when I was really young. I remember distinctively watching "E.T.", "Superman III", "The Purple Color" and "Firewalker". Of all these, "E.T." has to be the oldest one, and I should have been like 5 years old.
The first film I went to watch on my own was "Batman" in 1989, being 12.
Quote from: Alex on August 28, 2024, 02:25:34 AMGoing by the release dates of the films I can remember seeing back then, I'd have to take a guess that Watership Down was the first one I saw in the theatre.
And I thought BAMBI was traumatic for a youngster... WATERSHIP DOWN ain't for kids. "Look, Alex, another cute little bunny-wunny got mutilated!"
Quote from: Rev. Powell on August 28, 2024, 09:13:55 AMQuote from: Alex on August 28, 2024, 02:25:34 AMGoing by the release dates of the films I can remember seeing back then, I'd have to take a guess that Watership Down was the first one I saw in the theatre.
And I thought BAMBI was traumatic for a youngster... WATERSHIP DOWN ain't for kids. "Look, Alex, another cute little bunny-wunny got mutilated!"
Honestly at that age it was just another cartoon to me.
The first movie I seen at the theater (without my parents or an adult- they dropped me and my brother Mike off) was WILLARD (1971). The one about a guy and his killer rats. I was 9.
Quote from: RCMerchant on August 28, 2024, 09:25:59 AMThe first movie I seen at the theater (without my parents or an adult- they dropped me and my brother Mike off) was WILLARD (1971). The one about a guy and his killer rats. I was 9.
I only saw that for the first time last year...
I'm pretty sure it was one of the "Herbie, The Love Bug" movies, but I have no idea which one.
The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Not during its original theatrical run but years later. Apparently I slept through most of it, but I do remember waking up at times and being scared.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Saw most of it, but the ending was too intense, so we had to leave the theater. Finally saw the ending a few years later on video.
Quote from: claws on August 29, 2024, 02:09:33 PMLet's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Saw most of it, but the ending was too intense, so we had to leave the theater. Finally saw the ending a few years later on video.
another one I only just got round to seeing... yeah not surprised you left...think I would've been majorly traumatised seeing it as a kid! it's creepy in a way I don't think any film in 2024 could achieve even if it wanted.
^ I love that movie!
The first movie I ever saw in a theater was the Robin Williams Peter Pan movie HOOK.
It was actually supposed to be a trip for a group of Boy Scouts I was in (about maybe five or six of us) to go to this spaghetti restaurant, but it ended up being closed when we got there so we had to figure out something else to do. We ended up going to a theater nearby.
I had seen a bunch of movies at the Drive Through in my town (I couldn't tell you all which ones, but I do remember Ghostbusters II and the first Burton Batman movie) but this was my first time in an actual theater.
Some Disney, probably either Snow White or Pinocchio. Way back when I was very young, there were several small cinemas. One of them regularly showed Disney movies and I remember my grandparents taking me.
Quote from: RCMerchant on August 29, 2024, 06:43:37 PM^ I love that movie!
'tis very good , with a great lead performance free from typical hollywood style ego and vanity... an example of someone totally giving themself to a role
First two I remember seeing were 'All Dogs Go to Heaven', 1989. I was 5.
Second being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 1990 live action version.
Quote from: HappyGilmore on October 05, 2024, 07:18:39 AMFirst two I remember seeing were 'All Dogs Go to Heaven', 1989. I was 5.
Second being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 1990 live action version.
I hope you're doing well and getting better, Brother Happy ☺️😊🐢🇿🇦
The first movie I recall seeing in the theatre was Fantasia, and I only vaguely recall parts of it, including Mickey with the water buckets, and the sense of a stunning orchestral score. IIRC, it was preceded by a Disney cartoon short about aliens abducting women?? Does anyone know what that was?
I was five when I saw Star Wars. Blew my little kid mind, as I've written here a few times.
I'm quite sure I saw The Rescuers (1977) in the cinema, and The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (1976).
It's probably not the first, but my earliest memory is Oliver & Company. I'd have been 5, and this was probably at a theatre in Livonia, Michigan. I can remember my feet didn't touch the ground, the floor was sticky, and someone left a bucket of fried chicken on the floor. Still had a blast though, and the movie still holds a place in my heart.