When you were a kid, what was your favourite film?

[Lobsang]

As an adult I'm not sure what my fave film is. It might be Shawshank Redemption but as I say I am unsure.

But when I was a kid there was little doubt. The film I loved the most was "Flight of the Navigator"

I am 30, so I was a kid between the years 1979 and 1988.

[LVBoPeep]

Before age 10- I'd say my favorite flick was Sound of Music. Between 10-15, we began to discover the video store and I was in love with Raiders of The Lost Ark, Star Wars and All of Me (still awesome Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin flick). We also loved Uncle Buck, and all the John Hughes high school films.

I'm 37, my favorite film now is Trainspotting, go figure.

[blondebear]

Around The World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and later, The Pink Panther.

[Justin Credible]

Ghostbusters, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Explorers.

[PeskiPiksi]

My Dad once made an idle inquiry about how many times a video tape could be played before it would wear out. The tape in question was Annie, and I believe the format was Betamax. Hee.

Haven't seen that movie in years, but I bet I could still quote entire scenes. Born 1976, btw.

[koeeoaddi]

Help!

[Miller]

Star Wars, no question about it. Born in '75.

[The wind of my soul]

Escape to Witch Mountain. A little weird, because it was made in 1975 but I grew up in the nineties.

[Oregon sunshine]

I think it would have to be Star Wars, although Raiders of the Lost Ark would come in a very close second. I was 6 years old during most of 1974 and turned 13 in late 1980, for reference on my age.

[Larry Mudd]

Star Wars, no question about it. Born in '75.I was seven when Star Wars came out. No question what my favourite movie was.

[DiosaBellissima]

The Sound of Music and Moonwalker (Michael Jackson)

[Nightingale]

The Wizard of Oz. It still is!

[Lakai]

Hook. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102057/)

I watched it about 40 times back then.

I saw it again about two years ago and was amazed at how horrible it has become.

[E. Thorp]

I think it would have to be Star Wars, although Raiders of the Lost Ark would come in a very close second. I was 6 years old during most of 1974 and turned 13 in late 1980, for reference on my age.We're about the same age. I'd have to go with Star Wars, at least until it was supplanted by Airplane!

[Colibri]

King Kong. The original.

When I was a kid in the 50s, Million Dollar Movie used to show the same movie every week night at seven PM for a week, and about four times each on Saturday and Sunday. Whenever King Kong was the movie of the week, I would try to watch as many showings as possible.

Man, I loved those dinosaur battles.

[Zsofia]

I watched The Dark Crystal a billion times, even though it scared me. We rented it and I had my parents make me a copy, which was done with about a million miles of coaxial cable from their bedroom to the living room.

[WomanofScorn]

The Secret of Nihm

The Last Unicorn

Labyrinth

Ferris Bueler's Day Off

Princess Bride

I'm sure there are more I'll think of later.

[kapri]

It was a long, long time ago, but one was The World of Henry Orient: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058756/

As well as anything with Doris Day, such as Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers--stuff like that, especially when she starred with Rock Hudson.

[Trick Rider]

Jurassic Park. I just really liked dinosaurs.

[AuntiePam]

King Kong. The original.

When I was a kid in the 50s, Million Dollar Movie used to show the same movie every week night at seven PM for a week, and about four times each on Saturday and Sunday. Whenever King Kong was the movie of the week, I would try to watch as many showings as possible.


I was all set to whine that the OP could only be answered by kids who grew up with VCRs, but you reminded me of Gravesend Manor on WOI-TV (Ames, Iowa) on Saturday nights. We grew up watching the Universal classics -- Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and all the Returns, Sons, Wives, and Daughters they spawned. Good times! My favorite was Frankenstein.

[Tamerlane]

Robin Hood. In two different versions! The 1938 Errol Flynn flick The Adventures of Robin Hood was probably my favorite. It was re-run a lot in the early-mid 1970's TV and I watched it endlessly on a little black and white portable television and thus thought was a black and white film well into adulthood.

But also Disney's 1973 Robin Hood. Widely considered a lesser Disney flick, but I ate it up. It was the first soundtrack I ever owned :D.

After that the Planet of the Apes franchise was way up there. I had some of the action figures, including the treehouse.

[Jihi]

Born in '81.

When I was a kid I loved Flight of the Navigator myself, though it's been years since I've seen it. I'm not sure it would hold up to a current viewing based on what I remember of it.

