When I was a kid it was Return of the Jedi. I was mad for it. Still love it, even the ewoks.
But more recently it was the first Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. I’m not even a fan of the books, but the combination of my home country of New Zealand, and a huge epic that could be the Star Wars of the new century, really had me pumped.
To continue the theme, I also was epically excited for The Force Awakens, but I held back a little, cautiously optimistic.
Yeah, for me Return of the Jedi would have to be it, because as a child I’d never seen a cliffhanger before and certainly never waited three years to see it resolved.
And this is going to sound silly, but Freddy vs. Jason was another. I adored those slasher movies when I was a kid and to see them clash was like a dream come true. And they did it surprisingly well. That movie is said to be critic-proof for that reason.
Lord of the Rings never really excited me, although I did like the movies. But if they ever try to make Thomas Covenant into a movie, that’ll be highly anticipated for me.
Same as me, though I saw Fellowship in the theater and realized it was an instant classic.
I remember sitting in the theater before the midnight screening of Two Towers and telling my friend, “It’s weird sitting here before a movie knowing that we are about to watch a classic.”
It was. I now think the extended cut of Two Towers might be the best individual movie of the trilogy(though I hardly separate them as individual movies now).
Note: I may have anticipated Phantom Menace more, but looking back, it is hard to believe it. Despite early poor reviews, I still believed Lucas was talented and knew what he was doing. I have less memory of this time than I do of LotR.
Having quite liked Alien 3 myself (and ignored Resurrection) I had high hopes for Prometheus. That was all the more a frustrating let-down given its decent cast and effects. I still hope that one day the film could be edited, with a new script and judicious use of CGI lip-synching, to make it what it could have been.
Well…not A Hard Day’s Night, but I really looked forward to seeing Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary “Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years” on the big screen. I had a smile on my face and was tapping my toes from the beginning…the most fun I’ve had at a movie in a long time.
Teenage me thought the trailer for Independence Day was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and I was incredibly excited to see it. And I loved the movie at the time.
It hasn’t held up terribly well, from my memory, though I haven’t seen it in years.
The Shining. I was so obsessed with that book and when the preview came on before another film I was seeing I about let out a squeal of joy.
Do made for TV movies count? KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. My two favorite things, KiSS and Magic Mountain. I barely remember anything about the movies itself but I counted down the days until it aired.
Gone Girl was highly anticipated, as was Never Let Me Go. Probably any book I’ve enjoyed I’ve looked forward to the movie version, including a lot of Stephen King that doesn’t always turn out well.
For me, the best thing about ***Independence ******Day ***was Margaret Colin. I once spent a debauched long weekend with a hot divorcee who was a dead ringer for her. :o
Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). I was 9 and thrilled at the idea of watching a movie with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra together. Mainly 'cause my father was a big fan, and his enthusiasm was infectious. I liked it very well, and it still brings a smile.
More recently, another vote for Marvel’s The Avengers.
Green Lantern. I’ve been a fan of the character since 1965, and after seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1977, I thought that at last it was possible to do justice to my favorite superhero on the big screen.
It took another 34 years for that to happen, and – well, you know the result.
I didn’t hate the film like most people did. I thought the CGI was fine for the most part (not so crazy about the CGI costume, but that’s a relatively minor thing), and the actors did well with the material they had (especially Mark Strong as Sinestro). AFAIAC, it was the script that failed miserably.
Had to be the two R-rated movies I remember sneaking into solo as a teen: Godfather III and The Doors. Ah, youth. I think I got into Godfather without a hassle, but I had to buy a ticket for something else and switch theaters to see The Doors.
As an adult, I don’t get my hopes up about movies too often, but I was pretty psyched to see The Master on the 70-mm screen and went out of my way to do so. Much more worthwhile than the other two.
Certainly The Phantom Menace. I remember thinking, “I’ve waited 15 years for this,” and feeling exhilarated as the opening credits rolled. My anticipation was so high that I convinced myself all the way home afterwards that it was a great movie. Only upon waking up the next day did I realize, for then and forever, what an absolute POS it was.
I also looked forward to The Two Towers and The Return of the King, once I realized how good the The Fellowship of the Ring was. However, I knew exactly when they were going to come out so the anticipation was less and I was not disappointed (although I rally wanted to see the Shire scoured).