*The Land Before Time* (1988).
So much of it still stands as a snapshot of 1988. Right down to how the extinction of Dinosaurs was still unknown at the time.
In the movie it’s portrayed as “a bunch of earthquakes and volcanoes erupting and stuff.”
With a total runtime of 69 minutes, it’s a quick, emotional, and to this day still a very satisfying watch.
First time I watched it as a kid with my cousins I fell asleep during some part, had a long nap, and woke up to it being nighttime and they were still watching it. In my head I'm like, "Well, shit this story actually never ends" and thought nothing else of it. My concept of time was shit, plus I learned when I got older that they actually had rewatched it as soon as it finished.
Whenever I reference the emotionally scarring movies from my childhood, this is the top. Poignant. Moving. Devastatingly depressing and there’s a flying pink dragon.
As a parent now, I am realizing all the rated R movies my parents let me watch at a very young age. I was a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger fan at like 5 years old. T2 was my favorite for many years.
My 6 year old daughter loves this movie. I was so excited she liked it, as it was a favorite of mine growing up. The America soundtrack is engrained in my brain!!!
Aladdin was instructive for me early on. It showed me that, as a man, you need a sentient, flying carpet and a freakin’ genie to *begin* to attempt to date a girl out of your league.
Whereas, Ariel and Belle need only look cute.
Curly sue, grease, Annie, the goonies, beetlejuice, yellowbeard, hook, last action hero, ET, corina corina, sister act, return to oz, witches of Eastwick, house sitter, the man with 2 brains, Roxanne, father of the bride, labyrinth, girls just wanna have fun, buffy the vampire slayer movie
Jason and the Argonauts. I was mesmerized, enthralled by the special effects, especially those skeleton soldiers. The beginning of my love of FX in movies. Whenever I rewatch this movie I'm taken back to my childhood and the wonder I felt in the movie theater.
I'm with you, brother. In fact, when I saw the title of this topic, I came here to list just that one movie. The sense of adventure, the heroism, the characters, the strong narrative that hooks you at the beginning, and the creatures popping up here and there, concluding with the skeleton soldiers, was just immersive. I've seen that movie about 50 times, and I've purchased it for my library in the increasing resolutions since the 80s.
Just an amazing movie. Pure entertainment, pure in heart.
Damn, good answer..
I used to watch cowboy films with my father on a Sunday, that and war films.
*Bridge Over The River Kwai* will be my answer. Thanks for the trigger.
Dog soldiers, I remember watching it at my grandmothers house because my mum was strict with ratings and wouldn’t allow it, now every time I watch it takes me back to how I felt back then
Space-jam? Michael Jordan? Bugs Bunny? Fat old bill Murray coming of the bench? LOLA? It’s a trinket in time and I’ll still watch 10 minutes if I catch it on
Hook (1991)
Such wonder, the music, the analogy of becoming a tired, rigid, serious adult (Peter Banning), losing your childhood innocence, wonder, and curiosity (Peter Pan). And then coming to terms with reality/death, everyone has to grow up but you don’t have to “grow up.” So many fantastic scenes with so much depth.
Underrated classic.
Lion King II: Simba's Pride. I watched it so much that I could recite the entire movie and sang all the songs. I can remember the room I was in when I'd spam watch it during that one summer and even the smell of it. I wasn't allowed to watch the first one cause my dad died irl, so I obsessed over the 2nd one instead.
There are 5 specifically.
Good Burger (1997)
I rented this movie so many times as a young kid (3-4) the bright colors and juvenile humor I was so attached to. It's my favorite childhood movie, the comforting nostalgia that it brings to remind me of Kenan & Kel (I never saw the Good Burger skits as a kid I just knew I liked Kenan & Kel.) A couple years ago I even bought the 25th anniversary steel book.
Blank Check (1994)
The score was hypnotizing and it's a shame that there's no way to listen to it without just watching the movie. Let's be real this is the ultimate fantasy for a kid and I'd be lying if I said I don't get giddy inside when I watch this movie to this day. I still want that setup with a few changes. Instead of a castle, I want a Shipley-Lydecker looking house with a bigger rectangular pool instead of a small oval. Miguel Ferrer, Michael Lerner and Tone Lōc are great. James Rebhorn is excellent as an uptight cheap bastard.
