This weeks hump day have your say topic is ….. What is the first film that you can remember seeing at a theater? I decided to add the Drive in as well since that is where I recall seeing my first film. I am fairly certain that I must have seen a film at a theater before this point but I just don’t seem to remember. Probably do to the fact that I would have been so young at the time. In addition to what film you saw, if you can remember who took you to see the film or any other specifics that would be great. Looking forward to hearing people’s first movie experiences at a theater.
I vividly recall my first movie memory. My folks, my brother and I all went to the drive in theater. We were in my dad’s sweet brown ford pinto. They had this metal speaker on a wire that you had to hang off your car window to hear the film, and let all the mosquitoes in the car. I don’t know if they could not get a baby sitter or they were mad at my brother and I, but the film we saw was Jaws. Jaws came out in 1975, so that would have made me about four and half years-old. When I have mentioned this incident to my mom, she always states that some Disney movie was playing first, and Jaws was the second feature, and that my folks thought we would have fallen asleep by the time Jaws started. Yes who could not fall blissfully asleep while a giant shark rips people apart on a giant screen in front of you? I have absolutely no recollection of what the first Disney movie was that we supposedly watched. Strangely I have this weird fear of being eaten by a shark, I have no idea how that came about.
So whats the first film that you remember going to see at a theater or drive in? details please………
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I remember going to the drive in, but it wasnt as cool as Jaws. It was Herbie the %#$&ing Love Bug. >:(
God damn memories.
I do remember the entire day I went to see Star Wars though. My Dad and Mom were talking it over like, is he old enough? Can we take him? And I was standing there going please please please please please. LOL. Remember the trip to the theatre, everything.
Hell yeah Fogs, that might be my blog topic next week, the first time you went to see Star Wars…… My brother and I were Star Wars crazy after that, before then it was all reruns of Star Trek and Space 1999 on a black and white TV with rabbit ears.
BTW I have that Jaws toy you have the picture up of there.
Its awesome. Front and center on my mantle of Movie Toys.
That is a sweet looking toy I would love to get one of those. We have a Wyland shark tribe piece on our living room mantle but that toy looks much cooler.
LOL. I think I like live on this site now. XD Hopefully you guys aren’t sick of seeing me. >> *Had totally quickly scrolled away from that picture* One of these days…I will figure out how to train my brain to not be affected by fake bloody/gory images. Lol.)
Quite honestly the first one I remember at all is Aladdin and the King of Thieves. I remember begging my dad to take me to that one because I liked Aladdin so much. And I remember really enjoying it. I’ll never forget how my eyes were like O_O at seeing the “Hand of Midas.” (I guess because it was shiny?? I don’t know. I most certainly wasn’t thinking that they must have sawed off his hand after he turned himself into gold, although I totally thought of that just now while typing this response, lol.) I also remember being really interested in seeing Aladdin’s “long lost father.” When I was little, I always thought of the strangest things, like if a cartoon character didn’t have parents, I always wondered where they were, why their parents left them (if they did), or if they died…etc.
Oddly enough, I can’t remember any film in between that one and Titanic, lol. I know, most random jump ever. Titanic really sticks out though because I was in the 5th grade, and this girl was telling me what a beautiful movie it was and how she had already seen it 5 times already. Out of curiosity I went with my dad (again, lol). Afterwards he was like I wish I had known more about this movie because I never would have taken you to that, you were too young for this. And I definitely agreed because when the “steamy” scene happened I was like O_O and when everyone started dying I was like D: and by the end of it all I was totally like x_x…haha.
Rae thankfully that pic is of a fun toy you can get for your house
I have not seen that Aladdin film and I may be the last man on earth who has not seen Titanic
I should pick up that Aladdin to see if AJ would like it.
Funny that Jaws is your first movie memory. I’m not sure what I recall for the first movie I saw in the theaters, but I remember how scared I was after seeing Jurassic Park in theaters when I was six years old. Yeah that was scary.
Max its funny now but at the time I remember being silently terrified in the back seat lol, Jurassic Park would be a tough one at 6 years old as well.
My first movie memory is of the drive-in and it was “Masters of the Universe”, the full length He-man movie. I’m certain I fell asleep halfway through:)
There is a Masters of the Universe full length film? Is it animated?
Nope, it was live action. I think I was disappointed that it wasn’t animated.
The very first time for me watching anything, as I can recall, is watching Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty (classics). My parents rented them in betacam casettes.
My first movie memory in the cinema was Dante’s Peak, I was in Junior High and saw them with my friends. But I think the second time that impressed me a lot, watching Scream (1st one). Now that was a great movie to scream together with pals
Nice topic!
Andina, those are the sorts of movies your parents are supposed to let you watch. Not like my parents who tried to turn my brother into people afraid of sharks, robots and going into a coma at age 6.
I can imagine that must have gotten pretty loud at Scream
As I remember it my first movie experience was Barbarella. It is impossible that I saw it in the theater considering I was not born at its release but I remember it being in the theater. The strange thing is is that I remember seeing it with my Uncle Clem whom I never remember even watching me and never watched me in my later childhood. What did you watch movies on in the late 70′s, anything? Maybe they used to re release films and I did see Barbarella in the theater with my Uncle Clem, I don’t know. Then there is a huge gap for in theater movies.
