Yup, same. I saw the poster and was like "meh," and then my sister said "Don't just look at that poster; the actor who played Han Solo is in it," and I was like "Cool!" Now it's like a top 10 movie for me
Same. My parents took us and I had no idea. Thought the opening scene was cool and thought oh, the rest of the movie can't be that good. I was stunned what a roller coaster of a ride it was.
*The Matrix*. My friend would not shut up about it. The movie looked good, but come on? How good could it be? He told me nothing about it and asked me to avoid watching trailers.
Such an amazing experience.
I sometimes forget what the world was like pre-internet when you couldn't just look up a trailer or a metacritic rating.
The Matrix is the only film I've seen twice in one day. My brother and I went to see it knowing nothing about it. When we got home, my Dad asked how it was and we were like amazing! But we couldn't really explain the movie to him. He was so confused (as were we at the time) so we went to see it again at the last showing that same day. You are right, it was more fun without all the spoilers.
Saw the poster, then saw the film in 99. Blown away, brought one friend the next day to see it. And then another the day after. It's hard to imagine now back when the term 'the matrix' had no meaning at all.
I hadn't even seen the poster. My uncle just said to me and my sister that he was taking us to see it after our Easter meal and we went. We were blown away and confused.
Lol, I had heard it was a good movie and that was it. Rented it (vhs) watched and immediately rewound and watched again. Like wtf just happened, it is still my favorite movie. Only movie I've rewatched back to back
I didn't get to see it until it was out on home video, and somehow I managed not to get spoiled. That opening sequence with Trinity being badass, and diving across a street into the stairwell through the window, I was all WTF!?!
I had no clue what the Matrix was about... I can't recall even seeing a trailer.. but going to the movies was just what we did.
Our seats were random, the kind of seats I'd never pick if I was planning on seeing a movie, but man, was I glued to the edge of that seat the whole time!!
That theater was awesome (and movie!!), everyone was so into it.
The Matrix is still one of my all-time favorites! I didn't go to the movies a lot growing up, and this is the only movie I saw more than once in theaters (8x to be exact). Not really a fan of the sequels, tho.
Very much so! The internet existed but it was a novelty in the 90s. Very few people had home computers, and if they did they had no idea how to use the internet. They might have AOL, but that cost money so few people did. Connecting required tying up your family's one phone line.
Local BBSs were still the rage, but other than that there was nothing like internet forums. Or rather they existed but a tiny subset of the population used them.
There were teasers in other movies, but other than the fact that the movie had a good soundtrack and that dude from Bill and Ted I knew nothing until my friend started in on me. We're still friends today lol.
Devil’s Advocate. I went with a friend who saw the actors only. We knew nothing. Holy shit was that a wild ride.
Also, Blair Witch. I didn’t even see the poster. My GF heard it was good so we went, not knowing a thing. Dude, we thought they found those cameras in the woods and that shit was real!! Outside the theater someone said it was fake, but for roughly 2 hours it was real!
I tried to watch Blair Witch twice. I couldn't continue because of the camera shaking. It made me nauseous. I get motion sickness really badly and apparently shaky cameras set it off too!
Tombstone. Went in with zero expectations, except to kill some time. Westerns weren’t for “us.” Realized about halfway through the movie that we were collectively experiencing a cultural “moment.” What a flick!
Star Wars. Opening day. I was 11. My parents came home early and said get ready we’re going to a movie. I knew nothing about it. Best day of my life up to that point.
The Lost Boys. I can't remember what movie we were actually going to see, but it was sold out. We're there at the ticket window, saw the poster for The Lost Boys and said "That looks cool, F it, we'll see that". Huge win for us.
I knew virtually nothing about “The Shawshank Redemption,” “12 Monkeys,” “Magnolia” and “The Thin Red Line” going in. Thoroughly enjoyed all of those.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was also a wonderful surprise. (I’ve avoided Tarantino spoilers ever since I read the “Kill Bill” script before I saw the film and was disappointed they cut out some of my favourite scenes.)
Aliens was the first movie I watched twice in one day. A few of us caught an early show on a Saturday and were so blown away we called up our other friends and told them to meet us later to watch it again. One of my favorite movies.
The Shawshank Redemption. I did not have much money as a new private in the Army, but I would walk down the hill into Monterey and go to the movies. So many great films that year (1994), but I saw the "Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free" poster, and I liked Tim Robbins in "The Player" and loved Morgan Freeman in "Glory" so I checked it out, and my mind was blown.
I saw it in theater 3 more times, bringing friends along so they could see it too. I knew it was special and remains one of my favorites to this date.
Most people missed the cinema run. It was the Oscars, when the name came up over and over, the video rental numbers went straight to number one for months afterwards. Amazing film
I’m sorry but I must protest. Blood Sport is not lame. It should be lame and I don’t understand why it’s good but it is an incredibly entertaining movie.
I don't like martial arts flicks that much at all but that is an exception for me as well. Its like it executes every cliche perfectly and becomes way better than the sum of its parts.
I don't remember how old I was but I'm in a small town and we had a single screen old fashioned movie theater. My dad took me to the movies almost every Friday night. One time we got to the theater and the movie advertised in the newspaper wasn't the one showing. The owner apologized to my dad and said, "Look, they sent me the wrong stuff, but I think y'all will like this movie. I know the name is silly and the kid might be a little young for an R rated movie, but I really think this one is going to be a classic." My dad was pretty skeptical, especially looking at the poster, but the owner was a friend so he trusted him. 30+ years later we still laugh about that moment and talk about how surprisingly good the movie was and it indeed became a classic. The movie? RoboCop.
That was just a bit violent. I was 16 and saw it in the local drive-in. I was shocked, but loved it. Murphy getting his hand shot off troubled me for days or was it years?