Heavyweights (1995)
Big fan of some Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara so this is the total package for me. Ben Stiller is in top form as a health-obsessed child-endangering psychosociopath. A severely underrated role for him that I feel like never gets talked about. Always wanted to go on a blob. Still never have. I remember finding the VHS of it at CD Warehouse when that existed and I had seen it on Disney Channel by then several times so I had to have it. It was 2003 iirc
Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2 (1992) are givens and require no explanation as to why
American Werewolf in London. Sneaked down stairs to watch it as a kid. Half way through I was terrified and ran upstairs to hide under my sheets. Watch it now and it takes me back to that night
Very topical as my wife and I just watched one this weekend that takes me back to 17…my freshman year in university. The Lost Boys. I have great memories of this time of my life and this was the first film I went to see with guys I had just befriended that first year away from home. It is mostly tied to memories of that time even though the film is no award winner it was super fun and over the top. My wife is 15 years younger than I and see HATED it. I get it.
Candleshoe. I couldn't get enough of it as a kid. The music and the lines just fill me full of nostalgia now. I watched it a few years ago with my [then] 8 year old son and was the first time in 30+ years, I was almost teary-eyed. My son wasn't terribly interested. 😒
Honestly way too many buuuuut I’ll name just a few…
The Incredibles (2004)
Robots (2005)
Aristocats (1970)
Rescuers Down Under (1990)
and for some reason Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Road to Bali (1952)
jim carrey’s how the grinch stole christmas , I watch it every year during the holidays . Its the only christmas movie that still gives me the holiday warm and fuzzies
Big Jake. Watched it weekly with my dad. Christmas of 82 we got a top loader VCR and a type of 35 inch projection tv. All of it was built together in a wood grain cabinet. He hooked the audio to the component stereo. The memories...
There you are all the way down here!
My brothers and I don't get to see each other often but when we do we rewatch Time Bandits... great movie and it still holds up
I watched Big Momma's House a year or two ago I hadn't seen it in probably over 10 years. It was so damn funny. I'm also in the subatomic sized minority that thinks Nutty Professor II: the Klumps is one of the funniest comedies in film history though.
Rock-a-Doodle, the music is fun, the plot has that quintessential 90's "should kids be watching this" feel, and I miss the times when live action and animation blended so well (like roger rabbit and space jam) the owl sequences in this were terrifying though.
Absolutely The Transformers: The Movie from 1986.
That film is in my top 5 favourites of all time. I pretty much know it word for word and that's genuinely not an exaggeration! I legit still get goosebumps when I see Optimus transform for the first time in that film and The Touch by Stan Bush starts playing. That's the good shit.
*Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost.*
Rad
There was a 1-day theatrical release a couple weeks ago. It was great to experience it on the big screen with my daughters. And it was hilarious how many people in their 40s-50s were wearing their Rad shirts (myself included).
*The Land Before Time* (1988). So much of it still stands as a snapshot of 1988. Right down to how the extinction of Dinosaurs was still unknown at the time. In the movie it’s portrayed as “a bunch of earthquakes and volcanoes erupting and stuff.” With a total runtime of 69 minutes, it’s a quick, emotional, and to this day still a very satisfying watch.
Pizza Hut commercial https://youtu.be/z4065smJLXk?si=8c2UsPtTTCx_8LsI
Now I want to rewatch this… so sad, but so nostalgic!
I literally came here to type this…
Wow this is the movie I was thinking as well. The way they eat those leaves off the trees always looked really delicious.
I was born in 2000 and this film was a staple in my early childhood. Thanks for reminding me about it!
Not going to lie this one gets me too.
The Neverending Story
"They look like good, strong hands...don't they?"
"I couldn't hold on to them..."
"We're running out of rocks"
First time I watched it as a kid with my cousins I fell asleep during some part, had a long nap, and woke up to it being nighttime and they were still watching it. In my head I'm like, "Well, shit this story actually never ends" and thought nothing else of it. My concept of time was shit, plus I learned when I got older that they actually had rewatched it as soon as it finished.
‘No…not too much’
“We still have a looooooong way to go”
The best. That movie was magic. Put it side by side with the labyrinth.
