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Do you remember the first movie you saw in a cinema?

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    Do you remember the first movie you saw in a cinema?

    I've thought long and hard, and I'm pretty sure it was the 70s remake of King Kong (1976), where I would have been about six-years-old.

    Looking at the info on IMDB, it doesn't seem very suitable for a small boy. What were my parents thinking?

    #2
    Mine was either Dumbo or 101 Dalmations. Can't remember which order I saw them in, but I'll give the award to Dumbo, as at least I stayed awake during that.

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      #3
      Mary Poppins in Plymouth in 1964

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        #4
        Superman, Palmers Green Odeon, 1979. It set in motion a lifelong ambivalence concerning superheroes in me which exists to this day.

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          #5
          Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
          I've thought long and hard, and I'm pretty sure it was the 70s remake of King Kong (1976), where I would have been about six-years-old.

          Looking at the info on IMDB, it doesn't seem very suitable for a small boy. What were my parents thinking?
          Exactly the same as my parents, except I would have been three or four. There's a lovable family anecdote of me getting a bit bored during a lovey-dovey bit and asking if they can change the channel.

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            #6
            It took a bit of Googling, but I reckon it was the April 1976 re-release of Bambi. My sisters definitely took me to that, because all these years later they continue to take the piss because I was upset when [SPOILER] Bambi's mam died.

            I remember going to see It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, which also came out in April 1976, but that was on a holiday in Scotland which would have been later in the year.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Sporting View Post
              Mary Poppins in Plymouth in 1964
              Yep, pretty sure it was Mary Poppins for me, as well - but more likely a year or so later. (It had several runs, IIRC.)

              I guess Julie Andrews did quite well out of us, since I also recall travelling to London (from Essex, with my mother and sister) to see The Sound of Music perhaps the same year. One abiding memory I hold is of being mesmerised by the ads on the underground as they zoomed past - the repetition of that particular film poster being uppermost.

              The first film where I had top choice was the (fairly abysmal) One Million Years BC, for which I'd have been maybe six years old. My mother kept teasing me about fancying Raquel Welch in her fur bikini (which I may well have done) - but primarily I just wanted to see Ray Harryhausen's dinosaurs squaring up to one another.

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                #8
                It might have been The Poseidon Adventure in 1973. I guess Newcastle. But I'm not really sure. Interesting that it was suitable for a 6-year-old, though.

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                  #9
                  It was between two for me, Aladdin and Jurassic Park.

                  I thought Aladdin came out in 1992, but it seems it was released in 1992 in the US but not until fully 53 weeks later in the UK, which means it definitely have been Jurassic Park in August 1993 around my 9th birthday.

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                    #10
                    Something Disney, I'm pretty sure, but i have no idea what. Sleeping Beauty? IMDB says there was a UK re-release at the end of 1971, and I have the feeling it might have been that. I have no recollection of it (I mean then), though there is some family story about how much I was terrified by the evil witch.

                    The first going to the cinema experience I genuinely remember (film, cinema, experience in general) was Star Wars.

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                      #11
                      Do drive-ins count?

                      If so, the original Disney Winnie the Pooh.

                      If not, the original Disney Jungle Book a few years later.

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                        #12
                        I must have seen Dumbo at the pictures. But I don't recall. Also the Aristocats. And 101 Dalmatians. And maybe a Winnie the Pooh?

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                          #13
                          I think it was probably The Aristocats some time in 1971. We queued round three sides of Maidenhead Flea Pit. I did check whether it might have been Battle of Britain but I can’t believe Dad would have taken me to that aged 5. So that must have been a re-release, as were Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. Those are the other earliest cinema memories but the original releases were too early for me. Mum and Dad separated in 1970 and I can imagine Dad taking us to those sans Mum.

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                            #14
                            Hmmm, just seeing UA mentioning The Jungle Book...

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                              #15
                              Mine was Star Wars. Actually the last thing I saw at the cinema, too (well, Episode 9).

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                                #16
                                I'm sure it wasn't the first movie I saw, but the first I remember seeing was On Any Sunday, the Bruce Brown motorcycling documentary. Probably around '74 or '75.

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                                  #17
                                  If we've done this before, I think I would have said 1981's version of the Lone Ranger. It is certainly the one I remember seeing at the "movie theater" - and I can basically even remember which theater (as it was later turned into a dollar 2nd run cinema that I went to multiple times a few years later), even if I don't remember the movie itself at all. Think I had some toys and a mask too. A five-year-old in Texas in the summer who still liked cowboys.

                                  I can't remember any movies that would have been before that, and only vague guesses at movies that would have been near that release date afterwards. My dad was a pretty early adopter of VHS and almost every movie of the early 80s we ended up having on tape pretty quickly, so they all became a blur between home and theater.

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                                    #18
                                    I was sure it was Dumbo, taken by the mum of a friend of mine because her daughter wanted to see it. But UK release dates of Dumbo suggests that it was only out in the UK 2 years after Star Wars was released. And I feel like I saw Star Wars when it first came out. But maybe that hung around in the cinemas for a long time. It was definitely one of those two.

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                                      #19
                                      It might have been Pete's Dragon. I'd have been only 2 and a half, but I do have definite memories of it (and boredom).
                                      Last edited by Lang Spoon; 23-03-2021, 12:33.

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                                        #20
                                        Star Wars was the first movie I distinctly remember making a plan with a mate to go see. Before that I just went to whatever my parents took me to.

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                                          #21
                                          I'm sure I went to plenty of kids films with my mother before hand, but the first film I went with a mate to was Rocky III, I think at the Odeon in Lincoln, though it may have been the ABC.

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                                            #22
                                            Would have been a matinee of Back To The Future in late 1988/early 1989, I think. The sequels were in production so my local cinema put on special Saurday morning showings to try and build anticipation for them. I think it might have been a special child-friendly edit as well - no "you're gonna see some serious shit" to be heard.

                                            Six-year-old me would have remembered that if they'd left it in.

                                            And no, if definitely wasn't Mac & Me. No, of course not. No, no, no. Non. Nein. Nee. Nahin. Nyet. Nao. Bu shi. Ochi. Iie.

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                                              #23
                                              The first film that I can remember going to see is Star Wars when I was seven. There may have been something less exciting before that though.

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                                                #24
                                                "The Tales of Beatrix Potter", Dovercourt 1972, I was 5

                                                My mum took us in the expectation it would be a cartoon - it was a live action ballet. One of my strongest early memories is crying with boredom and frustration at having to sit through this

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
                                                  It might have been Pete's Dragon. I'd have been only 2 and a half, but I do have definite memories of it (and boredom).
                                                  I have distinct memories of my older cousin and her mate taking me to see that, also getting bought one of those Uncle Remus transfer sets on the same trip and being impressed that the mate had stripey toothpaste in her bathroom.

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