As for the greatest audience moment, it was watching Independence Day in an Israeli theater. In the scene with the jet fighters in the desert (Golan Straits? Huh?) there’s a nice, long shot of a bunch of guys standing around F-16s with IAF markings, with the Israeli nflag flying proudly above. The crowd - including your’s truly - went beserk. National pride, I suppose.
Thanks, matt_mcl, for not correcting my spelling of the Marseillaise. Tell me, is there a pattern, or do the French just spell at random?
(By the way, the best moment of that scene is the shot of the girl, the one who fratenized with the Nazis. The look on her face, the thrust of her little fist… damn).
MP Holy Grail–
“They were forced to kill and eat Robin’s minstrel…and there was much rejoicing. Yaay.”
This drove about 20 of us into hysterical collapse the first time we saw it (and there were only 20 of us there). We had to pour ice water on one guy to get him to stop laughing.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves–
“Bugger me! They cleared it!” Will Scarlet apparently thought he was about to launch Robin and Azeem face-first into the wall. Also the redoubtable Sheriff: “You, my room, 10:30 tonight. You, 10:45…Bring a friend.”
Sixth Sense–
The big denoument at the end was fascinating. I didn’t get the shock at the end (I had figured it out–so sue me!), but I got to watch people get it. There was this stunned silence for a few seconds, followed by a collective gasp so big that I thought my ears were going to pop. There was this shocked murmuring: “Oh my…he didn’t sur…I should’ve…he’s what?…ghost…of course…the clothes…” Some of them were angry (with themselves or with Hollywood), but most of the whispers I heard seemed to be full of detached admiration for the sheer scope of the trick that had been played on them.
At the end, when you find out it was all a “dream”, the entire audience sighed as if with relief.
Before that, when Charlize Theron’s (SP?) character slit her own throat, at least two dozen people said loudy and simultaneously, “OH MY GOD!” Same when Keanu Reeves shot himself.
After the movie, I heard several people speak of how “disturbing” the baby scene was.
I saw The Princess Bride in a tiny, packed (standing room in the back) one-screen local theatre. The majority of the junior high student body was jammed into the place, many had seen it before, and you couldn’t hear a lot of the lines because people would still be laughing from the last funny thing that happened. The tension was building while Inigo chased the six-fingered man through the castle, then he was stabbed, and you could feel the crowd preparing to be really pissed, and then, Inigo started to come back (“Hello!”), and the sense of expectation built and built until: “I want my father back, you son of a bitch!” STAB
The crowd went wild. It was amazing.
I have to agree with pretty much everything Sealemon88 mentioned, especially Office Space, The Princess Bride, Fight Club (“I am Jack’s smirking revenge.”), The Sixth Sense, Gladiator (oh. my. god.) and double especially The Matrix (that movie was one long visual wow). Sealemon88, you, and your taste, rule.
In “To Live,” the scene where the mute daughter is giving birth. She’s been consigned to the care of untrained teenagers because all the doctors have been locked up as counterrevolutionary. She hemorrhages after the birth and the teenagers have no idea what to do, and there’s a split-second shot of a quickly spreading pool of blood. The whole audience I was with gasped.
OTOH, I saw the decidedly not-a-comedy “Truman Show” (a great movie) with a audience full of barking halfwits who reacted as though they were seeing “Ace Ventura.” :mad:
Rincewind, my roomie, and I all saw American Pie the first weekend it was out. About three rows away from us were a bunch of drunk frat guys.
During the first party scene, where Stiffler is waving around the beer with cum, the frat guys were groaning and shouting “No man! Don’t drink it!” and when he did, I thought those guys were going to be sick. Funniest thing I’ve heard in quite a while.
The scene in ‘Dead Man’ where William Blake (Johnny Depp) is led through the forest on horseback by Nobody. This movie is one of my favourites, but the black and white cinematography always blows my mind.
An Italian film - ‘Caro Diario’ (Dear Diary). This whole film is so simple and beautiful - there’s a point where the main character is riding around, and Leonard Cohen’s ‘I’m Your Man’ comes on. It’s a movie that just meanders along, and it’s only when it finishes that you realise you’ll never forget it.
Eraserhead (see my name!) - Henry walking through the alien looking streets, when you still think he is a strange character (until later, when it becomes clear he’s the least strange person in the film).
And finally, my favourite music movie - Rock and Roll High School - aside from the gorgeous Mary Woranov as the strict headmistress, the fun attitude just makes you want to smile. Favourite scene? When the Ramones turn up to the show, playing and singing.
Ronin (I think) Sean Connery trying to get past a big lout of a security guard at the bad guys house, the guard remarks, “I’m a black belt” Sean replies, “Of course you are.” then procedes to kick his ass.