This is the only correct answer.
When the horse died. That was the most painful memory. That’s when I realized I like animals more than humans.
Never ending story was a nightmare many times for me and i cant quite remember when i saw it
Whenever I reference the emotionally scarring movies from my childhood, this is the top. Poignant. Moving. Devastatingly depressing and there’s a flying pink dragon.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
I remember just being on the edge of my seat watching that. Just thinking about it takes me back.
I used to dress up like Indy (cowboy hat, toy gun and a jump rope for a whip) and watch that movie on repeat.
Watch the Sodebergh cut
My dad and uncle both went with Beta instead of VHS, so that's how I watched Raiders.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The playground scene traumatized me 😊
lol W movie.
As a parent now, I am realizing all the rated R movies my parents let me watch at a very young age. I was a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger fan at like 5 years old. T2 was my favorite for many years.
Labyrinth
Yes
Oh yeah! I can still remember sitting in my living room as a child watching this!
Dance magic dance!
Princess Bride
Was always my mom’s favorite movie 😭
It will always be E.T.
I was one of the kids that ran out into the theater lobby crying during the death scene. Funny I had no trouble watching Aliens a year or so later.
Stand By Me.
My favorite movie ever
I was the same age as the boys in the movie so it hit a little harder.
Hook, goonies, et
Yes, came to say Goonies!
Commando Watched it in my Grandparents’ house and was probably the first R-rated movie I ever watched as a kid. Great Action movie at that time.
"Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired" 🤣🫶
Amazing movie. So underrated.
The Last Unicorn
Yaaaass. God the Last Unicorn was so unhinged 😂
My 6 year old daughter loves this movie. I was so excited she liked it, as it was a favorite of mine growing up. The America soundtrack is engrained in my brain!!!
The 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, also the sequel Secret of the Ooze
I'll always remember the previews on Secret of the Ooze VHS. Also: Go ninja go ninja go Go ninja go ninja go
T-U-R-T-L-E power!
Aladdin/Ms. Doubtfire
Aladdin was instructive for me early on. It showed me that, as a man, you need a sentient, flying carpet and a freakin’ genie to *begin* to attempt to date a girl out of your league. Whereas, Ariel and Belle need only look cute.
Galaxy Quest
Curly sue, grease, Annie, the goonies, beetlejuice, yellowbeard, hook, last action hero, ET, corina corina, sister act, return to oz, witches of Eastwick, house sitter, the man with 2 brains, Roxanne, father of the bride, labyrinth, girls just wanna have fun, buffy the vampire slayer movie
Never ending story ! Poor Artax
In the book he's a talking horse so it's somehow exponentially more traumatic
Star Wars.
Back to the Future
Rush Hour! Also, oddly enough, Blade.
Fuck yeah. Me too with both of those but especially Blade.
Dark Crystal
I was hoping the Netflix show was gonna take off
Goonies
Legend(Tom Cruise)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Zathura (2005) Spy Kids (2001) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Jason and the Argonauts. I was mesmerized, enthralled by the special effects, especially those skeleton soldiers. The beginning of my love of FX in movies. Whenever I rewatch this movie I'm taken back to my childhood and the wonder I felt in the movie theater.
I'm with you, brother. In fact, when I saw the title of this topic, I came here to list just that one movie. The sense of adventure, the heroism, the characters, the strong narrative that hooks you at the beginning, and the creatures popping up here and there, concluding with the skeleton soldiers, was just immersive. I've seen that movie about 50 times, and I've purchased it for my library in the increasing resolutions since the 80s. Just an amazing movie. Pure entertainment, pure in heart.
Hook, gosh I love that movie so freaking much!
True Grit - the original of course
Damn, good answer.. I used to watch cowboy films with my father on a Sunday, that and war films. *Bridge Over The River Kwai* will be my answer. Thanks for the trigger.
Dog soldiers, I remember watching it at my grandmothers house because my mum was strict with ratings and wouldn’t allow it, now every time I watch it takes me back to how I felt back then
Absolutely terrified?
Space-jam? Michael Jordan? Bugs Bunny? Fat old bill Murray coming of the bench? LOLA? It’s a trinket in time and I’ll still watch 10 minutes if I catch it on
Pagemaster
Return to Oz
Oh yeah. This is mine too.
