# Describe a movie you saw and liked as a kid but can't remember its title **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911 "2014-01-04T23:41:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/121 "2014-01-08T21:00:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, and No. It was a short film not a feature film. And definitely not _Yellow Submarine_, a movie I knew well. I feel like I’ve seen this as well. Man, HBO used to show some great filler. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/122 "2014-01-10T02:56:06Z")
When did it come out? I think in the early 1990s, when I was in late middle school or early high school. I think it was a CBS TV movie. (Remember those?) Who was in it? I don’t know What plot if any do you remember? Three hijackers take over an airplane. The passengers stage a revolt. At the end, they show the legs of the hijackers after they’ve been hanged using seat belts. What was special to you about it? The awesome way that justice was served ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/123 "2014-01-10T04:55:35Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > When did it come out? I think in the early 1990s, when I was in late middle school or early high school. I think it was a CBS TV movie. (Remember those?) > > Who was in it? I don’t know > > What plot if any do you remember? Three hijackers take over an airplane. The passengers stage a revolt. At the end, they show the legs of the hijackers after they’ve been hanged using seat belts. > > What was special to you about it? The awesome way that justice was served _Hostage Flight_? > **[Hostage Flight (TV Movie 1985) ⭐ 6.5 | Thriller](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089301/?mode=desktop&ref_=m_ft_dsk)** > > 1h 40m ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/124 "2014-01-10T13:15:03Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > _Hostage Flight_? > [Hostage Flight (TV Movie 1985) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089301/?mode=desktop&ref_=m_ft_dsk) That was it! ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/125 "2014-01-14T21:51:03Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Was it _UFO: Target Earth_? > [Classic Sci-Fi Movies: UFO: Target Earth](http://classicscifi.blogspot.com/2013/09/ufo-target-earth.html?m=1) > [UFO: Target Earth (1974) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131624/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFh-3yA2qag](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFh-3yA2qag) No…that wasn’t it. It was more along the lines of a disney family movie like “The Cat From Outer Space” (I’m so ashamed to have just mentioned that movie) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/126 "2014-01-15T00:26:09Z")
I think I remember something about this movie: The space man picks up a grenade about to blow, and merely cups his hands around it, containing the explosion. A scene starts with a neighborhood boy proudly telling spaceman he managed to go a whole year without crying…ends with the boy sobbing in spaceman’s arms. At the end of the movie, spaceman’s human contacts help secure him a legal identity, including social security #, and sinking his spaceship at the bottom of a lake. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/127 "2014-01-15T03:16:00Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Mid to late 70’s…saw it in the movie theater. > > No clue on any of the actors > > A family in a flying saucer crashes on Earth. Hide their flying saucer at the bottom of a lake. Can’t remember if only the father leaves or the entire family leaves. Kinda remember at least one person staying behind on the ship. Seem to remember them being chased back to the lake and ending with the flying saucer coming out of the lake. > > I seem to remember more about the movie poster than the movie itself…the movie poster was the earth with a flying saucer stuck in the side. [Earthbound](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082308/plotsummary). I remember seeing this too, most likely on TV. Here’s the [poster](http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2008/05/12/never-seen-it/earthboundjpg/). ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/128 "2014-01-15T05:06:00Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Earthbound](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082308/plotsummary). I remember seeing this too, most likely on TV. Here’s the [poster](http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2008/05/12/never-seen-it/earthboundjpg/). Wow! I do believe this is it. Not even a hit on youtube. And it was starring Burl Ives… (shudder) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/129 "2014-01-15T05:39:32Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I googled ‘skinny fat japanese kid movie’ and, I shit you not, came back with “Skinny and Fatty” They synopses included the line "Quite popular in the United States due to repeated showings on The CBS Children’s Film Festival in the 1960s and 70s. " > So I’m guessing that’s it. That must be it. That was the first Children’s Film Festival film I saw, and the only one I remember clearly. I have a vague memory of one from Canada about a young boy who was a lumberjack, not sure if it was part of that series. ---
**Author:** ![nanni000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/aca169/32.png) [@nanni000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nanni000)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/130 "2014-03-08T08:14:22Z")
Ok, I need help. Just found this site when searching for this movie. It must have been late 80’s early 90’s. All i remember is a mars-like land…a guy who falls into sand that is quicksand and these turtle-like animals that can kill. The guy realizes that the turtle shells are great for shelter and he makes a shelter out of them. Sorry for the little details. Any ideas? Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/131 "2014-03-08T08:58:23Z")
I think that’s [Enemy Mine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_Mine_%28film%29), with Louis Gossett Jr and Dennis Quaid. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/132 "2014-03-08T14:26:09Z")
