First Time at The Pictures

[Rob McCow]

Can you remember the first time you went to the cinema to see a movie?

I can remember a couple of films that I went to see as a kid, but I'd be hard placed to say which was first. I suspect that it was He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of The Sword



This came out in 1985. I'd have been six years old, which seems about right. It was a vitally important film, I was a big fan of He-Man as a kid and to see a full length movie was hugely exciting. The only disappointment was that it set up She-Ra, which my sister liked and therefore I hated with a passion.

My parents may have taken me to see Return of The Jedi, which came out in 1983 and surely had quite a long run in the cinema. The first film I can remember seeing though is the He-Man and She-Ra crossover classic!

[SiHart]

The first film I saw at the cinema was a re-release of Snow White, probably sometime in the summer of 1980. It may even have been the day i got my first copy of DWM. We went to what seemed like a huge cinema in Bristol (probably wasn't!) with gold carpet and seats to see it and had fruit pastilles!

Other than that I can't remember a thing about it!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Batman in 1990 for Mickey Fishers birthday.

Si. :mobile

[Llordllama]

Re-release of Bambi sometime in the early 70s. I found it terrifying - all these talking animals and the like. And no weasels.

[Rob McCow]

I remember seeing Batman in 1990 too at the old Watford cinema. It was the first '12' film, but my friends and I were all 11. I remember my Mum encouraging us all to pretend we were older!

Re-release of Bambi sometime in the early 70s. I found it terrifying - all these talking animals and the like.

It think that sort of thing happens a lot, with parents taking their kids to the cinema for the first time only for the kids to be terrified!

[Paul Monk]

My first cinema trips were to see Snow White, Watership Down and Star Wars. I remember nothing about them! The first one I remember is Star Trek the Motion Picture. This must have been 1978 or 1979 (Our cinema was very slow getting films in). The main things I remember is my dad falling asleep (he was the one who wanted to see it) and Dr McCoy having a beard. I think the rest of the film was too dull or confusing for a 4/5year to work out.

[Dino]

My Mum took me to Star Wars 1977 when I was four. Do I win the thread?

[Rob McCow]

Yes! First prize is 450kg of Wookie droppings.

Can you remember anything about going to see the film?

[Jon Masters]

Apparently the first film I saw at the pictures was The Jungle Book, although I don't remember the occasion.

The first memory I have of seeing a film at the cinema was in 1973 - a double bill of Digby the Biggest Dog in the World, followed by Disney's Robin Hood.
Apparently I cried so much at the end of the first film, I missed the first 10 minutes of the second.

(ah, the age of double bills as a routine at the cinema - almost as long ago as the Wurlitzer coming up through the floor to play the incidental music )

[Simon R]

I'm 95% sure my first film at the cinema was the giant of motion pictures classics that is...

Care Bears the Movie.

A quick wiki shows it was released in 1985 so I'd have been 4 ish. I remember it being shown with a Strawberry Shortcake b-movie which wiki also confirms.

We went with our neighbour Clare and presumably her parent and it was at the Odeon in Peterborough which would close a few years later, sit empty for a decade, reopen as a fancy cinema where I'd see Shrek and Men In Black 2 and possibly Pearl Necklace Harbour, then get reinvented as music/comedy venue where we'd see Belinda Carlisle and then close in 2009 due to a not at all suspicious fire.

Actually it might have been the other cinema accross the road that was closed down in 1987 and eventually reopened as various trendy bars.

My first trip to a multi-plex was the brand new Showcase cinema to see Roger Rabbit in 1988 and I liked it muchly. I've not seen it since though.

[Stephen Morgan]

I remember my mother taking me to see the first Bond film Dr. No in 1962, can't recall anything earlier than that, and I don't recall anything about going to the cinema, which was later turned into a Mecca for bingo players.
later films included some of the biggest films of the sixties, Zulu, Jason and the Argonauts, the Peter Cushing Dr. Who's, the Thunderbirds films, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins (the first time I was allowed to go on my own, I was ten).

[Andrew Curnow]

Mine was either Disney's Robin Hood, or Jason & The Argonauts - I can't remember the former, but can dimly remember the latter.