For movies that still hold up today, anything with Spielberg/Lucas involved. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., and the Goonies all saw many viewings. I also loved the "Secret of Nimh", and the Dark Crystal. Both of those seemed so dark and mysterious at the time. Ghostbusters still remains one of my favorite movies of all time.

I also, for some odd reason, absolutely loved Disney's "Robin Hood". The one from the 70's where Robin and Marian were foxes and Little John was the bear from the Jungle Book. I was never a "Disney Kid" as for the most part I've never been all that interested in their movies, but for some reason this film really appealed to me.

ETA: And I see Tamerlane beat me to it. :D

[GuanoLad]

Return of the Jedi, though I was a teenager by then.

I can't recall a favourite when I was under ten. I didn't go to see too many movies when I was that age, as I lived in a tiny fishing village in the middle of nowhere, and saw maybe three movies a year, and never got to see any twice.

[cmyk]

Back to the Future.

The Fly ('86 remake) would be a close second.

BTTF is still one of my favorites. Up there with 2001 and Close Encounters.

[robardin]

I am at the threshold of the age of home video. My kids definitely equate "favorite movie" with "a movie I pick off the shelf and watch over and over again at will". But to me while growing up, my "favorite movie" would have been something that dominated my imagination, like the Star Wars movies did... But I would only have seen it maybe once or twice in my life until that point, plus the occasional movie clip on a TV show about movies like the Oscars or somesuch (my parents not being the sort to take me to see the same movie again and again).

On the other hand, there were other movies I also liked but got to see many, many, many times, enough to recite the dialogue and recall key scenes vividly even unto today. Obvious examples would be The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz, which were televised every year on network TV, and most especially Jason and the Argonauts. I went to the same day camp every summer for something like 5 years running, and every time a scheduled outdoor activity was canceled they'd herd us into the auditorium of the high school building they were using over the summer and run a reel-to-reel projector for us onto a big screen. But all they had were a few reels of Popeye cartoons, and Jason and the Argonauts. I can still remember the skeletons coming out of the ground and the fight scene that followed. That was the only scene where the entire auditorium stopped farting around and watched the movie, often mimicking swordfighting in the seats (since we'd all see the movie up to 10 times a summer).

YouTube shows this clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYeZMx1Y7U) which matches my recollection, which means it was the 1963 film adaptation.

My family didn't get a VCR until at least 1985 (by which time I was 14), and mostly used it to tape TV shows rather than buy home movies.

[lissener]

Little kid: Disney's Pinocchio
Medium kid: The Subject Was Roses
Tweener: Jeremiah Johnson
High School: All That Jazz

[SleepyDuck]

Kid of the '70s, pre-VCR.

Charlotte's Web (Still like it, for different reasons nowadays)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (I hate remakes, BTW, and yes, I actually did read the book. And the glass elevator sequel.)

Gus (A doper flicked me some shit on this one, once, but he's banned now so, karma right? I mean how could a young football fan not like a movie about a field goal kicking mule?)

[JohnT]

Jaws, which I saw at the theater when I was 8.

My daughter, Sophia, her favorite movies are War of the Worlds (the "Scary Monster Alien Robot Movie", or SMARM for short) and The Lord of the Rings, especially any scene with Legolove (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514628).

[Magiver]

As I aged:
Wizard of Oz
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
The Forbidden Planet
the original War of the Worlds
Star Wars

[Superhal]

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_36th_Chamber_of_Shaolin), or some other Run Run Shaw/Golden Harvest Kung fu film they showed late night Fridays.

[Maserschmidt]

Also the Disney Robin Hood. I still enjoy watching it.

[cornflakes]

I was 12 twelve years old in May of 1977. I ony saw Star Wars three times during its first run, but I knew kids from richer families who went to the theater every weekend that summer.

[kitemaker_chuck]

Well, I'm 56-something.

Among my favourites growing up....

You'll Find Out!

Forbidden Planet

The Day the Earth Stood Still (That's the original version)

Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines

The Dam Busters

[Jackmannii]

My top 3 favorite movies growing up (roughly age 9 through high school years) were Stalag 17, Bridge On The River Kwai and Rear Window.

And they still top the list.

[jackdavinci]

Star Wars, Dark Crystal, Neverending Story, Back to the Future were my early favs. ET and Gremlins were good too.

Honorary mention to Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for their annual TV appearances.

