Best audience reactions you've heard in a movie theater

[Paco]

There's Something About Mary.

 

Jizz.

 

Hair.

 

Probably the most sustained crowd laughter I've ever heard in a movie theater.

 

 

 

Horror movies are always the best. People were going nuts in Freddy vs. Jason and even The Grudge.

 

Yup, I was gonna mention Freddy vs. Jason too. I went to the midnight showing. Rowdy crowd, lots of costumes.

We need to bring back the "slasher" type horror films. Too much fun.

 

Biggest reaction: Kelly Rowland's death. Pretty much got a standing ovation for that one.

[Brian Fowler]

Brian and I probably have a similar one for the Devil trailer when M. Night's name came on screen and everyone was like "LOL yeah no."

YES.  But it's even more than that.  I swear, when I saw the trailer, people were on the fucking edge of their seats through it (including me) right up until his name came up, and everyone scooted back in their seats, phones came back out, conversations resumed during the trailer.  It was mesmerizing.

 

I rarely go to the theater, but reactions to the pencil scene and the 18-wheeler flipping over in The Dark Knight got a lot of ooohs and aaahs.

 

 

 

When Gordon turns over the Joker card at the end of Batman Begins, the whole place went ballistic.

 

Only two midnight showings I've ever hit were Begins and TDK.  Both got literal standing ovations at the end.

 

 

Others:  Nearly every single time Kat Dennings spoke or did anything in Thor, the next line was drowned out by the laughter.  I have never seen any actual comedy get as many laughs as she did in that film.  Oddly, I've heard other people say they saw it with her getting nothing but complete silence and no laughter at all.

 

Worst:  There were these two people behind me last year at Django Unchained, one who kept asking the other what just happened, and him explaining it in detail.  Later, when a character who'd been in at least 3 or 4 other scenes came back on screen to torment Django, she was loudly "Now who the fuck is that?" and I so wanted to turn around and scream "if you'd stopped talking and paid the fuck attention you'd fucking know" but I'm to nice a person in real life for that.

[Brian Fowler]

The audience absolutely lost it in the Avengers during the Hulk/Loki scene.

 

Good call.  People lost their minds for that.

 

 

the oddest one i've ever been at was a showing of "A History of Violence" and seemingly the entire audience would burst out laughing anytime something happened. i couldn't figure it out to this very day and still can't.

That was me watching Shooter. Giggling like an idiot at Wahlberg wrecking everyone.

 

 

Although not quite the same type of movie, when my sister and I went and saw American Beauty in a small but packed theater full of adults when were like 17 and 19, in a small, mostly conservative town, I swear, the two of us were laughing our asses off, and not a single other person in that theater laughed once.  We got some weird looks leaving, leading to us discussing on the way home whether or not the movie was a comedy.  We both thought it was, but, maybe not?  Still not sure if it was just us, or everybody else.

[piranesi]

 

Although not quite the same type of movie, when my sister and I went and saw American Beauty in a small but packed theater full of adults when were like 17 and 19, in a small, mostly conservative town, I swear, the two of us were laughing our asses off, and not a single other person in that theater laughed once.  We got some weird looks leaving, leading to us discussing on the way home whether or not the movie was a comedy.  We both thought it was, but, maybe not?  Still not sure if it was just us, or everybody else.

 

 

It was...The joke was on us all and the punchline was delivered on Oscar night.

[Big Fresh]

Can't remember what big summer blockbuster it was, but they had a preview for the movie "Blood & Chocolate" that had people DYING laughing in the theatre.

 

I'll never forget seeing that trailer in front of Rocky Balboa. That title reveal was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

[Big Fresh]

I saw the Avengers at the midnight premiere, and the shot right after "I'm always angry" where all 6 Avengers are assembled for the first time got a standing ovation from the super-nerds (including me). I've never seen that in the middle of a movie before.

[The Natural]

 

I rarely go to the theater, but reactions to the pencil scene and the 18-wheeler flipping over in The Dark Knight got a lot of ooohs and aaahs.

 

When the fake Batman hit the mayor's window. I've never seen so many people jump, I think the whole theater moved.

 

 

The Dark Knight is the only film I've seen twice at the cinema. I went with my Dad both times and he jumped both times.

 

Good topic this. Here are mine:

 

Lieutenant Gordon passing the calling card to Batman who turns it over to reveal The Joker's card at the end of Batman Begins. That whole scene was the best in the entire Dark Knight trilogy.

 

Cheering and applause for Gonna Fly Now/the training montage from Rocky Balboa.

 

Opening night for The Dark Knight in IMAX was the best atmosphere out of all the films I've gone to the cinema for. So awesome.

