If you had the opportunity to watch one film for the first time again

[Pedderrs]

What one film would that be?

Sure, there are many great films that reveal new and exciting details with every subsequent watch, but is the feeling of joy ever quite as intense as it was the first time you finish watching a special film? In my experience the answer to that question would be unfortunately no. It's never quite the same. I can sit down and watch Psycho, Bonnie & Clyde, The Lost Weekend and Black Narcissus any time and I will be entertained and moved every time that I do, but I won't be thinking about them endlessly days after. Some films resonate on such a deep level that you find yourself trouble sleeping even.

With that in mind, what's the one film you wish you could watch for the very first time again?

[Cremildo]

Possibly Psycho, because I voluntarily read spoilers before watching it. Goddamn stupid kid I was.

[CharlesD]

Lawrence of Arabia

[ThatOneGuy]

Where to start... Drive, I would really love to experience Drive for the first time again. In an age where movies dont impress me as an art form all that often, Drive blew my mind and I have yet to find a film that did that to me again.

[Rich65]

Jaws
It scared the crap out of my then 9 year old self which in turn started my love of horror films.

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by CharlesD

Lawrence of Arabia

Would you believe me if I told you that I still have to the pleasure of looking forward to this experience?

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Pedderrs

Would you believe me if I told you that I still have to the pleasure of looking forward to this experience?

Same and I even have the collector edition of it. It has been a pretty object just sitting on a shelf for a couple of months now.

[Chiefy]

Originally Posted by Rich65

Jaws
It scared the crap out of my then 9 year old self which in turn started my love of horror films.

I was gonna go with 2001 or Blade Runner, but this right here changed my life forever. As a kid I'd stupidly go out really far from shore when on summer vacations, visiting family in Florida. It would piss off my parents something awful. "You're gonna end up drowning!" Looking back I was an idiot.

I went to go watch Jaws on a re-release (1980?), and that scared the living sh!t out of me. I wouldn't go past my knees any more. Problem solved for my parents. I consider Jaws to this day, to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Damned you Spielberg, but you may have saved my life.

[esteban²]

The Truman Show. No doubt. There's really nothing like this, it was a unique experience and I can watch it over and over again with the same admiration.

[Fiffy]

Hm, I'd probably pick Seven by David Fincher. I remember that the tension was enormous and kept growing all the way to the end when I saw that movie in the theatre. Rewatching it is still enjoyable but far from the first-time experience.

[Batmon77]

Star Wars

[dallywhitty]

Obvz.

[althus]

The Sound of Music. I love the schmaltz, the music, the georgeous scenery, costumes and drama. Its a product of its time that just couldn't work today. I love it every time and feel no shame about it. It feels my spirit with joy and that first time is something that made me love movies.

[spectre08]

25th Hour


I'm obviously tempted by some of the other greats mentioned, like Blade Runner and 2001. Problem is, because those movies are so intricate and layered I appreciate them more every time I see them, because there's always something new that I didn't catch before. I would lose all of that by starting clean.

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Obvz.

Wasn't it practically impossible to locate a half decent version of Blade Runner on home video until the final cut released in 2007? I remember the first time I saw it on DVD. The picture quality was so substandard that it was all but impossible to appreciate Blade Runner's sensory delights. It was only once I saw the final cut that I realised just how monumentally special the cinematography and set designs were. A gorgeous film and well worthy of your unwavering admiration.

[Doctor Jack]

I honestly would not want to watch anything for the first time again. The ones that I guess could qualify, I have fond memories of the first time. Wouldn't want to change that.

[spectre08]

I've never seen Blade Runner in a theater. I'd like to change that one day. This year I saw 2001 in a theater for the first time, that was incredible.

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

I honestly would not want to watch anything for the first time again. The ones that I guess could qualify, I have fond memories of the first time. Wouldn't want to change that.

The reason to rewatch them for the first time is to have that first time experience again.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Pedderrs

Wasn't it practical impossible to locate a half decent version of Blade Runner on home video until the final cut released in 2007? I remember the first time I saw it on DVD. The picture quality was so substandard that it was all but impossible to appreciate Blade Runner's sensory delights. It was only once I saw the final cut that I realised just how monumentally special the cinematography and set designs were. A gorgeous film and well worthy of your unwavering admiration.

I first saw it on VHS when I was eight or nine. You have to understand I'm a young'un and didn't have a DVD player of my own until Christmas 2003, at which point I was approaching my tenth birthday. VHS was all I knew and even in its less-than-spectacular quality on my small 4x3 TV, I was still in awe of the film's cinematography and general atmosphere.

Of course, I later watched the remastered Director's Cut (which came out in 2006 to tide people over till the release of the Final Cut). It looked so much better - at the time, anyway. I skipped the original DVD altogether until very recently when I watched it and realised it wasn't much better than the VHS!

[lesco]

The first title that jumped to my mind was 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, which blew me away when I saw it in a cinema, but I've enjoyed theatrical reissues of it just as much since then.

So...I'll go with BACK TO THE FUTURE II. The plot turns were an endless delight - I went in full of expectations after seeing the first entry a couple of years earlier, and had them more than fulfilled.