Audience Reaction(s) at Theaters

[indycar]

At the theater showings of movies that were full or close to it, what were some scenes that you remember that people reacted loudly to, be it good or bad?

You can include examples from the NuTrek movies.

I've never seen a Star Trek movie at the theater, since I wasn't a fan until November 2014.

 

[Vger23]

Star Trek III, packed house. Lots of laughter and positive hollering during the Enterprise heist. Huge cheers and round of applause when Kirk kicks Lord Jim off the cliff.

"Don't call me tiny"
"Up your shaft"

Star Trek IV, packed house. Laughing hysterically at the "Nuclear Wessles" bit. A lot of people (older than my parents at the time) thought the "See ya 'round the galaxy" line was very good as well.

Star Trek V (no joke) opening night sold out...standing applause at the end of the film. Always makes me chuckle how people's perceptions change once popular opinion has the chance to set in. Everyone cheered and clapped when Spock gave the horse a neck pinch.

Star Trek Generations opening night sold out...people were literally PINNED to the back of their seats at the end of the crash scene.

Star Trek Insurrection opening night sold out...someone several rows in the back kept making loud snoring sounds during the movie (again, no joke).

Star Trek 2009 (sold out special preview night before opening weekend) dead silence and tears after the opening scene. I also remember someone mocking the "Scotty in the water pipes" scene..but don't remember specifics.

Star Trek Into Darkness (sold out special preview night before opening weekend- IMAX) I remember several people laughing mockingly at "My Name IS KHAN." It kind of ruined it for me.

I've seen every Trek movie besides TMP in the theater...but these are the instances I remember best.

 

[Maurice]

ST II: Big moan of pain when the Reliant's phasers first slam into the Enterprise. Lots of sniffles around Spock's bucket kicking.

 

[Trekkin]

We had people do the *whisper whisper* thing at the 'My name is Khan' bit. It was one of the earliest screenings in Australia, so at that stage most 'normal' people didn't know Khan was going to be in it at all, and the Trekkies hadn't had the spoilers out-and-out confirmed yet.

 

[The Old Mixer]

"F*** HER, SPOCK!"--Some guy during the mind meld interrogation in STVI.

 

[Hippocrates Noah]

Saw several people crying at the end of VI, including my 2nd grade teacher who happened to be there too. She wasn't my teacher at the time though as I was in 4th or 5th grade by then. All the jokes got pretty big laughs and there were a lot of cheers when Chang's ship blew. It's one of only two times I remember hearing people cheer in a movie theater. I don't know what that means though because the other was Waterworld when Costner bungee jumps down and grabs somebody causing a jet ski crash. It was a full house and people went NUTS. Which is the only part of the movie I remember because my older brother's friend shouted out a quote from Groundhog Day: "Morons, your bus is leaving".

I didn't cheer or cry at VI but I loved it, it was the first time I'd watched anything Trek and that movie turned me into a fan. Which is why I wasn't crying as I guess those were the longtime fans who were sad to see the TOS crew go. I do remember literally being on the edge of my seat and it dawned on me where that expression came from, as I don't think I'd ever been that sucked into a movie before or ever really thought about where the expression came from.

 

[Warped9]

The opening of TMP was packed. The reveal of each familiar character was greeting with loud applause and cheering. The opening scene with the three Klingon cruisers as well as the reveal of the refit Enterprise was met with hushed silince accented with sporadic exclamations of "Holy shit!"

The familiar opening fanfare of TWOK was greeted with loud and prolonged cheering.

 

[J.T.B.]

ST II: Big moan of pain when the Reliant's phasers first slam into the Enterprise. Lots of sniffles around Spock's bucket kicking.

That's consistent with what I remember, and also big victory whoops at Kirk's "Fire! Fire!" and Reliant's nacelle blowing off.

A basic rumble of moaning and "oh no" at the self destruct in ST3.

Cheers and sustained applause when the cast's signatures "signed off" the end of ST6, it was like a curtain call at a play.

 

[Maurice]

TMP Bones getting most of the laughs.

 

[Warped9]

TMP Bones getting most of the laughs.

The characters were not quite themselves right off the bat (somewhat intentionally), but McCoy was in form from the get-go.

 

[gottacook]

The familiar opening fanfare of TWOK was greeted with loud and prolonged cheering.

Yes, absolutely, at least on opening day. It was the single biggest reaction of any audience for a Trek movie that I was part of (i.e., up through First Contact; since then I haven't been to the theater for either a Trek or "Trek" feature).

Within that cheer could also be found a sigh of relief from those of us who couldn't help but remember the flaws in TMP - that is, the cheer was another way of saying "This time they're gonna do it right."

 

[RAMA]

The two best reactions from packed theaters were for the whole films...STIV was first. Saw it twice and each time the crowd was obviously into it from the beginning. The best experiences I had in a movie. The only movie that rivaled it, was ST09. The whole crowd seemed amazed by the newness from before the beginning credits till the amazing end credits..

