Do you remember the first time? (And other oddities)

[Steve Lampkins]

I must have seen films at the cinema when I was younger, but my earliest memory seems to be Young Einstein. Which was 1988, so I would've been about 7.

[Waking Life]

The first Film I remember seeing at the pictures was either The Land Before Time, or Short Circuit 2. Neither one a classic really, although the scene in SC2 in which Johnny 5 gets smashed up by the baddies scarred me for life.

The first film I (and my sister) saw without our folks would have probably been something like Batman Forever or Casper, when we were 12. Again, hardly classic stuff.

Odd, our lives were in an eerie parallel up to this point.  That's the exact same 4 films for me (depending on which ones came out first), although Batman Forever and Casper were with my brother, not sister.  Athough he is gay.

The mother dinosaur

Spoiler alert

dying

[close]

in The Land Before Time was my Bambi moment.

[Alberon]

Apparently I was taken to see Snow White when I was really young (it was a re-release before you all start) though I don't remember it. I do remember going to see some films like 'The Cat From Outer Space' and 'Pete's Dragon' which I seem to remember enjoying. I do remember sitting in the balcony at the Reading Odeon watching Star Wars and being absolutely gobsmacked by it.

I saw a lot of SF back then, I went to see Battlestar Galactica (the opening double length story of the original was released here as a movie) and I also saw 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was ten or so (I think), which is a real treat on the big screen. I'd already read the book and thought the film was great. Nowadays any film I want to see never gets to the mulitiplex. Ten screens and still not enough room to show 'Moon', for example!

I don't think I've ever managed having the cinema to myself and the only time I got in to a film underage was for Aliens, but that was only by a year so it barely counts. One memory I have is of a packed Reading Odeon (long gone of course) for the first Crocodile Dundee and the biggest laugh of the night was for the terrible Pearl and Dean style ad for local takeaway 'Ye Babam Ye Kebab'.

[Gulftastic]

I have vague memories as a very wee nipper, of my folks taking me along to see Gregorys Girl, ET and Chariots of Fire so my first film will have been one of those three. 

It might have two of those three. I saw Gregory's Girl and Chariots Of Fire as a double bill.

[Brundle-Fly]

I've worked it out that my first cinema experience was a reissue of Bambi circa 1971. First time on my own was probably Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster or maybe Herbie Rides Again? Like a previous poster, I too saw Diamonds Are Forever at a very early age. I remember being impressed by the friendship of hitmen, Mr Wint and Mr Kydd. 'Look mummy, the baddies are holding hands.'

Talking of hitmen, a college friend went to see a matinee show of Angel Heart instead of attending a lecture and ended up with a proper scary twist. It was only him and one other bloke in the auditorium of High Street Kensington Odeon. Five minutes before the end of the film, another man appeared from the shadows, walked down the aisle and shot this bloke in the face with a sawn off shot gun at point blank.  The killer on strolling out, nodded his head to my mate and said, 'Alright?' rather in the manner of "You ain't seen me, right" from The Fast Show.