# Recommend a movie for family movie night **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 11, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725 "2021-03-11T18:01:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/21 "2021-03-11T20:04:45Z")
Make an Executive Decision and lay some Kurosawa on their asses! 😄 _Kagemusha_ is something everyone should see. Or should I use this one? 👹 ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/22 "2021-03-11T20:07:03Z")
It fails one of your parameters because it’s from the 1950s but I can’t recommend this movie enough for family watching. The Million Pound Note starring the great Gregory Peck. A funny yet deep meaning film based on Mark Twain’s short story about how far wealth, or the mere symbol of wealth, changes hearts and minds. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/npRsCWFGMtA/maxresdefault.jpg "1954 The Million Pound Note Starring Gregory Peck") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npRsCWFGMtA) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/23 "2021-03-11T20:07:32Z")
Sorry, I didn’t see that there was an 8 y.o. in the mix. I thought it was teen/pre-teen kids only. “Tremors” may be a little too scary for someone that young, but it is as much (or more) a comedy than horror. (I don’t get kids and scary movies. My 6 y.o. grandson has seen multiple Jurassic Park movies and other scary stuff that didn’t seem to bother him, but was too scared to watch “Beetlejuice” when we turned it on one night.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/24 "2021-03-11T20:15:44Z")
_Explorers_ clip: Robert Picardo as “Wak”, his main role in the movie. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gV64ogkkwmo/hqdefault.jpg "Kids understand only one thing.....") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV64ogkkwmo) I was hoping to find his introduction scene: “A horse is a horse, of course, of course…” Imagine making First Contact and the alien starts belting out that! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/25 "2021-03-11T20:16:35Z")
I wanted to show Time Bandits to my brother’s kids but he thought they’d have trouble with the accents. And if you want to go old-school, I think the 1938 Robin Hood film starring Errol Flynn is still a great, fun film. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/26 "2021-03-11T20:33:14Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > _Galaxy Quest_ I love, but doesn’t it rely on a background steeped in Star Trek to really work? Sadly, none of our kids have taken to Trek yet. > > _Raiders_ I’ve considered, but I worry about the flesh-melting at the end provoking nightmares. _Galaxy Quest_ is an obvious homage to and satire of the tropes of _Star Trek_, but I don’t think you really have to be versed in the lore of that show to appreciate the humor. The essential joke is that the crew of the fictional show is presented with the opportunity to play their roles even though they are completely unversed in technology, diplomacy, or space warfare, and the humor primarily comes from that rather than specific references to _Star Trek_. The joke that most relies on familiarity with the show is the self-destruct device that always stops at “00:01”. The face-melting scene in _Raiders_ is obviously a melting wax head; it didn’t scar me in the way that watching _The Thing_ the next winter did. There are some adult themes and violence in _Raiders_ to be sure, but it is fundamentally a high budget version of cliffhanger serials that were made for kids. > [@gonzoron](#): > > > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > > > I’ve never met anyone who didn’t ultimately enjoy _Rear Window_ (the original Hitchcock version). > > Have you ever met an 8 year old who watched it? 🙂 Well, I did. I believe it was the first movie I saw Jimmy Stewart in (this was before _It’s A Wonderful Life_ entered the public domain and became _the_ Christmas movie despite the awful lessons it teaches) and he, Thelma Ritter, and Grace Kelly have an entrancing dynamic. It does start slow but once Stewart’s character starts suspecting Raymond Burr of killing his wife it moves quickly. And despite some of the deep subject matter (in addition to murder, there is attempted rape and suicide, the off-screen killing of a beloved pet, et cetera) it is definitely a ‘Fifties Hays Code film where all of that is subtle enough to not be obvious to a young child. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/27 "2021-03-11T20:34:43Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > _Explorers_ clip: Robert Picardo as “Wak”, his main role in the movie. I should mention that his “space pirate” looks almost exactly the same but uses a much lower camera angle, making him appear much bigger than he really is. Think how you would be if your 12 & 14 year old took your car for a spin. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/28 "2021-03-11T20:47:45Z")
I don’t really watch newish movies for kids, so I’m sure my suggestions below will be easily vetoed. _King Kong_ (1933) _Miracle on 34th Street_ (1947) _Mighty Joe Young_ (1949 & 1998) _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ (1954) - My parents took me (and my misgivings) to see this when I was maybe 10-11. I was totally entertained the whole time and thought it was great. _Batman_ (1966) _Yellow Submarine_ (1968) _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ (1977) _Superman_ (1978) _The Black Stallion_ (1979) - I was in my late teens when this started very late one night on cable. I loathe horse movies and I figured I’d watch a few minutes before I got sick of it. I ended up watching the whole thing and couldn’t believe I liked it. _Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_ (1985) _Beetlejuice_ (1988) _Willow_ (1988) Alternatively, you might consider something long and boring that will put the kids to sleep so you and the wife can watch something good. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Okay, first off, whoever vetoed Iron Giant doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Override that shit. It’s amazing… I don’t think this goes far enough; consider trading whoever vetoed it to another family. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/29 "2021-03-11T20:54:10Z")
