I had a heck of a time deciding which memory to write out for Salon.com’s celebration of movie theater memories.
I wanted to write about seeing Rattle and Hum three times in less than 48 hours on opening weekend, and how the wide-screen, concert-level-volume sequence from “Where The Streets Have No Name” to “With or Without You” convinced me I’d never have a bigger big screen rush.
I wanted to write about seeing my friend Eric trying to crawl under his seat during the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park on opening day.
I wanted to write about seeing Star Wars in 1977, when I was only seven years old, with my uncle and grandfather.
I wanted to write about walking out of a movie in high school because the girl whose ticket I paid for was, halfway through the movie, holding hands with a boy two class-years behind us. (And that’s only the beginning of the abuses I endured in high school due to a spectacularly stupid crush…)
But I chose an experience that, due to the film in question, will probably make me lose a lot of cool points. I don’t care. (I’m probably in the negative numbers anyway.) It was a moment that moved me, and I’m still uncertain as to why.
What about you? What’s been your most memorable movie-theater experience?
Without a doubt, ‘Rattle and Hum’ at age 10. It was so amazing! I also loved seeing ‘Magnolia’ in the theater…saw it twice. And I did see ‘The Blair Witch Project’ in the theater and wanted to throw up afterward! U23D was also so much fun and it was Amos’ first movie to see in the theater!
There’s been a few that were memorable, but the first to ecome to mind was May 21, 1999.
I went with a bunch of friends. Most of us had discovered Star Wars in the 80s, not having been born in ’77. We had missed the opening night, but we still waited in line for three hours to see it. I have no idea how many people in the audience were there for the second or third time, but I think for most of us, this was the first time we had seen the words “Episode I” crawl across that famous starfield.
The roar began when the Star Wars logo lit the screen, and reached a joyous crescendo as the title followed right behind it. The euphoria, and the 16 or so years of anticipation, kept us riding high even after we left the theater knowing in our guts that something wasn’t quite right.
Still, for those first few moments, it was it was perfect.
I mentioned this one somewhere else months back, but it’s awful/memorable enough to repeat. I became infatuated with a fellow high school freshman at the ripe age of 14 and mustered the guts to ask her out on a movie date at the cheap theatres of a mall. My first date ever…and the worst. The movie I chose in 1989 was Blake Edwards’ Skin Deep starring John Ritter as an alcoholic ladies man. Or maybe he was a sex addict? I don’t think I had an ulterior motive. I had heard somewhere that it was funny. Anyway, I just remember the movie as one unfunny, uncomfortable sex scene after another, and I felt dirty/weird/excited and just wanted to throw up most of the time. I’m sure she was thinking, “Why did Jeremy take me to this?” It’s too bad the theatre failed to enforce the R-rating policy. Somehow, we stayed friends and even went on two more dates, but I will never forget how bad a movie can be in the wrong context. Too bad Say Anything wasn’t playing then.
The first R-rated movie my Dad ever let me see was Platoon. He took me to see it because he wanted me to understand the Vietnam War. The fact that it was the first R movie I saw probably played at least some role in my feeling that I was seeing something more adult and complicated than I’d ever experienced on film before. Also, though, it was a time of bonding with my Dad over a film about “moral ambiguities” that dads and sons should always be willing to talk about during the process of growing up. And, of course, I’ll always remember that the film reel broke right in the middle of one of the most intense action sequences. It was almost as if the onscreen intensity spilled over into the projectionist’s booth.
For me, without a doubt my most memorable movie moment is/was the scrolling yellow words at the open of the original Star Wars movie and the subsequent thunder and image of the Imperial battlecruiser entering the screen. I’m not sure any movie moment has, or ever will, out-do that singular moment of awe.
I was telling my extended family about the idea of “most memorable movie moments” and we came up one that resonated with all of us: When Bruce Willis’ ring hits the ground near the end of The Sixth Sense, and everyone in the theater let out a collective gasp, realizing what it meant.
