What was the first movie you saw?

[murlough23]

While at the theater waiting for Wall-E to begin last night, a friend remarked that Wall-E reminded her of E.T. This reminded me that E.T. was the very first movie that I saw in the theater as a kid. I only have really vague memories of that first viewing - most notably the scene where they dress E.T. up as a ghost and you see the world through his eyes as he's out and about trick-or-treating with the kids.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to probe people's memories and ask - what was the first movie that you saw? (Or at least remember seeing.) I'm thinking specifically of films you saw in the theater, but I guess it could really be any movie, if you don't remember specifically which ones you saw in the theater or if you didn't really go to the movies as a kid.

[ajyouthguy]

i don't remember which one specifically, but my dad took me to one of the original Star Wars Movies when it was playing at the movies in the late 70's, meaning i was under 5 years old.  all i remember is that i fell asleep during it.

on a different note...it has been fun with both of MY kids to take them to their first...for my older son, it was Cars, right before his 3rd b'day; for my younger one, it was Wall*e, yesterday, a month shy of his second one.

[murlough23]

i don't remember which one specifically, but my dad took me to one of the original Star Wars Movies when it was playing at the movies in the late 70's, meaning i was under 5 years old.  all i remember is that i fell asleep during it.

The first Star Wars predates my birth. I didn't see either of the others in the theater, but watched them on home video about a bajillion times as a kid. I saw the first two in the theater when they were re-released in 1997, though.

on a different note...it has been fun with both of MY kids to take them to their first...for my older son, it was Cars, right before his 3rd b'day; for my younger one, it was Wall*e, yesterday, a month shy of his second one.

I was just thinking yesterday that our kids are gonna have it so good with the animation and all that compared to the 2-D stuff we used to watch as kids. It would be amazing to see something like Wall-E through the eyes of a little kid (well, other than the one sitting behind me who found it funny to repeat every single line of dialogue immediately after it was uttered... I wanted to strangle her. What parents take kids that age to see a movie at 10 PM? Thankfully, there wasn't much talking in that movie.)

[ajyouthguy]

i'm guessing, after looking at IMDB, that it was Empire Strikes Back, which was released in 1980, so i was right at 5.

yeah, i wouldn't have taken my kids to movies that late for sure...every time i've taken either of them (and yesterday both), it's been a 1:00 show.  we were nervous taking the younger one yesterday, especially since he's not nearly as into movies and tv as his older brother was, but he did great.  he cracked us up at one point by repeating Eve's saying 'Waaallll*eee" fairly loud, but that was his only real distraction, and it was a funny/cute one.

[murlough23]

i'm guessing, after looking at IMDB, that it was Empire Strikes Back, which was released in 1980, so i was right at 5.

I turned 2 that year. (According to some people, I have yet to turn 3.)

he cracked us up at one point by repeating Eve's saying 'Waaallll*eee" fairly loud, but that was his only real distraction, and it was a funny/cute one.

That sort of thing's funny once or twice - I think it shows that the kid's engaged in the movie and amused by something a character said/did. When it's repeated ad nauseum, then it gets really irritating. You wonder what part of the parent doesn't think to say something like, "Look, honey, you have to be quiet in a movie so people can't hear. If you can't be quiet, we're gonna have to go talk outside the theater and you won't get to find out what happens to Wall-E. Which one do you want?"

(I say this with the full realization that all self-appointed experts on parenting in this world are people who don't actually have any kids.)

[enemy anemone]

I have the vague feeling that I had seen some Star Wars movie and some Superman movie when I was a little kid but I don't know if that was in the theater or not.

I went to a Baptist school and church where going to the movies was not allowed. one time I was at the mall and saw a classmate on her way to see a movie (I think it was Spaced Invaders) with friends. she invited me to go along, and I would have been allowed (I don't know why), but I wasn't interested in the movie. later I told a different classmate and she thought I should have gone just because she would not have been allowed. 

besides that, I remember making plans with a friend to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in the theater. but then it turned out that I wasn't allowed to go since her mom wasn't going to watch it with us. I saw it with my dad then.

[Vlad!]

