Poll: How many times have you seen your favorite movie? [Archive]

arn

Feb 9, 2004, 02:37 AM

Originally posted by Nermal
I just realised something...

We're talking about movies on a Mac rumour site. That can only mean one thing: iMOVIE STORE! :D

Jobs has made references to his thought that you only watch your favorite movie a dozen time or so your entire life.

as an argument against the need/desire for a video ipod

arn

redAPPLE

Feb 9, 2004, 03:30 AM

well, he doesn't have any idea that Jobs guy hhmm? :D

star wars! yeah baby! curse that skywalker ranch guy who sold out to commercialism.

this poll just prooves how much we need new mac rumors or mac news (software, hardware).

MoparShaha

Feb 9, 2004, 03:37 AM

I can't even think of what my favorite is, but I can think of many movies I've seen at least 30-40 times.

yamabushi

Feb 9, 2004, 04:08 AM

I have watched at least thirty films over twenty times each. I own several hundred films in various media.

I would use a portable HD based video player for long flights across the Pacific Ocean. Twelve hours is a lot of time to kill. I have numerous friends who make four to ten long flights each year.

I would prefer goggles to a small LCD screen. Current portable DVD players I have looked at have inadequate displays and battery life. An ideal device would have an eight to nine hour rechargeable battery. If it is DVD based it must be able to play DVDs from multiple regions. My DVD collection currently includes titles from three different regions.

My needs may not be typical of most potential users. However, I believe there is a market for an improved portable video device.

Sabenth

Feb 9, 2004, 04:39 AM

well most of my fave films are near by me at anyone time i do like to watch them..

as for a vidpod nope might as well be carrying a dvd player or vhs player .. no screen is gona do me
saying that ..

Been thinking about this a bit lattly

theres nothing stoping the pod from been a vidoe pod with no screen instead this little beaty plugs into a dock that plugs ino the tv. a menu comes up on screen show caseing some options movies wise.. even like dvd sort of anamaited clips mabe..

you pick you view you enjoy simple... all on a devcice that fits in your palm lovey ....

"Id by that for a dollar"
"ill be back"
"some where over the rainbow"
"Mike anyone seen Mike"
the list could go on but i dont want to bore you all

gerror

Feb 9, 2004, 05:08 AM

Th Big Lebowski, at least 15 times.
"Let's go bowling Dude"

CrackedButter

Feb 9, 2004, 07:28 AM

@Gerror, another person besides me who has seen it then. Classic.

"Dude, your phone is ringing"

"I, Know"

Fight Club is one film I have seen countless times, when i was younger I use to watch "My Blue Heaven", with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis. Yes quite a contrast.

revenuee

Feb 9, 2004, 07:48 AM

"I'm Batman"

the 89 release with Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson will go down as my favorite movie of all time.

MacFinn

Feb 9, 2004, 07:59 AM

It's funny when I think about it. My kids (26, 22 and 16) are constantly watching reruns of Friends, some movies.
Me, I can listen to certain tunes all day, everyday. But see some movie more than 5 times. No way.
I might watch some on TV if there's nothing else on (we got only 5 channels here). But voluntarily, no.

revenuee

Feb 9, 2004, 08:09 AM

Originally posted by MacFinn
It's funny when I think about it. My kids (26, 22 and 16) are constantly watching reruns of Friends, some movies.
Me, I can listen to certain tunes all day, everyday. But see some movie more than 5 times. No way.
I might watch some on TV if there's nothing else on (we got only 5 channels here). But voluntarily, no.

Personally i would be in the generation as your kids (i'm 19) and i relate to them in the way that i watch reruns and movies over an over again ... but i to don't voluntarily throw in a DVD or Video Tape of a movie i've seen anymore ... i get all the movie channels so when the movies get repeated i tend to watch them ... however because i watch these movies out of circumstance i usually watch them in parts. First i see the last 30 min of a movie ... then i see the first 30 minutes, then sometime down the road i see the middle 30 minutes and then finally i can say that i saw the movie as a whole .... LOL

except for batman ... i can watch that over an over again

Centris 650

Feb 9, 2004, 08:20 AM

I have probably seen Star Wars (New Hope) at least 100 times. Honestly. Between 1977 and today I've watched it a good bit.

MongoTheGeek

Feb 9, 2004, 08:45 AM

Originally posted by mohaukachi
aw yeah... the princess bride baby!
One of my top 10.

But there can be only one!

macFanDave

Feb 9, 2004, 08:55 AM

Arthur, starring Dudley Moore.

