First Movie You Ever Watched in the Theater?

Chinaski

so not being able to go to the movies nowadays, I started thinking of my most memorable movie theater experiences. got me remembering the first movie i saw in the theater, which was Summer School. i remember my mom insisting that my sisters take me and a friend to the theater with them when they went to watch La Bamba. my sisters were so annoyed and told us to watch a different movie that started at the same time. we picked Summer School, and looking back got the better end of the stick. still love that movie till this day. funny to think of an 8 year and his buddy watching that movie unsupervised in the theater. def would not fly in present day.

so what was your first movie theater experience?

Dee

I don’t think could have been the first as I would have been 8 or 9, but the first one I can remember is Pete’s Dragon ( the original).

The first one I took my daughter to was Chicken Run, but the opening bit where the chicken gets shut in the coal scuttle scared her and we only lasted about ten minutes. Bummer for me because I was really getting into it, and I had to wait for it to come out on (video? DVD?) to finish watching it. 

Garthgou81

Not that this probably counts, since I don't remember it, but my parents took me as a little baby to a drive-in of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I like to think that's where my love of awesome movies comes from. 

fidoz

Mine was definitely Star Wars. I remember the 7th and final time I saw it was at the drive-in and me and my brother turned around and watched Grease on the other screen.

amyja89

I wish I could know for sure because it's a cool fact for a movie buff to know, but the only evidence I have is that my aunt once talked about taking me to see Jumanji. That puts me at 5/6, so maybe that was it!

I also have a strangely vivid memory of my grandmother taking me to a re-release of Bambi, and the cinema had oversold the tickets and I had to sit right at the front, on the floor, not an ideal experience haha! Can't put a date on that though, but I think I was pretty young.

Dee

The first movie I saw without an adult was Grease. My 13/14 year old cousin was going with her friends and her sister and I - who would have been about 10 - begged my aunt to let us go, so she made my older cousin take us. She was SO pissed off and refused to stand or sit near us in the line to get in or in the cinema. We didn’t care, though. We thought we were the bee’s knees sitting by ourselves. 

RyanReeseman

Jurassic Park. My poor grandma had to take me to see that movie 6 times. 

Murderbear

I do not know how old I was but my first memory of a movie in the theater was my Dad taking me to see The Fox and the Hound. The movie originally came out the year I was born in 1981 but there must have been a re-release at some point. It was very memorable for me because at the end of the movie when the Fox is about to be killed by the farmer, the Hound steps in front of him so his old friend doesn't get shot. And that moment was the first time I had ever seen my Dad cry. I just remember looking up at him and thinking, "woah, this movie is serious."

JaimieT

My earliest memory, one that I know is only mine, not influenced by subsequent memories in the same location or other people retelling it, is being extremely excited at the prospect of seeing Aladdin a 2nd time. I can date that to me being 5. I don't know if Aladdin was my first movie though. 

As a teenager movie theaters became forbidden for religious reasons. There were a few exceptions. When I was 17, there was a weekend I snuck I, Robot, Across the Universe, and Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban.

JaimieT

Murderbear said:

I do not know how old I was but my first memory of a movie in the theater was my Dad taking me to see The Fox and the Hound. The movie originally came out the year I was born in 1981 but there must have been a re-release at some point. It was very memorable for me because at the end of the movie when the Fox is about to be killed by the farmer, the Hound steps in front of him so his old friend doesn't get shot. And that moment was the first time I had ever seen my Dad cry. I just remember looking up at him and thinking, "woah, this movie is serious."

I need to rewatch that movie as an adult. It would always make my mom cry, and she was very fond of it. I grew up with it, but the last time I saw it was when I was 11 or something.

DoubleA_Ron

Batman (1989)

fidoz

JaimieT said:

Murderbear said:

I do not know how old I was but my first memory of a movie in the theater was my Dad taking me to see The Fox and the Hound. The movie originally came out the year I was born in 1981 but there must have been a re-release at some point. It was very memorable for me because at the end of the movie when the Fox is about to be killed by the farmer, the Hound steps in front of him so his old friend doesn't get shot. And that moment was the first time I had ever seen my Dad cry. I just remember looking up at him and thinking, "woah, this movie is serious."

I need to rewatch that movie as an adult. It would always make my mom cry, and she was very fond of it. I grew up with it, but the last time I saw it was when I was 11 or something.

Apparently Disney is developing a live action remake. This should surprise no one. 

tpelzy

My mom swears she took me to see the Lion King, but I think she's confusing me with my brother because I was a literal infant. I remember seeing James and the Giant Peach when I was really young, but I'm not sure if that was in the theater or on VHS. The first time I can fully remember going to the movies I was 5 and my grandparents took me to see Matilda. 

