# Movies you're proud that you saw in the theater and assorted great movie memories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323 "2012-04-29T15:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/1 "2012-04-29T15:54:51Z")
I saw The Big Lebowski in the theater twice. I was just a punk kid in high school who was just starting to really develop decent taste in film. After I watched it on a Saturday matinee by myself, I spent the week trying to convince my friends to go see it with me. I was able to drag just one of them there, and only because he was a bowler. If you don’t remember, BL was such a cult sleeper that it slept right through the box office and didn’t become widely known until DVDs years later. My dad took me to see Schindler’s List. That was the first Important Film I’d ever seen, and it was pretty cool of him to take that initiative. He definitely got some looks shot his way from the staff and other people in attendance. It was an intro to history for me. That summer I took a “college for kids” course on the Holocaust. Yes, that was a thing. The first film that took me to the edge of my seat was Braveheart. Dad dragged us there, if you can believe it. I thought it was going to be a kilt-clad snoozer with the mullet guy from Lethal Weapon, but watching that first battle unfold - as a teenager - I was floored. I’d never seen limbs lopped off, let alone the now common blood spatter on the lens. I swear my heart rate was a elevated a good 30 beats a minute for most of that movie. Now the screen is choked with imitators, but it was very different in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/2 "2012-04-29T16:31:13Z")
The first one to come to mind on reading your title was _Lawrence of Arabia_ which my wife and I saw from the middle of the front row at the Belle Meade Theater in Nashville after it had been restored. That would have been in the 80’s sometime. Some Cinerama and IMAX things stand out as well. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/3 "2012-04-29T16:38:17Z")
Seeing the original _Star Wars_ movies in the theater as a kid is a good memory. I saw _Pulp Fiction_ four or five times in the theater. At the time, it was so great it warranted multiple viewings. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/4 "2012-04-29T18:06:43Z")
Maybe not quite what you’re after, but I saw \*The Third Man \*in Vienna last year. (There’s a theatre on the ring road that does it as a midnight movie several times a week.) Kind of awesome to see Orson Welles dashing through streets I’d been walking down earlier that day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/5 "2012-04-29T18:12:30Z")
I had a fun experience when I saw “Weird Al” Yankovic’s _UHF_ in the theater. Part of the way through, the film came off the sprockets. It did not immediately occur to me that this was not part of the movie, because that’s just the kind of gag Yankovic would throw in. Only when the house lights came up did I realize it really was a projector problem. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/6 "2012-04-29T18:51:54Z")
I saw _Schindler’s List_ early in its run, when it wasn’t well-known or popular. My housemates actually said, “I heard that’s in black and white … and like three hours long”. There were only three of us in the theater - myself and an older couple. As we were heading out they talked to me a little bit, and mentioned how they had had friends who died in the Holocaust; they were glad that a movie like that had been made. I am glad and recall seeing the _Star Wars_ movie in theaters when they were out. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/7 "2012-04-29T18:54:20Z")
I saw _Rocky_ at a drive-in when I was about 8 y.o. Other memorable movies I saw as a kid were _Blazing Saddles_ (I remember the audience laughing at the farting around the campfire scene), _The Hindenburg_ (everyone cheered when it was revealed the dog was one of the survivors), _Star Wars_, _The Empire Strikes Back_, _Jaws_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. When I was about 20 I was one of the few living in my area of NJ that saw _Heathers_ as it was never run in the theater in NJ. It was the first time I saw Christian Slater and I thought it would be revealed in the movie that he was a fan of Jack Nicholson as it sounded as if he was doing an obvious impression. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/8 "2012-04-29T19:10:36Z")
Hey, I can play Film Snobbery as well as the next guy. A lot of people found out about Quentin Tarantino when _Pulp Fiction_ came out. Not me. I saw _Reservoir Dogs_ in the theatre. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/9 "2012-04-29T19:25:47Z")
I saw **How the West Was Won** in full Cinerama in the Cinerama Theater in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/10 "2012-04-29T19:51:17Z")
I was the last generation of kids to get to see _Song of the South_ in the theater or anywhere else, for that matter. I was quite young but remember it well; there was a little old man in the row in front of us who told my mother that he didn’t have any kids or grandkids to take with him, but that he wasn’t embarrassed to go see it by himself. 🙂 ---
**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:** [April 29, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/11 "2012-04-29T19:57:13Z")
When I saw Gandhi at the theatre the projector kept breaking. People were shouting “Kill the projectionist”. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/12 "2012-04-29T20:08:47Z")
