# Your First Science Fiction Film?



## mosaix (Oct 7, 2012)

I watched *The Day The Earth Stood Still* a couple of nights ago on television - the 2008 version starring Keanu Reeves. I quite enjoyed it and it reminded me of the 1951 version starring Michael Rennie.

I probably saw the 1951 version in the mid 1950's when I was about nine and it occurs to me that this was probably the first science fiction film I ever saw and played an important part in my life-long interest in the genre.

Remember your first science fiction film?


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## Gary Compton (Oct 7, 2012)

mosaix said:


> I watched *The Day The Earth Stood Still* a couple of nights ago on television - the 2008 version starring Keanu Reeves. I quite enjoyed it and it reminded me of the 1951 version starring Michael Rennie.
> 
> I probably saw the 1951 version in the mid 1950's when I was about nine and it occurs to me that this was probably the first science fiction film I ever saw and played an important part in my life-long interest in the genre.
> 
> Remember your first science fiction film?



Day of the Triffids I think. Was it a film or a series. I can't remember.


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## Starbeast (Oct 7, 2012)

*2001: A Space Oddyssey*

I walked out of the theater in awe. "Wow, aliens helped humans to evolve. That was cool." -  (age 6).


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## steve12553 (Oct 7, 2012)

mosaix said:


> I watched *The Day The Earth Stood Still* a couple of nights ago on television - the 2008 version starring Keanu Reeves. I quite enjoyed it and it reminded me of the 1951 version starring Michael Rennie....


I saw part of the the 2008 version and it didn't remind me of the original 1951 version. But that's another story. I don't remember for sure what my first one was because I saw so many in the late 50s and early 60s but it could have been *The Day The Earth Stood Still* or *GOG* or even *Godzilla*. My best guess might be *The Lost Continent* with Cezar Romero and Hugh Beaumont. I was facinated by dinosaurs up until about the time I realized that girls sometimes weren't just ornery kids with more hair.


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## Jo Zebedee (Oct 7, 2012)

In the cinema; Return of the jedi. At home, one of the Star Trek movies, when it was like a massive thing to watch a video, watched with all my family, cousins and all, gathered around my groovy uncle's telly.


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## Dave (Oct 7, 2012)

At the cinema: that's a difficult one. Probably, the original Disney 'Flubber' film _The Absent-Minded Professor_ with Fred McMurray (but it was made in 1961 and I wasn't born then so it must have been one of the reissues to theatres) probably around 1967.

On TV: that's even harder. It could have been anything (and everything) made in the 1950's such as the _Day the Earth Stood Still_ or _The Day the Earth Caught Fire_ or _Day of the Triffids_ or _Forbidden Planet _.

As regards my interest in the genre, I think the TV series _Thunderbirds_ (which was first shown around 1965) has more to answer for than any film I saw.


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## Abernovo (Oct 7, 2012)

I think it was *Star Wars* (1977), which was probably one of my earliest visits to the cinema, as well.

On TV, it's a bit more difficult to pin down. We didn't have a TV when I was really young, but I have memories of a repeat of *Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD* with Peter Cushing as Doctor Who and Bernard Cribbins. That would have probably have been the early 80s.

By then, I'd seen *Doctor Who*, *Blake's 7* and *Space 1999* on TV anyway, which had already set my tastes. Oh and *Star Trek*, but that to a lesser extent.


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## Foxbat (Oct 7, 2012)

It was *King Kong versus Godzilla* in 1968. 
We were on holiday in a place called Dalbeattie and it was at the local cinema. For some reason, it was X rated (may have been because of the supporting feature...can't really remember) but my dad persuaded the manager to let us in. Apparently my brother and I spent the rest of the holiday fighting each other (can't remember who was King Kong or Godzilla).
I've been hooked ever since


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## mosaix (Oct 7, 2012)

steve12553 said:


> I saw part of the the 2008 version and it didn't remind me of the original 1951 version.



It was only the title that reminded me, Steve.


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## dask (Oct 7, 2012)

Not sure what the very first was but DESTINATION: MOON would be a pretty good guess. BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE was another early one.


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## MattC (Oct 8, 2012)

My folks took me to see Star Wars when I was 3 - fell asleep thru most of it! I guess the first SF movie I can actually remember going to see was the first Star Trek movie, which I still have a soft spot for. Sure, the plot was a rehash but it was atmospheric enough and dark for a U cert movie. 

Loved Wrath of Khan more tho by a long stick!


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## steve12553 (Oct 8, 2012)

mosaix said:


> It was only the title that reminded me, Steve.


