Your first cinema memory...

[Scott_HKR]

Can you remember the very first movie you watched at the cinema?

I THINK mine was Tom and Jerry the Movie (1992) or The Power Rangers Movie (1995).

My 6 year old nephew's first visit was Toy Story 3 for the record lol, and the monkey scene scared him to death haha!

[onetet]

I have a blurry memory of seeing Fantasia when I was super-young, and doing a quick wiki that was probably during its 1977 theatrical re-release, when I was three.

My regular movie-going seems to have begun in 1982: I saw E.T., Secret of Nimh, Star Trek II, and Tron in the theater, among other films that year.

My strongest memory of moviegoing as a kid was lining up to see Return of the Jedi on opening weekend (1983, age 8). My friend and I waited in line through three screenings to get in, and when it became clear that we were going to get into the fourth, we high-fived until our hands were blistered.

[Canada]

I believe it was the whole family going to the Little Mermaid.

[movieeddie]

My father was friends with a fire fighter and got tickets to see the opening night showing of The Towering Inferno.WOW!!!In the glory of 70mm.I was only 6 years old and remember it like it was yesterday.The following summer I saw the movie that would change my life.JAWS in New York and in one of the biggest screens in the city.Waited 6hrs to get in.Saw it about 5 times that summer.Great memories.

[LegacyCosts]

I remember my dad taking me to see feivel goes west. Love late 80s early 90s animation. So pretty.

[chris_sc77]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

I remember my dad taking me to see feivel goes west. Love late 80s early 90s animation. So pretty.

Funnily enough this is my first cinema memory as well.

[The Great Owl]

I remember my parents taking my brother and me to see some Benji movie during the mid-to-late 1970s. I remember that the sight of the dog on the huge movie screen alarmed me. For a long time after that, I had nightmares where I was playing in my front yard and looked up to see some massive 20-foot-tall Benji dog running toward me.

It's funny how something so seemingly innocuous can freak out a young person.

[SilentDawn]

Seeing Jurassic Park when I was four years old made me a film addict for life.

[Abdrewes]

Silent Static must be a young dood!

Mine is either ET or We're Back.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Silent Static must be a young dood!

Mine is either ET or We're Back.

Yup!

ET or basically every blockbuster Spielberg film is a childhood memory for me!

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by chris_sc77

Funnily enough this is my first cinema memory as well.

What are the chances.

[Buscemi]

Though my first movie in a theatre was Beauty and the Beast, the first one I remember was Thumbelina. Mostly for the fact that I cried about having to watch Thumbelina (I wanted to see Brainscan after seeing the standee for it but it was rated R and I was three).

I ended up having to spend most of the movie in the car with my grandmother. Luckily, future movie visit with myself, my sister, my mother and my grandmother were much better.

[Monterey Jack]

The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 when I was six (or very near it) is the earliest film I have a conscious memory of seeing in a theater. I was probably taken by my parents to see something else before that, but I can't recall what it might have been. Pretty much the only things I remember from that screening were people in the audience laughing at the "chicken walker" and me grossing out my mom at the dinner table (while we were having spaghetti) describing the "worms" that came out of the TaunTaun's stomach when Han sliced it open with Luke's lightsaber. :lol: I think I might have seen Popeye the same year, that that might have been a few years later on TV.

[formula_nebula]

The earliest I remember is probably Bambi. Think I just showed my age
The one movie that made me an avid movie goer though was, Star Wars back in 1977. Funny thing is, I never saw a single preview of it. Only heard kids at school talking about it. We even played the characters on the playground. I ended up being Chewbacca....whom which was described to me, like an ape. When I did finally get to see the movie, my friend and I sat through it twice. I was hooked, and forever changed

[fdm]

Bambi for me too. Somewhere in the late '50s, fwiw. Memories of it are pretty fuzzy, and have yet to watch it again... must have been pretty traumatic.

[Jumpman]

EPISODE VI Return of the Jedi. 1983. First trip to the theatre ever. It helps thT by that time, I was fully in love with Star Wars.

[cavesailor]

The first movies I watched were westerns, but none stand out by name. The first movie I saw that I remembered the name was the first The Day the Earth Stood still and I have been a Sci-Fi fan since.

The first movies that I saw that had an emotional effect on me were Bambi and Old Yeller. Old Yeller really tore me up.

[Blu-Velvet]

The first group movie I remember seeing was in kindergarten when they marched us all upstairs to the old gymnasium to see Disney's SO DEAR TO MY HEART in 16mm. That would have been 1959 or 60. I remember only bits and pieces but still remember the vivid Technicolor, especially in one of the animated sequences. I really wish Disney would put that one out on Blu-ray.

The first commercial theatre movie I saw would have been at a drive-in, and might well have been BEN-HUR the summer after it was released, as that's the earliest one I can remember. The chariot race remains vivid from that early screening, especially the fate of Messala, and watching the Blu-ray brings back memories of sitting in the back seat of a 1953 Plymouth! Most of my earliest film viewings were at the drive-in with the whole family, thus avoiding the need for babysitters. I remember seeing NIKKI WILD DOG OF THE NORTH at the drive-in, most likely in 1962 because it was a double-feature with BIG RED.

[EDIT: I just remembered that I saw FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON at the drive-in, and since it was a late 1958 release that must have been in the summer of 1959 unless it was brought back a year or two later, as drive-ins often did. Another one that would be fun to revisit on Blu-ray!]

The first indoor movie I remember seeing was a kiddie matinee reissue of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD around 1960 or 61, possibly 62, in a black-and-white print. I was used to seeing black and white on TV so it didn't seem like a big deal, but my mother was shocked they would even consider showing such a colorful film in black and white. It was at least another 15 years before I finally saw it in color at a college 16mm showing, and not too long afterwards I went to another kiddie matinee to experience it in 35mm but sure enough it was another B&W print!

[singhcr]

I vaguely remember seeing The Jungle Book in the theater.

My older cousin took me to What About Bob?, I must have been 8 then.

My big memories revolved around seeing movies in the theater during my birthdays as I rarely saw movies in the theater then.

Jurassic Park was a big one for me. I loved dinosaurs and I had read the novel already so I really enjoyed it.

I saw all of the TNG films in the theater, but I really remember Star Trek: Generations and clapping when

[Show spoiler]the Bird of Prey was destroyed.

Toy Story was really fun for me too.

Tomorrow Never Dies was my first 007 movie in the theater. That was rather intense for a middle schooler.

I had never seen any of the Star Wars films until they were re-released in 1997. Even then after knowing many things about the movies ahead of time it blew my mind and I loved all three of them.

[Doomnaut]

I saw a showing of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at my local theater when I was four(1994). It's now one of my all-time favorite movies.