[needscoffee]

Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Time Machine, Charade, Wait Until Dark, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Attack of the Killer Shrews, Pollyanna, Lady and the Tramp, The Parent Trap, The Trouble With Angels, Peter Pan (Mary Martin), Vertigo, The Birds, and assorted zombie movies.

[Isamu]

The Beastmaster.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083630/

[Taomist]

Didn't have a VCR growing up, but there were yearly showings of movies on television that were as big a carrot held over us kids, regarding homework and being 'good', as any holiday was.

Sound of Music...Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang...Wizard of Oz...West Side Story...and my personal favorite, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. I do believe Gene Wilder was my first crush! <3

Oddly enough, as an adult, I confess I don't care for musicals.
But the ones I grew up with, I still absolutely adore.

[GESancMan]

Another one for Star Wars here. It came out just before my 6th birthday.

[panache45]

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Scared the bejesus out of me.

[don't ask]

Something in the order of:

Lost Horizon
The Maltese Falcon
Singing in the Rain
Cool Hand Luke
The Godfather
Badlands

up to age 21. The first 3 I saw on TV - Lost Horizon when I was very young the other 2 in my teens.

[FriarTed]

I was all set to whine that the OP could only be answered by kids who grew up with VCRs, but you reminded me of Gravesend Manor on WOI-TV (Ames, Iowa) on Saturday nights. We grew up watching the Universal classics -- Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and all the Returns, Sons, Wives, and Daughters they spawned. Good times! My favorite was Frankenstein.

I was waiting for a fellow Monster Kid!

Here is was Nightmare Theater on WTTV-4 (Bloomington, IN) hosted by Sammy Terry. Of course, with all the Universals were the Hammers and the AIP-Vincent Price ones. Then the "bottom-of-the-barrells" from Italy, Spain, Mexico- which had some rare gems.

Above all, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN reigned. Close after were Hammer's Brides of Dracula and Vincent Price's Masque of the Red Death. And the one foreign film in the bunch- Mario Bava's Black Sunday starring Barbara Steele.

[FriarTed]

Outside the monster genre, but still in the realm of the fantastic, I might not have named this when I was a kid, but I've always had a special place in my heart for THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO.

I got the DVD this summer and inflicted it on my 28-yr old jaded best friend (I'm 47). She tolerated it while I thoroughly enjoyed it, even while mocking the now-obvious holes. One of these days, I need to watch it back-to-back with SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (I was in college when that came out).

[LawMonkey]

Wizard of Oz. Watched it to death as a little kid, then went through a period of being too cool for it as a teenager. I love it all over again now, and was disappointed to miss the hi-def theatre showings this summer--I went to the theatre with my mom only to find it sold out.

Disney's Robin Hood was another biggie. I remember that I used to daydream about having adventures w/ Robin and the gang there in Sherwood Forest.

I think those were the big two, though Goonies, The Last Starfighter, and The Secret of NIMH all merit honorable mentions at least. (The Secret of NIMH remains one of my favorites to this day; I tend to get choked up watching it, 'cause I'm just a sap that way.)

[FriarTed]

For Auntie Pam, a blast from the past- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGZ4J4-XdU

And what I grew up on-

http://www.youtube.com/user/SammyTerryWTTV43

His real name is Bob Carter, he's now 80 years old, and I saw him after many years on October of last year. He still does shows when his health permits. God bless him!

Sammy Terry made me the man I am today... and I never got around to punching him for it. (ba-da bing!)

[Shadez]

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107131/). I was 10.

[drm]

Back to the Future
Ghostbusters
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

I saw these movies on my 7th birthday, when I was 8, and on my 12th birthday respectively.

I also loved a movie called The Wraith (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092240/), which even as a kid I knew it might be one of the worst movies ever made, but it did have a really cool car and that went a long way when I was 9. It also had Sherilyn Fenn's breasts (I'm pretty sure, it may have been side boob, I haven't seen it in a while and the only copy I have is a shitty VHS recording)

[teela brown]

The Great Race
Forbidden Planet
Mysterious Island
The Blob

Animated:

Gulliver's Travels
Hoppity Goes To Town
Pinnochio

[JohnT]

Jaws, which I saw at the theater when I was 8.

My daughter, Sophia, her favorite movies are War of the Worlds (the "Scary Monster Alien Robot Movie", or SMARM for short) and The Lord of the Rings, especially any scene with Legolove (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514628).

It's Sophie Day at TNT: They're showing all three Rings movies, as well as WOTW tonight @ 7pm. Don't tell my daughter - she needs to practice her piano! ;)

[The Shroud]

Before 10, Back to the Future. My family actually used to rent the movie AND the VCR from the video store, and that was the tape we rented a ridiculous number of times.