On my interview to get into college, I mentioned that I had seen the movie about 25 times and had memorized the dialog. The Chairperson of the Admissions Committee, who happened to be the one who was interviewing me, asked me to do some. So, I did both sides of the John Gielgud - Dudley Moore bathtub scene from "Bathing is a lonely business" to "fish must get awfully tired of seafood. What are your thoughts, Hobson?" And it got me in(!) and the incident became kind of a legend.

Of course, legends tend to get exaggerated. It came back to me my sophomore year that I had included Hobson's line, "Perhaps you'd like me to come in there and wash your dick for you, you little ****!", but I did no such thing.

JPGR_Fan

Feb 9, 2004, 10:09 AM

Eight times and counting:

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

"I don't get it, Big Dan."

slowtreme

Feb 9, 2004, 10:21 AM

I've probably seen my Favorite movie "The Big Blue" 100 times at least. Considering it came out in the late 80's that's not a huge feat.

I know I've seen other movies as many times, like "Star Wars". And then there are the movies that get played 100 times in a month on HBO, etc. that you just leave on in the background. After a year long run of "The transporter" or Matrix the counts start to rack up.

coumerelli

Feb 9, 2004, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by mohaukachi
aw yeah... the princess bride baby!

I'm proud to see that The Princess Bride made in into the first comment. Way to go mohaukachi!

It's so funny how often lines from that movie fit into everyday situations! Wifey and I are always quoting lines from it just out of the blue.

Oh, by the way, I've seen it MANY times. I voted for 51-100, but it could easily be over 100 times! The BEST movie!

donco

Feb 9, 2004, 10:49 AM

Every X-mas since it was released on video and 4-5 times before that in the thearters.

Awimoway

Feb 9, 2004, 11:06 AM

Although I usually go for more Oscar-caliiber type films, my undying favorite is, of all things, Hunt for Red October.

But the thing is that I rarely watch movies I own on DVD because I say to myself, "Oh, I can watch that anytime." I watched it a lot more (and got my repeated viewing count up to about 30) because I used to watch it (before my wife gave me the DVD) whenever it came on TV. That's true, for me, of a lot of movies: the kiss of death is owning a copy.

ebow

Feb 9, 2004, 11:12 AM

No one's mentioned Holy Grail? What kind of geeks do we have here? I'm guessing I'm somewhere around one dozen viewings of that. Maybe around 5-8 viewings of Trainspotting... As for movies like Star Wars, I've lost track. Gotta get around to seeing Brazil some day soon.

Edit: Oh yeah--A Christmas Story! I've watched that pretty much every year since 1985 or so, so that would be something like 16 times (perhaps I missed it twice).

1macker1

Feb 9, 2004, 11:38 AM

Fight Club - 15 times
Friday -15 times
Half baked - 10 times
Color Purple - 20 times
Star Wars - Too many times to count
Matrix - 10 times
Indiana Jones (Temple of Doom) -15 times

Xcaliber is my favorite, but i've only seen it 3 times. **shurgs**

MacFan26

Feb 9, 2004, 11:51 AM

Funny how most people have mentioned Star Wars, what a bunch of nerds we are! I've seen them quite a few times myself, and I'm looking forward to episode 3, hopefully it will be a little better that 1 and 2. Recently however, Pirates of the Caribbean has been creeping up on my top ten list, aside from Star Wars I think it's my favorite.

montecristo

Feb 9, 2004, 12:02 PM

While this poll and thread clearly show that there are some movies that we watch multiple times (much more than a dozen) Jobs still has a valid point that watching videos is different than listening to tunes. While occasionally we might have a movie on in the background at home, I can't imagine how we would have a video pod on in the background. There would basically be less time to watch it. And, if we are willing to bring a video pod on transcontinental flights, we are probably also already bringing our powerbooks.

This is not to say that a video pod couldn't be a good product, but I think Apple is trying to be careful and getting a better sense of how people experience movies versus experience music -- and they are very different. Apple doesn't want a flop and and with video pods, the price could be higher, with a smaller market (I can't imagine 733,000 people getting video pods in 3 months).

Another point -- portable TV's and portable tape decks both existed for many years prior to the iPod. Both have crappy sound/video quality. Portable TV's really served a very limited market.

Finally, it probably wouldn't be worth putting out a video pod unless/until it can hold over 50 movies and still be reasonably priced. Anything that holds fewer movies probably wouldn't be a compelling replacement for the portable dvd players already out there (not in the same way that the iPod blew all other MP3 and CD players out of the water).

