Is there any point in watching a film more than once? (1 Viewer)

[Paul_D]

I like many of you here and firmly stationed in the YES camp. But I have friends that think watching a movie more than once is stupid, and thus buying a DVD/video is a waste of money. I can sit and watch a favourite flicck 3 or 4 times in one day (not often mind you :b). But thinking about it, I can't come up with many reasons why rewatching is a good idea.
1) Your understanding of films with twist endings often benefits from repeat viewings. See Usual Suspects, Fight Club etc....
2) Like 1), you only get everything out of films with a lot of details after multiple viewings. No one could claim to have spotted/appreciated all the symolism a director has incorporated into a movie. See Amelie, Out of Sight and so many others I couldnt even begin to list them....
3) For sheer entertainment value - there are some films, especially comedies, that get better the more you watch them. Each time I watch Being John Malkovich, its funnier than the previous time!
Any others?

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I don't know about 3 or 4 times in the same day. But movies I love to re-watch: (they're mostly those brainless, rainy Saturday afternoon type-movies)

Big Trouble In Little China - a real ahead-of-its-time action comedy.

Dumb & Dumber - I think the timing of the humor in that movie borders on genius.

Slap Shot - Who can ever get enough of the Hanson brothers?

The Matrix - My wife thinks some parts are far fetched, I tell her "honey.. the entire story is far-fetched so it works!"

The Burbs - "My fillings are hot".. how can you not watch that over and over.

I could go on and on...

 

[Mark Kalzer]

My question, is there any point in watching a film ONLY once?

Really, how can you get everything out of the movie from just one viewing? True, you lose the anticipation of not knowing what's going to happen, but watching a movie only once, to me just seems ridiculous.

 

[Hugh M]

MEMENTO???

I THINK I have watched that movie everyday for the last few months, and the next day I don't even remember I saw the damn thing.

 

[KyleS]

Mark,
Yes that the movie is THAT bad you only want to watch it once.
Plain old Enjoyment value.
But as you guys stated above you can get a lot more out of a movie by watching it again, catching the little details you missed the first time around, noticing lines you may have missed in the theater, etc.
Kyles

 

[Ron-P]

Take for example Moulin Rouge, this film is filled with so much detail that simply one viewing is not enough. I love this movie, one of my top 5, yet another reason I enjoy watching it over and over, great entertainment.
Personally I think if you just like a movie for no other reason than pure entertainment, that in it self is a justifiable reason for multi-viewings.
Peace Out~

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

The first time you see a film/show you get the initial shock value, but you miss fine details that the director/writers wanted you to see. Of course this only works if you like the show, otherwise multiple viewings become painful.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Hey Paul, next time you talk to your friends, ask them if there is any point in listening to a song more than once.

 

[Hugh M]

I think if there are movies that you can't watch again, then something is wrong with them...i.e. they failed.
just my opinion, because I guess this doesn't apply to the people who never watch a movie over.
Take a movie like "SLC Punk"...I can watch that thing alot of times, I haven't really though...
for comparison, a movie like "Eyes Wide Shut" I couldn't see myself needing to watch it more than twice..
I guess particulars are off-topic.
We need to get through to the "Only watch it once" crowd...These are the same people who prefer Pan & Scan. We must brainwash them and show them Avia and Video Essentials over and over until they idolize Guy Kuo, boycott Blockbuster, and start talking about "smooth-pans", "red chroma bugs", "scaling artifacts", "anamorphic widescreen", "non-suare pixels", and learn to watch a movie more than once!!

 

[MichaelPe]

MEMENTO???
I THINK I have watched that movie everyday for the last few months, and the next day I don't even remember I saw the damn thing.

I think you ought to get yourself a tattoo.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Serious film is serious art. Does anyone question those who like to gaze upon a painting time and time again? Or listen to a particular symphony or concerto repeatedly? Likewise, a great film--even if it has a "surprise" ending--is even more enjoyable after repeat viewings.

The people who put down those who like to own films on DVD or LD are philistines, the same ones who advocate pan-and-scan transfers. To them, film is nothing more than entertainment; as a result, they have no qualms about desecrating films during their transfer to a video format.

Ultimately, who here cares about what such people think?

 

[Hugh M]

Ultimately, who here cares about what such people think?

because they can ruin our hobby somewhat...

we need to reprogram them immediately...

the only problem is that most of the experts at cult programming are dead.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Many films have subtleties in them that are completely missed the second time. Also, there are a lot of films that give me an adrenaline rush the 2nd, 3rd, 20th time I watch them. Obviously your friends are not movie lovers.

 

[Seth Paxton]

I just don't understand this question, and it seems to come up a lot.
Why would you only want to listen to a song once?
For some reason people are so hung up on narratives being tied solely to the story and forget about the storytelling. Ironically, as most of us know (at least in HTF Movies for sure) there are only 15-20 true story types that get retold and reinvented. So the people complaining about this fact are perhaps more subject to rewatching the same thing again and again. At least the film lovers understand that it's not the story, but rather enjoying the presentation again and again like hearing a song sung over and over.
Like I wonder how many people who went to Art of War after seeing Mission: Impossible think watching a movie twice is a waste of time but had no problem seeing those 2 films. That's the ironic part to me.

 

[DaveF]

I assume your friends never watch re-runs on TV, either?
I understand, though. I don't rewatch movies much. Here and there, but don't normally feel like watching any given movie for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc. time.

 

[Hugh M]

on the other extreme there are people who will go to the theatres and see a movie like 197 times or something.
thats a wee bit strange to me. Movies are NOT like the Grateful Dead.
I hate the movie theatres by the way.

I think "Art of War" has a great soundtrack, but I can't stand the abundance of window reflections shot in the movie. It seems like half the time the actors are behind windows of some sort. strange.
maybe we all should go back and look at "Art of War" and check it out!!

 

[Rob Willey]

Ultimately, who here cares about what such people think?

Harsh, but right on the mark.
Rob

 

[Jon_B]

There are some movies that definitely have repeat value. Some movies like "The Sixth Sense" lose that value (IMHO)after a couple viewings.

My favorite flick, Back to the Future, has tremendous repeat value for me. I still see things that I had not noticed everytime I watch it.

Jon

 

[Jack Briggs]

As Seth indicates, some films reveal their nuances more with each repeat screening. That certainly applies to a director who is much-lauded, praised, and worshiped throughout the world--and his films, for many, don't make sense until after the third or fourth screening.

I cannot get enough of my favorite films. Hundreds of screenings are fine by me.

 

[Cees Alons]

Some movies like "The Sixth Sense" lose that value (IMHO)after a couple viewings.

Are you referring to a secret?

For me, anything that's revealed in a movie, doesn;t have to spoil a second viewing (apart from finding out if I really was fooled and should have guessed it, and so on), because you can watch a movie and realize what you didn't know when you first saw it. This is even stronger in the presence of someone who's first viewing it is.

(Like you can enjoy telling or hearing a joke you know already - as long as it is told to someone who apparently doesn't know the point yet).

Cees