Between 10 and 15, I really got on an old movie kick, and the tape I wore out was Road to Morocco.

[jali]

Born in 1957.

"Mary Poppins" and "Alice in Wonderland" tied when I was little. I had the Alice soundtrack and played it and sang it every Saturday Morning.

As a young teen, I think it was "A Warm December" - a very sad, romantic story starring Sidney Poitier.

As an older teen "The Harder They Come" was important to me.


My favorite movie right now is "Snatch".

[AuntiePam]

For Auntie Pam, a blast from the past- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGZ4J4-XdU And what I grew up on-
http://www.youtube.com/user/SammyTerryWTTV43


Thanks for that! I'd forgotten about Claude -- I remembered him as Igor but I must have been confusing him with the movie. Your show had color and an echo chamber -- big budget compared to mine!

All the praise for the Disney's Robin Hood -- maybe I should get it for the grandkids.

[DLuxN8R-13]

Outside the monster genre, but still in the realm of the fantastic, I might not have named this when I was a kid, but I've always had a special place in my heart for THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO.

That was my very favorite movie when I was a kid; I used to watch it every time it was on TV (it was in the pre-VCR, pre-HBO era -- I'm freakin' old -- and the only movie theatre for 50 miles was the drive-in over in the next county and my parents were too cheap and too dull to take me; so movies on TV were practically the only ones I ever got to see). This, in spite of the fact that there were two parts of that flick that always made me cry, and probably still would.

[Sigmagirl]

I grew up before home video. When I was a kid, there were a few movies that my father would wake me up to watch with him, no matter the hour. If WUAB-43 was playing them at 3 a.m., then 3 a.m. would see us watching them. And if I didn't feel like going to school the next day, then fuck it.

Casablanca
The African Queen
From Here to Eternity
The Night of the Hunter

Says a lot about my childhood, doesn't it?

[Hypno-Toad]

I was seven when Star Wars came out. No question what my favourite movie was.

Same here.

[slightly askew]

Annie (1982), Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks -- Guess I had a thing for musicals.

[garygnu]

Pirates of Penzance. I knew exactly where it was located in a big movie rental place, far away from the kids/family section. Probably every other time we went I would wander off and return with the yellow plastic "VHS" tag* for it, pleading to my mother to get it.

*: Red was for Beta.

[Jim's Son]

I didn't see many movies growing up so "favorite movie" is kind of a stretch. But I was in high school when "Patton" came out and me and my friends loved it. During the intermission we repeated all the obscenities in it (still quite rare in 1970). When it was broadcast on television in December, 1972 I recorded it on audio on two 90 minute 8 track tapes (CBS even kept in most of the four letter words, daying it was essential to Patton's character. The "shovel #### in Louisiana in the opening monologue got left out).

[wedgehed]

Jason and the Argonauts.

Heck, I still like it.

[Chum]

I'll copy lissener:

Little kid: Labyrinth, The Little Mermaid, and The Chipmunk Adventure
Medium kid: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Secret of Roan Inish, and Clueless
Tweener: Newsies and The Pest
High School: Fight Club, Moulin Rouge, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch

[gigi]

My favorite film then and now is Picnic at Hanging Rock. My father didn't take us to very many kids movies.

[Robbin'Hood]

My favorite movie as a kid was The Wizard of Oz.

[Pyper]

I'm amazed at how many people loved Disney's Robin Hood. It was one of my favorites too. I had a crush on that foxy Robin!

But my favorite movie, which I subjected my poor parents to over and over (and over), was Short Circuit. I loved when he attempted to make pancakes! I loved the Three Stooges scene! I loved, "No disassemble!"

[NoClueBoy]

Forbidden Planet

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Thing From Another Planet

Planet of the Apes

West Side Story





Couldn't narrow down to just one.

[Mr Buttons]

Major League

I had some animated films that were favorites before I was like 8, but once I got into baseball, I probably watched that movie 100+ times over a 2-3 year period. Drove my parents bonkers hearing it.
Now that I'm older, I realize I'm sure they were sick of that damn movie, but at least they knew I was entertained for the next 1 1/2 hours and not bugging them. :)

[The Second Stone]

Born in '62, and I was not a huge movie fan. When Star Wars hit in '77 I was bowled over. But it wasn't until a year or two later that I saw my favorite movie, which is still my favorite movie, with 32 viewings: Casablanca. "Of all the gin joints in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine?" A perfect movie.