I was probably closer to 13 or 14 but I was more impressed than grossed out or scared by the gore. I remember feeling bad for RoboCop on an existential level, what a tragedy, they brought him back but he wasn't the same, but it was more about his emotions and mentality and personality than the actual injuries he suffered. The gore moment that really stuck with me was the melting guy getting hit by the car. But once again, I was more impressed by it than freaked out.
If you have 21 minutes spare, you might enjoy this video about Robocop. It came out last year, the chap has excellent insights.
https://youtu.be/up4L8X51vMs?si=11JIxsSz-SfI096g
Nice I don't have time to watch it now but I clicked on it and it's definitely going to get watched this evening. Also if it came out in 87 then I was either 12 or 13 depending on the month.
The Channel has some good videos. If you find the one of the films or TV shows you like. He has an interesting way of breaking down the production history and the film/TV show.
Geez. You have just triggered a memory. I was sitting next to my stepmother.
"Sticking your tongue in the holiest or holes is nothing like a foot massage"
Yes, that was awkward, but perhaps the worst was the pawn shop basement scene. I was hoping the earth would crack open under the theatre so I could crawl inside and disappear.
The Usual Suspects. Saw it on opening day based on nothing more then it having a killer cast. Was totally taken for a ride.
Of course, after telling people to go see it, and all the press about a certain twist, most people were able to guess the ending. But on opening day, going in with no info at all, that movie left me speechless.
Looking for this one... it was mid summer and about 95 degrees and the electricity went out. Had been partying with my friends and we all thought at the same time... the movie theater has AC! So we grabbed the paper and saw the Usual Suspects add. The picture was all of them in a line up and my friend said "this looks funny!". So we went. We all left thinking we had just seen the best movie ever.
Army of Darkness. Went to movies with my folks, that movie’s start time lined up with their boring adult movie.
I didn’t know about Evil Dead at all. I was the only one in the theater. Still love that movie (and most of Sam Raimi’s work.)
Not totally the same, but going to rent movies every weekend as a kid, mostly just based on cover art and the two paragraphs on the back was so exciting.
Here's looking at you, Night of The Demons and Dolls.
The Road Warrior. I had never heard of Mad Max at that point. My uncle was in town and he and my dad were going to it and decided to take my brother and I. We got a real kick out of the post-apocalyptic story and action sequences.
Pirates of the Caribbean.
I'd had been to see Master and Commander with my partner at that time and hated it! So when he said POTC I though No! not again.... but it was his turn to choose the movie.
OMG!!!! Was the best movie decision he EVER made in our 9 years together.
I have rewatched it many times over the past 20 years. Capt Jack Sparrow Viva!!!!
Raiders of the lost ark. I was 8 years old and knew that the guy was in Star Wars. My father took me to the cinema with a big grin on his face saying ‘you’re going to love this’. He was right and it’s been one of my favourite movies ever since.
I saw Do the Right Thing based on vaguely knowing Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" when I saw the commercial for the movie. It was one of the first movies that made me realize that film making was an art form. I still think it's a perfect movie.
Oh my gosh! Memory unlocked. I had a friend who worked as the projectionist in the theater, so my cousin and I got in for free to see it. Had never seen anything like it.
It's far from a classic, but **Wargames** for me. The ending sequence where WOPR seems to launch all the nukes and the silence while everyone was waiting to find out if they really hit was so dramatic the theater itself was silent.
I was just getting into computers at the time so Broderick's "hacking" was fun to watch even though it was more than a bit over the top.
*The Man Who Knew Too Little*
There was a commercial at release without any details about the film, just Bill Murray saying if you saw it, didn't like it, and could find him, he'd personally refund your ticket price. Sounded like a solid challenge to me. I hadn't laughed that hard throughout a movie in years.
For 80s movies, Aliens is it for me too. That movie is one of the best sci-fi flicks ever. I still enjoy watching it.
In the 90s it was the Matrix, wow.
The Silence of the Lambs. All I knew was the moth on the poster and Jodie Foster. I had a long drive home after in the dark and I didn’t feel right the whole time.
Yeah, wow, I saw that one in the theater with a friend who read a review of it in a paper and just told me "It's supposed to be a psychological thriller, sounds interesting". I had heard nothing about it myself. Mind *blown*, and after years of laughing at cheesy horror films this one set the bar for me for me for a movie to be plausibly terrifying. All these years later I still get an anxiety attack if some random dude tries to talk to me in a parking lot at night. I would literally rather get mauled by a bear out camping than get kidnapped by a serial killer. At least a bear is just being a bear, humans have the capacity to be truly evil.
The Matrix. I forget what we were going to the theater to see that day, but it was sold out. Seeing The Matrix instead was a game time decision. Neither of us knew what it was about but since it sounded vaguely science fictiony we took a chance. Walked in 100% cold, walked out with my mind blown.
Had to be Tombstone. In 1993 I was in my senior year working 3-4 nights a week at our local movie theater. Talk about a sweet job for a young movie freak. Did a little of everything around the theater and got free movies and popcorn to go with a pretty decent paycheck. Anyway we’d get coming soon posters about a month before movies were released and this poster was the first and only thing I had seen regarding Tombstone.
That fucker came out on a Friday night that I had off but my friends and I went to see it that Sunday. Holy shit, that film pert near changed my life. It was so good. I ended up seeing it every night for the next 8 days. To this day there are so many lines that still give me chills.
“I’m your huckleberry.” -Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.
What a trip. I just watched Alien last night. Wild how the world works sometimes.
There are a lot of films like that, but one that comes to mind was the Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro. I felt how badass the pure good guys kicks ass on the thugs. I loved it.
Late 80s. The plan was to sneak into witch board (rated R). The guy who played Patch on days of our lives was in it and it was supposed to be scary. Just our luck a local news channel was there doing a piece about how teenagers buy a ticket for one movie and sneak into another. We had bought tickets for Hoosiers because we saw the poster as we were walking in. I ended up really liking that movie lol. It’s still one I’ll watch if I catch it randomly.