 

Film with the most laughs was Avengers Assemble when Hulk punches Thor off screen and especially Hulk using Loki as a fucking ragdoll. The latter made me laugh probably more than any moment seeing a film at the movies.

 

There are a number of films I wish I watched at the cinema after seeing them at home: Shaun of the Dead is the biggest, the original Bourne trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

[elizium]

"Is that it?" - heard after seeing blair witch project

 

That's the only movie I've been to where the entire audience clapped at the end.

 

 

 

 

Probably not the best, but the most uncomfortable was seeing 8MM. There was one guy in the audience who kept laughing (not in a this is funny way, but in more of an "oh yeah, that's the good stuff" way) at all the moments that someone should definitely not be laughing. I ran a porn shop for 5 years and that is the only time in my life I've been genuinely afraid of being in a room with someone.

[The Z]

I'm at the cinema a lot, but unfortunately I think the loudest reactions I've ever heard at the cinema were at the first Scary Movie.

People were eating that shit up, as if it was the funniest thing they've ever seen in their lives.

I think a few people died from laughter during that sex scene.

[Ligerbusa]

I went to see Christmas Vacation a few years ago. The film fucked up during the scene where Eddie and Clark were shopping. Instead of showing them talking, the screen was focused on Eddie's incredibly tight pants and his penis outline. Everyone was crying of laughter. 

[S.K.o.S.]

 

 

- We watched The Guard with about twenty other people. There was an older couple near us, and the guy was silent throughout this comedy... except for the racist bits. At those moments, he would bellow this extended "ho ho ho" kinda laugh. It was hugely uncomfortable. I mean, those bits are funny, and everyone else laughed too, but this guy would still be laughing long after everyone else had stopped. You could feel the fun being sucked out of that theatre.

 

 

That reminds me - I saw this Finnish movie called Black Ice in a theatre.  There's a scene where... it's something like one woman is passed out drunk on a bed, and another woman is searching her to find something she's got in her pockets or something, and then the drunk woman comes to, and the other woman doesn't know what to do, so she starts making out with her to cover up the fact that she was going through the woman's pockets.  Everyone laughs.

 

Then after the laughter has subsided, you hear this older guy in the audience, loud enough that he wanted people to hear him, go, "It's not funny.  It's disgusting!"

 

Awkward!

[Newb82]

On the slasher flick front, the theater I usually go to is sparsely attended, so there isn't much in the way of crowds, but I went to see the THE HILLS HAVE EYES re-make at a mall theater, and there was a lot of cheering during that when the mutants were getting theirs, especially when the surviving dog made a save.

[JLSigman]

The Sum of All Fears comes to mind as well. Man, when the nuke goes off, it was deathly quiet. Very, very awkward, especially considering how fresh 9/11 was in everyone's minds.

Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, saw that having never read the book. There was a big collective gasp at that. We all expected Ryan to save the day.

[BrianS81177]

A loud, sustained round of applause after Paris Hilton's death in House Of Wax

[Curt McGirt]

I went to see Christmas Vacation a few years ago. The film fucked up during the scene where Eddie and Clark were shopping. Instead of showing them talking, the screen was focused on Eddie's incredibly tight pants and his penis outline. Everyone was crying of laughter. 

 

Despite having seen it a thousand times imagining this busted me up completely

[PuroresuFan]

Another vote for Freddy vs Jason. The entire place erupted when Freddy was pulled into the real world and realized Jason was standing behind him.

 

Transformers. Maybe it's just the area I'm from but when Megan Fox asks, "What's your name?" and it's Peter Cullen saying "Optimus Prime", every geek in the theatre lost their sh*t.

[Rev Ray]

I'll also ad Pee-wee's Big Adventure for the Large Marge scene.

 

Nobody knew it was coming and at first everyone got the jump scare and then hilarious laughter afterwards.

[JMFabiano]

How did I forget Hulk/Loki? 

 

All the memories of the end teaser to Batman Begins makes me wish I didn't thumb through a novelization days before. 

 

Not a theater moment, but I marked out for the end of You Again when they reveal who Betty White's rival was.

[caley]

the oddest one i've ever been at was a showing of "A History of Violence" and seemingly the entire audience would burst out laughing anytime something happened. i couldn't figure it out to this very day and still can't.

I had a bad experience at 'AHoV', too!  First of all, the theater employees decided to start vacuuming the back hallway while the movie was going on and it took me forever to figure out it wasn't some weird Cronenberg background noise and actually a goddamn vacuum!  The, at the end, and if you've seen the film it's wrapped up into a little bow pretty much as neatly as one can get, there is pretty much total closure, and some woman behind us went "THAT's it?!"  like she was expecting the film to detail the rest of their lives.