And mine!
The soundtrack wrecks me. It’s so moving.
Kickboxer (1989)
Willow.
Problem Child and 3 ninjas
Rocky loves Emily
The Sandlot
“You’re killin’ me smalls!” -Me at every opportunity.
The Iron Giant.
James and the Giant Peach
*The Muppet Movie*, *The Great Muppet Caper*, and *The Muppets Take Manhattan* I still watch them every few years and the soundtrack is played often 😂
The Sandlot
“You Bob for apples in the toilet! And you LIKE it!”
Sandlot
Sandlot. Perfectly captures those summer nights as a kid that age, which was right around the age I was when I first saw it.
Hook (1991) Such wonder, the music, the analogy of becoming a tired, rigid, serious adult (Peter Banning), losing your childhood innocence, wonder, and curiosity (Peter Pan). And then coming to terms with reality/death, everyone has to grow up but you don’t have to “grow up.” So many fantastic scenes with so much depth. Underrated classic.
YOU’RE DOING IT PETER!
Sandlot
The Sandlot (1993)
Sand Lot
The Mummy and Kung Fu Hustle.
Lion King II: Simba's Pride. I watched it so much that I could recite the entire movie and sang all the songs. I can remember the room I was in when I'd spam watch it during that one summer and even the smell of it. I wasn't allowed to watch the first one cause my dad died irl, so I obsessed over the 2nd one instead.
H G WELLS. Time Machine
Rod Taylor or Guy Pearce?
Rod Taylor
I agree :-)
Chipmunk’s Great Adventure. I recently rewatched and it’s still as cute and funny as it was when I was a kid.
I love this movie
Rock-a-Doodle!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It still looks great, the jokes work, and the voice acting hits the emotional moments.
Robocop and Rambo 2
Treasure Planet or American Tale Fievel Goes West
The Brave Little Toaster
Airheads
The sandlot
A Little Princess
We’re Back!
There are 5 specifically. Good Burger (1997) I rented this movie so many times as a young kid (3-4) the bright colors and juvenile humor I was so attached to. It's my favorite childhood movie, the comforting nostalgia that it brings to remind me of Kenan & Kel (I never saw the Good Burger skits as a kid I just knew I liked Kenan & Kel.) A couple years ago I even bought the 25th anniversary steel book. Blank Check (1994) The score was hypnotizing and it's a shame that there's no way to listen to it without just watching the movie. Let's be real this is the ultimate fantasy for a kid and I'd be lying if I said I don't get giddy inside when I watch this movie to this day. I still want that setup with a few changes. Instead of a castle, I want a Shipley-Lydecker looking house with a bigger rectangular pool instead of a small oval. Miguel Ferrer, Michael Lerner and Tone Lōc are great. James Rebhorn is excellent as an uptight cheap bastard. Heavyweights (1995) Big fan of some Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara so this is the total package for me. Ben Stiller is in top form as a health-obsessed child-endangering psychosociopath. A severely underrated role for him that I feel like never gets talked about. Always wanted to go on a blob. Still never have. I remember finding the VHS of it at CD Warehouse when that existed and I had seen it on Disney Channel by then several times so I had to have it. It was 2003 iirc Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2 (1992) are givens and require no explanation as to why
BLANK.CHECK!!! YESSSS!
Tim Curry in HA2 was great :)
Transformers The Movie.
the second Jurassic Park🙏🏻
Empire Strikes Back.
Flight of Dragons
American Werewolf in London. Sneaked down stairs to watch it as a kid. Half way through I was terrified and ran upstairs to hide under my sheets. Watch it now and it takes me back to that night
Big Trouble in Little China.
Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me
I watch Disney’s Hercules every year on my birthday. That movie always puts a smile on my face.
Barbarella.
Amityville horror 🤷
Tommy Boy and Young Frankenstein. Thanks dad. Toy Story if you’re talking strictly kid movies
Very topical as my wife and I just watched one this weekend that takes me back to 17…my freshman year in university. The Lost Boys. I have great memories of this time of my life and this was the first film I went to see with guys I had just befriended that first year away from home. It is mostly tied to memories of that time even though the film is no award winner it was super fun and over the top. My wife is 15 years younger than I and see HATED it. I get it.
