Blockbusters That You Saw In The Flicks

[Gaz]

The true beauty of a blockbuster is that it doesn't have to be a brilliant film. IMO it should have lots of action, memorable set pieces, corny one-liners, an implausible love interest and a rousing soundtrack.

Pick your top five blockbusters here. The catch - you must have seen the original release at the cinema. Re-releases don't count. Blockbusters that you saw in your living room a few years after they were released don't count.

1) Jurassic Park (1993)

Brilliant memories of being taken by my old man to see this when I was 10 years old and the queue from the Cannon cinema in Falkirk around two corners to the job centre. I'm sure we were standing in that queue for over an hour. To this day remains one of my favourite ever films, if not my favourite.

2) Independence Day (1996)

I can still remember the tagline from the trailer: "On July 2nd, they arrive. On July 3rd, they attack. And July 4th is Independence Day." Cliched as hell, a ludicrous plot device of being able to hack an alien mothership from a laptop computer. But... that speech! The feels!

3) The Return Of The King (2003)

I'm a bit of a LOTR fanboy. Read them countless times. Read The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Bilbo's Last Song and a good chunk of Chris Tolkien's History of Middle Earth. I adored the first two films and really went into this one thinking there's no way this could match it. How wrong I was. I think there are about a dozen moments in this film where I was close to breaking down, and one where I actually did. Show me a person who says they didn't cry when Aragorn says "my friends... you bow to no-one" at the top of Minas Tirith and I'll show you a FUCKING LIAR.

4) The Dark Knight (2008)

Everything that's great about Batman and superhero movies combined. The best cinematic villain since Darth Vader, stunning action sequences, Christian Bale showing that he's the best actor to have pulled on the cape. Why so serious?

5) Spider-Man (2002)

The rebooted version with Andrew Garfield is arguably superior to this one. In fact, so's Spider-Man 2. But this was the first film time I can remember watching a superhero film and really, really thinking I was watching a superhero fighting a supervillain. For that reason alone it deserves its place in my Top 5.

[Cardinal Richelieu]

Titanic.

With two guys.

In fairness, I was young and impressionable.

Not sure which bit was more awkward. Trying to hide yer stauner at the chebs oot bit or yer tears at the sad bit.

[tamthebam]

Rambo First Blood Part II.

3 of us went, Dougal Sharp got us in as he was 15 and much taller.

Saw ET in the flicks as well when it came out. And Ghostbusters.

Bizarrely my first flicks experience was being taken along to The Life Of Brian when I was about 7. Folks obviously couldn't get a baby sitter so had to take me. I had not a fucking scooby why was going on.

Don't remember Mr Sharp being that tall and how come it never worked for me...?! actually me and a mate got into Highlander, a 15 rated movie, when we were 14 He almost stuffed our chances up by asking for a kids' ticket but the bored teenager on the ABC ticket desk just let us in anyway..

In no particular order

1) Master and Commander. I think this was the first film I saw in surround sound and I was impressed by the battle scene- as if the French were firing on you from the side of the cinema

2) Highland (as above). Should have stuck to the phrase "there can be only one" as the sequels were mince...

3) Dredd. Saw it again last week and my jaw still drops when Ma-Ma blows the block to drokk with the heavy artillery

4) Terminator 2.

5) Titanic. Went with the ex. We both laughed when Kate pushed Leo off the raft cos he'd froze to death...

[BFTD]

In hindsight, being single in 1997 was a blessed relief, considering how many grown men were dragged along to see that Titanic shite. The best blowjob in the world couldn't compensate for that. And the only reason I felt like crying during Return of the King was because I'd sat through nine interminable hours on the promise that "it gets better, honest", only to find that it was all LIES, DAMNED LIES!!!

Blockbusters are generally a bit shite, TBH. Other than Ghostbusters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and possibly The Empire Strikes Back, I can't really think of much else that I was that keen on. And they were all when I was a tot. Jaws would be #1 if I hadn't been a glint in the milkman's eye at the time. Closest I got was watching Jaws 3D and The Revenge in the cinema, which is like winning the last winner's turd in the meat raffle.

[tinkerbelle]

Star Wars.

Still the only one of the entire series that I have ever seen.

The Deer Hunter.

My eyes never left the screen once. I refuse to watch it again in order to keep my memories of it in a positive light.

The Warriors.

Great film. Utter carnage afterwards. Whole audience thought they were hard b*****ds outside the cinema.

Carrie.(original)

Got such a fright at the end that I threw myself over the seat in front of me.

Grease.

Only time I ever saw an entire cinema out their seats, dancing.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

_{Krakatoa, East of Java. Was taken to see this when I was four(!), on a family holiday in London - can't remember a damn thing about the film, but I'll never forget the massive programme which they were selling, as if this was a theatre propduction and not a movie.}

_{Live and let Die - Old man got us tickets to see this at the premiere in Leicester Square - far too young to fully appreciate the occasion, but loved the movie. Back when Bond (played by whoever) meant more than just another flashbang wallop plot-light action movie.}

_{Towering Inferno - Chosen as the movie to celebrate the grand re-opening of Kilmarnock's ABC after a major fire. Oh, how we laughed.}

_{The Poseidon Adventure - as with Towering Inferno, the plot was secondary to playing "what do i remember him/her from".}

_{A Bridge Too Far - absolutely star-packed war movie, the first one I'd seen where the good guys didn't get the result at the end.}

[WhiteRoseKillie]

Star Wars.

Still the only one of the entire series that I have ever seen.

The Deer Hunter.

My eyes never left the screen once. I refuse to watch it again in order to keep my memories of it in a positive light.

The Warriors.

Great film. Utter carnage afterwards. Whole audience thought they were hard b*****ds outside the cinema.

Carrie.(original)

Got such a fright at the end that I threw myself over the seat in front of me.

Grease.

Only time I ever saw an entire cinema out their seats, dancing.

I re-watched this recently, and it is just as good as first time around, if not better as you watch some Hollywood heavyweights at an early stage of their careers. Total contrast with Apocalypse now, which (IMHO) has aged very badly.

[PrestersKTID]

Star Wars Episode 1 phantom menace.- Having watched the original series a tonne as a kid the hype for this film was immense. Loved it at the time but have since realised how pants it was.

Lord of the rings the return of the king - Absolutely fantastic piece of film. Big LOTR fan and it didn't disappoint. Isn't the (joint) record holder for academy awards for nothing.

Avengers Assemble - Having watched iron man, captain america and thor i was really psyched to go see this and it was awesome. Music was great, love a series with a theme tune.

Dark Knight Rises - Heard banes voice and knew it was gonna be great. Good twist aswell which i didnt see coming.

Django Unchained - Loved Inglorious Basterds at the cinema so was really looking forward to Django. Christoph Waltz is fantastic again and jamie fox was great as the lead character. Typical Tarantino film with typical mix of guts gore, drama and comedy.