IMHO, my two cents.

wdlove

Feb 9, 2004, 12:07 PM

I would say that some of the "Indiana Jones" and "Sar Wars" have watched 2 or 3 times.

Awimoway

Feb 9, 2004, 12:09 PM

Well said, montecristo. Another point is that in the time that you watch one movie, you could easily listen to 30-40 songs. The point being that just because you don't watch a single movie as often doesn't mean you don't watch movies in general as often as you listen to music. For example, I have a 30 GB iPod (albeit with only about 12 GB of music so far), but I think I spend more time watching movies than listening to music.

1macker1

Feb 9, 2004, 12:10 PM

I'd love to own a video pod. But I wouldn't be willing to pay more than 500 bucks for it. It would be cool to have Fight Club playing while i'm working.

mrsebastian

Feb 9, 2004, 01:21 PM

not that it's my fav, just seen it too many freakin times, but the original star wars (100+).

jrv3034

Feb 9, 2004, 01:40 PM

Originally posted by Sir_Giggles
E.T. (Lost Count)
RoboCop (50-60 times)
Ghostbusters (40-50 times)
Beauty & The Beast (20-30 times)
Aliens (10-20 times)
Terms of Endearment (over 10 times)
Finding Nemo (about 5 times so far)

Those are my favourite movies that make me feel good, like comfort food.

RoboCop and Aliens make you feel good?

Whoa!:eek:

They're both great movies, but I probably wouldn't classify them as feel-good movies...;)

helmsc

Feb 9, 2004, 01:49 PM

Return of the Jedi at least 100 times. What can I say, I like the ewoks...and Leia in the skimpy metal bikini ;)

mc68k

Feb 9, 2004, 02:12 PM

star wars episode IV

seen it prob 20+ times. if i watch it too often it might ruin it for me. the copy i have is on VHS too :(

jasylonian

Feb 9, 2004, 02:36 PM

as you wish... princess bride is definitely one of my favorites and that line infuriates my girlfriend (I'm not sure why), but Shrek made me laugh at short jokes (i'm male and 5'3"). i saw that movie 4 times in the theaters. even though my income has not changed over the years, I saw Lilo & Stitch, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 times each in the theaters. I will always love Shrek the most, but Stitch and Pirates are nipping at its heels.

pimentoLoaf

Feb 9, 2004, 04:04 PM

Though it's innacurate history, I watch Gladiator about twice a month, and I watched it around 15 times in the theater. (I really hated the hatchet job ABC did on it a couple of weeks back; last year, they added deleted scenes and it was sooooo much better.) I have to buy a new copy soon as the spindle hole on my old old old DVD is cracking in several places.

I see LotR & tTT, both in their extended versions, about once a month.

Other films I watch a little too often are Amadeus: Director's Cut, Gormenghast, Black Hawk Down, Bourne Identity, and West Side Story.

... ok, so I don't get out much... :p

Trowaman

Feb 9, 2004, 04:33 PM

uh lost count of all my favs

Empire Strikes Back (lost count +40)
Return of the Jedi (lost count +40)
Jusrassic Park (lost count +40)
Matrix (15-20)
Independence Day (20-30)
Patch Adams (10-15)
What Dreams May Come (3-4)
The Truman Show (3-4)
Fellowship of the Ring (10-15)
The Two Towers (10-15)
The Return of the King (5)

MacFan26

Feb 9, 2004, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by pimentoLoaf

Other films I watch a little too often are Amadeus: Director's Cut
p

Alright! Another Amadeus fan! I love that movie too.

1macker1

Feb 9, 2004, 05:53 PM

Damn I forgot about "Forrest Gump"

I've seen that movie about 10 times.

"Sorry for starting a fight at you Black Panther Party" is a classic line.

bryanc

Feb 9, 2004, 08:09 PM

You're right, ebow...what kind of self-respecting geek hasn't seen Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail at least a dozen times?!?

Alas, I suspect most of the folks here are too young to have developed much of an appreciation for that particular cinematic gem.

I lost count of the number of times I've seen the Holy Grail years ago...I was at 54, and I've seen it many times since then.

My three-year-old son know's some of it...he jumps on me and says "you're bein' repressed...come an' see the violence inherant in the system!"

I think I'm going to go home and watch it again tonight!

Cheers

HexMonkey

Feb 9, 2004, 09:28 PM

There's no option for 0!... Since I haven't actually seen many movies (I spend too much time on my mac instead), my favourite movie is bound to be one of the ones I haven't seen yet. :D

Or does a favourite have to be one that you've seen?

Counterfit

Feb 9, 2004, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by MacFan26
Alright! Another Amadeus fan! I love that movie too. Ditto! Watched it in history class last year.

