Your most "visceral" experience at a movie theater.

There are probably others, but Empire Strikes Back is the one that immediately springs to mind, both because it was the first time I ever went to a movie theater, and also (of course) because it was Empire and absolutely gobsmacked my 7-year old self: AT-AT walkers, tauntaun guts, Bespin, bounty hunters, tauntaun guts, Vader vs blasters, the "BIG REVEAL" (which I won't mention here, because spoilers), and tauntaun guts.



(To this day, I'm still haunted by those tauntaun guts. Visceral experiences indeed.)
 

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Return of the Jedi was pretty huge for me as a kid. That's the one I was old enough to remember waiting in the huge line in the theater for. I understand my dad took me to the first two, but I was too little to remember it now.

Dioltach said:
The Fellowship of the Ring. A stunning movie in its own right, but I'd finally got round to watch the Ralph Bakshi version just the day before. After years of anticipation, my hopes were at their lowest ebb. Right up until the screen went black, and Cate Blanchett's voice-over began. By the first minute I was drooling in my seat.
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This might be mine. I had seen the Bakshi and Rankin-Bass versions many times and liked them despite being conscious of their many flaws. But right from her voice and Howard Shore's incredible swelling score I was enchanted. The Jackson ones also have their issues, but they did so well, and used (and re-used, and re-purposed) so much of Tolkien's wonderful text.
 

I think Reservoir Dogs might be it for me. I was about 18 when it came out, and the ear scene just felt shockingly powerful. The twists and unfolding structure were a revelation, and just the back and forth dialogue and pop culture references were mind blowing in a way that would just be impossible for anyone seeing it fresh now to comprehend.
 

soviet said:
I think Reservoir Dogs might be it for me. I was about 18 when it came out, and the ear scene just felt shockingly powerful. The twists and unfolding structure were a revelation, and just the back and forth dialogue and pop culture references were mind blowing in a way that would just be impossible for anyone seeing it fresh now to comprehend.
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Early QT movies had scenes that hit me too, I just was watching on VHS so I didnt mention them. The accidental OD in PF was unreal, my heart was pounding from that. RD had me laughing for days.
 

My most memorable movie experience as a kid was seeing Star Wars when it first hit theaters in the 70’s. I was totally blown away. As an adult it was the scene in total recall when Arnold tells Hauser I the video that it was all a set up. He was duped and bad Arnold wanted his body back. It was the perfect twist and I was in shock. I could not imagine myself standing next to the main villain of a campaign and informing my PC that he was in unwitting dupe. I loved Total Recall for that reason. Great movie
 

soviet said:
I think Reservoir Dogs might be it for me. I was about 18 when it came out, and the ear scene just felt shockingly powerful. The twists and unfolding structure were a revelation, and just the back and forth dialogue and pop culture references were mind blowing in a way that would just be impossible for anyone seeing it fresh now to comprehend.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I didn't see this one in the theater, but it had a big impact when I saw it on video. I did learn about it from a guy in my class who saw it in the theater. I also didn't see Pulp Fiction till it came out on video either.

But yeah, I remember the pop culture stuff, and also the way dialogue was given room to breathe. I remember many movies in the 80s being almost overly concise with dialogue. Seeing Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction for the first time, while living in that era, had such an impact. Also those movies led to a pretty big shift in film in general in the 90s
 

When I was about six years old the popcorn machine caught on fire and the theater had to be evacuated. I still remember the smell, and burnt popcorn still brings it back. Proust was correct, smell memories are the strongest. I forget what Disney movie the other kids and I were watching.
 

Watching Event Horizon in the theater. It’s a campy and kinda gnarly horror sci-fi movie. The movie’s going along, the audience is into it, and the horror is popping. There’s like a 5-10 minute sequence in there where it’s nothing but grotesque horror after grotesque horror. No release or relenting. Good horror is made better with tension and release that slowly builds over time. This bit was in the back half of the movie so tension was already high and this bit was just nasty after nasty after nasty. In that moment it turned the corner for me. Instead of cringing at each new spray of blood I couldn’t help but laugh. It went from horror to comedy in a snap. Just so relentlessly nasty it was hilarious. I was the only one laughing and I seem to have spoiled the movie for a few other people.
 
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wizard71 said:
My most memorable movie experience as a kid was seeing Star Wars when it first hit theaters in the 70’s. I was totally blown away. As an adult it was the scene in total recall when Arnold tells Hauser I the video that it was all a set up. He was duped and bad Arnold wanted his body back. It was the perfect twist and I was in shock. I could not imagine myself standing next to the main villain of a campaign and informing my PC that he was in unwitting dupe. I loved Total Recall for that reason. Great movie
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That does remind me, seeing Robocop in the Theater was a pretty big deal. I feel like I walked into the theatre and came out a different person
 


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