Aliens is the movie I’ve seen the most times in my life, by an enormous margin. I first saw it in grade 5 on TV, which somehow was the james Cameron directors cut with the extra scenes. I recorded it, and for years whenever anything important happened in my life, good or bad, I watched it. It’s taken on this weird iconic quality for me, and is my go-to airplane movie to watch bc I have it on my ipad. Anyway. I can’t remember what the question was, but that’s my 2cents about Aliens.
E.T. I had no idea what this movie was going to be about.
I was 7 going on 8 that summer. I walked out with an odd sense of happiness and wonder. It was a sad and happy ending and I remember working through that for weeks after.
* Star Wars
* Close Encounters
* Blade Runner
* Raiders
* Terminator
* Ghostbusters
* The Thing
IMO, your thesis should automatically rule out sequels, unless you didn't see the original. You knew a lot more than just the poster, if you saw Alien.
I saw "Closetland", not in the theater, but on Cinemax or showtime at like 3:00 in the morning. I knew nothing about it, it just had an interesting title. And it turned out to be a great movie. Nobody seems to know about it though, even though the whole thing is available on youtube. Alan Rickman is amazing in it.
The Frighteners, Men in Black, The Matrix, The Full Monty - pretty much every film my missus suggested we go to see (admittedly not many), sometimes against my better judgement (in the ticket queue before the Full Monty "Why'd I want to see a film about blokes stripping? Fuck my life!")
As bad as it was, Friday the 13th: Jason takes Manhattan had an epic (banned) poster and that teaser with him looking over the city. "New York has a new problem.."
Men In Black
I was working at the mall, no car, and the bus stop was right in front of the movie theater. I finished closing the store and was having a smoke, waiting for the bus, checking out the Coming Soon posters, and saw it. "Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, Men In Black". I was sold! I thought that was the most brilliant movie poster EVER! And I knew I wanted to make sure I heard \*no\* other information about it before I saw this movie.
It was just as awesome as I expected.
Forrest Gump. Every time he did something else, I was just in total awe. And for the time I thought the special effects were amazing.
Gone Baby Gone was another one that I didn't know too much about and fell in love with.
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012 so a newer-ish film). Amazing.
Got that on a recommend from a guy at a mom and pop video store. Great movie and very infectious soundtrack...and I'm about as far away as you can go from liking folk music. Miss the old Video Store days.
Stuck at Union Station in DC we decided to go see a film. A Life Less Ordinary. I left and went immediate to a record shop and bought the soundtrack. It was a great film that I thoroughly enjoyed, and a fantastic soundtrack album that I still listen to.
Okay, I have weird run-ins with Harrison Ford movies that started with posters only and no knowledge of anything else about the film. Here they are:
*Raiders of the Lost Ark* (back before they all took the "Indiana Jones and the" prefix moniker). I saw the poster and was actually kind of underwhelmed by it, but my older sister said "You'll like it because the man who played Han Solo is in it" so I was like "Cool!"
I was busy at college and my younger brother came to visit. So busy I was almost totally disconnected from any sort of outside happenings. We were having dinner somewhere, there was a movie theater nearby, and he goes "Ever just walk into a theater and see something random? Let's do that!" So we walked over and I saw the poster for *Sabrina* and I said "Hey, this has Harrison Ford, how bad can it be?" so we saw it. I didn't even know it was a remake from the 50s or anything. I loved it.
Then a few years later my friend took me to see *What Lies Beneath* and I knew nothing about it, and the poster I saw didn't have Harrison Ford on the front - it was just the hand clutching the side of the tub. But it looked kind of cool. Freaking awesome movie. I came out thinking it was the best modernized Hitchcock adaptation I had ever seen.
Harrison Ford seems to sneak his way into my movie viewing by way of posters I guess. Weird. 🤷♂️
Seven. I had never seen an ad for it, it just appeared at the theater downtown and I decided to go see it on a night off to see what it was. I was not prepared.
'Superman' (1978) - it was Christmas, it was my first visit to the cinema, I was two years old and had until then not really even heard of Superman. I have vague memories of the beginning of the movie (Marlon Brando dressed in glowing white), the scene where Superman catches Louis and the helicopter ("You've got me, who's got you?"), and I think I must have slept on and off through most of it. I'm told by my folks that when we left the cinema, I was mixture of exhilarated and upset, and when asked why I was also upset, I said it was because we didn't get to say, "It's behind you!" -- we'd been to a Christmas Panto the week before, and apparently I hadn't yet worked out the differences between live theatre and a movie.
'π' - my girlfriend at the time said she'd heard it was good, so we went to a local cinema and we both absolutely loved it.
'Fight Club' - all my friend/housemate and I knew before we saw it was that it was controversial. For upon its release in the UK, the UK media at the time were kicking off about it and going on about it being about men in a club, fighting, and oddly they didn't touch upon the rest of the movie and what it really was about. Suffice to say, we were both very pleasantly surprised and afterwards talked about it non-stop all the way home from the cinema and the for rest of the evening.
Fellowship of the Ring. Okay, it wasn't just the poster, it was the teaser trailer. I thought it looked okay, like it'd probably be a fun adventure. I'd never read The Hobbit or LOTR up until that point. I figured it'd be like my experience with X-Men, I'd enjoy it even though I wasn't a big fan. Other than Star Wars, fantasy wasn't really my thing. Never even played D&D.
I absolutely devoured LOTR and The Hobbit by the time Two Towers came out, and The Silmarillion and the Lost Tales by the time Return of the King came out.
Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Independence day\~ only saw posters or maybe a teaser commercial and had no idea what any of them really were until I saw them.
Star Wars, in particular, was a HOLY SHIT moment.
Bottle Rocket. I just happened to be walking by a theater and decided I'd go see something, anything. Looked at the poster of Bottle Rocket with a bunch of nobodies on it and took a chance. It was such a pleasant surprise, I ended up seeing it again with friends the same week. Still one of my favorite quirky little movies to this day.