My first movie was the animated film The Rescuers, based on the books in the series of the same name. I saw it during the 1989 theatrical re-re-release, and some math tells me that I was all of five years old at the time. I remember that I saw it with a friend because my parents wouldn't take me to see movies in the theater at that age, on the theory that I would be too young to remember them later (which seems to have been a good theory, since I have only a very vague recollection of the movie and probably couldn't have named more than one of the characters if I hadn't just read the Wikipedia article on it). Other early movies I saw were the Tim Burton Batman (also in '89) and White Fang with my dad in '91 (the first movie I remember seeing in the theaters with my dad). Those dates are approximate, since the last two were seen in the dollar theater which got movies about the time they were released to VHS, and thus lagged the theatrical release date by as much as four or five months.

[dgp11776]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

[AldaForPresident]

Beauty and the Beast

[bloop]

I think it might be E.T. for me as well, but the first one I actually have any recollection of was "Return of the Jedi".

[Wildcatblue7]

The first one I remember is Aladdin.  I was five.  I know I saw plenty of movies at home before that, but that's the first time I recall going to the theater (and I vividly remember anticipating the trip with my cousins...)

[murlough23]

The first one I remember is Aladdin.  I was five.  I know I saw plenty of movies at home before that, but that's the first time I recall going to the theater (and I vividly remember anticipating the trip with my cousins...)

I went to see Aladdin for my 15th birthday, I think. I was totally stoked for it. It's still probably my favorite animated Disney film that wasn't done by Pixar.

[Wildcatblue7]

I went to see Aladdin for my 15th birthday, I think. I was totally stoked for it. It's still probably my favorite animated Disney film that wasn't done by Pixar.

Beauty and the Beast and Mulan are also up there on that list in my book.

[Aaron]

I have no recollection of my first movie seen in theaters.

[NinjaRob17]

I don't remember the first movie I saw in theaters, but I think the first movie I saw was Dumbo.

[murlough23]

I don't remember the first movie I saw in theaters, but I think the first movie I saw was Dumbo.

Dumbo was the very first thing we taped when my family got our first VCR. It was aired as a special with shorter Disney productions before it - Mickey, Donald and Goofy in their version of "Jack and the Beanstalk", and something about a lion being raised by... um... some other animal. We watched and rewatched it so often due to the novelty of being able to watch stuff we'd taped over and over, that I still have vivid memories of plenty of the commercials that aired during that broadcast (my little brother and I apparently hadn't figured out fast-forward).

The "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence still rules.

[enemy anemone]

I remember watching Dumbo at an early age too. also Annie, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and The King and I.

[NinjaRob17]

Apparently "Dumbo" was one of the first words I ever spoke, if not the first. Except I pronounced it "Bumbo".
Also, Murlough, my siblings and I watched that Mickey and the Beanstalk cartoon a lot, too, since we also had it taped. My dad still says in his best Goofy impression "Beans, whadda you mean, beans?!" every time we eat green beans. 

[Vlad!]

The "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence still rules.

Dude, that was trippy. As a kid, I was kind of freaked out by it.

One of the first things my parents had taped (and I don't know how they got it because AFAIK it only aired on the Disney Channel) was The Fantastic Adventures of Unico. At the time I didn't know about Japanese animation or anything like that; I just thought it was kind of weird with the big eyes and all that. But my brother and I watched that movie seriously like twenty times over the course of our childhood, which may be why I have a greater than usual predisposition to anime.

We also watched the Disney animated Cinderella a lot. What wasted childhoods

[enemy anemone]

I just now remembered that one of the first movies I've seen must've been The Aristocats. I remember having a vinyl record of it that I listened to all the time. listening to this record (and a Mother Goose record) is one of the memories I have that goes back to before my brother was born. (he is four years younger than I.)

this reminds me of another memory but I'll start another topic for it.

[cowdude]

I believe the first movie I saw in theater's was "The Lion King", which according to IMDB came out in 1994, so I would have been around six years old.

[valleycat]

I don't know if it really was, but The Secret of Nimh might have been the first for me.  It was the first I loved and wanted to watch over and over at least.

Either that or the Disney version of Robin Hood, maybe.

edit: oh in the theater, maybe Fern Gully or The Rescuers Down Under.

[murlough23]

I don't know if it really was, but The Secret of Nimh might have been the first for me.  It was the first I loved and wanted to watch over and over at least.

That movie disturbed me as a child. Honestly, I can't remember why.

Either that or the Disney version of Robin Hood, maybe.

I still have fond memories of that one. Ironically, I only watched that one after losing an argument with my brother over which tape to watch. He won. And I got hooked on his movie that I thought was only for the "little" kids.

[valleycat]

That movie disturbed me as a child. Honestly, I can't remember why.

I loved the sense of mystery it made me feel.  The book is far better though.

