MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Movies seen the most times

Movies seen the most times


Can’t recall seeing this topic lately, so wth. I don’t keep track of my views, and regardless most of them would have taken place in the early days of cable or VHS, so going by gut/memory here:

The Blues Brothers (1980) - view count would be near impossible to gauge, but this is one of those films that if I happen to flip by it, I have to watch the rest, regardless of the fact I have owned it on every medium but laserdisc. Incredibly entertaining and infinitely referencable. I’d say 100+ views might be a high estimate but within realistic parameters.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension - pretty much the same sentiments as Blues Bros. It’s just part of my consciousness. Likely a similar view count as these have to be my top two.

Airplane! (1980) - and the rest of the Zucker/Abrahams output, except I’ve never seen Kentucky Fried Movie(!). These were my American Monty Python growing up, and used to be able to recite from memory.

Groundhog Day (1993)
Waiting for Guffman (1996) - saw it in the theater and when I worked in a production company dub room, we’d usually have it playing in the background. Reference it all the time to this day.

The Thing (1982)
Fright Night (1985)
The Fly (1986)
Shaun of the Dead
Jaws (1975)
An American Werewolf in London - these were my go-to horror films growing up and must have seen each many scores of times.

The Fugitive (1993)
Unbreakable (2000)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Witness (1985)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - these are all super-comfy action films that seem to improve on each viewing.

Getting tired, so this is is no way definitive for me, but a good start to what my film-brain looks like.

Please contribute/critique as you see fit.

reply

Off the top of my head, probably:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
White Christmas (1954)
A League of Their Own (1992)
Murphy's Romance (1985)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Rear Window (1954)
The Birds (1963)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Brooklyn (2015)
Grease (1978)

reply

Your number one could be up there from all its Christmas airings. A bunch of other greats as well as well, however we may just have the first soundtrack beating a film in play counts. I swear Grease was in every single friend’s record collection at the time.

reply

I have a DVD of It's a Wonderful Life, so that probably plays into it. As for Grease, I concur. It's one reason that I like Mamma Mia (which could have been on this list, too) - its soundtrack.

reply

Pulp Fiction
not a movie but The Sopranos

reply

Have a distinct memory of seeing PF for the first time in the theater, started laughing the moment Christopher Walken appeared on screen even before he started his story.

And to this day, even though The Sopranos remains a top ten series easy, I still have not watched the second half of the final season. Possibly a combination of not wanting it to end and getting the finale spoiled.

reply

the last season is pretty dark and not as funny as the others but there are some violent scenes and the serious grim reality of mafia life is highlighted in it. I always watch it when I am in a bad mood and put on the earlier season when I am on good mood

reply

the last season is pretty dark and not as funny as the others but there are some violent scenes and the serious grim reality of mafia life is highlighted in it. I always watch it when I am in a bad mood and put on the earlier seasons when I am on good mood

reply

i think Airplane! (1980) is the one i've seen the most

reply

It certainly made my list. Credit to my mom for taking my single-digit age self to see that in the theater.

reply

Vacation (80's)
Three Amigos
Goodellas
Pulp Fiction
Faris Bueller
Fast Times At Ridgemount High
Back to The Future 1 and probably 2 n 3
Planes Trains Automobiles
Shaun Of The Dead
I'm not sure if I've ever seen any movie more than ten times? But these all will forever be in heavy rotation.
(At least 6+ times ea.)

reply

I have no real idea, but a working theory of mine is there is a particular trait/genome/chromosome, etc. that some people have that allows them to enjoy larger numbers of repeat film viewings (beyond childhood, obv.). I think it goes without saying that any movie anyone watches more than a few times must have something "special" about it to the viewer, likely several/many special things: themes, moods, moments, or just perceived "quality," specifically meant in the context of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Of yours, I've seen FBDO, Fast Times & BttF many, many times, but iirc, mostly in my younger days on cable. This is not meant to say I wouldn't immensely enjoy popping any one of those on right now, just noting data points, if you catch my drift. OtOH, SotD is likely a yearly watch for me at this point, usually along with the commentaries and outtakes, etc.

reply

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (used to air non-stop on HBO back in the day)

Real Genius

The Breakfast Club

Chilly Scenes of Winter

reply

And now for something completely different: I've only seen your first two once each, but must have seen TBC dozens of times over the years, mostly younger, but not all. And I've never even heard of your last. Apparently it was originally released in 1979 as Head over Heels, then was re-released with an alternate ending in 1982 under your title.

reply

The first 3 movies I list because they used to come on cable TV all the time when I was younger. This was before streaming services, DVRs and the like...so there just weren't all the options.

Chilly Scenes of Winter is a cult classic (just released on Criterion this year). I watch it at least once per year...in the winter.

reply

Jesus Christ Superstar
Fiddler On The Roof
The King And I
Oliver!
Hairspray

reply

While I was raised on musicals, and still enjoy favorites, they're not a genre I typically seek out. I'm pretty sure I've seen all these, JCS off Broadway, films of the rest, but iirc, I've maybe seen Fiddler and Oliver! more than once. A couple favorites I can confidently say I've seen 10+ times:

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
West Side Story (1961)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
My Fair Lady (1964)
On the Town (1949)
Hair (1979)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Grease (1978)
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

reply

Let's see...

Napoleon Dynamite
Nacho Libre
Shawshank Redemption
The Aviator (the Howard Hughes movie with Leonardo DiCaprio)
Twister
Tombstone

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Funny how some movies just lend themselves to repeated viewings.

reply

"Funny how some movies just lend themselves to repeated viewings."

I would add to that: to different people, their age when first seen, etc. Like I've seen all those, but was in my thirties for the first two, and actually liked them both, but never got the urge to rewatch. Same with the Aviator and Twister. Shawshank, otoh, is "special" to me, and likely a lot of others, and gets watched at least every couple of years, maybe more. And Tombstone scratches a certain itch, but as far as modern westerns go, I've seen Unforgiven (1992) and even Bone Tomahawk (2015) many more times.

reply

I've got to be honest, for some of those movies, the main reason I ended up watching them so much is because certain channels reran them a lot. And it just became a thing that if it was on, I would watch. Twister and Shawshank especially fall into that category, even though I like them both (obviously, or I wouldn't have watched them so much). The Aviator I actually became obsessed with, and would seek out viewings.

reply

Oh I'm sure for most people who remember channels and schedules that would be a factor. I mean, I really do love The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life, but doubt my view count of either would be nearly as high were they not holiday broadcast favorites as long as I can remember.

reply