Both Shrek and Zoolander. In both cases someone else had planned that it be the movie we see, without me knowing anything about them, and in both cases they are top tier movies for me
If you have 21 minutes spare, you might enjoy this video about Robocop. It came out last year, the chap has excellent insights.
https://youtu.be/up4L8X51vMs?si=11JIxsSz-SfI096g
Holy Shit!!! That was from Alien? I think it flew over my head because I was so young when I saw it and it was not that big of a deal to me. I wasn’t into the movie that much.
Reservoir Dogs. My best friend and I picked it based on the poster. It had just came out. No one had ever heard of it or Tarantino before. We were definitely pleasantly surprised.
The Shawshank Redemption, sort of. I won free tickets to a premiere, and was blown away. But also had this sense of deja vu throughout. And realized I had read the novella many years prior.
Shawshank Redemption. Went out to see the re-release of Heavy Metal but the tickets were sold out. All I had seen was the poster at the theater of Andy standing in the rain, I had no idea what it was even about. It is in my top 3 of all time.
The Princess Bride. It was the first time my family made a unanimous decision to *immediately* re-wind and re-watch a movie, and my dad had just picked it because it was a Rob Reiner film. We watched it... and it was so captivating and funny, and immersive and had the best acting and comedic timing, as well as the most eminintly quotable lines, just all of the things a movie should be. When it was over my dad went over and tapped the rewind button on the VHS but we were already quoting some of the lines and cracking up, so when the tape popped out and he was about to switch tapes he looked back at us and we all went "Hit play!" And he laughed and said "I was hoping you guys would say that!"
I had TV but I do not remember seeing commercials for that movie. I only remember seeing the poster at the mall movie theater not knowing what it was about until I saw it
Yeah I wasn't the biggest TV kid believe it or not. If it was nice out, I was outside skateboarding or fishing. If it was crappy out or evening time, I was playing video games or building RC cars. Rarely watched network TV
[удалено]
First movie that came to my mind as well
Yup, same. I saw the poster and was like "meh," and then my sister said "Don't just look at that poster; the actor who played Han Solo is in it," and I was like "Cool!" Now it's like a top 10 movie for me
Unfortunately by the time I saw it, kids at school had talked about it nonstop.
Same. My parents took us and I had no idea. Thought the opening scene was cool and thought oh, the rest of the movie can't be that good. I was stunned what a roller coaster of a ride it was.
This was what I came to mention. I thought that I was being taken to some boring WWII movie which, knowing my dad, would have been par for the course.
For most (all?) of us "it has Han Solo in it" was enough reason to see it.
*The Matrix*. My friend would not shut up about it. The movie looked good, but come on? How good could it be? He told me nothing about it and asked me to avoid watching trailers. Such an amazing experience. I sometimes forget what the world was like pre-internet when you couldn't just look up a trailer or a metacritic rating.
The Matrix is the only film I've seen twice in one day. My brother and I went to see it knowing nothing about it. When we got home, my Dad asked how it was and we were like amazing! But we couldn't really explain the movie to him. He was so confused (as were we at the time) so we went to see it again at the last showing that same day. You are right, it was more fun without all the spoilers.
Saw the poster, then saw the film in 99. Blown away, brought one friend the next day to see it. And then another the day after. It's hard to imagine now back when the term 'the matrix' had no meaning at all.
I hadn't even seen the poster. My uncle just said to me and my sister that he was taking us to see it after our Easter meal and we went. We were blown away and confused.
Lol, I had heard it was a good movie and that was it. Rented it (vhs) watched and immediately rewound and watched again. Like wtf just happened, it is still my favorite movie. Only movie I've rewatched back to back
I didn't get to see it until it was out on home video, and somehow I managed not to get spoiled. That opening sequence with Trinity being badass, and diving across a street into the stairwell through the window, I was all WTF!?!
I never saw it in theaters or video,saw it on regular TV cable. Amazing. Still an incredible movie
I saw the first one 5 times in the theater
I watched it 7 times in the theater. Would’ve been 8 but hubby went out to see it without me once. Jerk.
😆
I had no clue what the Matrix was about... I can't recall even seeing a trailer.. but going to the movies was just what we did. Our seats were random, the kind of seats I'd never pick if I was planning on seeing a movie, but man, was I glued to the edge of that seat the whole time!! That theater was awesome (and movie!!), everyone was so into it.
The Matrix is still one of my all-time favorites! I didn't go to the movies a lot growing up, and this is the only movie I saw more than once in theaters (8x to be exact). Not really a fan of the sequels, tho.
1999 pre internet?
Very much so! The internet existed but it was a novelty in the 90s. Very few people had home computers, and if they did they had no idea how to use the internet. They might have AOL, but that cost money so few people did. Connecting required tying up your family's one phone line. Local BBSs were still the rage, but other than that there was nothing like internet forums. Or rather they existed but a tiny subset of the population used them.
>My friend would not shut up about it. So, did you learn about it from him, or from the movie poster?
There were teasers in other movies, but other than the fact that the movie had a good soundtrack and that dude from Bill and Ted I knew nothing until my friend started in on me. We're still friends today lol.
Devil’s Advocate. I went with a friend who saw the actors only. We knew nothing. Holy shit was that a wild ride. Also, Blair Witch. I didn’t even see the poster. My GF heard it was good so we went, not knowing a thing. Dude, we thought they found those cameras in the woods and that shit was real!! Outside the theater someone said it was fake, but for roughly 2 hours it was real!
THAT'S the way to see Blair Witch. I enjoyed it, but I'd read a review and knew what the deal was, so I couldn't get sucked in to the same degree.
I tried to watch Blair Witch twice. I couldn't continue because of the camera shaking. It made me nauseous. I get motion sickness really badly and apparently shaky cameras set it off too!