Scott was that playing at the Paris cinema in Worcester center?
That theater is now empty, some day maybe 3guys can open up an art house theater there, what do you think? CLean up would be first priority.
Got to bust out a tanker truck full of bleach and some hazmat suits lol
Oh the Jaws experience, I remember it well. In case you are wondering I was 4.
Adam’s and I had parents that were not afraid to just take us to any movie they felt like seeing. Besides Jaws, I remember seeing Coma at the drive in which was when I was about 6 and Adam was about 7. Let’s see what else… Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I was 5 for that one, I remember seeing Blazing Saddles even though I was impossibly young. I remember thinking the farting scene was hysterical and our mom getting mad because I kept repeating all the vulgar things they said. Not my first movie memory but I was pretty much ruined for life after they took us to see Saturn 3 with Kirk Douglas and Farah Fawcett.
Mark thanks for bringing up that Saturn 3 movie, now I will end up having nightmares. That was 1980 so you were prob 7, when that robot ripped off that Harvey Keitel’s head and was wearing it like a hat. I think Coma was another drive in special back in 1978 lol. the horror…. the horror…. the horror thanks mom and dad
Mark if my memory serves me right didn’t they for some reason ban us from seeing Gremlins? lol
Think mine was Disney’s Duck Tales. The memory’s so vivid mostly because I went with my uncle and brother. My uncle failed to get to the cinema on time to get tickets. It was totally sold out in the morning so we went to the afternoon showing. This was when you actually had to queue outside a cinema to get tickets!
I think my most cherished cinema going experience as a child has to be going to see Jurassic Park. I think that’s when my love of film really got started. It mesmerised me and was just so much fun to watch.
See Jaina thats a nice kids movie to go and see at the the theater. I think your the third person to mention Jurassic Park as being a important film going experience. I think it could be time for some Jurassic Park reviews.
I’ve never been to a drive-in! Don’t even know where to find one. Would love to though. For some reason I can remember being baffled by Back to the Future 2 in the cinema when my Dad took me to it. And terrified by the guy from Ally McBeal stealing a baby in Ghostbusters 2. I cried at Edward Scissorhands with my big sister. My Mum took me to Home alone about three times. Strangely I don’t remember going to the cinema before I was about 9 because all these films are from 1989 and 1990.
Pete, they actually reopened a drive in pretty close to my house when I was in High School. They had updated it so you could just listen on your car radio and did not need to use the speakers. At that point, I was mostly going with the intent to get my swerve on in the back seat with some lucky lady. I also remember their being a bit of a problem with drunken louts tossing beer bottles about.
I ended up using the wiki machine, and it states that at one point their were over 4000 drive in theaters in the United States ,and now their are only 321. Some of those being sort of repurposed gorllia drive in theaters. Who knew gorillas liked going to the movies?
We have 2 drive ins in Worcester County and we take the kids every summer to at least 1 show. Last year we saw the Smurfs and Planet of the Apes. The drive in is great, the kids love it and my wife and I usually enjoy it also. If there were no mosquitos it would be better.
Scott is that drive in located in Sutton still open?
The first cartoon was Oliver & Company.
The first movie was Jurassic Park. I remember I got so struck by it that it made me want to become a scientist, so I could create dinosaurs. Then, years went by and I realized it was just about the magic of films… and here’s how I became a film scholar
Another Jurassic Park selection. I had no idea how influential that film was. Could still be time to start splicing DNA frozen in a Wolly Mammoth. I read somewhere that scientists were trying to do that. Not quite a dinosaur but prob not the best of ideas IMO.
My first movie was TMNT, hell yea! Not the greatest movie but I was a big TMNT fan as a kid. I don’t even remember much about the film, only that my little sister slept through the entire second half of the movie!
Castor, with that being your first film at the theater, you must be super psyched about Michael Bay adding his magic touch to the TMNT reboot.
My kindergarden class was taken to see the original Charlotte’s Web. I don’t think I even knew what a movie theater was or why we were there, until the movie started.
Chip, that movie is in heavy rotation at my house. That sounds like a good field trip.
Mine was the 1971 Disney animated feature “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”. I was just nine years old and was a patroller crossing guard in elementary school. The movie was a thank you outing for patrollers and was the first time I’d gone to a movie without family or maybe even first time to a movie period. It’s the first I can recall. Angela Landsbury and Roddy McDowell did the main voices.
Mark, I like how you grabbed that postion of authority at a young age
I have heard of that film, but I don’t think that I have ever had a chance to see it. I may have to add that to Jr’s watch list, right now he very interested in The Sound of Music.
Oops meant the last under my blog name. Oh well
in a theatre, if my memory serves me correctly I saw An American Tail (1986), I was 5-years-old, and loved it to bits. On tv, I couldn’t say, perhaps the wizard of oz, not sure
I just watched An Americab Tail recently, thats a good solid first movie to see at the theater, especially at a young age.