Special Features Presents: “To rewatch, or not to rewatch….?”

As a movie buff probably everyone has movies that have made a lasting impression. You might even have seen the movie a second time, just because you liked it so much. But how many of you have actually watched a movie so often, that you lost track of the number of times that you have seen it? So many times in fact, that you almost know every line of the movie by heart?  I am one of those persons that can rewatch a movie many, many times. I have a couple of them, that I have really rewatched so often that I actually can’t tell how many times that I have seen them anymore. I thought it would make a fun feature to share my personal list, so here they come in no particular order.

1. Duel ( 1971)

The oldest movie in my list, this was a tv movie directed by the (at the time) pretty much unknown director, Steven Spielberg. The premise is pretty simple. An ordinary salesman, David Mann, one day passes an old dieseltruck with his car on the highway. The driver of the truck turns out to be a dangerous psychopath, and what begins as something relatively innocent, soon turns into a high stakes game of cat and mouse between David and the truckdriver. Even though this movie is now 45 years old, it still hasn’t lost it’s power and is one of the best thrillers I have ever seen in my life.

2. Aliens (1986)

Who says that a sequel to a movie can’t be good, probably has never seen Aliens. This movie is a must see for every sci-fi horrorfan out there. The sequel to the classic Ridley Scott movie Alien, truly raises the stakes when Lt. Ripley is forced back into action against the Aliens. When all contact has been lost with a colony on planet LV 426, Ripley travels together with a squad of marines to find out what has happened. Arriving on the planet the horror is even worse than they imagined. This movie directed by James Cameron, is my alltime favorite sci-fi horrormovie. A true classic, with special effects that are still impressive today, it has a tension and power that few movies have achieved. And ofcourse actress Sigourney Weaver is awesome in the role of Ellen Ripley

3. Heat (1995)

What can I say about this one? Starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, it is the ultimate cops and robbers movie. Both actors are amazing in their roles, but also the supporting cast most notably Val Kilmer and a very young Natalie Portman raise this movie to an incredible level. Pacino plays lt.Vincent Hanna, who is intent on catching master criminal Neil McCauley played by De Niro. What makes the movie so great is the characters. Every character, no matter how small their role, has his or her own storyline. Even though this movie lasts nearly 3 hours, you get sucked into it, never getting bored for one bit. In fact when the credits roll, you wish the movie could go on for a couple of more hours. Great stuff and a movie I pretty much rewatch again every two years or so.

4. The Terminator (1984)

This list would not be complete without adding the iconic sci-fi action movie, The Terminator. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role that made him famous, this movie spawned numerous sequels. Yes, Terminator 2 has better special effects and I have watched that one to death as well, but I still think the original movie has the best story and has more tension. Sarah Connor has been marked for death by an unstoppable killing machine from the future. Her only hope lies with a lone resistance fighter from the future, Kyle Reese, who has travelled back in time to save her. With fantastic action sequences, great oneliners (I’ll be back….duh), this movie has it all.

5. The Star Wars saga (1976-present)

As you may have noticed I did not mention Star Wars as a movie, but rather the entire saga. Yes I am also a Star Wars fan, there is no denying that, and as such I have watched every movie more times than I can count (except for maybe the last one, but that is only because it came out last year). If I really have to tell what these movies are about, than I suggest that maybe it is time to not call yourself a movie lover anymore. Just kidding ofcourse. Seriously though, these movies truly are the best science fiction has to offer, and with Disney taking over, we now have a movie to look forward to every year. My only hope is that this doesn’t mean that it will impact the quality of them.

Honorable Mentions

When I started this list I almost made a top ten, but the post would become a little bit too long if I did that. I did want to mention two more movies though:

1. Rambo (First Blood) (1982)

Ah, the classic action movies of the 80’s…who doesn’t love them? This movie starring a young Sylvester Stallone in the role of Vietnam veteran John Rambo, is for me the best action movie of the roaring 80’s. Spawning three sequels, the original movie will always remain the best one by far.

2.  Runaway Train (1985)

This movie is more than the simple premise of a train going out of control and running amock. It is a story about what drives a man, and how much he is willing to do in order to achieve freedom. Earning both Eric Roberts and Jon Voight an Oscar nomination, it is a fantastic movie with awesome performances.

Final Thoughts

And that is my list. (Which honestly is far from complete, but I had to draw a line somewhere). As I was writing this post a couple of other movies already made their presence known to me in my mind, so there are many other ones that do not appear on this list. So….how many of you actually rewatch movies? Is it something you do yourself? Or do you think people are crazy to just rewatch a movie one time. Do you have any movies that you have rewatched and have actually lost track of the total number of times that you saw them? Let me know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading…and until the next post!