None. Is this an American thing or something? I have never had this happen, or even heard of it happening except in America. It seems so weird to me to applaud people who can't hear you.
Same, the idea is so bizarre to me
It’s rare. Opening nights of epic films are exceptions.
Reminds me, I learned from a friend: folks from India know how to turn up in a theater - showings get wild!
https://youtu.be/audVP7_DEGo / https://piped.video/watch?v=audVP7_DEGo
I think it's a North American thing. I've cringed in both Mexico and the US every time it happened. I'm just not sure how common it is because I'm not an avid movie goer.
I like going out to watch movies a lot. Never seen this happen at any movie theater in any city before personally.
Seen it quite a few times in the UK, mostly with quite studenty audiences though (see my comment elsewhere re the South Park movie).
Independence Day
Caught a sneak peek the week before it opened. As soon as Will Smith punched the alien and said, "Welcome to Earth," everyone cheered and it was a nonstop thrill ride that had the entire audience engaged.
When the credits rolled, there was a legit standing ovation. It was the single best crowd I've ever watched movie with.
Same for me, went to watch it on Independence Day and it was a wild ride! Some guy jumped up and yelled "FUCK YEAH, GET SOME!" when Will punched that alien. By far the greatest movie experience I've ever had.
Also saw it in the movie theater! Opening weekend! What an experience!
Yeah, I think it may have been the same when I saw it. It definitely was when I saw Infinity War opening weekend.
Yooo, I forgot about that!!!!! Same at my theater in NYC!!
I also ran out of the theater crying when the alien grabbed the scientist in the lab. Oh those young memories hahaha
The Passion of the Christ. I was very confused that people thought it was a good film. And in my specific case, confused about why my school thought it was a good idea to take a bunch of minors to see a very gory R-rated film. That was the most violent movie I had seen up to that point. The whole experience was surreal, and not in a good way.
Everything everywhere all at once
I think everyone was surprised at how much we all laughed and people were just happy
Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Opening night, midnight screening, it was amazing. When the opening voice over started, a hush fell over the theater so solemn you'd have thought some sacred deity had descended from upon high. At the end everyone clapped and cheered. I think I even high-fived some random theater goer outside we were all so jazzed
When Aragon kills the Urakai leader in FOR the audience cheered, which I found weird. Then when the film ended there was a collective awww.
oh yeah I think my audience did that too! after the initial shock of seeing him drag Aragorn closer by impaling himself further on his sword was so terrifying, that the beheading that followed was almost like a "Indiana Jones just shoots the crazy swordsman guy" moment
Endgame was a pretty lively experience when it came out. Felt like the whole theater was enjoying the fuck out of that movie lol. When Captain America picks up Thor’s Hammer people went nuts haha. Hype was enormous and they delivered imo (a little bit fan service for sure but overall great film to see in theaters).
The midnight premiere of Star Wars Episode 1. That was the same year I graduated highschool and I had never seen such an event at a movie theater! There were fat middle aged guys wearing the same Star Wars tshirts they bought in the 80s, now 2 sizes too small. There were people waiving plastic lightsabers. It was glorious...
Same. We all
ditchedschool (our art teacher actually gave us passes because she was there for the earlier ones and was a fan)Yep. It was a lot of fun honestly.
I saw a free preview screening of Mission to Mars right before it came out. That horrible movie ended and the theater was dead silent, then someone yelled out, "I didn't have to pay to see that pile of crap". Everyone applauded.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
But that's kinda expected when watching it
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Theatre full of Trekkies so it was a target audience only.
Nice. I went to see the picard season three finale and same. It was so fucking good and we were able to share it with all the trekkies.
The only time I have encountered applause in a movie theater was during the opening night for Snakes on a Plane. It was like a festival atmosphere. There were literally people in costumes, dressed up as planes and snakes and planes covered in snakes. It was kind of awesome, to be honest.
Rejected by Don Hertzfeldt.
In fairness, it was a screening with Don Hertzfeldt... or it was supposed to be. He was sick or something, but we didn't find that out until the end.