 
Thanks, I thought I'd missed something. A lot of films just don't need to be remade.


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## Jo Zebedee (Oct 8, 2012)

I actually forgot the classic encounter of my childhood which was my first foray into sci fi. (Except for Blake's seven, that I loved.) When I was about ten we went to Dublin for a weekend and stayed in a hotel, which was all very exotic. But the highlight of the trip was to be a trip to the cinema. Me and Mum were going to be girly and go see Watership Down, my Dad was taking the brothers three to see Battlestar Galatica. 

Anyway, Mum and I set off first, as ours was early, and she got hopelessly lost and by the time we got there the other lot were there first. 

They stopped people going into Watership Down just before us and we had to go see Battlestar Galitica instead. To this day, I hate it.


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## billhafan (Oct 8, 2012)

Probably The Incredible Shrinking Man and the original The day The Earth Stood still - watched on a flaky ex-rental B&W TV in my bedroom as a kid; loved it, though!

But biggest influences, and see a few have already been mentioned here by Dave and Springs, were probably: Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Blake's Seven and of course The Tomorrow People - oh to be able to Jaunt, and have TIM to help you out


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## clovis-man (Oct 8, 2012)

That far back (Please take into account the fact that I'm quite old) my memory gets a little fuzzy. The first I really remember were the Flash Gordon serials (1936, 38 and 40). But I saw them on TV, so maybe that doesn't count. The one that really stuck with me is George Pal's *War of the Worlds* from 1953. I was dumbstruck by the amazing (for the time) special effects and story. Hadn't read the Wells tale yet. I actually stayed in the theater and watched it three times in a row. My parents wondered what had happened to me.



Foxbat said:


> It was *King Kong versus Godzilla* in 1968.
> We were on holiday in a place called Dalbeattie and it was at the local cinema. For some reason, it was X rated (may have been because of the supporting feature...can't really remember) but my dad persuaded the manager to let us in. Apparently my brother and I spent the rest of the holiday fighting each other (can't remember who was King Kong or Godzilla).
> I've been hooked ever since


 
I actually "saw" this one while I was miniature golfing with some friends. The drive-in theater was right next door and we got to watch the monkey and the lizard taking turns jumping up and down on each other. Great fun. We couldn't hear the sound, so it was a silent movie experience.


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## Snowdog (Oct 8, 2012)

It was probably some '50s nonsense shown on Saturday Morning Cinema, squeezed between Woody Woodpecker and whatever the main film was.

I remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey at the cinema so that was probably the first one I saw deliberately.


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## billhafan (Oct 9, 2012)

Snowdog said:


> It was probably some '50s nonsense shown on Saturday Morning Cinema, squeezed between Woody Woodpecker and whatever the main film was.



Blast from the past for me, there, Snowdog - Childrens Film Foundation movies, Woody woodpecker and Flash Gordon ...


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## Snowdog (Oct 9, 2012)

Ah yes... Saturday Morning Cinema - screaming kids, someone kicking the back of your seat for 2 hours, what bliss. It was always packed though.


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## billhafan (Oct 9, 2012)

And banned from the circle for dropping maltesers ... oh, and the quality - or lack of - of orange-maid ice-lollies (did you have them?) ... Great days!  Think the kids now would have higher aspirations for the content than we ever did. I think they're missing out, though.


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## Vince W (Oct 9, 2012)

I can't be absolutely sure, but it was probably *Forbidden Planet*. I saw a fair bit of sci fi on tv before seeing any in the cinema. *Star Wars* was my first sci fi cinema experience.


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## Gordian Knot (Oct 10, 2012)

Tough one. I just do NOT have the wonderful memory some of you have! lol. One that was very early on though was The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. A Ray Harryhausen dinosaur running amok in New York. It scared me to pieces when I was a little kid watching it.

To this day my favorite Harryhausen film.


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## clovis-man (Oct 10, 2012)

Gordian Knot said:


> Tough one. I just do NOT have the wonderful memory some of you have! lol. One that was very early on though was The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. A Ray Harryhausen dinosaur running amok in New York. It scared me to pieces when I was a little kid watching it.
> 
> To this day my favorite Harryhausen film.


 
Based on a story by Ray Bradbury. In turn, this film caught the attention of John Huston, who then signed up Bradbury to write the screenplay for *Moby Dick* as a result. According to Bradbury, Huston's logic was that *The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms* was about a big creature and so was *Moby Dick*. At least that's what I heard him say once.