 

Other good ones

-Went and saw 'Quarantine' opening night because I thought it looked scary (I was wrong) and the audience was loud and fairly into it, but in one scene when a zombified old lady attacks someone and the guy caves in her skull with a sledgehammer, one dude stood up, pumped his fist and yelled "YEAAAAAAAAAAH!"  I'm guessing he had a lot of issues with his grandmother.

-Saw 'Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy" with two then-high-school friends and we were just in tears laughing throughout the entire movie while the rest of the audience sat in silence.  As we walked out we were repeating our favourite lines to each other and still laughing as everyone went "That was the worst movie I've ever seen."  To this day, I'm not sure who was right, us or them?!

-I saw 'Sideways' with my brother and when there's a shot of Hitler on the TV, the entire audience, save us, broke into uproarious laughter.  I looked at my brother, who shrugged, and we thought nothing of it.  A couple weeks later, we decided to see the movie again, went, and, again, when Hitler was on, the audience broke into huge laughs again and I looked at my brother and he said "Man, Hitler kills in this town!"

[piranesi]

 

Other good ones

-Went and saw 'Quarantine' opening night because I thought it looked scary (I was wrong) and the audience was loud and fairly into it, but in one scene when a zombified old lady attacks someone and the guy caves in her skull with a sledgehammer, one dude stood up, pumped his fist and yelled "YEAAAAAAAAAAH!"  I'm guessing he had a lot of issues with his grandmother.

 

If you've been following this thread, you should already know that people who go to a lot of moives have plenty of reasons to hate olds.

[Swift]

 

 

 

- We watched The Guard with about twenty other people. There was an older couple near us, and the guy was silent throughout this comedy... except for the racist bits. At those moments, he would bellow this extended "ho ho ho" kinda laugh. It was hugely uncomfortable. I mean, those bits are funny, and everyone else laughed too, but this guy would still be laughing long after everyone else had stopped. You could feel the fun being sucked out of that theatre.

 

 

That reminds me - I saw this Finnish movie called Black Ice in a theatre.  There's a scene where... it's something like one woman is passed out drunk on a bed, and another woman is searching her to find something she's got in her pockets or something, and then the drunk woman comes to, and the other woman doesn't know what to do, so she starts making out with her to cover up the fact that she was going through the woman's pockets.  Everyone laughs.

 

Then after the laughter has subsided, you hear this older guy in the audience, loud enough that he wanted people to hear him, go, "It's not funny.  It's disgusting!"

 

Awkward!

 

 

Was it this guy?

 

[supremebve]

 

 

 

 

- We watched The Guard with about twenty other people. There was an older couple near us, and the guy was silent throughout this comedy... except for the racist bits. At those moments, he would bellow this extended "ho ho ho" kinda laugh. It was hugely uncomfortable. I mean, those bits are funny, and everyone else laughed too, but this guy would still be laughing long after everyone else had stopped. You could feel the fun being sucked out of that theatre.

 

 

That reminds me - I saw this Finnish movie called Black Ice in a theatre.  There's a scene where... it's something like one woman is passed out drunk on a bed, and another woman is searching her to find something she's got in her pockets or something, and then the drunk woman comes to, and the other woman doesn't know what to do, so she starts making out with her to cover up the fact that she was going through the woman's pockets.  Everyone laughs.

 

Then after the laughter has subsided, you hear this older guy in the audience, loud enough that he wanted people to hear him, go, "It's not funny.  It's disgusting!"

 

Awkward!

 

 

Was it this guy?

 

 

Well played my friend.

[Antacular]

Some of these have already been mentioned, which says something about the quality of the flick:

 

- Phantom Menace opening day, when the text scroll starts.

 

- Attack of the Clones, when Anakin is dreaming about his mom, and is moaning "Mom...Mom...." entire audience busted out laughing, most unintended reaction I've had.

 

- Spider-Man 3 opening day, when Brock turns into Venom.

 

- TDK opening day, Pencil Trick and at the end of the 18-wheeler chase, when the Batpod rides up the wall and reverses.

 

- Borat wrestling scene.

 

- Bruno scene where he interviews the member of Hezbollah (I think). Crowd was roaring with laughter the entire time up until here, when suddenly there was dead silence at the "King Osama" line, as many of us thought we were about to see a real execution. ALSO: The MMA scene.

 

- Watchmen when Rorasche in prison yells "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!"

[scraylo187]

Watching the audience during Dark Knight was awesome. Everyone was just in awe of The Joker, but you could tell people were really uncomfortable with how much they were drawn to him. Like, people would laugh and applaud and then kind of shift in their seat. Very awesome.

[ivpvideos]

I saw Borat in a packed sneak preview three weeks before it came out and hadn't seen a preview or anything about it. The wrestling scene had people being unable to breathe it was so hilarious.