We went to a screening of The Room that Tommy Wiseau was supposed to do a Q&A after. He didn't show either. Probably for the best cuz we were mocking it the whole time and throwing plastic spoons at the screen.
Are you sure he didn't show? Or did he run away crying after seeing you disrespect his art?
Maybe his anus was bleeding
Went to Fahrenheit 9/11 on opening day, and the entire theater clapped at the end.
I'm not sure anyone there necessarily thought it was a good movie, but we were all unified in our disdain of George W. Bush.
I recall hearing that there was applause when the aliens in Independence Day blew up the white house, but it didn’t happen when I went to see it.
Had a bunch of drunk college at my theater, so the whole viewing was pretty rowdy. I applauded with the crowd, it was just a fun time.
Jurassic Park.
Everyone was blown away, like holy shit, that was amazing
It's hard to describe what it was like seeing Jurassic Park in the theater for the first time as a kid.
Picture this... You're a teenager going to see that big blockbuster everyone's been talking about, but it's 1993. There is no YouTube. There's basically no internet. No spoilers. You've seen the trailers, and they're carefully done so as not to give away the big reveals. So you know this is some kind of dinosaur movie, but you don't know much else.
And then the dinosaurs show up. And they look 100% fucking real.
Even today, that movie's special effects hold up, and that's for three reasons:
- They had CGI, but used it sparingly because it wasn't ready to be all the effects in a movie yet. Where they could use practical effects, they did. And they did an astonishingly good job with them.
- The dinosaurs are shown sparingly until the audience is practically begging for the various "money" shots - which are then provided, with perfect timing. It's like cinematographic edging.
- Spielberg was at the absolute top of his game. Scenes were thoughtfully executed and beautifully shot. The water in the glass scene? People in the audience were dead silent, holding their breath. Then the T-motherfucking-rex appears, and it's glorious. Everyone screaming and shouting, half-thrilled and half-terrified.
It changed movies, permanently.
Brilliantly put, and I had basically the exact same experience. I was 13, I think, and I was just blown away by JP.
Jurassic Park is the only movie I saw where people clapped at the end. And that was during a screening in 2018. There was no reason, no one was there related to the movie, it was just that good.
... Barbie.
You seem disenchanted, but there was clapping at the end of my viewing of Barbie, too, and I loved it. The atmosphere of the theater was so upbeat and fun! So many people were dressed in pink, and everyone kept saying "Hi, Barbie!" As we entered and exited the theater. This was a couple weeks after the premiere, and people were still having fun with it. A real sense of playfulness. One of my favorite theater experiences!
The Force Awakens. Not just at the end, though, but also when the opening crawl started and when every returning character showed up.
"I know what that is! I clapped when I saw it!
Just as a disclaimer: I can count on one hand the number of films I've seen in the theater but the answer is "none".
The ones I can remember...
- The Lion King
- Liar Liar
- Star Trek First Contact
- Muppet From Space
- Every Special Edition Star Wars movie
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Titanic
- Star Trek (2009)
- The Avengers
- Deadpool
But the biggest one, I mean roaring applause, was an advanced showing of Galaxy Quest. I've never had a theatrical experience like that before or ever again.
I agree with both Patrick Stewart and Johnathan Frakes when they say that Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek movie ever made.
The only time I've ever witnessed this was opening nite of "Star Wars" in La Puente/West Covina area ~ 45 years ago. Back then that was the title of the movie (not "A New Hope" Episode IV).
For me it was "The Last Samurai" and Return of the King"
But The Last Samurai was so bad....
People applauded Titanic when I saw it. Braveheart too.
The Snakes on a Plane midnight release show was some of the most fun I've had at the theater.
Saving Private Ryan.
It was a subdued clapping out of respect for those the movie represented.
For me it was the only movie I’ve been to that left the theater dead silent at the end as everyone filed out. For a lot of us it made us realize why our grandparents who served never talked about what they went through.
I joined the army specifically because my grandfather was RA in 1939 and had been wounded in the Aleutian island campaign before being reppled into the ETO in time for the battle of the bulge and dachau. He didn’t talk to his (non military, non combat) son but when I came back from having seen the elephant we had long talks.