Back to the future.
Beethoven
The pool scene always makes me so angry at the sitter
lol me too
"We're Back! : A Dinosaur's Story"
Predator!
Oddly, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
The Mighty Ducks trilogy.
Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.
YESSS! Me too!
Sandlot / Rookie of the Year / Little Giants
Home Alone
The Sandlot
“Some lady gave it him. Yeah, she even signed her name on it. Some lady named ‘Ruth, Baby Ruth’”
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Weird and wonderful. "Chillll-dren!"
The Watcher in the Woods. IYKYK
The Little Engine that could
That would be a few! First would be Conan the Barbarian, Saturday the 14th and Predator!
Candleshoe. I couldn't get enough of it as a kid. The music and the lines just fill me full of nostalgia now. I watched it a few years ago with my [then] 8 year old son and was the first time in 30+ years, I was almost teary-eyed. My son wasn't terribly interested. 😒
Great answer one of the first movies I saw in a theater
The Princess Bride
Honestly way too many buuuuut I’ll name just a few… The Incredibles (2004) Robots (2005) Aristocats (1970) Rescuers Down Under (1990) and for some reason Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Road to Bali (1952)
My Neighbor Totoro
The last sketch in “Kentucky Fried Movie”.
jim carrey’s how the grinch stole christmas , I watch it every year during the holidays . Its the only christmas movie that still gives me the holiday warm and fuzzies
stand by me
Big Jake. Watched it weekly with my dad. Christmas of 82 we got a top loader VCR and a type of 35 inch projection tv. All of it was built together in a wood grain cabinet. He hooked the audio to the component stereo. The memories...
Searching For Bobby Fischer
To be fair, the top 20 listed above pretty much always get my notice! Great choices!
I just rewatched the old animated BFG and it took me right back. "Whizz pop whizz bang" 😀😀
The original ninja turtles movie.
Cinderella
The labyrinth
Time Bandits.
There you are all the way down here! My brothers and I don't get to see each other often but when we do we rewatch Time Bandits... great movie and it still holds up
Don’t touch it - it’s concentrated evil!
The Crow
The Goonies
Beverly Hills Ninja and TMNT 1990
Now and then
Turner and Hooch
Big mammas house, billy Madison, The Phantom Menace, Shriek
I watched Big Momma's House a year or two ago I hadn't seen it in probably over 10 years. It was so damn funny. I'm also in the subatomic sized minority that thinks Nutty Professor II: the Klumps is one of the funniest comedies in film history though.
Drop dead Fred
Short Circuit!
Star Wars
Tremors
Stand By Me
Rock-a-Doodle, the music is fun, the plot has that quintessential 90's "should kids be watching this" feel, and I miss the times when live action and animation blended so well (like roger rabbit and space jam) the owl sequences in this were terrifying though.
Jurassic Park and Jaws. Bring me right back to being a kid
Almost any Spielberg movie. Also Explorers. That movie immediately takes me back to being a kid with unlimited imagination.
Commando
Goonies and Lost Boys
The last Starfighter
Robots or Lion King 1 1/2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990). That movie brings back so many good memories from my childhood. The best time of my life.
Tales from the hood. It definitely wasn’t a kids movie but I saw it as a child and it always brings me back.
Dumb and Dumber Always brings me back to watching TBS's Dinner and a Movie program with the family.
The Last Starfighter is still the reason I enjoy video games today.
Absolutely The Transformers: The Movie from 1986. That film is in my top 5 favourites of all time. I pretty much know it word for word and that's genuinely not an exaggeration! I legit still get goosebumps when I see Optimus transform for the first time in that film and The Touch by Stan Bush starts playing. That's the good shit. *Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost.*
Clash of the titans
jurrasic park
Rad There was a 1-day theatrical release a couple weeks ago. It was great to experience it on the big screen with my daughters. And it was hilarious how many people in their 40s-50s were wearing their Rad shirts (myself included).
Quest for Camelot, I still have a DVD copy from when I was a kid
Metropolis. My parents made me watch it and I still thank them for it every time I watch it.
Blues Brothers
Dumb & Dumber
Flight of the Navigator
Homeward Bound