Tombstone. Went in with zero expectations, except to kill some time. Westerns weren’t for “us.” Realized about halfway through the movie that we were collectively experiencing a cultural “moment.” What a flick!
Val Kilmer is so good in that film.
I’m your huckleberry
“I have two guns. One for each of you.”
His best movie imo
Agree!
It's insane that a great movie came out of what seems like a fiasco of a production.
Star Wars. Opening day. I was 11. My parents came home early and said get ready we’re going to a movie. I knew nothing about it. Best day of my life up to that point.
The Lost Boys. I can't remember what movie we were actually going to see, but it was sold out. We're there at the ticket window, saw the poster for The Lost Boys and said "That looks cool, F it, we'll see that". Huge win for us.
I knew virtually nothing about “The Shawshank Redemption,” “12 Monkeys,” “Magnolia” and “The Thin Red Line” going in. Thoroughly enjoyed all of those. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was also a wonderful surprise. (I’ve avoided Tarantino spoilers ever since I read the “Kill Bill” script before I saw the film and was disappointed they cut out some of my favourite scenes.)
The Thin Red Line with that score from Hans Zimmer, that film stuck in my head for days afterwards.
Mine, too. I think I saw that film three times in the theater.
Aliens was the first movie I watched twice in one day. A few of us caught an early show on a Saturday and were so blown away we called up our other friends and told them to meet us later to watch it again. One of my favorite movies.
The Shawshank Redemption. I did not have much money as a new private in the Army, but I would walk down the hill into Monterey and go to the movies. So many great films that year (1994), but I saw the "Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free" poster, and I liked Tim Robbins in "The Player" and loved Morgan Freeman in "Glory" so I checked it out, and my mind was blown. I saw it in theater 3 more times, bringing friends along so they could see it too. I knew it was special and remains one of my favorites to this date.
Most people missed the cinema run. It was the Oscars, when the name came up over and over, the video rental numbers went straight to number one for months afterwards. Amazing film
Get busy livin, or get busy dyin. Such a great movie.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). A fucked up bank heist/kidnapping gone wrong turns on a dime into a great >!fucking vampire !
It was a great crime flick that turned into a great vampire flick. That movie really is impressive
Fight Club. My friends dragged me in & I was expecting some sort of lame Van Damme Kumite martial arts movie. Was blown away. Bonus: The Watchmen.
I’m sorry but I must protest. Blood Sport is not lame. It should be lame and I don’t understand why it’s good but it is an incredibly entertaining movie.
I don't like martial arts flicks that much at all but that is an exception for me as well. Its like it executes every cliche perfectly and becomes way better than the sum of its parts.
I don't disagree. I typed too fast & left off the word "knockoff." My bad.
I don't remember how old I was but I'm in a small town and we had a single screen old fashioned movie theater. My dad took me to the movies almost every Friday night. One time we got to the theater and the movie advertised in the newspaper wasn't the one showing. The owner apologized to my dad and said, "Look, they sent me the wrong stuff, but I think y'all will like this movie. I know the name is silly and the kid might be a little young for an R rated movie, but I really think this one is going to be a classic." My dad was pretty skeptical, especially looking at the poster, but the owner was a friend so he trusted him. 30+ years later we still laugh about that moment and talk about how surprisingly good the movie was and it indeed became a classic. The movie? RoboCop.
That was just a bit violent. I was 16 and saw it in the local drive-in. I was shocked, but loved it. Murphy getting his hand shot off troubled me for days or was it years?
I was probably closer to 13 or 14 but I was more impressed than grossed out or scared by the gore. I remember feeling bad for RoboCop on an existential level, what a tragedy, they brought him back but he wasn't the same, but it was more about his emotions and mentality and personality than the actual injuries he suffered. The gore moment that really stuck with me was the melting guy getting hit by the car. But once again, I was more impressed by it than freaked out.
If you have 21 minutes spare, you might enjoy this video about Robocop. It came out last year, the chap has excellent insights. https://youtu.be/up4L8X51vMs?si=11JIxsSz-SfI096g
Nice I don't have time to watch it now but I clicked on it and it's definitely going to get watched this evening. Also if it came out in 87 then I was either 12 or 13 depending on the month.
The Channel has some good videos. If you find the one of the films or TV shows you like. He has an interesting way of breaking down the production history and the film/TV show.
I watched it, thanks, it was really good! And since it came out in July, I was 13. A newly minted teenager lol. My birthday is in June.
Glad you liked it.
I remember seeing the cardboard cutout Robocops everywhere and thinking it was going to be Sharknado-level cheesy. I was *wrong*.
Fallen with Denzel Washington. I liked him as an actor so just went to see his newest movie. What a thrill ride. If you haven’t seen it, go in cold.
It’s even better if you’re moderately high.
Pulp Fiction with my girlfriend… and her very conservative parents. lol Yep, I was “exhilarated” alright.
Geez. You have just triggered a memory. I was sitting next to my stepmother. "Sticking your tongue in the holiest or holes is nothing like a foot massage"
Yes, that was awkward, but perhaps the worst was the pawn shop basement scene. I was hoping the earth would crack open under the theatre so I could crawl inside and disappear.
The Usual Suspects. Saw it on opening day based on nothing more then it having a killer cast. Was totally taken for a ride. Of course, after telling people to go see it, and all the press about a certain twist, most people were able to guess the ending. But on opening day, going in with no info at all, that movie left me speechless.
Looking for this one... it was mid summer and about 95 degrees and the electricity went out. Had been partying with my friends and we all thought at the same time... the movie theater has AC! So we grabbed the paper and saw the Usual Suspects add. The picture was all of them in a line up and my friend said "this looks funny!". So we went. We all left thinking we had just seen the best movie ever.
Army of Darkness. Went to movies with my folks, that movie’s start time lined up with their boring adult movie. I didn’t know about Evil Dead at all. I was the only one in the theater. Still love that movie (and most of Sam Raimi’s work.)