There was a WWII war movie, probably came out in the mid/late 60’s, about a U.S. Navy cargo ship in the Pacific Theater with a good (if unpopular) commander and a glum crew. He does everything he can to “whip them into shape,” but to little avail. So he orders them to build him a small sailboat, and succeeds in bringing the crew together, if only in their hatred of him. They wind up with a “real mission,” delivering supplies in support of an island invasion. where their ship gets pretty shot up; the crew is working heroically to save their vessel, but keep getting strafed by the Japanese fighters and generally shot up pretty bad, so the captain actually launches his sailboat and sails around his ship to draw enemy fire. The captain, IIRC, dies, but the crew saves the ship. Before anyone replies and says, “You _must_ be thinking of and/or misremembering _Mr. Roberts_!” I assure you it is _not Mr. Roberts._ I have seen, and have a copy of, the Fonda/Cagney/Lemmon version of _Mr. Roberts,_ and know that movie fairly well. The one I refer to above _ **is not Mr. Roberts.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/133 "2014-03-08T15:39:32Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > I remember a movie from the 70’s or circa 1980, I saw it on TV in the early 90’s. > > It involved a pet turtle that somehow became a monster. The protagonists had it as a pet as kids and they marked their initials on its shell. Years later it was huge and killing folks. I seem to remember the girl’s father was a scientist and he had a laboratory by the ocean. At the end of the movie there was a cheesy “reveal” scene where we see the initials on the monster turtle’s shell. > > OMG, found it: > [The Bermuda Depths (TV Movie 1978) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077223/) > > The Bermuda Depths (1978), with Carl Weathers! > > Amazing how useful the keyword search on IMDB can be. I think there’s a whole generation of people (me included back in the early 90s) where one of the first things they did when they discovered the Internet was find the title of this movie. Everyone who grew up in the 70s remembered the story and ending but no one remembered the title. ---
**Author:** ![Fishybreath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ec9cab/32.png) [@Fishybreath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishybreath)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/134 "2014-03-08T18:53:41Z")
Rik Mayall from The Young Ones in a B/W short film made (I assume) in the 80s. I cant remember anything else. I saw it in 1991. I believe it may have been on MTV. Can’t seem to be able to find anything about it anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/135 "2014-03-08T19:10:08Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > There was a WWII war movie, probably came out in the mid/late 60’s, about a U.S. Navy cargo ship in the Pacific Theater with a good (if unpopular) commander and a glum crew. He does everything he can to “whip them into shape,” but to little avail. So he orders them to build him a small sailboat, and succeeds in bringing the crew together, if only in their hatred of him. > > They wind up with a “real mission,” delivering supplies in support of an island invasion. where their ship gets pretty shot up; the crew is working heroically to save their vessel, but keep getting strafed by the Japanese fighters and generally shot up pretty bad, so the captain actually launches his sailboat and sails around his ship to draw enemy fire. The captain, IIRC, dies, but the crew saves the ship. > > Before anyone replies and says, “You _must_ be thinking of and/or misremembering _Mr. Roberts_!” I assure you it is _not Mr. Roberts._ I have seen, and have a copy of, the Fonda/Cagney/Lemmon version of _Mr. Roberts,_ and know that movie fairly well. The one I refer to above _ **is not Mr. Roberts.** _ Maybe this one, also with Jack Lemmon? 😕 > **[The Wackiest Ship in the Army (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wackiest_Ship_in_the_Army_(film))** > > The Wackiest Ship in the Army is an American 1960 Eastmancolor CinemaScope comedy-drama war film directed by Richard Murphy and starring Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, and Chips Rafferty. It was filmed at Pearl Harbor and Kauai. > The story is a dramatized, fictionalized account of a real ship known as the USS Echo. It was a sailing vessel that originated in New Zealand and became part of the United States Navy during World War II. > In 1943, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Rip Crandall, an expert yachtsman in ... ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/136 "2014-03-08T21:42:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Maybe this one, also with Jack Lemmon? 😕 > > [The Wackiest Ship in the Army (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wackiest_Ship_in_the_Army_(film)) I may be misremembering stuff. I’ve seen it twice, sometime in late 70’s, once again in 1995, in Germany of all places, with dubbed voices and no ending credits to give away anything important like “name of movie,” or “starring” to clue me in. But “Wackiest Ship In The Army” ain’t it; I’d have recognized Jack Lemmon, and done an IMDB search against his credits to find it. Thanks, though; I may give “Wackiest…” a gander. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/137 "2014-03-08T22:55:58Z")
> [@Fishybreath](#): > > Rik Mayall from The Young Ones in a B/W short film made (I assume) in the 80s. I cant remember anything else. I saw it in 1991. I believe it may have been on MTV. Can’t seem to be able to find anything about it anywhere. That was probably a “Comic Strip” movie, and the only black and white one I have found that fits the time and has Rik in it is [The Beat Generation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbajlGGt7YY). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/138 "2014-03-09T01:03:24Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > I may be misremembering stuff. I’ve seen it twice, sometime in late 70’s, once again in 1995, in Germany of all places, with dubbed voices and no ending credits to give away anything important like “name of movie,” or “starring” to clue me in. > > But “Wackiest Ship In The Army” ain’t it; I’d have recognized Jack Lemmon, and done an IMDB search against his credits to find it. > > Thanks, though; I may give “Wackiest…” a gander. How 'bout Ensign Pulver? > **[Ensign Pulver (1964) ⭐ 5.9 | Comedy, Drama, War](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058060/)** > > 1h 44m | Approved BTW, here’s another unknown title: Late 60s-early 70s film quality. Tough guy displays his prowess by sticking two fingers in a shot glass and shattering the glass by “scissor-kicking” his fingers apart. ---
**Author:** ![jigsaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jigsaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jigsaw)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/139 "2014-03-09T02:02:38Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I got one. > > When did it come out? _ **Don’t know.** _ > Who was in it? _ **Don’t know.** _ > What plot if any do you remember? _ **A plane crashed into an island with a family on it and they converted it into a boat to get off the island.** _ > What was special to you about it? _ **I don’t know.** _ > > Any other clues you can think of? _ **I believe it was a TV movie.** _ The Glass Bottom Boat? I think it starred Doris Day. 1964 maybe. Or Robinson Caruso? jigsaw ---
**Author:** ![jigsaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jigsaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jigsaw)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/140 "2014-03-09T02:07:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I remember a movie starring Kim Basinger where the very final scene had her in a hospital/morgue setting. The doctor pulled back a sheet to reveal a body - when Kim saw it, her hands rose to her mouth in shock… and froze. > > Movie over. > > I only saw that one 30-second snippet in the pre-DVR days and was not able to find out the name of the movie. Any help would be appreciated. Nine and a Half Weeks? jigsaw [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911.md?page=8)