Perhaps you could trick your kids into watching older stuff with _Mystery Science Theater 3000_. The original _Muppet Show_ was only half an hour per episode. Maybe it could hold their interest long enough to get them hooked. I have fonder memories of the TV show, than of any of the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/30 "2021-03-11T20:57:20Z")
Princess Mononoke is WAY too scary for kids. I won’t let my 12yo watch it yet, much less my 8yo. It’s got some straight-up body-horror sequences. It’s also my favorite Miyazaki. Forgive me if this is an asshole thing to say, but have you considered not giving the kids veto power? It sounds like they’re getting to make this unnecessarily difficult. In my family, we take rough turns choosing movies, and as long as they’re appropriate, folks only get veto power over whether they themselves stay and watch the movie or go do something else. It lets kids see things they might not otherwise choose. And same for me: I end up watching some total dreck, but also some stuff that is pretty good that I wouldn’t otherwise have chosen. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/31 "2021-03-11T20:57:52Z")
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Recently tried to get my 9 YO son to watch it and it was meh for him. YMMV. What about Goonies? That should hit the mark. Some “scary” parts, but if they watched LOTR I can’t believe would be too much. Maybe the Jurassic Park movies. My 9 YO enjoyed them and wasn’t scared. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/32 "2021-03-11T21:01:39Z")
> [@PackerMan2](#): > > What about Goonies? That should hit the mark. Some “scary” parts, but if they watched LOTR I can’t believe would be too much. My brother said he watched _Goonies_ as an adult, and it was great as long as you could see past the grotesque racism and sexism and fat-shaming. We gave it a pass. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/33 "2021-03-11T21:10:40Z")
Maybe it’s the nostalgia, but I still think Goonies was a great movie. (What sexism, by the way?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/34 "2021-03-11T21:11:27Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Stuff that’s been suggested by one family member or another and vetoed by at least one family member: Maybe expand your genres. I can always watch Apollo 13, but I’m getting bloody sick of Harry Potter movies, Star Wars movies, superhero movies, ‘sword & sandal’ movies… Stuff that The Missus likes to watch over and over again instead of new episodes of TV shows (like The Walking Dead) that are stacking up. Anyway, last year we watched [Ernesto’s Manifesto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYhwudZGNyE). Is it Science Fiction/Fantasy? No. But it’s new (2020), and it’s a comedy. Being sometimes involved in filmmaking, I liked the stereotypical ‘independent filmmaker’ story. Maybe it was the result of being shut in during the first COVID lockdown, but we both liked it and I had several good belly laughs. ETA: [Ernesto’s Manifesto VOD review – Entertainment Focus (entertainment-focus.com)](https://entertainment-focus.com/2020/01/12/ernestos-manifesto-vod-review/) ETA 2: It’s on Amazon Prime. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/35 "2021-03-11T21:11:43Z")
I haven’t seen it in decades. Maybe he said able-bodiedness or something, honestly, I can’t remember; I just remember that he suggested a lot of the humor relied on gross stereotypes, and decided to give it a miss. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/36 "2021-03-11T21:19:33Z")
OK, I guess I can see the criticism. But honestly, a _lot_ of media from prior to last year is going to be problematic if one looks at it from a present-day perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/37 "2021-03-11T21:30:33Z")
100% true. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/38 "2021-03-11T21:34:21Z")
_The White Seal_ and _Rikki-Tikki-Tavi_. Two Chuck Jones cartoons based on Rudyard Kipling stories. _Rikki-Tikki-Tavi_ is about a conflict between a mongoose and a cobra, and modern critics might consider it too intense for small children, but I watched it when I was little, and I turned out OK. Chuck Jones also did an adaptation of _The Phantom Tollbooth_. I have not seen it, but it might be worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/39 "2021-03-11T21:44:11Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > I’d be interested in _Jumanji_ . Do we go with the 2017 one or the original first? Considering what you’ve said about the kids, stick with the 2017 one. While there are a few call outs to the previous film in the 2017 version, it’s all but blink and you miss it, nothing is lost. The modern one is much faster paced, with more gags, and far less drama and unspoken tragedy of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725/40 "2021-03-11T21:50:59Z")
We enjoyed the 2017 one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-for-family-movie-night/937725.md?page=3)