I saw the Star Wars movies when they were re-released, and I’m glad I did. I first saw them on a TV screen, off VHS tapes, when I was a kid, but they gained so much on that big screen. I went to see each of the Lord of the Rings movies on opening weekend, standing in line with folks dressed like hobbits and elves. I’d never had such an experience, and I think that may have started me down the path of not caring if the things I loved weren’t “cool”. Seeing it on the first day or two after it was released was the best, because I hadn’t had a chance to hear how the story was adapted to film, what parts weren’t included in the movie, or anything else that might have spoiled the experience. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/13 "2012-04-29T21:27:31Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Seeing [The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring] on the first day or two after it was released was the best, because I hadn’t had a chance to hear how the story was adapted to film, what parts weren’t included in the movie, or anything else that might have spoiled the experience. Same here. I hadn’t read the books, knew nothing about them, and was only there because it was a new Peter Jackson movie. The endless negativity by hard-core book fans would have colored my feelings I’m sure. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Hey, I can play Film Snobbery as well as the next guy. 😕 Why is seeing movies in the theater and telling about great theater experiences Film Snobbery? Edit to add, in answer to the OP: All of them, but seeing restorations of Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lawrence of Arabia in the theater were special. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/14 "2012-04-29T21:43:49Z")
Star Wars OT Indiana Jones (first three) E.T. Back to the Future LOTR Delicatessen Unforgiven ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/15 "2012-04-29T22:01:28Z")
A restored version of Abel Gance’s [Napolean](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/) in Chicago with Carmine Coppola conducting the orchestra. My assigned seat was off to the side and somewhat of a bad angle, but there were many empty seats in the middle section so I relocated. Very interesting movie going experience. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/16 "2012-04-29T22:07:38Z")
This isn’t a great point of pride maybe, but definitely a favorite moment from a theater - my mom and brother took me to see ‘Star Trek Generations’ on the opening weekend. When they blew up the Klingon ship, the whole theater exploded in cheering, just before Data screamed out ‘Yes!’ Then the rest of the bridge crew glared at Data silently, as if saying “We’re Starfleet! We don’t cheer at people dying, even the bad guys.” It was an awkward but funny moment. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/17 "2012-04-29T22:12:09Z")
Most memorable were “Inland Empire” and “Che”. There is no chance sitting down and watching these at home. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/18 "2012-04-29T22:13:56Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I saw _Rocky_ at a drive-in when I was about 8 y.o. Other memorable movies I saw as a kid were _Blazing Saddles_ (I remember the audience laughing at the farting around the campfire scene), _The Hindenburg_ (everyone cheered when it was revealed the dog was one of the survivors), _Star Wars_, _The Empire Strikes Back_, _Jaws_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. When I was about 20 I was one of the few living in my area of NJ that saw _Heathers_ as it was never run in the theater in NJ. It was the first time I saw Christian Slater and I thought it would be revealed in the movie that he was a fan of Jack Nicholson as it sounded as if he was doing an obvious impression. _Heathers_ is actually one of my favorite movies but I’m pretty certain it wasn’t shown in any theater here in Alabama. I saw it shortly afterwards on Showtime or HBO and have probably seen it over 25 times since on VHS and DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/19 "2012-04-29T22:20:23Z")
Airport The Poseidon Adventure 2001: A Space Odyssey Planet of the Apes Bonnie and Clyde Charly Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid Diamonds are Forever Fantastic Voyage Cat Ballou ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323/20 "2012-04-29T22:23:09Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > 😕 Why is seeing movies in the theater and telling about great theater experiences Film Snobbery? I was making a joke. The topic isn’t “movies you _enjoyed_ seeing in a theater” (although many posters are responding as such). It’s “movies you’re _proud_ you saw in a theater”. Assuming you didn’t help make the movie up on the screen, there’s no normal reason to feel proud when you’re watching a movie. So I figured the pride involved must be the sense that you discovered the movie before most other people did. And it’s a cliche about snobs sitting around bragging how they liked something before it became popular. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youre-proud-that-you-saw-in-the-theater-and-assorted-great-movie-memories/620323.md?page=2)