The hell with that war.
Wyatt Earp. It was 3 hours long, which was not a normal thing with movies back then (also the movie just wasn't that great). Halfway through people were starting to yell advice to Kevin Costner up on the screen, and when it finally ended, everyone clapped and cheered because it was finally over.
Avengers Endgame.
I was thoroughly impressed with how the Russo brothers managed to amaze us after Infinity War.
Gladiator, I saw it opening weekend
Yesterday. Godzilla Minus One. Fantastic movie!
I went yesterday too and that was the best movie I've seen in a LOOOONG time. Even taking Godzilla out of it, it would still be great. I'm not a movie clapper but if I was going to start that would have been the one to do it.
Heaps of festival films and premieres.
But I don't think I've ever seen a New Zealand audience applaud anything that was just a mainstream release playing in a cinema, even on opening weekend.
A View To A Kill got a lot of random yelling though.
So Americans do really clap over every bullshit? I thought it was just a meme.
I heard some applause at landing of a plane
"FUCK YEAH! WE SURVIVED!"
Snakes on a Plane. It came out when I was in college, and my college had a movie night at the local cinema, so it was a bunch of college students cheering during the movie, especially at the famous line.
The Devils Rejects
I can't remember a movie I've seen in a theatre in the past 15 or so years where people didn't clap afterward.
I don't get it. Nobody who made the film is present. Who the hell are you applauding?
Pour one out for symbolic gestures lol
I think if everyone has had a good time and it's been a good atmosphere, it can be a fun way to round it off.
Eg I saw the South Park movie in the cinema, and the place was just rocking that night. Mostly a student crowd I think, very raucous laughter, almost more like a gig than a screening. The applause was huge, and it was only partly for the movie itself.
I've been to a few where it's been like that (not quite like that, but not far off) and it's always felt appropriate.
Other times I've seen it happen, and it's been a bit weird, but I don't mind it. I think it's great that people enjoyed their experience enough to be pumped up enough to show it.
I think the theater clapped when I saw Infinity War, and it felt pretty appropriate. The whole theater was clearly very invested the whole time.
Stop Making Sense - maybe the greatest concert film of all time.
Hell yeah! That's one of mine too - when I saw it it was at the Edinburgh Film Festival and they set it up like a concert - open air screening, support acts, a bar and food kiosks in sight of the screen, standing only. It was amazing.
The theater I was in clapped and cheered during the first multiple Agent Smith fight in the second Matrix movie on opening night.
Zebraman, by Takashi Miike.
Yup.
The Sixth Sense
I can't even imagine someone starting applauding at a movie. Sounds pretty American.
I've been to a few premières through a past job, so I don't count those, nor ones where the filmmakers are present at the screening, as that's just politeness, but I have seen it sometimes (UK)
Movies where I've seen this happen (and it felt right):
- South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
- Grosse Pointe Blank
- Goodfellas
- The Big Lebowski
- Stop Making Sense (special open air screening which was set up like a gig - they even had support acts!)
- Ghostbusters
- The Room
- Aliens
- All three LOTR movies
In most cases these were either screenings with a big student crowd, or retrospective screenings which will always bring out the fans, and the atmosphere was really positive, so the applause felt, like a collective acknowledgement of, "How fucking great was THAT?!"
It's a bit odd to see it at other times, but if someone has had that good a time at a movie, then great! I'm certainly not going to have a problem with it :-)
The Pianist. A huge round from the audience.
All the Harry Potter movies, the twilight movies, the Magic Mike movies...
Oppenheimer
Downvotes. Fuck me, well, I guess it didn't happen, then.
Return of the King, midnight showing as the tail end of a triple feature. Also the first two were the shown as their extended editions. It was quite an event!
There was one other instance where I remember applause at a theater, but I'm blanking on what movie it was. Trying to think of what might've had the right crowd for it, and that I saw close enough to it's release date. Maybe The Force Awakens, or Endgame? Dunno...
I think it was the last Harry Potter.
I didn’t keep track, sorry
