Essential movies

[raised_fisT]

It's the dog days of summer and we do a "movie night" at least once a week at home with the kids. My daughter is 9 and my son is 6. I try to not shelter them too much and the only thing I don't want to expose them too much to is excessively foul language/violence and anything that has nudity/sex.

They've watched films that some might consider questionable for their age, but I usually skip thru scenes that are inappropriate.

So far I have let them watch the Back to the Future trilogy, The Matrix, Jaws, the Lost Boys, District 9, Monster Squad, Goonies, and others I can't think of right now. I know these aren't all "classics" but they are good viewing and movies that don't really get made anymore nowadays.

I wanted to know what YOU Guys think are essential films to share with your loved ones/children.

 

[raised_fisT]

Ghostbusters 1 and 2.
The Frighteners
Jurassic Park trilogy
Mission to Mars
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 

[Selassie I]

Hard to say what will keep their attention at those ages.

I used to have a bunch of fun when my boys were young and gullible. I got them to watch the entire set of the old Godzilla movies with unbelievable interest because I told them that the movies were true and actual footage. When they asked why they looked funny,,, I just told them that it was because they were very old. LOL They were absolutely amazed.

BTW ... I can't get anything by those boys today.

 

[Mojo Ram]

My daughters are 11 and 14.
Here are some movies I've introduced them to.

E.T. (1982)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Contact (1997)
Watership Down (1978)
Lord of the Rings films
Signs (2002)

 

[Boffo97]

I tried introducing a younger cousin to The Muppet Movie once... completely lost her when she decided Kermit's banjo was "ghetto".

However, Weird Al's movie UHF permeated the brains of my two younger cousins.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I went to see the first "Alien" with my dad when it opened in theatres. I was 10. Unforgettable.
I sat down with my oldest daughter and watched it when she turned 10. She couldn't take her eyes of the screen. It was pretty cool.

 

[Angry Ram]

If you're kids are into comic movies, have them watch the original Spider-Man and X-Men trilogy. It doesn't have all the fireworks and glamor of comic movies these days, but they set the tone and w/o them, there may not be an Iron Man, Avengers, etc. today.

Others...

Avatar (2009)
Any 1980s or 1990s non-Pixar animated Disney movie
King Kong (the new one) although the native people might scare your kids
And you only really NEED to watch the first Jurassic Park. The 2nd one was good but nothing near as thrilling as the 1st, and the 3rd was OK.
Twister is a good one, too.

 

[Boffo97]

If you're kids are into comic movies, have them watch the original Spider-Man and X-Men trilogy. It doesn't have all the fireworks and glamor of comic movies these days, but they set the tone and w/o them, there may not be an Iron Man, Avengers, etc. today.

Others...

Avatar (2009)
Any 1980s or 1990s non-Pixar animated Disney movie
King Kong (the new one) although the native people might scare your kids
And you only really NEED to watch the first Jurassic Park. The 2nd one was good but nothing near as thrilling as the 1st, and the 3rd was OK.
Twister is a good one, too.

The 2nd Jurassic Park I like only for the bit where a San Diego Transit bus gets smashed. I used to live in San Diego and wrote SDT buses a lot.

 

[Dodgersrf]

I tell you what you don't do. Don't watch The Crying Game.
You'll have a lot of explaining to do afterward.

 

[Dodgersrf]

I took my twins to see Despicable Me 2 at the theatre when they turned 2 yrs old.
I thought they would fall asleep or we would have to leave due to them getting restless.
They watched the whole movie. Glued to it. Laughing.

Needless to say, I had to buy them their own Minions.

 

[Thordaddy]

Lion King
Pocahontas
Beauty and the Beast
The Music is great

 

[Dodgersrf]

Lion King
Pocahontas
Beauty and the Beast
The Music is great

Liked The Little Mermaid as well.
Beauty and the Beast was the funniest. Gaston was a great character.

 

[raised_fisT]

My kids enjoy the Marvel and even DC films. And we have the original Superman film on Blu-ray. The have watched Signs and the Sixth Sense as well. They are pretty brave with that kinda stuff.

Debating on whether or not they should watch Poltergeist. They say they want to. But that damn clown.... I'm scarred for life because of that scene. Hated clowns ever since

 

[Thordaddy]

Liked The Little Mermaid as well.
Beauty and the Beast was the funniest. Gaston was a great character.

My kids went to Disney every year for six years straight, I attribute their artistic talents to the art school next to the Little Mermaid exhibit at MGM we put them in there about three times and got them going early ,they can draw better than I can write cursive.

Hunchback was good as well

 

[RhodyRams]

Gremlins

 

[Memento]

Alien. All four of them. Because they're all classics.

Predator. The first two. I actually prefer the second one over the first, but the first is great as well.

The Thing. The original version. Seriously awesome horror film.

Shutter Island. Probably the best psych-horror/suspense film I've seen since Alfred Hitchcock. Speaking of which:

Any of Alfred Hitchcock's films. Classics, every one of them.

Blood Diamond. Very underrated action film about the conflict in Sierra Leone.

The Dark Knight trilogy. Because it's the goddamned Batman.

Shawn of the Dead. Funniest movie I've ever watched, and it has zombies!

I'm sure that there's more, but those are all I can think of at the moment.

Oops. I thought you meant movies in general, not necessarily for kids. Um...never mind my comments. Wait until they're older before watching those films.

 

[raised_fisT]

Just watched War of the Worlds. They enjoyed it. It reminded me that they also watched Super 8, which is similar. And very Spielberg-ian.
They thought King Kong was OK. But it was a bit long and boring at parts for them. They do pretty damn well with scary/intense scenes. They sat thru World War Z and loved it. No nightmares either. I was impressed. LOL
"The Thing" is a must watch. (Kurt Russell version) One of my fave movies of all time... They are a year or 2 away though. Same with the Alien films and Prometheus which I actually liked.

I think they have seen A LOT of 80's and early 90's movies for kids their age. There are some real gems that not many kids of this new generation might not ever know about.

 

[Tron]

I dont have any kids so cant really participate much, but just thought the movie "super 8" might be good since it revolves around kids and has aliens and military and is a decent movie.

 

[fearsomefour]

Kids are funny. My son loved Good Burger when he was that age. I've probably watched Good Burger 16 times in two years when he was a kid. He liked comedies and still does. He is a strapping 6' 2" college athlete now and still won't watch scary movies.
LOL.

 

[Force16X]

shawshank redemption
outlaw josey wales
wizard of oz
forrest gump
the kings speech
watership down
nightmare before christmas
the green mile
amadeus
good animation movies (toy story, up, nemo, etc)