(Some of) my faves:
Léon (a.k.a. The Professional)
Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian.
others...
I think I'll make a list on my website sometime...

Stinkysteve

Feb 9, 2004, 10:42 PM

Dr. Strangelove... at least 80 times.
Blazing Saddles... over 50 times.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail... over 50 times.
Reservoir Dogs... 25 times.
Alien... (the whole series for that matter) 20 times.
American Psycho... 10 times.

edenwaith

Feb 9, 2004, 11:52 PM

I generally don't buy too many movies since I feel I won't get my money's worth out of it. At $1 a rental (give or take), I would generally have to watch a movie 15 to 20 times to even break even. I have been more into getting TV series collections, like Monty Python's Flying Circus and Family Guy. I recently read that Freaks & Geeks will finally be released.

One of my favorite movies is Willow, and I own it on VHS and DVD, but I probably haven't watched it more than 20 times.

I do watch The Crow every October 30, and have done so nearly every year for the past 8 years.

However, when I was younger, Spaceballs and Monty Python's Holy Grail was played many times through the VCR.

mymemory

Feb 9, 2004, 11:53 PM

Tron

That movie drives me crazy, every time it turns more cheese but it brings me very good memories from when I had my Atari 520 ST computer.

The other movie I saw a lot was a Walt Disney one called Bongo.

After that I do not know, not any above 10 times.

Well, Chity Chity Bang Bang was another one. Is not a porn! is a Disney movie about a flying car.

~Shard~

Feb 10, 2004, 12:08 AM

In general, for my all-time favorite movies, I'd say I've watched them all roughly 10-20 times, some more, some less. My favorites include (in no order whatsoever):

* Terminator 2 (epic sci-fi action doesn't get much better than this...)
* Aliens (again, epic sci-fi thriller - and I really enjoy Cameron's work)
* Memento (one of the most unique, intelligent, well-crafted pieces of film I have ever seen - truly too smart for Hollywood)
* The Usual Suspects (again, an extremely smart movie)
* The Matrix (a new classic for me - the sequels didn't touch it or match the magic of the first film)
* LOTR Trilogy (treated as one epic package, truly one of the best accomplishments in movie history)
* Family Guy : The Movie (in case they ever make it!) ;)

And although I love the original Star Wars films (Empire is my favorite), I woulnd't put them on my all-time favorites list. In some ways, I am surprised how many people have referenced these films, yet on the other hand, when you're dealing with any computer/technology-based forum community, there's bound to be an ample population of nerds - and I mean that in a completely neutral way, by the way. :) :cool:

I see quite a few references to Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well - I love this movie too, yet wouldn't put it on my all-time favorites list.

Oh, and to the person who mentioned Amadeus - excellent choice, I forgot about that film, it's been so long since I saw it. Thanks for the reminder, you've made me make a note to go out and rent it again! :cool:

Crikey

Feb 10, 2004, 02:19 AM

My favorite movie? Twice.

The MPEG4 of Steve and John demo-ing GarageBand at the Keynote? Umm . . . I don't know. Let's just say "several".

Crikey

pimentoLoaf

Feb 10, 2004, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by ~Shard~
....Oh, and to the person who mentioned Amadeus - excellent choice, I forgot about that film, it's been so long since I saw it. Thanks for the reminder, you've made me make a note to go out and rent it again! :cool:

Make sure it's the NEW Director's Cut, as a good many scenes have been added to flesh (quite literally at one point) the story out.

JPGR_Fan

Feb 10, 2004, 11:40 AM

I didn't see anyone mention that great service called Netflix (http://netflix.com). I now have a list to add to my queue, thanks everyone.

BTW, for $20 a month Netflix will send you 3 movies from your queue, and each time you return one, they send the next. No late fees, no trips to the video store and they have had every movie I ever thought of to order. In addition, they have a mail drop in my city and always beat the turn around time by a day.

~Shard~

Feb 10, 2004, 07:35 PM

Originally posted by pimentoLoaf
Make sure it's the NEW Director's Cut, as a good many scenes have been added to flesh (quite literally at one point) the story out.

Cool, thanks for the tip! :cool:

Counterfit

Feb 11, 2004, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by JPGR_Fan
BTW, for $20 a month Netflix will send you 3 movies from your queue, and each time you return one, they send the next. No late fees, no trips to the video store and they have had every movie I ever thought of to order. In addition, they have a mail drop in my city and always beat the turn around time by a day. Netflix rocks! They caused me to fill a 120GB hard drive in under a month ;)