Do you have a memorable movie theater experience?

I don't go to movies as much anymore for many reasons. But back in the 70's and 80's I went a lot and there were several things that happened at certain movies that I always remember
In no particular order:

1) Rocky II- During the rematch between Rocky and Apollo, the audience was screaming, cheering, jumping out of their seats. They were so into it just like they were actually at the fight, I couldn't believe what i was seeing.

2) The Empire Strikes Back- Before the mega multiplexes, theaters used to show 1 movie. It was opening weekend and it was packed. The audience was crammed into the lobby before they opened the doors. When they did, it was a stampede to get in. My sister was pulling me in as we we ran and I noticed someone lost their shoes!

3) Poltergeist-During the scene when Jobeth Williams is taking a bath after they think the house is cleared. The movie and the audience was dead silent. Suddenly, someone in the back of the theater screams out BOO! and we jumped a mile,

4)The Blair Witch Project- After the last scene, it's just blank space for a few seconds until the credits roll, when they did, someone in the audience yelled out "What the @#$% was that!" Just what we were all thinking after sitting through that.

What were your memorable moments at the movies?

Moderator Note: Also see discussion in this old (and closed for further posting) thread:

Your Most Memorable Movie Experience--In a Theater

 

I heard the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You" in the film The Woman In Red at the Great Lakes Mall General Cinema in 1984. Does that count?

 

You may have this mixed up with another thread.

But as far as a memorable movie experience, I have, and I can't say, but I'll never forget.

 

yes, during the 60's...cheap ticket prices, rarely any rude people.
They ran a tight ship back then.

 

I once sat next to Alanis Morrisette.

 

Well done! Was she by any chance rebounding from an ex?




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Seal - Crazy

 

I saw S.W.A.T. in theaters. There is a scene where LL Cool J is poolside or something, and he takes off his shirt.

Some girl down in front says, "Girrrrrrrrrrrl."

 

I guess my most memorable involved taking psychedelics.

Aside from that, Terminator II had a huge impact since the small group I went with on opening night were all fans of the original and were expecting a good ride - and we sure got that.

 

I've had plenty of memorable movie theater experiences - wouldn't all movie fans be able to say the same?

In terms of technical "wow", three stand out:

1) "Empire Strikes Back" in 1980. I'll never forget how awesome the sound of the opening ship as it flew from rear to front was.

2) "Back to the Future" in 1985 at the LA Cinerama Dome. Great theater, killer presentation all around.

3) "Dark Knight" IMAX in 2008. I'd seen IMAX films in the past - and even one non-"educational film" via "U23D" - but none of them wowed me like "Dark Knight". The sight of a feature film that used the entire ginormous IMAX screen was incredible!

 

Forrest Gump-
I saw this in Chattanooga and Birmingham. In Chattanooga, when Forrest is running for a touchdown against a team that looks a lot like Tennessee, the crowd booed, in Birmingham, they cheered.

 

Caught the premiere of Blood Simple in a very tiny theater (upstairs Inwood, Dallas). We were really sitting on top of the screen, and the only other viewers in the theater left upset. I think it just felt really intense to them. Anyway, great introduction to great film makers.

Oh, and catching a ride to Black and Blue at the midnight movie.

 

When I saw Before Sunset, there was a collective groan from the audience as the final scene faded to black and the credits came up.

 

When 2001 was re-re-released, at the jump cut where the ape threw the bone, a guy in the back of the theater started laughing hysterically. He had to be led from the theater.

 

Mid Seventies, Echo Park, some run-down second run theater with double-bill art flicks. "Women in Love", the Ken Russell fun-fest rendered from the D. H. Lawrence novel of the same name. Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson are on a sled, Oliver on top of Glenda, going downhill too fast on white powder. The sled flips, along with its occupants. Pulling themselves from the snow-drift Oliver, with a meaningful look and Shakesperian inflection inquires—"Was that . . . too much for you?" Glenda, in a successful attempt to out-thespian him replies:"That . . . was the most complete moment of my life."

At that precise moment the center of the screen turned smokey brown, then into a blinding light, as the film stock burns away, then black as the projector is turned off. One man yells "Author! Author!" and the room collapses into hysterics.