My first real 'properly remembered' trip to the cinema was to see Star Wars in 1977 - when the Pearl & Dean logo came up, with its lettering racing towards the screen against a spacey background, accompanied by stirring music, I assumed that was the start of the film...

When did the idea of showing a 'short' film before the main picture stop? I can remember sitting through such odd delights as the guy from Dick Barton playing in Gawain and the Green Knight before some film or other - in fact, now I think about it, we went to the cinema a heck of a lot as kids - all the Star Wars films, Superman 1 & 2, Raiders, The Rescuers, Watership Down, The Cat from Outer Space... ah, those were the days!!

[Simon R]

I went a lot as an older child when we went to stay with my nan in Grantham which still had intervals during the films! We saw some right lost old shit: Power Rangers, Baby's Day Out, Beethoven and I can't remember what else.

[stuartdg]

ET in 1984 I think....

[SiHart]

I went a lot as an older child when we went to stay with my nan in Grantham which still had intervals during the films!

They still had intervals when i saw a Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets there with Stu in 2002!

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I'm 95% sure my first film at the cinema was the giant of motion pictures classics that is...
Care Bears the Movie.

No need to feel ashamed, I'm sure that my parents took my sister and I to see that film while we were on holiday in Folkstone. It really wasn't for me though, I spent most of the movie rooting for the villain!

Pull your shirt up for a big Care Bears' Stare (and Care Bear Cousins' Stare) in celebration!

I remember my mother taking me to see the first Bond film Dr. No in 1962

Sorry, but Don't tell me you saw all the Bond films at the cinema, Stephen?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

All Creatures Great And Small the movie ...

[Stephen Morgan]

Sorry, but Don't tell me you saw all the Bond films at the cinema, Stephen?

Actually, while I'm thinking about it, yes. My mother had, and still does have, a great love for the Bond films, so, yes, she took me to see all the Connery ones.
As for the Moore ones, I have a very fond memory of a date with a girl I took to see The Man With the Golden Gun.

[Alex]

I'm not 100% certain, I was told ages ago by Mum that it was The Slipper and The Rose, but when I mentioned it recently she claimed that wasn't the case, and that it was Bambi. That said, her memory isn't what it once was...

The first film I remember going to see was Flash Gordon at the Sutton Odeon with my Grandfather, which I loved to pieces, though I did see Star Wars when I was very young too. On the way home I persuaded my Mum to buy me a sci-fi mag, though due to the large segment on Alien (along with way too many disturbing pictures) I later wish she hadn't.

[MacNimon]

My earliest memory is of seeing a James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. I remember that it was standing room only and my dad stood behind me balancing me while I sat on a wall (or else I was simply too small too see it from a seat and he took me to the back!). I'd have thought that I would have been too young to wtch a James Bond film at that age but I can remember seeing the opening scene and the scene where the volcano opens quite clearly.

[brandynigma]

The Land Before Time, followed by nagging my parents to order enough pizza for all six of the vinyl hand puppets.

Never bothered with the sequels.

[SiHart]

That's probably for the best as there probably up to Land Before Time 26 by now.

Si xx

[shada pavlova]

I remember seeing A Bug's Life at the old Beau Nah in Bath, must have been a birthday many moons ago. Topping film, or so I thought at the time.

Now I think it's mediocre/a bit crap and my least favourite Disney/Pixar film.

What's better than that, though, is seeing both Thunderbirds films back-to-back on the Disney Channel. They'd never get away with it nowadays though.

[Jeff]

I know my Mom took us to see Bambi at some point but I don't remember when... If I were to hazard a guess, I'd guess that Superman was my first film, and that we probably saw it in 1979 when I was three... my brother would not yet have been one year old though which I would think would make it unlikely unless someone watched him...

[Darren]

I'm pretty sure it was Superman 2. And after that, I think it was The Empire Strikes Back.
I loved the old Pearl & Dean advertising (which I was delighted to find they still use when I visited an independant cinema recently), and the coloured bubbles they ran on the screen before the lights went down. Now it's just a single colour. Boring.