I still have fond memories of that one. Ironically, I only watched that one after losing an argument with my brother over which tape to watch. He won. And I got hooked on his movie that I thought was only for the "little" kids.

I watched it and other Disney movies at my grandma's, with creamcicles over a blanket spread out in the tv room...Cinderella, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective...I loved all those. 

[Vlad!]

I loved the sense of mystery it made me feel.  The book is far better though.

Agreed.


My brother's wife says that the first movie she saw in the theaters was Lion King, which makes me feel kind of old.

[murlough23]

My brother's wife says that the first movie she saw in the theaters was Lion King, which makes me feel kind of old.

Me too. Ironically, I never actually saw that movie until 2005.

[Brenden]

Beauty And The Beast

[Josh Powell]

Haha.. in the theater, Titanic.

[murlough23]

Haha.. in the theater, Titanic.

Seriously? Your parents are messed up if they took you to see that at such a young age.

[Brenden]

Seriously? Your parents are messed up if they took you to see that at such a young age.

That's about right.

[spacebrat311]

I have absolutely no idea what the first movie I saw in a theater was. But I know the first movie I picked out myself to see in the theater. Star Trek Generations.

[murlough23]

I have absolutely no idea what the first movie I saw in a theater was. But I know the first movie I picked out myself to see in the theater. Star Trek Generations.

I saw Generations in the theater the same day that Voyager premiered on TV, so that was a total Trekkie geek day for me.

Too bad neither of them were very good.

NP: "The Seduction", I Am Hollywood

[spacebrat311]

I know I'm in a very unpopular minority, but Generations was my favorite of the TNG spinoff movies.

[murlough23]

I know I'm in a very unpopular minority, but Generations was my favorite of the TNG spinoff movies.

Mine was First Contact. As far as I can recall, it's the one that gets slammed the least of the four. But Insurrection and Nemesis have garnered much more vitriol than their predecessors (I think the cast largely hated those last two), so I don't think your minority is as unpopular as you think.

Incidentally, did you know that Macolm McDowell (Tolian Soran, the guy who killed Kirk, who now plays Mr. Linderman on Heroes) is the maternal uncle of Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir on Deep Space Nine)? Apparently Siddig's paternal uncle was once the Prime Minister of Sudan. That's one hell of a family!

When I finish DS9, I need to Netflix the Original Series films... I saw them all during my teenage years except for the very first one, but it's been a very long time since I've seen any of them except for Star Trek IV, which is amusing just for the time travel stuff. I'm not sure I have the patience to sit through Star Trek V again, though.

NP: "Baby's a Red", House of Heroes

[spacebrat311]

I didn't know that. Crizzazy.

I own all the TOS films. I've always been a bit more partial to that run. I've avoided V since approximately Jr. High however.

Speaking of DS9, Michael Taylor and possibly Ron Moore of Ds9 and Battlestar fame are coming to talk to my Science Fiction film class. That will be a class period I will NOT be missing.

[murlough23]

I own all the TOS films. I've always been a bit more partial to that run. I've avoided V since approximately Jr. High however.

I never watched TOS as a series, so that may be why the Original Series films haven't resonated with me as much, but I know enough to understand the basic quirks of the characters. I probably should watch at least a handful of classic TOS episodes at some point.

Speaking of DS9, Michael Taylor and possibly Ron Moore of Ds9 and Battlestar fame are coming to talk to my Science Fiction film class. That will be a class period I will NOT be missing.

DA-YUMN. That is an awesome opportunity. If you're really lucky, he'll record the session for a podcast. He did that at some other university he visited for one of the S3 episodes, I think. I like Ron Moore because he's very willing to be informal and just show you his thought process, warts and all, and he totally admits it when the show screwed up, and takes the blame for it instead of casting it off on others. He's also willing to stand up to fan backlash to some extent and explain why he believed in something that he wanted to do or explain why he didn't want to waste time on exposition of a plot point that people didn't fully understand. Occasionally he gets a little too obsessed with his crew's little film school experiments... but listening to his podcasts has caused me to appreciate a lot of the little details of how TV shows are typically made and what happens when you try to buck the conventional approaches.

But this is getting off-topic. Sorry.

[spacebrat311]

I'll conclude this little side convo by saying that as a film major who loves Sci Fi and view Battlestar as almost a textbook of what I would most want to do with a TV show... opportunity is the understatement of the century.

[Vlad!]

FWIW, I didn't like First Contact that much, but enjoyed Insurrection.