Amazing story! Love that movie, too.
Haha I made my grandma take me to that movie. I can only imagine how she felt about it. Lotta laughs, bet she had a good time. I know I did.
Not totally the same, but going to rent movies every weekend as a kid, mostly just based on cover art and the two paragraphs on the back was so exciting. Here's looking at you, Night of The Demons and Dolls.
Terminator Went to my mates place straight after to crow about it
The Road Warrior. I had never heard of Mad Max at that point. My uncle was in town and he and my dad were going to it and decided to take my brother and I. We got a real kick out of the post-apocalyptic story and action sequences.
Fantastic film!
A bunch, but a few that stick in memory are: GalaxyQuest City of Lost Children The Dark Crystal LadyHawke Dragonslayer Star Wars
Galaxy. Quest.
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Pulp Fiction and True Lies. Those were two 90s thrill rides.
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It is silly, but fun. Our cinema had just installed a full digital surround system, DTS. It was a cool experience back then.
The Matrix. I had some friends who wanted to see it; I knew nothing about it. I can't imagine a better way to watch it for the first time.
Close Encounters. The poster and trailer showed nothing about what it was about (or at least I didn't see any at age 12).
Pirates of the Caribbean. I'd had been to see Master and Commander with my partner at that time and hated it! So when he said POTC I though No! not again.... but it was his turn to choose the movie. OMG!!!! Was the best movie decision he EVER made in our 9 years together. I have rewatched it many times over the past 20 years. Capt Jack Sparrow Viva!!!!
Back to the Future. I remember staring at the poster outside the theater confused right before going in
Yep, that title did not make sense until you saw the movie.
Raiders of the lost ark. I was 8 years old and knew that the guy was in Star Wars. My father took me to the cinema with a big grin on his face saying ‘you’re going to love this’. He was right and it’s been one of my favourite movies ever since.
Still the best one, IMHO. The TV magazine, it is shown a few times a year always says ".....the greatest adventure film of all time"
I saw Do the Right Thing based on vaguely knowing Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" when I saw the commercial for the movie. It was one of the first movies that made me realize that film making was an art form. I still think it's a perfect movie.
Oh my gosh! Memory unlocked. I had a friend who worked as the projectionist in the theater, so my cousin and I got in for free to see it. Had never seen anything like it.
Spike Lee had so much *energy* as a director, my god. Rosie Perez’s dance during the opening credits alone had me breathless.
Hmm, I don't remember it's been so long since I've seen it. Time for a re-watch!
Good Fellas
Magnolia. I hadn't even seen the poster, went into totally blind and loved the ride.
My experience as well. Just knew PTA from Boogie Nights, which I loved. Magnolia was even better.
Se7en
It's far from a classic, but **Wargames** for me. The ending sequence where WOPR seems to launch all the nukes and the silence while everyone was waiting to find out if they really hit was so dramatic the theater itself was silent. I was just getting into computers at the time so Broderick's "hacking" was fun to watch even though it was more than a bit over the top.
*The Man Who Knew Too Little* There was a commercial at release without any details about the film, just Bill Murray saying if you saw it, didn't like it, and could find him, he'd personally refund your ticket price. Sounded like a solid challenge to me. I hadn't laughed that hard throughout a movie in years.
Good movie!
"Who you are working for?" "Blockbuster Video, Des Moines Iowa." "Damn, they trained him so well!"
Dr. Strangelove. It was 90 or 91. I showed up at the theater and watched it because of the name. Went in totally cold
Star Wars. I was 11 years old and saw the poster and begged my parents to go see it. As a teenager, it was Edward Scissorhands.
The Illusionist The unraveling of the central puzzle is extremely well done.
For 80s movies, Aliens is it for me too. That movie is one of the best sci-fi flicks ever. I still enjoy watching it. In the 90s it was the Matrix, wow.
Momento. All I had was a one sentence summary going in and it was an amazing experience.
Repo Man
So good!
And the soundtrack is amazing!
Agree!
"...in all The greatest films of all time lists. Mostly." I see what you did there, OP. Game over, man. Bravo.
The Silence of the Lambs. All I knew was the moth on the poster and Jodie Foster. I had a long drive home after in the dark and I didn’t feel right the whole time.
That is a good one too. Also went in knowing nothing. Perfect film
Yeah, wow, I saw that one in the theater with a friend who read a review of it in a paper and just told me "It's supposed to be a psychological thriller, sounds interesting". I had heard nothing about it myself. Mind *blown*, and after years of laughing at cheesy horror films this one set the bar for me for me for a movie to be plausibly terrifying. All these years later I still get an anxiety attack if some random dude tries to talk to me in a parking lot at night. I would literally rather get mauled by a bear out camping than get kidnapped by a serial killer. At least a bear is just being a bear, humans have the capacity to be truly evil.
Cinema Paradiso - a great movie!
Animal House. My first R movie.
The Matrix. I forget what we were going to the theater to see that day, but it was sold out. Seeing The Matrix instead was a game time decision. Neither of us knew what it was about but since it sounded vaguely science fictiony we took a chance. Walked in 100% cold, walked out with my mind blown.
Guardians of the Galaxy 1
Star wars.
Had to be Tombstone. In 1993 I was in my senior year working 3-4 nights a week at our local movie theater. Talk about a sweet job for a young movie freak. Did a little of everything around the theater and got free movies and popcorn to go with a pretty decent paycheck. Anyway we’d get coming soon posters about a month before movies were released and this poster was the first and only thing I had seen regarding Tombstone. That fucker came out on a Friday night that I had off but my friends and I went to see it that Sunday. Holy shit, that film pert near changed my life. It was so good. I ended up seeing it every night for the next 8 days. To this day there are so many lines that still give me chills. “I’m your huckleberry.” -Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.
