Going into a movie blind

[Alidar Jarok]

Has anyone ever gone to see a movie without having seen anything about it beforehand? I'm including trailers as well. I realize, these days, it's very difficult to avoid publicity for a movie and, if you do, it's hard to imagine why you'd see it. But I'm wondering if a movie is better when you have no preconceptions about it.

I did this once. My friends asked me if I wanted to see District 9, which I somehow hadn't seen anything about. I knew it was a Peter Jackson film and that it had received good word of mouth reviews, but I literally hadn't seen a trailer and didn't even know it was about aliens.

Was it a better experience? Obviously, I can't compare my experience to one who had seen the trailer first since I only know what I experienced. It was different. I felt I was exploring for the first few minutes to figure out what was going on. Luckily, the movie establishes the background pretty quickly (aliens), so I wasn't left confused. I figure movies that take too long to get to the point might not feel the same way (a lot of superhero movies with origin stories can fall into this category).

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Going in to a movie blind? What, is it in braille? Ba-dum-dum

But seriously, like you said, it's near impossible to not know an awful lot about a movie months before it premieres.

Sometimes I miss the 70's & 80's.

 

[JarodRussell]

Paycheck, Taken, District 9, Men in Black III, The Avengers, Dark Shadows

Sometimes I'm good at not paying attention to promotional stuff. Couldn't care less about Dark Shadows or District 9, but the others were good.


I'd count The Dark Knight Rises as well, because I didn't see anything except the first trailer on purpose.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I normally wouldn't do this myself, but I was with some family members and we decided on the fly to go to the movies, didn't really even know what was playing. We ended up seeing Lost in Translation. Terrible. The only movie in which my mom fell asleep and I wanted to walk out of. The only reason I didn't was because my dad was willing to give it until the end to improve. It didn't.

So, I learned my lesson. Do a little research before walking into the theater.

 

[ALF]

There was one film I saw (a long time ago) which I knew nothing about beforehand.... and really enjoyed it.
Although not enough to remember what it was!

 

[doubleohfive]

I got dragged to seeing Safety Not Guaranteed earlier this summer. I'd heard the title mentioned somewhere before, but that was about it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

 

[Evil Twin]

I recall going to see The Matrix with a group of friends and not having read or watched a single thing about it beforehand. Boy, was I in for a pleasant (and mindblowing) surprise.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I don't think I have. Usually I'll at least know who it starts (like once I went to see You Don't Mess with the Zohan, didn't know anything about it other than Adam Sandler was in it).

 

[J.T.B.]

Raising Arizona, pretty much. A couple of friends and I were driving around and decided we wanted to go to a movie, and chose that one based on the poster in the lobby. One of the funnest movie-going experiences of my life. It had very little promotion behind it as I remember, and it took a couple of years of home video word of mouth before I talked to anyone else who had even heard of it.

Justin

 

[Shazam!]

The only film I can recall seeing or hearing nothing about before seeing it was Donnie Darko.

I caught The Matrix by accident after the film I wanted to see had sold out, but I'd seen a few trailers for that.

 

[Brikar99]

Yeah, I think I've always at least seen a trailer or TV spot. I can't say I've ever just picked a movie off the marquee and went in.

 

[od0_ital]

Its become a lot more common since I started workin' for a movie theater. Before this job, I would watch a trailer or read up about a movie I was payin' to see. I'd even watch trailers for stuff I had free passes for, just to decide it if was worth waitin' in line.

Now, I just walk up & pick what I haven't seen yet, and sometimes that means goin' into a movie I wouldn't watch in a million years...

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yep, I've done it. Like you say, much more difficult these days with the prevalence of the media discussing it and showing too much of it. But I did manage to go into Trek 09 pretty much blind and I had a much better experience because of it. I hadn't even watched the trailer until I was sure I was going to go and see it with a friend which was a few days beforehand. In general, I much prefer not following movies so closely that I know everything beforehand. I think it ruins the element of surprise, but it's frustrating when the publicity is structured as to sometimes ruin those surprises.

But on the other hand, I've come to realize that if they hardly talk about the movie itself, that something sounds wrong. For example, when Harrison Ford was promoting Indy 4 and doing the publicity tour, I remembered watching him on a talk show and while they had spent a lot of time on him, he hadn't talked about Indy 4 or given any details about it other than it was coming out.

 

[sojourner]

Paycheck, Taken, District 9, Men in Black III, The Avengers, Dark Shadows

Sometimes I'm good at not paying attention to promotional stuff. Couldn't care less about Dark Shadows or District 9, but the others were good.


I'd count The Dark Knight Rises as well, because I didn't see anything except the first trailer on purpose.

Sequels wouldn't really count as "going in blind" though, unless you somehow failed to see anything of the previous movies they are based on.

 

[Rarewolf]

I have to say I don't think I've ever seen a film at the cinema due to a trailer, or review. But then I don't go to many.

It's really only TV/game big screen adaptions and sequels that interest me, so by that definition I go into them with certain expectations.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Of all the 1150 movies I've seen in a theater, the ONLY time this ever really happened for me was with SURVIVAL QUEST in 1989. I had nothing to go on except the movie ad which read ''starring Lance Henriksen and Mark Rolston.'' That's why I went. The ad only showed dense forest, leading me to expect a DELIVERANCE-style thriller. In the end it was somewhat more light-hearted, but it was still an action thriller and not knowing in advance was a refreshing experience.

 

[TenLubak]

Zombie land was one my girlfriend made me buy tickets to, and if it was a better time in out lives i would have enjoyed it more, was shooting up and broke and trying to finish college while maintaining a habit, and stressing about my girlfriend whoring around for drugs sort of ruined that expierence for me tho.

Then she made me watch District 9 on the little computer she downloaded it illegally, that was good. Even in such bad times!

And I'm sure when times were good my dad would go get VHS taps from The Movie FActory he rented and pop em in when i was kid. I mean I didnt know what most of em were about half the time, but not really going to the theatre blind that much. I do like to know as little as possible about books and records tho alot before getting into em!

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The most recent one I can think of is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

I saw a trailer for it, looked like a crappy romantic comedy, so I wasn't going to bother. Then my friend asked me if I'd see with her. I figured what the hell, went and saw it, loved it, bought the graphic novels. Now I'm a big fan. Sometimes, you are surprised!

On the other hand, one time I was invited to watch Dragonfly with my family, and I knew nothing about it so I naively agreed. Kevin Costner could die in agony a thousand times and he will still not have paid for the thousands of hours of my life that "movie" took from me.

 

[cultcross]

I've done it twice in recent years. Never Let Me Go, which was an unmitigated disaster, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which was a pleasant surprise all round. So, mixed opinions on seeing movies blind!

 

[Harvey]

With the exception of a few preview screenings I attended last year as part of a programming job, I've never gone to a movie in the theater without reading a few reviews and/or seeing a trailer first. It's just too expensive to get into the habit.

I have watched a number of things through Netflix and On Demand based on nothing more than the one or two-line description and the cast and crew listed. As you might expect, this has been a mixed bag, but not entirely without unexpected surprises (Hopscotch, which I caught recently, was rather good).