Also I feel like James and the Giant Peach is totally worth a re-watch. Stop motion animation really holds up over the years. Hopefully Disney doesn't give it an unnecessary remake lol.

JaimieT

@tpelzy Yeah I rewatched that one in my 20s. It's not bad.

Noel

Funny enough I was on FaceTime with my parents right after I saw this thread. I asked them because I certainly don’t remember. They said it was one of the Ninja Turtle movies. I’m guess it’s either the 2nd or 3rd one. Most likely the 3rd one, came out in ‘93.

tpelzy

JaimieT said:

@tpelzy Yeah I rewatched that one in my 20s. It's not bad.

They should really make more stop motion kids movies

Michelle

My parents took my sister and I to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the drive-in when we were really small - I think I was probably 6 or 7.  I remember us being in our pj's, curled up with our blankies and some popcorn.

awookiee

I wish I could remember the first movie I saw in theaters but I can't. I might have to have a serious discussion with my parents but I'm willing to bet it was something like Lion King or Aladdin. I was 4 when Aladdin came out and 6 when Lion King came out.

Doctor_Nick

I believe it was Time Bandits.  I remember it had some sort of early or opening sequence, perhaps horse related, that scared the bejeezus out of me.  Rivalled only by the forced robotic transformation in Superman III that was really disturbing to me. 

JSDCA

Noel said:

Funny enough I was on FaceTime with my parents right after I saw this thread. I asked them because I certainly don’t remember. They said it was one of the Ninja Turtle movies. I’m guess it’s either the 2nd or 3rd one. Most likely the 3rd one, came out in ‘93.

I was working in a movie theater when the first mutant turtles movie came out (1990).  We were all teenagers (HS and college age) working the theater and we were blown away by the sheer volume of people. We did not expect the insanity that followed that movie.  The theater was swamped that whole summer with little kids and their parents.  What a memory!   Reminds me how as teenagers we don't pay attention to anything except ourselves.

I know I saw Superman II in the theater, 1981, so I was 9.  Pretty sure I saw the first Muppet movie in 1979, but the memory is hazy. 

I also remember my dad coming home after seeing Alien in the movie theater. He couldn't stop telling everyone he saw (for years) how much that movie scared the daylights out of him.  He still tells that story today.

Lanielove

The first movie I ever saw in a theater was Superman II (1980). I was 7 and I went during a summer camp field trip and let me just say it is still the best Superman movie hands down. Zod and Feora have some of the absolute best lines in a superhero movie. 

Dee

I love that this post is bringing the other BM oldsters out of the woodwork. Shout out to my nostalgic 70s/80s kids.

tom_g

First I remember was Patton.

Teresa from Concord

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. My dad told everyone how I complained about going to a stupid western, and then afterwards told everyone how neat it was. 

Cory

Home Alone

kuman07

The first one I remember was for my 6th birthday I think (for sure in kindergarten so whatever age that is) and it was Demolition Men. Snipes and Stallone, would could be better than that?

jluzania

I think it was The Little Mermaid. At least that's the one I remember. 4 and half when it came out, so that would make sense. I'm surprised Ursula never bothered me, particularly when she goes kaiju at the end. 

awookiee

kuman07 said:

The first one I remember was for my 6th birthday I think (for sure in kindergarten so whatever age that is) and it was Demolition Men. Snipes and Stallone, would could be better than that?

Absolutely love Wesley Snipes character in that movie. Plus the movie had a very young Rob Schneider and Minnesota's own former Governor, former wrestler Jesse "the body" Ventura. Oh and the 3 sea shells joke which is very fitting given COVID and the toilet paper shortage.

Flukes

I'm pretty sure this was the first movie I watched in theatres, but I have a notoriously poor memory of childhood before about 1985 so I could be wrong.


The next year we went to this movie for my birthday party:


It was awesome.

MariyahGray

You made me remember the first movie I watched with my parents. It was a movie called Red Rock West (1993) with Nicolas Stage starring. We watched it at the Drive-In theater. So, I liked both the movie and the atmosphere. The Drive-in theatre turned out to be a really great place to watch a movie. Tbh, I don’t really remember what the film was about. The only thing I know is that my father’s friend, who still works at https://www.999flix.com/movie, advised us to watch this movie in the drive-in theater. In short, it’s an experience that I’ll never forget. Have you ever been to such a theatre, guys?

JoshuaHeter

I’m not sure it was my first, but it’s my earliest movie theatre memory (I was 5).

My mom is from Indiana, and the fight song they used for the Hickory Huskers was actually the fight song from her high school in North Manchester, IN, *and* the original story (the movie is based on) of the Milan Indians is (still) the stuff of legends in Indiana.

So… she made sure our whole family went to see “Hoosiers” in the theater. I can’t say I remember *that* much from the original viewing, but it’s still a movie I have a lot of affection for.