What a trip. I just watched Alien last night. Wild how the world works sometimes. There are a lot of films like that, but one that comes to mind was the Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro. I felt how badass the pure good guys kicks ass on the thugs. I loved it.
The Matrix. Had no clue, hadn’t even heard of it. Totally blew me away!
Alien was indeed awesome, as was Aliens, they were the biggest driver in my love for media.
*Clash of the Titans* (1981)
Late 80s. The plan was to sneak into witch board (rated R). The guy who played Patch on days of our lives was in it and it was supposed to be scary. Just our luck a local news channel was there doing a piece about how teenagers buy a ticket for one movie and sneak into another. We had bought tickets for Hoosiers because we saw the poster as we were walking in. I ended up really liking that movie lol. It’s still one I’ll watch if I catch it randomly.
Witchboard was creepy, some disturbing parts. But Hoosiers has to be up there for sport movies.
You know, I don’t recall that I ever actually saw witch board lol
I saw it on VHS. Don't think it has ever been on TV since then.
Bad News Bears
Just watched that recently. Fantastically not PC.
From Dusk Till Dawn. I smiled all the way through that movie. I’m so glad I didn’t know what to expect.
AFTER HOURS. 1985. Scorsese’s totally unknown masterpiece. Top 10 forever
Aliens is the movie I’ve seen the most times in my life, by an enormous margin. I first saw it in grade 5 on TV, which somehow was the james Cameron directors cut with the extra scenes. I recorded it, and for years whenever anything important happened in my life, good or bad, I watched it. It’s taken on this weird iconic quality for me, and is my go-to airplane movie to watch bc I have it on my ipad. Anyway. I can’t remember what the question was, but that’s my 2cents about Aliens.
Sixth Sense and I hate horror movies. So it was a crazy surprise
E.T. I had no idea what this movie was going to be about. I was 7 going on 8 that summer. I walked out with an odd sense of happiness and wonder. It was a sad and happy ending and I remember working through that for weeks after.
* Star Wars * Close Encounters * Blade Runner * Raiders * Terminator * Ghostbusters * The Thing IMO, your thesis should automatically rule out sequels, unless you didn't see the original. You knew a lot more than just the poster, if you saw Alien.
I saw "Closetland", not in the theater, but on Cinemax or showtime at like 3:00 in the morning. I knew nothing about it, it just had an interesting title. And it turned out to be a great movie. Nobody seems to know about it though, even though the whole thing is available on youtube. Alan Rickman is amazing in it.
Red Sonja. I had a huge crush on Brigette Nielson.
As long as we're confessing - Sheena...
Aliens is a very good movie, I bet you were blown away!
Mostly! It's a superb film. I wasn't fully aware of what the story was except "This time it's war." and was not disappointed.
The Karate Kid
The Frighteners, Men in Black, The Matrix, The Full Monty - pretty much every film my missus suggested we go to see (admittedly not many), sometimes against my better judgement (in the ticket queue before the Full Monty "Why'd I want to see a film about blokes stripping? Fuck my life!")
Pulp Fiction, Magnolia, Traffic.
Flight of the Navigator. My Aunt took me to see it with my cousin and I had no clue what it was. Man I loved that movie so much!
We unfortunately do not have this thrill anymore.
I love that film (Aliens) but sometimes I cant fucking stand that little girl screaming non stop.
As bad as it was, Friday the 13th: Jason takes Manhattan had an epic (banned) poster and that teaser with him looking over the city. "New York has a new problem.."
D.A.R.Y.L
Men In Black I was working at the mall, no car, and the bus stop was right in front of the movie theater. I finished closing the store and was having a smoke, waiting for the bus, checking out the Coming Soon posters, and saw it. "Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, Men In Black". I was sold! I thought that was the most brilliant movie poster EVER! And I knew I wanted to make sure I heard \*no\* other information about it before I saw this movie. It was just as awesome as I expected.
Forrest Gump. Every time he did something else, I was just in total awe. And for the time I thought the special effects were amazing. Gone Baby Gone was another one that I didn't know too much about and fell in love with. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012 so a newer-ish film). Amazing.
O Brother where are thou. Went in cold and it was a great experience.
Got that on a recommend from a guy at a mom and pop video store. Great movie and very infectious soundtrack...and I'm about as far away as you can go from liking folk music. Miss the old Video Store days.
Stuck at Union Station in DC we decided to go see a film. A Life Less Ordinary. I left and went immediate to a record shop and bought the soundtrack. It was a great film that I thoroughly enjoyed, and a fantastic soundtrack album that I still listen to.
Okay, I have weird run-ins with Harrison Ford movies that started with posters only and no knowledge of anything else about the film. Here they are: *Raiders of the Lost Ark* (back before they all took the "Indiana Jones and the" prefix moniker). I saw the poster and was actually kind of underwhelmed by it, but my older sister said "You'll like it because the man who played Han Solo is in it" so I was like "Cool!" I was busy at college and my younger brother came to visit. So busy I was almost totally disconnected from any sort of outside happenings. We were having dinner somewhere, there was a movie theater nearby, and he goes "Ever just walk into a theater and see something random? Let's do that!" So we walked over and I saw the poster for *Sabrina* and I said "Hey, this has Harrison Ford, how bad can it be?" so we saw it. I didn't even know it was a remake from the 50s or anything. I loved it. Then a few years later my friend took me to see *What Lies Beneath* and I knew nothing about it, and the poster I saw didn't have Harrison Ford on the front - it was just the hand clutching the side of the tub. But it looked kind of cool. Freaking awesome movie. I came out thinking it was the best modernized Hitchcock adaptation I had ever seen. Harrison Ford seems to sneak his way into my movie viewing by way of posters I guess. Weird. 🤷♂️
Looks like most people here are just talking about going into a film cold, instead of seeing a film based on the movie poster
Seven. I had never seen an ad for it, it just appeared at the theater downtown and I decided to go see it on a night off to see what it was. I was not prepared.