 

Star Wars - lights go down, the fanfare plays. People standing up, cheering, and the movie has barely started. Freaked me out!

Rocky - My date and I arrived late so we were down in the 2nd row. When the fight sequence came on, the crowd was screaming like I was at a fight.

Led Zeppelin Celebration Day - By the 3rd song, the sound was at concert volume. Throw in a lively theater audience, felt like I was at the show.

 

That reminds of when I saw "48 Hours" in 1982. With Eddie Murphy involved, the audience expected a comedy, and that's what they got - sort of. "48 Hours" has a lot of comedy, but it's more of a cop drama than anything else.

That didn't matter to one guy in the crowd - he laughed at EVERYTHING that happened, and it didn't matter whether it was funny. The nadir occurred when he laughed hysterically after a character got shot in the head.

I don't think he had a dark sense of humor - I think he was just so primed for a comedy that he expected everything to be funny, and if it wasn't, he laughed anyway!

 

One wild rainy Monday night in the early 80's I went to a big city theatre to what was 'the late run session ' of ET. I have the entire theatre, all to myself. In that big empty theatre and the 70mm screen - without any other patrons absorbing 'sound'... ..the sound was absolutely loud, precise , and thunderously amazing.

 

When Jamie Lee Curtis had her memorable scene in Trading Places, at the exact same time me and a guy behind me said the exact same expletive very loudly, the place was hysterical.

When I saw term of Endearment, (at the end) I heard the woman behind me quietly say to her friend, "Oh for God's sakes, go ahead. Everyone else in the place is."

When I saw Godfather III, I giggled out loud when Sofia dies. The place was dead quiet and then other people laughed. VBroke the mopod completely.

Sereing That's Entertainment with my parents, when Elizabeth Taylor descends the staircase silently, my father called her the b word. The whole place went ballistic.

 

I was with a lady friend who laughed all the way through "American Psycho". You can bet I was happy we were never a couple!

 

That's not so bad. I've not seen the movie in years, but as I recall, it had a strong satirical bent and could be comedic...

 

Well, that's not entirely inappropriate. It is a dark comedy of manners, after all.

 

Ha - beat you to it!

 

The first time I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show was in a theater in downtown Cleveland, with a hipper friend. I came from a small town, and the audience participation was something I'd never expected.
Workmate and I saw Lethal Weapon 2[/] with a redneck father and his 10-year-old kid sitting behind us. He kept "haw-haw-haw"-ing at the violence through the movie, while the kid was noticeably mortified.
When I was a wee lad, the family went to a drive-in for How The West Was Won in widescreen...which was wider than the screen. Also, it rained out and we had to come back the next night to see it again.




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Baka Beyond - Oheuro

 

I have several memories of theater experiences in the late 60s, when I was a college student.
*In early 1968, I had seen The Graduate a theater close to my hometown. When the movie came to the theater in the town I attended college, I talked my roommate in going to see the movie with me. After the movie ended, he said, "Let's stay and watch it again", which I gladly agreed to do. This was long before they cleared out the theater before the next showing.

*This brings me to my second experience in the late 60s. Besides not clearing out the theater after a showing, theaters would just let a person walk in the middle of a showing, which for some reason I seemed to do a lot. A friend and I walked in on the middle of the movie Two for the Road. We were very confused, and it took a long time to figure out that the movie contained almost seamless transitions to flashbacks. Watching the entire movie from the beginning finally cleared things up for us.

*The third memory comes from seeing the movie Wait Until Dark. I was with a friend, and we noticed there was a young girl in her early teens that sitting by herself. Near the final scary scene an usher came to sit by the young teen, assuming to help her keep from freaking out at the ending of the movie.

*My final memory is sort of related to The Graduate. After seeing that movie, I became infatuated with Katherine Ross. I was anxious to see her again in a movie. Her next movie was the forgettable Hellfighters. The movie came to the theater in the town where I attended college. I, again, talked my roommate to go see this movie with me. Since neither had a car, we had to walk the more than mile to the theater. Unbeknownst to us, a snowstorm started after we entered the movie theater. We started walking back to our dorm with at least three inches of snow on the ground, and it was still snowing very hard. Fortunately, we were able to catch a ride after walking almost half way back to campus.

 

Really? I love the ending of that movie. Superb.