A few spring to mind…
June 12, 1993–matinee show of “Jurassic Park.” I was 13 and I remember the theater shaking with ever approaching step of that Tyrannosaur–I think that the temperature in the theater actually lowered as the storm approached in the movie. I was never so caught up in a film as I was at that moment…went back and saw it six times that summer.
Snakes on a Plane–my friends ditched me when I went to a midnight show on opening night. I didn’t care; I gladly went by myself. Sat in a theater with hundreds of other strangers who hissed when the title came up and shouted Sam Jackson’s big line alone with him. It’s a terrible movie, but it was one of the most fun movie experiences of my life.
Saving Private Ryan–I had seen it before, but the second viewing–a matinee with friends–devastated me. I remember trying to keep a straight face with the guys as we walked out and then I got into my car and dissolved into tears. It was the first time I realized what power a movie can have.
United 93–Catharsis in a movie theater. I didn’t want to be around people when I saw it so I saw an 11 a.m. show on opening day. Sat in the back row. By the end of the movie, you could hear sniffles and sobs and even what sounded like hyperventalating. I remember all of us making furtive glances at each other and a feeling that I just wanted to go up and hug everyone in the theater–not because of the movie but because all had had our wounds reopened.
There’s Something About Mary–I have never laughed that hard in a movie. In the “zipper scene,” I felt like I was going to stop breathing.
Chris – yes, Something About Mary has probably as many laughs per minute as any movie I can think of. And the zipper scene…quite memorable!!!!
I have to go along with Travis (taj). It was Star Wars all the way for me, but it was the Empire Strikes Back for me.
My friends, teenagers, had watched Star Wars/New Hope about 10 times. There were no dvds at the time. Instead we had real matinees until 4pm. We’d hope on the bus to Ford City Mall on the southside of Chicago. We watched Mark Hamill and suffered through Luke’s whiny “Uncle Owen” until we saw Harrison Ford in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It was a sure sign that we were growing up.
The Empire Strikes Back opened on a Friday and it rained. The line to get in was long and went past Minnesota Fabrics. I remember it rained vaguely. I don’t remember standing in line long but we must have. The theatre was crowded and I’m not sure that there were any seats left. I don’t remember that. I remember practically melting in my seat as Han and Leia shared their kiss. I remember the entire theatre laughing hysterically when Leia tells him later “I love you” and Han replies, “I know.”
But what I most remember is the climax of the movie. The sword fight was unlike anything I had seen, other than old black and white Errol Flynn movies from Sunday afternoon tv. That beautiful round window. Luke waiting for Darth Vader’s next move. And then Luke was on that little ledge getting away from the mass murderer villain who tells him, “Luke, *I* am your father.”
We all collectively gasped and the room was abuzz. I don’t remember Darth saying anything after that. My eyes were wide and my jaw was dropped.
I’ve never, ever had another movie experience like that. I have anticipated sequels just as much. I practically paced for a year when the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out, but I knew the story. I knew what would happen.
The Empire was a fresh, original story, even after watching 10 times later during the matinee. Better still now that we were driving.
I’ve had plenty memorable experiences, usually less to do with the quality of the movie than something else.
One of the most enjoyable was of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I’d had to work hard to persuade a friend to come to the showing, since he was quite reluctant to do so. About halfway through, he wrote a message on his phone saying “I’m going to kill you”, but by the end he was grinning and singing, completely won over by it.
But the most memorable must be Inland Empire. The film was preceded by a bizarre short film and to begin with we weren’t sure if it was the movie or not, but it did well to create an atmosphere. It was funny and a friend and I started laughing. & then, the film itself began… and it was funny, so we were laughing, although *no one* else in the cinema was, at all. I tried not to look at the friend, or else we would laugh again. Then came the rabbits with the inappropriate laugh track, and that completely left us with no ability to control the laughter. I’m not sure I believed in hysteria before then, but we were definitely hysterical. I had to sit for three hours with my hand at my face – if met my friends eye we would laugh again, much to the annoyance of the other people in the (full) cinema. The audience laughed once in the entire three hours and boy was that a relief when they did!
I had to avoid my friend for weeks afterwards, because we would become hysterical again, and the film is still completely taboo.