I loved the first time I saw Tom Jones with Albert Finney because the audience was so much into the film. The dining room at the inn scene is so funny and erotic at the same time; slurping down raw oysters, yanking chicken off the bone with her teeth, gnawing/pulverising the pear while thinking about the future action up in the bedroom. The final clip just took the audience off the edge; you know the one, said lady at dinner is now lying on the bed and another man enters… she slyly batters her eyes… he smiles… her feet beat a ratatatat on the bed…he takes off belt…
bbwwaaahhahahaha. Ah anticipation and excitement.
This is not because it is the first movie I’ve seen this year in the show ( and have only seen two on video this year to date).
** The Patriot** The scene where Mel Gibson is fighting to free his son who has been taken by those pesky red coats. Best fight scene I’ve seen in years.
Having misspent my youth working as a video store, I 've seen every Oscar and Oscar nominated movie out there that his on video for the top catagories. And you know what is popping though my hazy mind right now, I am ashamed to admit this, but *Spicoli * sprawled in his desk.
The dumb movies have corrupted my brain.
::::sobbing::::
Oh, and Tom Cruise sliding across the floor in his underwear in Risky Business.
This scene was changed from Indy and the swordsman sword fighting by Harrison Ford. He told Spielberg that Indy wouldnt waste his time with this guy, not when he had a gun on him.
Another favorite Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom scene is when the dates in Sallah’s apartment have been poisoned and the evil nazi monkey eats them and when Sallah tosses one in the air and Indy catches it, motioning to the dead monkey, saying, “Bad Dates.” Great scene.
I would like to close this ramble saying that Evil Nazi Monkey would be a really good name for a band.
It was at Robin Hood, POT. When the witch was about to stab Robin in the back, and Azeam throws his scimitar and impales her on to the pole, my buddy yells out “A 20!!!”. Not really funny unless you have played AD&D.
Spoiler… not that any of you have ever seen this movie, *Zulu * With Michael Caine ( a young,thin, sober Michael Caine.)
The end of the movie, after this small (in size and personel) british outpost during the Boer war is under attack again by the VERY large zulu tribe. Most of the brits are injured/sick before the orinigal battle takes place as it is an infirmary of sorts. After repulsing the Zulu’s time and time again, the zulu’s line up on the ridge above the post…and the zulu’s stretch a loooooooooooooooooooooong way and you can see it in the brit’s faces of " oh fuck. we are dead", then the zulu’s leave. It was their way of showing respect for the battle they fought. It just blew me away.
Based on a true story. Slow paced movie filled with tension. Regretfully, when viewed in the Armageddon crapfests that are made today, it seems slow and tedious at times.
My roomie and I were going to see Bram Stoker’s Dracula on it’s opening night, but the theater was sold out. So we picked the only other movie that we could reasonably be expected to feign interest in, Under Seige, with Steven Seagal.
We were the only two people in the theater, so we had a real live MST3K.
The moment I saw the playboy chick pop out of the cake topless, I announced she was going to save Seagal sometime during the movie, and durned if I wasn’t right.
Years ago I took a film class in college. It was great to see some of these hipper-than-thou, bored college students get into some good, older movies.
The Conversation: when the toilet starts backing up (revealing evidence of something bad): lots of audience reaction, murmuring excitedly.
Wait Until Dark: another surprise moment when Audrey Hepburn is in danger: the ENTIRE audience SCREAMED out loud (yes, me too), then started talking loudly and excitedly.
Hair: audience reaction to Berger’s hair cut
Meet Me in St. Louis: I woulda thought they would have seen this on TV (this was in the '80s, before everybody had VCRs). The audience was completely charmed by this movie, and when Judy Garland is under the mistaken impression that “the boy next door” has harmed her sister and she goes over there in a fury and sort of weakly beats him up, and he sets her straight and laughs and says, “So, will you come back and beat me up again?”…well, the audience seemed to enjoy that particularly.
My favorite western: “The Outlaw Josie Wales”
Josie is confronted by five Union troops, all with sidearms, when he is identified as an outlaw by a bystander. Everyone remains still for an instant as they all realize that there is going to be a gunfight. Josie (Clint Eastwood) asks:
“Are you goin’ pull them pistols, or whistle Dixie?”
One of the soldiers goes for his gun and Josie pulls two pistols and blows away 4 of the 5 soldiers (the fifth is dispatched by Josie’s companion). This is my favorite line, from any movie or TV show, by any actor, OAT (of all time).
GaWd, you reminded me of a funny theater experience. I don’t even remember the movie, but at the end My friends and I stood up and I dropped my Tribune (or whatever the theater mag is called) into the seat in front of me. I leaned over the seat and there on the floor were at least 30 beer bottles (though I think I’m under-estimating that). One of the funniest sites. I thought I had heard some clinking earlier.