Opening Thoughts:
Welcome back to another film related blog post! As you can tell from the title, this post will be about some of the films that I grew up watching. If you have not, check out my previous blogpost first where I talk about some of the TV shows that I grew up watching. Here is the link: https://qrfilmreviews.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/what-were-some-of-the-tv-shows-did-i-grow-up-watching/
As like the previous post, I won’t be able to talk about all the films that I grew up watching but I will talk about a handful. The ones that are not mentioned here will be be talked more in depth when I write actual film reviews. Some stuff that I will talk about here might be mentioned again in actual film reviews as well. I mention a few films in my introductory blogpost, so if you are interested in reading that as well, here’s the link. https://qrfilmreviews.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/my-history-with-films/So let’s get down to business.
Movies:
There are A LOT of films that I grew up watching. Majority of them are PG and PG-13 films and still to this day I love them so much. I believe I grew up watching a few rated R movies and as you continue reading, you will see eventually which ones they are.
Spider-Man 1-3
I LOVE Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. When I heard about the first film being released, I was in 1st grade and I was beyond hyped. The first Spider-Man movie was the second Hollywood film I’ve seen in theaters and it was a grateful mind blowing experience. When the second film TV spot came out back at 2004, I couldn’t believe the news! Nowadays it’s easy to find out when a film is coming out on the internet but back at 2004 I found out by TV spots and if someone told me about it. I saw Spider-Man 2 in theaters during my vacation at Chicago. Spider-Man 3 is my favorite of the trilogy and I had an amazing theater experience back at 2007. I saw the film on the second day it came out. I’ve seen all three Spider-Man films countless of times on DVD after I seen them in theaters. Tobey Maguire will always be my favorite Spider-Man.
Harry Potter 1-4
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the first Hollywood film I’ve seen in theaters back at November of 2001. I was blown away by seeing it on the big screen. After that night, I became a Harry Potter fan instantly. I didn’t see Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban in theaters but I bought the VHS of the second film and the DVD of the third film. Seen them both countless of times. Later on I got the DVD of the first film and I watched that numerous of times as well. I’ve seen Goblet of Fire in theaters and then I got the DVD a few months later. I’ve seen Order of the Phoenix in theaters but I did not watch the film too much once it was out on DVD and when it was shown on TV. Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite Harry Potter movie. I’ve seen the remaining Harry Potter films after Order of Phoenix a lot of times as well but that was when I was going to high school. I consider the “growing up” phase in elementary and middle school. This is off topic but in eighth grade I decided to read all the Harry Potter books and I finished reading them within 2 months! No joke! Harry Potter will always be one of my favorite film and book franchises.
Independence Day
I borrowed Independence Day from the library and when I first saw it at home, I was just mind blown. It’s the first movie I ever saw that included disaster sequences, etc. I believe Independence Day was the first film ever to have cities, the White House, Statue of Liberty, etc destroyed. It was a really unique film at the time and I’ve seen it countless of times on TV. It will always be my favorite Roland Emmerich film. I haven’t seen the recent sequel of the film but I heard it was terrible. I’ll check it out one day and give it a chance.
The Terminator/Terminator 2
The Terminator and Terminator 2 are one of the few rated R films that I grew up watching. I first saw Terminator 2 first and then the original film. When I first saw Terminator 2, I was completely mind blown. I loved the necessary CGI that was inserted in the film, the action sequences, the music, story, etc. The same applies to the first Terminator film. Terminator 2 is the main reason why Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of my favorite actors of all time. Someone gave me the VHS tape of Terminator 2 and I’ve seen the film countless of times. I’ve seen the original Terminator film a lot on television. Still to this day, I have my VHS copy of the film. When I first saw the original Terminator film, I was shocked to see Arnold as the bad guy (since i saw Terminator 2 first). Both films are in my list of top favorite films of all time.
Titanic
I’m not a big fan of romantic movies but the 1997 Titanic is an exception. I’ve seen Titanic so many times as a kid. I’ve probably seen it the amount of times I’ve seen Terminator 2. The story, the characters, the music, etc really made me enjoy the film and I was curious how the famous Titanic sank in general. I actually had a Titanic toy as a kid too. This movie is the main reason why Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors of all time. When I got older, I found out Titanic and the first two Terminator movies was directed by James Cameron. So it’s no question why I enjoy these movies so much. James Cameron is such a great director no doubt!
Toy Story 1-2
The Toy Story films are one of my favorite films of all time. I grew up watching the first two the most. I obviously seen the third one many times but that was during high school. But the first two films I grew up watching the most. My dad used to rent the first two films from the library for me during elementary school and I always watched them during the weekend. I bought snacks from my local deli so I can eat them while seeing the first two films. The second film is my favorite of the trilogy because that was the first Toy Story film I’ve seen. The first two films makes me feel so nostalgic. As I said earlier, I consider the growing up phase during elementary and middle school. Therefore, I wouldn’t consider Toy Story 3 as one of the films that I grew up watching since I’ve seen it many times during high school. But the third film is still amazing nonetheless. Cannot wait for Toy Story 4!
Original Star Wars Trilogy
If you’ve read some of the Star Wars film reviews I’ve written, you already know I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I’m so grateful that I grew up watching the original trilogy. However the most that I grew up watching was the original 1977 original film. I don’t like calling it a New Hope because I’m not a fan of the title or any of the alterations George Lucas did with the trilogy. When I first saw the 1977 film, I instantly fell in love with the franchise. I saw Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi many times during middle school. The 1977 Star Wars film will always be my favorite film of the entire franchise. Han always shot first! Can’t wait to review more of the films eventually in my blog!
Home Alone 1-2
I love the first two Home Alone films to death! I grew up watching the first film the most and it will always be one of my favorite films of all time. I grew up watching the second film when I was around in 4th grade. Both films are one of my all time favorite comedies and they never get old in my opinion. The first film will always be my favorite of the franchise. The films after Home Alone 2 are completely unnecessary but Home Alone 3 is watchable. I have seen Home Alone 3 plenty of times as well but not as much as the first two films.
The Lion King
My favorite Disney Pixar film is Toy Story 2. However my favorite Disney film is The Lion King. I’ve seen The Lion King countless of times as a kid. I love the story, the characters, the songs, etc from the film and I’m sure majority of 90’s kids would say the same thing. The Lion King is definitely a movie that will never get old.
Final Thoughts
But anyways everyone, these are some of the films that I grew up watching as a kid. As I said earlier, I grew up watching a lot of films but I’m only including a partial of them in this blogpost. When I review a certain old film in the future, I’ll let you guys know if I grew up with it or not since I did not include it here. As I said earlier, some information that was mentioned here might be mentioned again when I do full length reviews of the films that I talked about in this blogpost. I hope majority of you guys grew up watching some of the movies that I mentioned in this post. If you want to follow me on my social media accounts, you can follow me on my Twitter and my Instagram. Here are the links:
Hope everyone has a great day and stay tuned for another film related blogpost or a movie review! 🙂
The Elite Film Prodigy 