[GameHat]

The Goonies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goonies)

I was born in 1981, probably first saw it 1986 or so.

Dunno, as a kid I loved the idea of "scrappy band of (stereotypical) misfits has a grand adventure"

The film doesn't hold up for me. It's just not that good. But I do remember fondly how much I loved it as a kid.

Close mention - Spaceballs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceballs). I probably saw this, as a kid, a dozen and a half times. For at least two years, a sleepover at a friends house meant that a watching of Spaceballs was expected. Again, it doesn't hold up. We thought Spaceballs was comedy gold when we were 9; seeing it as an adult there's a few smiles but the whole thing is just corny.

[Sage Rat]

Amadeus

I was a dour child. :cool:

ETA: Born in 79'

[AqualungBats5th]

Born in '81:

Return of the Jedi, Gremlins, the Rankin & Bass animated version of The Hobbit.

[Johnny Q]

Star Wars. Easy.

[Grumman]

Jurassic Park and Star Wars, I think.

[Lethal Babydoll]

The Ten Commandments

I grew up at an Air Force base in Japan and, since there was no English language TV, the base theater show a different movie every night.

The theater was huge! Like one of those old movie palaces you read about.

Twice a year they'd show Ten Commandments for a week and the whole base would turn out. I'd sit in the first row and just be wowed by it.

One of my favorite childhood memories.

[olivesmarch4th]

Police Academy.

Yep.

''Oooh, not on broccoli. Ohhhh, not on cauliflower.''

I also had an inexplicable crush on Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/David_Graf_in_Stockholm.jpg/800px-David_Graf_in_Stockholm.jpg)

[faithfool]

When I was real little, it was Willie Wonka. When I hit 10, it became Grease.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

The Dark Crystal
The Black Hole
The Apple Dumpling Gang

[gonzomax]

I grew up with the UFo and radioactive monster movies. I liked Them, It came from Outerspace, When Worlds Collide, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, Creature of the Black Lagoon and other movies like that. I still love them but I had no favorite.
My son wore out "the Blues Brothers".

[Docta G]

Born in '63.

2001: A Space Odyssey

[salinqmind]

I loved The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, too!

When I was very young, I was enchanted, no, obsessed, by Sleeping Beauty, an often over looked Disney film.

When I was a little older, we were big fans of the Creature Features that used to be on TV, and I developed a lifelong love for anything science-fiction, but I digress....

I also loved Hayley Mills - The Parent Trap, Moonspinners, and The Trouble With Angels (which really should have been better, but is utterly charming and I still love to watch it to this day).

And when I was 11, they dropped us off at the Kallet Genesee Theater on a hot summer day and what did I behold in front of me in all its awesomeness but Lawrence of Arabia! I sat there, spellbound, through the whole thing and demanded to be taken back. Twice.

[Sefton]

Flash Gordon, Real Genius, and Krull

HBO would play those movies over and over again, and I'd watch every showing. Is it any wonder I turned into a geek?

Also loved Clash of the Titans. I'll be first in line to see the remake.

[Stink Fish Pot]

Star Wars
The Bad News Bears

[Webner]

Back to the Future
The first three Indiana Jones films
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Field of Dreams
Demolition Man

[Equipoise]

To Kill A Mockingbird and (Robert Mitchum's) Cape Fear are the two that really stick out. I also loved many of the SF films that gonzomax mentioned, especially Them, War of the Worlds, and When Worlds Collide. Also The Parent Trap, The Wizard of Oz and Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Of course I saw all those on television.

When I was old enough to fall in love with a movie I saw in the theater, as a pre-teen, they would have been Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Bonnie and Clyde, Funny Girl and Bullitt. I wanted to see those movies over and over and over again, but I couldn't (we lived on a farm and didn't get to the theater too often). My penchant today for seeing films I really love multiple times in the theater comes from, I think, an attitude of "I CAN now, so fuck it, why not?"

[LC Strawhouse]

When I was around 15 y/o my favorite movies were the Jean-Claude Van Damme masterpieces, Bloodsport and Kickboxer. I somehow got them both on videotape and went nuts for about half a year. I don't think I could watch them now without suffering an extreme allergic reation.

[Yorikke]

God, I loved "the Goonies" and "Back to the Future." Still do, to a point. I watched "Strange Brew" recently, and it didn't hold up.

Joe