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## nightdreamer (Oct 10, 2012)

I have no clue.  But I was into them fairly early, probably would have been in the '50s.


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## Action Avenue (Oct 11, 2012)

*Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (original)  Liked this movie quite a bit, however, I think it's one of the rare exceptions in which the remake from 1978 was a better movie.


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## Venusian Broon (Oct 11, 2012)

Action Avenue said:


> *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (original) Liked this movie quite a bit, however, I think it's one of the rare exceptions in which the remake from 1978 was a better movie.


 
Good call Action, 

I remember jumping in fright when the man-dog plant-thing appeared on the telly...aah, but I was only a little whipper snapper at the time, I'm more manly in my fright response now.

It also has a scene, I believe from memory, where one of the characters mentions Starmaker by Olaf stapledon, so thats double SF greatness.


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## Kapelvig (Oct 11, 2012)

Mine must have been *Innerspace* (I suppose that's a sci-fi/comedy/romance) - on rented video around 1987/8 or something like that. Not the best film ever but I quite liked it at the time. I may have seen *Star Wars* on the telly first, but I can't remember exactly - seemed to always be on at Christmas when I was a kid!


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## Galacticdefender (Oct 14, 2012)

The Star Wars movies were probably the first SF films I saw. Ha, I feel rally young compared to most of you here


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## steve12553 (Oct 14, 2012)

Galacticdefender said:


> The Star Wars movies were probably the first SF films I saw. Ha, I feel rally young compared to most of you here


 
The 1977 *Star Wars *was an event in Science Fiction/Fantasy films. Really a quantum leap in Special Effects while still maintaining likable characters. A good place to start. My youngest became involved with Science Fiction/Fantasy when I took her to see the 1997 Special Edition.


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## The Holy Drunk (Oct 24, 2012)

I hesitated as I thought I must be mistaken but I think it was actually *Alien* for me - and I was probably 5. I think my teenage sister wanted to watch it on TV and had little interest in BBFC opinions.

Then again my dad is a big Trekkie so I probably caught bits of Wrath of Khan without realising - actually I do now remember having a distinct fear of Ear Wigs so maybe it did go in?


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## Interversus (Nov 2, 2012)

I was another Star Wars baby. I was there at the Odeon with my tupperware flask of diluted orange juice and elasticated waist trousers.


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## AE35Unit (Dec 22, 2012)

Starbeast said:


> *2001: A Space Oddyssey*
> 
> I walked out of the theater in awe. "Wow, aliens helped humans to evolve. That was cool." -  (age 6).



You are now my hero!!


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## DarkYami (Dec 22, 2012)

I think it was Back to the Future, i'm not to sure its that or maybe Ghostbusters.


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## alchemist (Dec 22, 2012)

I can't remember, but I do remember BBC2 having a science fiction season at some point before I was 10. It introduced me to such classics as Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Invaders From Mars, When Worlds Collide. 

They don't make them like they used to, but maybe that's more to do with our expectations.


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## alchemist (Dec 22, 2012)

The Holy Drunk said:


> I hesitated as I thought I must be mistaken but I think it was actually *Alien* for me - *and I was probably 5*.



 No wonder you turned to drink!


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## Warren_Paul (Dec 22, 2012)

Doctor Who and the Darleks was it for me, the 1965 movie.


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## Victoria Silverwolf (Dec 23, 2012)

Impossible for me to remember.  As far back as I can recall, I would sit entranced in front of the television by anything with a monster in it.  (I can recall looking through television listings, where they listed movies under various genres.  Back then they didn't list science fiction or horror; the categories were things like "Drama" and "Comedy" and "Musical."  The things I enjoyed were all classified as "Melodrama."  I was so young I had no idea what that word meant.  I thought it meant it had a monster in it.  Imagine my disappointment when I would tune in only to find myself watching a crime story or something!)

My most profound movie experience, at the tender age of twelve, was going to see *2001: A Space Odyssey*.


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## ginny (Dec 23, 2012)

It's really hard to remember that far back.
We watched Earth VS the Flying Saucers on TV at night.
So it was probably the Angry Red Planet at the drive in. 1959 I was 8 years old


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## TheTomG (Dec 23, 2012)

No idea. Actually, no idea how I got started liking SF at all, now I think about it, and whether TV or books came first. Mind you, I have trouble remembering last week, so maybe that's not surprising.

