# Movies you wish you had seen at the theater, but didn't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384 "2003-05-15T05:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/21 "2003-05-15T22:01:37Z")
_Amadeus_ is my all-time favorite movie. I’ve never seen it on the big screen. ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/22 "2003-05-15T22:05:35Z")
_Moulin Rouge_. It’s my favorite movie, and I really wish I could have seen it in a theater. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/23 "2003-05-15T23:13:18Z")
Kurosawa’s **Ran**. I saw it on video, and all I could think was, This movie would be _awesome_ on the big screen. Also, **Spirited Away**. I’ve seen **Gone with the Wind** , **Lawrence of Arabia** , and **Casablanca** on the big screen, thanks to repertory cinema that used to be in Atlanta. The only one I didn’t like was **Lawrence of Arabia**. I’m not sure why, I just couldn’t sit still through the whole thing, and I breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/24 "2003-05-16T00:25:13Z")
Moulin Rouge wasn’t all that fantastic on the big screen [I’ve seen it at the cinema and on video] The opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan were positively terrifying on the big screen in the dark … the whole place [200 seater] was completely silent [very unusual in a cinema!], you felt like you were drowning and I wasn’t the only one ducking when the bullets started flying … ---
**Author:** ![Govindha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/25 "2003-05-16T00:56:41Z")
I’d have to say… original solaris 2001 space odyssey fight club good will hunting debby does dallas maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/26 "2003-05-16T02:59:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobelia Overhill \* > \*\* > The opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan were positively terrifying on the big screen in the dark … the whole place [200 seater] was completely silent [very unusual in a cinema!], you felt like you were drowning and I wasn’t the only one ducking when the bullets started flying … \*\* I was ducking right with you. In spirit, anyway. They have one bullet whiz by that sounds like it JUST missed your head. Scary stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/27 "2003-05-16T03:22:23Z")
**plnnr** you aren’t in Detroit by any chance are you? To all those who have mentioned _Lawrence of Arabia_. I first saw it in 1969 or 1970, at the first multiplex theater here in Topeka. Bigger than a home screen at least, and I fell in love with Peter O’Toole. But then, in 1989, when I was living and working in Lansing, Michigan, the Fox Theater in Detroit reopened, after renovation and refurbishing. And the movie they showed to celebrate was LoA. On a thirty by seventy foot screen. In a theater that can hold over four thousand people. I was swept away all over again. And the theater itself, gah, talk about gaudy ornamentation. I loved every gilded bit of it. To give you an idea of how ornate it is, in 1926 it cost $10,000,000 to build. My favorite part was not the “second largest Wurlitzer organ in the world” but the chandalier that hung from the cieling. Instead of multiple branches with lots of bulbs, it was a thirteen foot in diameter ball of colored glass, and the bulbs inside made it glow like an over-sized Christmas ornament. If you are ever in Detroit you have GOT to check that place out! ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/28 "2003-05-16T03:27:20Z")
_The Shawshank Redemption_. Not because of the cinematography, but, simply because seeing films in a theatre is better. Had I known it was going to be THAT good, damn. This may be just an urban legend, but I heard that there was a version of _Das Boot_ that was shot in real-time, or at least near-real-time. During the viewing, the audience was not allowed to leave the theatre, which would heighten the emotional impact of the movie. Anyone know if this is true? My advisor in college saw the premiere of _Apocalypse Now_. It was the first time he’d experienced surround sound. Said that it freaked everyone in the theatre out, so I guess that’d go on the list, too. Every Kubrick movie prior to _Eyes Wide Shut_. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/29 "2003-05-16T03:40:03Z")
I **really** wish I had seen **The Matrix** in the theater… At least I’ll see **Reloaded** in one. (oh, does anyone know the dates it is showing in the IMAX theaters?) ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/30 "2003-05-16T13:14:55Z")
**Unforgiven** on the DVD is amazing, but just imagining the panoramic backgrounds, and the some of the wide shots in the theater. ---
**Author:** ![Skillet38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Skillet38](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skillet38)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/31 "2003-05-16T13:22:02Z")
Actually a movie I did see in the theatre but I now consider really applicable to this list is Terry Gilliam’s \*\* Brazil \*\*. All that stark grayness and bizaar , otherworldly ambiance was simply overwhelming on the big screen. By the same film-maker, **12 Monkeys** , which is certainly reminescent of Brazil, I didn’t catch until on DVD. That’s a regret. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/32 "2003-05-16T15:33:14Z")
I agree with Moulin Rouge, the first two Indiana Jones movies, and Star Wars and Jedi (I caught the Empire rerelease), but I will add another favorite that would have been awesome on the big screen: Dark City. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/33 "2003-05-16T19:11:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobelia Overhill \* > \*\*Moulin Rouge wasn’t all that fantastic on the big screen \*\* Humph! **Moulin Rouge** was AMAZING in the theater!! I saw it 5 times on the big screen and wish I had seen it more. No home theater could possibly re-create the colors, the sound, the _experience_! I saw it on its original run, and again when it was brought back for a short revival. I saw it on September 14, 2001, a horrible week full of pain and suffering and though I was very far removed from it all, it was getting to me. I really needed some color and giddiness and Ewan McGregor in my life just then. Even with the sad ending, it was very cathartic. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384/34 "2003-05-16T21:35:34Z")
I had the chance to see a brand new print of **2001 : A Space Odyssey** at the fabulous Castro Theater in San Francisco a few years ago. My wife met me in line, and was having a bad day, and wanted to go home, so we missed the movie. Oh, well… Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-wish-you-had-seen-at-the-theater-but-didnt/175384.md?page=1)