 

[Therin of Andor]

I missed the Sydney, Australia, gala premiere of TMP because I wasn't yet a fan. I understand every actor entrance got huge applause. The ST II premiere replicated this, and there was much communal relief in the Kobayashi Maru scene, when Spock is not dead, and audible sobbing at the actual death.

I instigated a little audience participation with ST III. My club was invited to two previews and the premiere night. The film debut was delayed almost six months, and I'd read the novelization and "Starlog" collectible magazine's synopsis already. I took in four (empty) wine glasses and we clinked them together in the "absent friends" toast scene for the first preview. I took eight glasses for the second preview, and a friend smuggled in a box of at least 12 champagne flutes for our row at the premiere. We got great applause! We also deliberately went wild for Grace Lee Whitney's cameo and Nimoy's voiceover - as "Frank Force" - in Excelsior's elevator.

I actually helped to organise a huge gala preview for ST IV that had Sydney "A List" celebrities, the first annual "Buspak" advertising awards, a disco after-party and free alcohol. The awards night section was terrible but the ST film was enjoyed by many people who'd never seen a ST episode.

At premiere night of "First Contact", the cameos by the EMH, Ogawa and Barclay got great reactions.


Buspak invitation by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Above: The first annual Buspak Awards, coinciding with a gala preview night for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", State Theatre, Sydney. Notice they got the name of the film wrong!

1800 Sydney A-listers (and 200 paid-ticket-holders Trek fans) were at the 2009 premiere at the Sydney Opera House and gave the movie a standing ovation.

 

[Joe_Atari]

That's consistent with what I remember, and also big victory whoops at Kirk's "Fire! Fire!" and Reliant's nacelle blowing off.

This, and cheers at "Mr. Sulu lock phasers on target and await my command." and "Phasers locked." Back on opening day I made an audio cassette of the screening, and the audience reactions were electric; totally transformed the experience. Listened to that recording many times until the (rather quick for the day) home video release; sadly I think it's been lost to the shoebox of time.

Here's another example of what I'm talking about: audience reaction audio from a 1977 screening of Star Wars. Here's the original video -- worth checking because of the poster's comments about his mother making the tape for him with a recorder hidden in her purse. You can hear her speaking several times, including the end where she says, "Well, we didn't get caught!" What a mom!

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Some time later, another poster -- giving full credit to the OP -- synced the audio with video from the film, making it a different experience entirely. Sorry about the weird site; the YouTube version is gone, probably due to the video. Skip to 1:22 for the best part:

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/VcBHXzatt58/

This is how I remember my first experience with Star Wars. There's nothing like seeing a seminal film like this with an enthusiastic, engaged, and not-jaded crowd.

"F*** HER, SPOCK!"--Some guy during the mind meld interrogation in STVI.

That guy should have been punched in the throat.

Sadly, audience reaction/participation has only gone downhill; I sat next to a guy in a test screening recently who kept repeating dialogue to himself and reading the subtitles aloud.

 

[Greg Cox]

TMP: opening night. People complain now that the Enterprise flyby goes on too long, but it got a standing ovation way back then. And, yes, the first appearance of each classic character was greeted by cheers and applause, to the extent that I had to see the movie a second time to catch all the dialogue that had been drowned out the first time around.

 

[Kor]

No scene is too long if it's scored by Jerry Goldsmith. I include the massive V'Ger tour in the middle of the film.

Agreed. I love the visuals of the V'Ger voyage, combined with Goldsmith's music.

Kor

 

[Elder Knight]

Saw the very first showing of TVH when it opened in my town. Only a couple dozens people there, including a small group in Trek uniforms. The little multiplex theater's air condition wasn't working very well, so one fan goes out to complain. He comes back with free passes for everyone. "Just pretend you're on Vulcan," he suggests.

As show time nears, one nerdly little digital wristwatch after another beeps to herald the hour, but I must admit that it's mine that seemingly starts the projector. (My desk at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station had a big IRIG clock looming over it, so I always could set my watch correctly to the second! You can't help being a clock-watcher under those circumstances.)

 

[Terok Nor]

The first one I saw in theatres was Star Trek V and the reaction was lots of laughter during the movie and cheers at the end. I was young at the time and remember thinking how strange it was that people were cheering and clapping at the end of a movie. A few years later I saw Star Trek VI and it got the same reaction at the end. I always expect that now when I'm seeing a Trek movie but it doesn't always happen. It definitely did for Star Trek 2009 and possibly Generations and First Contact but I'm pretty sure no one clapped for Insurrection, Nemesis and Into Darkness.

 

[Shikarnov]

People complain now that the Enterprise flyby goes on too long, but it got a standing ovation way back then.

You'll never hear that complaint from me... I would give almost anything to see that flyby on the big screen.

 

[Elder Knight]

My family went to see TFF the day it opened, but the wife and son had already read the bad reviews online, and told me it would be substandard. I had to agree with them, but it sort of spoiled my fun. I did sense derisive laughter in the audience, so maybe this one was doomed from the start.