I remember a BBC 2 sci fi 'festival' and I remember all sorts of classics like Them!, The Day The Earth Stood Still, This Island Earth and more. I remember being disappointed we weren't going to make it home from my grandparents to see Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Things is, though I know I was watching those because I already liked SF. Dr Who, Space 1999, UFO, Thunderbirds, Star Trek (now known as TOS) and more were all in there early in the mix. I know I was very SF biased from a very early age... but don't know how that came about.

Book-wise, there was Hitchikers, and Nicholas Fisk's Splatterbang, and some Andre Norton. Lord of the Rings (ok ok, I know, that's SFantasy not fiction)... but again, the first one that made me go "This is it! SF is my thing!" I dunno.


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## AE35Unit (Dec 23, 2012)

Mine was probably some crummy black and white effort  from the 1950s with a gal in trouble. It seemed to me as I was growing up that  that all SF films from the 50s were like that!


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## TheTomG (Dec 23, 2012)

Was she draped in a swoon over the menacing arms of a robot while a spacesuited blonde haired hero aimed his laser pistol at the offending mechanoid?


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## AE35Unit (Dec 23, 2012)

TheTomG said:


> Was she draped in a swoon over the menacing arms of a robot while a spacesuited blonde haired hero aimed his laser pistol at the offending mechanoid?



Named Robbie?


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## TheTomG (Dec 24, 2012)

Yes - he reformed his evil ways though and went on to have a singing career, "Angels" was quite good, and "Let Me Entertain You" wasn't bad either. A long ways from bootlegging liquor on some distant planet, always good to see someone turn their life around like that!


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## Steve Jordan (Jan 23, 2013)

If I had to guess... because, after so many years, it's all I can do... I'd bet it was _20,000 Leagues Under The Sea_, since that movie ran on _The Wonderful World of Disney_, one of the earliest TV shows I remember watching.  I watched a lot of SF television shows at that age, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Lost In Space, etc... but _20,000 Leagues_ was probably my first actual SF movie.  

I'm also assuming that horror movies and _The Ten Commandments_ don't count as SF...


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## MontyCircus (Jan 24, 2013)

1953's classic *War of the Worlds*.

Love that movie!


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## MontyCircus (Jan 24, 2013)

Steve Jordan said:


> If I had to guess... because, after so many years, it's all I can do... I'd bet it was _20,000 Leagues Under The Sea_, since that movie ran on _The Wonderful World of Disney_, one of the earliest TV shows I remember watching.  I watched a lot of SF television shows at that age, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Lost In Space, etc... but _20,000 Leagues_ was probably my first actual SF movie.
> 
> I'm also assuming that horror movies and _The Ten Commandments_ don't count as SF...



I love *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea* too!  It's been forever since I've seen it...


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## mr kite (Mar 3, 2013)

I still remember in impact of the first Sci Fi I saw at the Cinema , and I guess was the start of something that got me hooked on Sci Fi . 
The film . 
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes


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## Harpo (Mar 3, 2013)

The first I saw at the cinema was in about 1976:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061868/

Then I queued around the block for something called_ Star Wars._


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## manephelien (May 2, 2013)

E.T. - the extra-terrestrial (1982)


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## Vertigo (May 2, 2013)

I'm not sure if it was the first SF film I saw but it was certainly the first to make a serious impression on me: 2001: A Space Odyssey when it first came out.

Not only my first SF film, but I was so impressed with _everything_ about the film that the soundtrack was possibly my first LP purchase (as opposed to pop singles). I'm not sure about that as it may have been L A Woman by the Doors. Mmmm somewhat catholic tastes even at an early age!


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## Bick (May 3, 2013)

On TV, I wouldn't have a clue. Possibly I didn't see any SF movie at home (as they weren't on much in Britain in the 1970's) prior to going to movies for one of the very first times to see...

... *Star Wars*!. I remember my dad taking me and my brother to see it in Nottingham when we were visiting my grandparents, in 1977.  I would have been 8.  It blew my mind and made the whole world seem brighter and more exciting for years afterward. Like many kids I'm sure, it would be no exaggeration to describe it as a defining moment in my childhood.

Interestingly, the only 2 movies I recall seeing at all before SW were "Bambie" (I cried) and ... "Orca Killer Whale" with Bo Derek and Richard Harris!  I don't know what my dad was thinking there!  I seem to recall we went to see something more appropriate, but the cinema had sold out for the other film.


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## BetaWolf (May 3, 2013)

I think it was *Star Wars*, for me, too. My aunt was into *Star Trek* something fierce, so I watched the six original movies. Watching *Search for Spock* at age 12 made Spock an especially sympathetic character. 

In fantasy, I always had a love for *Willow*.


