Films that left you with a sense of wonder and awe

[Worf]

If you love film as I do, there've been times you've left the theatre with a sense of awe and wonder. That feeling that you've just witnessed something "extraordinary". For some it was "Star Wars', for others "CE3K", for others still "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad". This doesn't have to be limited to "Sci Fi" or "Fantasy". For some "Titanic" filled the bill, for others "How the West was Won". What movie or movies left you dumbstruck upon leaving?

Worf

 

[LizzieMaine]

Abel Gance's "Napoleon." The epic of all epics, and the most memorable moviegoing experience of my life.

 

[Edward]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original, not remake), Watchmen (still the only film I have ever seen in the cinema three times within one week), Fight Club, Gran Torino. There are many others I prefer to some of these, but little that has left me with the same sense of having had a real experience.

 

[Flicka]

Pan's Labyrinth left me gob-smacked. In the adventure/fantasy genre, the LotR-films completely wowed me, as did The Matrix.

 

[DrDialtone]

There are SO MANY!!! Alien at a theater in Times Square (Hitchcock in Space), the silent 1929 Phantom of the Opera with full Wurlitzer accompaniment at the Paramount deco movie palace, Ran at the (alas now gone) Dream Theater in Monterey, The King of Masks, Cinema Paradiso, and as a young lad, Thunderball. The opening credits changed my life.The list goes on and on and on...

 

[scottyrocks]

I was 15 when I saw Jaws, 17 when I saw Star Wars, and 21 when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. Each time I had seen something completely different from anything I had seen previously. All three kept me on the edge of my seat and resulted in me being a different person when I left the theater.

 

[Edward]

I loved Return of the Jedi when I saw it in the cinema in 1983 - my ninth birthday outing. We had to go a week later as Superman III proved so popular the local one-screen kept it a week longer.... Can't abide it now, but that's life. Seeing the other two on the big screen when the "Special" Editions came round I was not so moved. That's when the terminal rot set in for me and Star Wars. [huh]

Saw Return of the King in the Royal Albert Hall a couple of years ago - music all stripped out of the film, and played live by full orchestra and choirs. That was outstanding, and really emphasised just how much the score brought to the production.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
Lawrence of Arabia, on the big screen at a 1924 movie theater. EPIC.

 

[Worf]

Abel Gance's "Napoleon." The epic of all epics, and the most memorable moviegoing experience of my life.

I've never seen it on the big screen. The VHS copy I saw was "good". I plan on seeing the "fully restored" 5 hour extravaganza or buying it... whichever comes first.

Worf

 

[AmateisGal]

Casino Royale with Daniel Craig.

 

[jlee562]

For the 25th anniversary of "Back to the Future" they did some screenings of the restored version, and I went with one of my friends. Although I've seen the movie countless times, nothing compares to seeing it in a theater. I was really struck at how well that movie is made. The writing is really pitch perfect, the characters are great, it's funny, it's entertaining, and I still want a DeLorean! Likewise, when I got to see Raiders of the Lost Ark at the beautiful Castro Theatre here in S.F., I got a whole new appreciation for that one.

Children of Men is another movie which really struck me, particularly the long one camera shot in the climax of the film.

More recently, Hugo. It wasn't a particularly deep story, and I still think 3D is mostly a gimmick, but for what it was, I think it was an extremely well put together film.

The last two I would say are John Ford's The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I took a class on Westerns when I was in film school, and both of those movies left me with a "they don't make 'em like they used to" kind of vibe.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Casino Royale with Daniel Craig.

Because of ... Daniel Craig.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If I had to name the one film I've seen that affected me most emotionally it'd have to be Griffith's "Broken Blossoms." I've seen this film twice in my life: once when I was about eight years old on the old PBS "Silent Years" series, and once in another PBS broadcast when I was about twenty-five. I have never forgotten a single moment of it -- it's not a large film or an epic film or a supercolossal megaproduction, but it's the most wrenching story and wrenching production I've ever seen.

I don't know when or if I'll ever see it again, but I don't really need to. I'll never forget it.

 

[Stearmen]

On Any Sunday

On Any Sunday! If I wasn't hooked on motorcycles before, I certainly was after this movie. I saw it at the good old fashioned movie theater from the 20s back then. Motorcycles helped to keep me out of trouble, I was always broke from buying another one, so I couldn't aford to get in trouble! And yes, Steve was the real deal when it came to motorcycles! [video=youtube;1qODJEH1JhE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qODJEH1JhE[/video]

 

[HoosierDaddy]

When I was a young lad('50s)..it had to be 'Old Yeller' at the old style movie theater with balconies...stage and stars in the ceiling. Then there was a movie called 'So Dear To My Heart'...that was.

 

[AmateisGal]

Because of ... Daniel Craig.

LOL. Partly. But as a huge James Bond fan (I used to watch the movies on TV with my dad growing up), I was truly impressed with the direction they took with the character.

 

[DNO]

Abel Gance's "Napoleon." The epic of all epics, and the most memorable moviegoing experience of my life.

I saw Napoleon back in 1980 or so...full orchestra, split screen, coloured film (the tricolour split screen effect). Pretty spectacular and truly film as an art form.

It was Peter Weir's Gallipoli, however, that left me gobsmacked, as they say. Left the theatre quite speechless.

 

[W-D Forties]

Reservoir Dogs - for the sheer energy and verve of it. Aliens, for the same reason.

 

[Edward]

Reservoir Dogs - for the sheer energy and verve of it. Aliens, for the same reason.

I wish I'd seen Dogs on the big screen. Wonderfully intense film. I also considered it a great exploration of male archetypes, and how heterosexual males interrelate (Camille Paglia once commented that it was significant that the only gay character is the last one left standing, though I think she makes rather too big a leap to assume Mr Pink is gay based on a single throwaway comment in an early scene).

 

[katiesparkles]

Pans Labyrinth and The Prestige for sure... and the first time I ever watched Stand by Me, think I was around 10 or 11 (so way too young, but my parents never paid attention to what was on the TV... haha).

Oh, and Lords of Dog Town. Awesome movie, but such a bummer at the same time.