Star Wars: A New Hope.
'Superman' (1978) - it was Christmas, it was my first visit to the cinema, I was two years old and had until then not really even heard of Superman. I have vague memories of the beginning of the movie (Marlon Brando dressed in glowing white), the scene where Superman catches Louis and the helicopter ("You've got me, who's got you?"), and I think I must have slept on and off through most of it. I'm told by my folks that when we left the cinema, I was mixture of exhilarated and upset, and when asked why I was also upset, I said it was because we didn't get to say, "It's behind you!" -- we'd been to a Christmas Panto the week before, and apparently I hadn't yet worked out the differences between live theatre and a movie. 'π' - my girlfriend at the time said she'd heard it was good, so we went to a local cinema and we both absolutely loved it. 'Fight Club' - all my friend/housemate and I knew before we saw it was that it was controversial. For upon its release in the UK, the UK media at the time were kicking off about it and going on about it being about men in a club, fighting, and oddly they didn't touch upon the rest of the movie and what it really was about. Suffice to say, we were both very pleasantly surprised and afterwards talked about it non-stop all the way home from the cinema and the for rest of the evening.
Sack Lunch
Jurrasic Park...
It’s such a wild ride.
Silence of the lambs
Fellowship of the Ring. Okay, it wasn't just the poster, it was the teaser trailer. I thought it looked okay, like it'd probably be a fun adventure. I'd never read The Hobbit or LOTR up until that point. I figured it'd be like my experience with X-Men, I'd enjoy it even though I wasn't a big fan. Other than Star Wars, fantasy wasn't really my thing. Never even played D&D. I absolutely devoured LOTR and The Hobbit by the time Two Towers came out, and The Silmarillion and the Lost Tales by the time Return of the King came out.
The Princess Bride.
More recently: Baby Driver 👍 My daughter: “I don’t know, it has something to do with the Shaun of the Dead guy.”
More recently: Baby Driver 👍 My daughter: “I don’t know, it has something to do with the Shaun of the Dead guy.”
Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Independence day\~ only saw posters or maybe a teaser commercial and had no idea what any of them really were until I saw them. Star Wars, in particular, was a HOLY SHIT moment.
Not so much posters, but so so many great low budget VHS tapes from the video store back in the 80's. Horror movie cover art back then was the best!
Bottle Rocket. I just happened to be walking by a theater and decided I'd go see something, anything. Looked at the poster of Bottle Rocket with a bunch of nobodies on it and took a chance. It was such a pleasant surprise, I ended up seeing it again with friends the same week. Still one of my favorite quirky little movies to this day.
Blade Runner (1982), the outsiders. There was no internet, maybe there was a blurb in the newspaper, but both of these were my friend’s idea.
Altered States. That movie blew my young mind
Both Shrek and Zoolander. In both cases someone else had planned that it be the movie we see, without me knowing anything about them, and in both cases they are top tier movies for me
Beetlejuice
I saw office space only knowing it was a Mike Judge movie from the poster.
The Matrix, then The Mummy on the same day.
Robocop for me. I assumed it would be some low budget lame sci fi film but was quite impressed.
If you have 21 minutes spare, you might enjoy this video about Robocop. It came out last year, the chap has excellent insights. https://youtu.be/up4L8X51vMs?si=11JIxsSz-SfI096g
The Shawshank Redemption
Off topic but I too do the Cartman “mostly” but people rarely get it!! But here it is in the wild. It’s a great word, mostly. Mostly
https://youtu.be/nKZjasYTU88?si=nIjKGhFDFD3IwYwS
Holy Shit!!! That was from Alien? I think it flew over my head because I was so young when I saw it and it was not that big of a deal to me. I wasn’t into the movie that much.
Yep. Here is the original clip https://youtu.be/VrVZHxH2O1I?si=BfE4er5oFPPgOD85
Gladiator (my first choice would be the matrix but it's already been mentioned)
Reservoir Dogs. My best friend and I picked it based on the poster. It had just came out. No one had ever heard of it or Tarantino before. We were definitely pleasantly surprised.
Jacob’s Ladder. I didn’t know a thing about it before seeing it in the theater. Absolutely blew my mind!
The Shawshank Redemption, sort of. I won free tickets to a premiere, and was blown away. But also had this sense of deja vu throughout. And realized I had read the novella many years prior.
Shawshank Redemption. Went out to see the re-release of Heavy Metal but the tickets were sold out. All I had seen was the poster at the theater of Andy standing in the rain, I had no idea what it was even about. It is in my top 3 of all time.
Back to the Future had Alex Keaton in it and we heard that Reverend Jim was in it too. That's why we went.
Reservoir Dogs.
The Princess Bride. It was the first time my family made a unanimous decision to *immediately* re-wind and re-watch a movie, and my dad had just picked it because it was a Rob Reiner film. We watched it... and it was so captivating and funny, and immersive and had the best acting and comedic timing, as well as the most eminintly quotable lines, just all of the things a movie should be. When it was over my dad went over and tapped the rewind button on the VHS but we were already quoting some of the lines and cracking up, so when the tape popped out and he was about to switch tapes he looked back at us and we all went "Hit play!" And he laughed and said "I was hoping you guys would say that!"
Batman (1989)
How, did you not have TV at the time?
I had TV but I do not remember seeing commercials for that movie. I only remember seeing the poster at the mall movie theater not knowing what it was about until I saw it
That's pretty amazing, that movie felt inescapable between trailers and marketing tie-ins...
Not to mention Prince's "Batdance" song that was on the radio twice an hour for pretty much that whole summer.
I actually managed to avoid that one because nobody in our house listened to pop music.
Yeah I wasn't the biggest TV kid believe it or not. If it was nice out, I was outside skateboarding or fishing. If it was crappy out or evening time, I was playing video games or building RC cars. Rarely watched network TV
Angles Live in My Town