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## Alex Mason (May 22, 2013)

I have a specific memory of seeing Return of the Jedi in theaters when I was a child. That would be the first Sci-fi Film I remember seeing and probably the first one since I wasn't even 5 years old yet. The first movie I remember all of and was old enough to think about it and want to see it again and again etc. is The Last Starfighter. I remember seeing it and Gremlins when they came out and wanting the audiobooks and more from both of them.


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## Einstein's left ear (Jun 2, 2013)

_The Lost Missile_ (1958) with my Dad. A strange missile from outer space circles the Earth at low altitudes, destroying everything in its path. My second _The Day the Earth Caught Fire_ (1961) with my Mom and Dad. It was the first X certificate film I saw even though I was 15 a year younger than I should have been.


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## JunkMonkey (Jun 3, 2013)

Einstein's left ear said:


> _The Lost Missile_ (1958) with my Dad. A strange missile from outer space circles the Earth at low altitudes, destroying everything in its path.



An odd little film (Spoiler: The hero dies).

The first SF films I remember seeing in the cinema were René Laloux's _Fantastic Planet _and Trumbull's _Silent Running_.  (Not, unfortunately, as a double bill.)  

Thinking about it now it strikes me that, even aged 13, I had great taste in movies


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## JunkMonkey (Jun 3, 2013)

MattC said:


> My folks took me to see Star Wars when I was 3 - fell asleep thru most of it!



I have that reaction to it too.


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## leah36 (Jun 19, 2013)

My first sci-fi movie I remember watching was Star Wars (1977) and i'm still a huge fan of it now and collect the merchandise .


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## polacks_on_the_moon (Aug 31, 2013)

I'm not sure if it was the first one ever, but when I was a kid (born 92) I used to have *Independence Day *on VHS and I used to watch it very often when I had nothing better to do. It was one of my favourite movies back then (the top 3 were this one, Jumanji and Jurassick Park). I watched it again a few years ago however and it kind of ruined my memories because I discovered a huge disproportion between the amount of awesomeness I remembered and the actual amount of awesomeness 

fun fact: I used to have a crush on Jeff Goldblum.


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## quantumtheif (Sep 1, 2013)

Star wars, when I was six. Watched the star wars trilogy many times into teenhood(seeing how until then it was the only thing we owned). Sci fi helps poverty , and that is probably why Sci fi had a big impact on me.


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## Dr Zoidberg (Sep 2, 2013)

Funnily enough, I think mine would have been Star Wars as well, though I'm pretty sure I bypassed Empire and jumped to Return of the Jedi at the cinema.

Battle Beyond The Stars may have been the second SciFi, followed a while after by Tron, back in the days when you used to get a short film before the main picture as a warm up.

Ghostbusters is another I remember on the Big Screen, though that was a bit later on.


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## chrispenycate (Sep 2, 2013)

It will have been at saturday morning cinema (special cheap sessions to hook the up and coming generation, not foreseeing the chaos television was to bring), in black and white, and already considered too old to show in main showings by this time (late 50s). It was probably cut up into episodes; I remember the Lone Ranger and Zorro cut up into cliff-hanging segments, but not any specific SF, although I seem to remember Robbie the robot from "Forbidden Planet" – could that have been it (or did Robbie feature in any other lower budget productions?)

The first SF film I saw in 70mm with multitrack magnetic sound was "2001" – now, that's an experience that hangs on in memory.


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## steve12553 (Sep 2, 2013)

chrispenycate said:


> It will have been at saturday morning cinema (special cheap sessions to hook the up and coming generation, not foreseeing the chaos television was to bring), in black and white, and already considered too old to show in main showings by this time (late 50s). It was probably cut up into episodes; I remember the Lone Ranger and Zorro cut up into cliff-hanging segments, but not any specific SF, although I seem to remember Robbie the robot from "Forbidden Planet" – could that have been it (or did Robbie feature in any other lower budget productions?)
> ...


 I'm pretty sure he was in at least one or two other films (*The Invisible Boy *for one.) and a couple of television shows. I was slightly too young for the theatrical serials in the US but I do recall spending $.35 for two movies and a few cartoons on a Saturday afternoon at the local theater in the very late fifties or early sixties. And... my brother and I walked the mile or so from home safely without our parents worrying. That nearly sounds like Science Fiction doesn't it.


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## StormSeeker (Sep 2, 2013)

Weird Science. God I loved that movie. Watched it again last month and killed myself laughing!  haha


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## Juliana (Sep 2, 2013)

I think it was probably *Battlestar Galactica*. I know I watched the first two *Star Wars* movies at the cinema, but would have been young for the first one so it may have been a rerun??


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## JunkMonkey (Sep 2, 2013)

chrispenycate said:


> It will have been at saturday morning cinema (special cheap sessions to hook the up and coming generation, not foreseeing the chaos television was to bring), in black and white, and already considered too old to show in main showings by this time (late 50s). It was probably cut up into episodes; I remember the Lone Ranger and Zorro cut up into cliff-hanging segments, but not any specific SF, although I seem to remember Robbie the robot from "Forbidden Planet" – could that have been it (or did Robbie feature in any other lower budget productions?)



The Lone Ranger and Zorro serials you saw were almost certainly made as serials rather than being feature films chopped into segments.

List of film serials by studio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Actually, sometimes the reverse was true and serials were later cut and seriously shortened to make feature films.  Usually very bad feature films that made very little sense but enough to fill the bottom half of a double bill

Robby the Robot had a long career after_ Forbidden Planet_

Robby the Robot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## ed9428 (Sep 3, 2013)

I think it was return of the Jedi. After that I watched the ewoks movie which I thought was great. Still love star wars.


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## Glen (Sep 24, 2013)

I remember my father taking me to see 'Metropolis' at the Magic Lantern show...

Haha. Not quite that old. 

But I do remember my dad taking me to see Planet of the Apes (original) which (my extensive research shows) was made in 1968. Colour (we had b/w at home for a long time), travelling through the depths of space, crash-landing in a lake!, "Get your hands off me you god damned-dirty ape!", post-apocalyptic, proper "social sci-fi", and that last shot of the statue of liberty. My god, what a film, what an impression it made.


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## Darkchild130 (Sep 25, 2013)

The Terminator, when I was about five years old. Swiftly followed by Robocop. Explains a lot really.


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## Mith (Sep 27, 2013)

I remember being taken to the cinema to watch ET when I was a tiny, well behaved boy  I loved it and I really wanted a bike with a basket on the front!

To be honest, I'm not quite sure if I'd seen Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back before that, but ET stands out as one of my earliest film memories.


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## HanaBi (Nov 20, 2016)

I have a feeling my first "proper" sf film was either *"Planet of the Apes" (1968)* or *"Silent Running" (1972),* either on the TV or cinema back in the early 70s when I was around 11 or 12. 

I suppose the latter of the two I would deem to be most people's idea of science fiction  - planets, stars, space suits, rockets and robots. And yet even at such an impressionable age I enjoyed "Apes" far more (still do in fact)


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## Alex The G and T (Nov 20, 2016)

*20000 Leagues under the Sea*.  No, I wasn't around in 1954.  I saw it in a "Second Run" theater as a kiddee matinee, in the mid sixties.

I saw *2001* in theater when it first came out.


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## BAYLOR (Nov 21, 2016)

*War of the Worlds*.


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## Rodders (Nov 21, 2016)

My dad taking me to see The Warlords Of Atlantis at the cinema is my first proper Sci Fi movie.


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## kythe (Nov 21, 2016)

I don't remember a time without Star Wars.  I don't think of it as an early movie I saw.  It is part of who I am.  I do remember seeing ET: The Extra-Terrestrial at a young age.  I was initially afraid of his neck changing lengths (it seems strange now, but was probably just a small child fear), but I did spend years fantasizing about finding an alien in my backyard.

As I grew older, Star Trek became very influencial.   These movies and TV shows fueled a strong lifelong desire in me for wanting to know what is "out there", and also not fearing the universe in general.


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## JunkMonkey (Nov 22, 2016)

The First TV SF I remember seeing was Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who but the first Science Fiction _film_?  I think it may have been _Forbidden Planet_ on the television.  I don't recall seeing it for the first time and it has been part of my memory for as far back as I can rewind it.


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## EJDeBrun (Nov 22, 2016)

I want to say E.T. At least for live-action.


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## TWErvin2 (Dec 7, 2016)

What I can remember vaguely is at the drive in as a kid, watching *The Planet of the Apes*, with Charlton Heston. But I was hooked. I have better recollection of *Beneath the Planet of the Apes*, being a little older, again at the drive in. It really kicked my imagination in gear as a kid, well that and dinosaurs. I think I would've been equally moved, if *Jurassic Park* were released when I was a kid.


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## Frost Giant (Dec 7, 2016)

The old 1936 Flash Gordon serial on public television. 
Star Wars in the cinema.


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