Any of you seen this when it first came out?

I was only 8 when I saw it in the theater. Always loved this movie...

Yep.

Great story.

The same theater that opened this near me ALSO opened "The Last Temptation of Christ", by Martin Scorsese, on the same day!

Now, I don't know how old most of you are or if you remember, but "Temptation" was one of the absolute most controversial films ever. It was boycotted, protested, picketed anywhere it was shown.

When I arrived at that Cineplex Odeon Theater in August 1988, I was there to see both films, both of which opened that same day.

The parking lot was jam-packed; there were already two thick rows of protesters completely encircling the entire block of the multiplex. I had to break through the picket lines to get into the parking lot (I was on foot). In the lot, which was pretty much full at about 12:30 in the afternoon (!), there were local news vans, a radio station truck, and several police patrol cars. There was a line from the box office down the sidewalk and wrapping around the inner part of the lot (meaning ticket buyers were waiting in line right next to the picket lines of protesters). My brother and I waited, in the hot August sun, in this seemingly eternal line. When we got to the box office, the 1PM "Last Temptation" had sold out, and we were told that "Young Guns" 1:15 only had a very few seats left. We had planned to see both films that day, but we were going to see "Temptation" first. However, we then wound up seeing "Young Guns" first. Right after we bought tickets, they put up a "Sold Out" sign on "Young Guns". We'd just made it. (Remember, this is before the net, and advance online ticketing and so forth).Anyway, we went into the theater. They had a separate door, and line, only for "Temptation" ticket holders, who were literally being stopped at the door by cops and basically frisked. All bags were checked, etc. . We went through the other entrance, and were let right in. Once you were through the security screening, the lobby became a regular theater, except a couple of private security guards. This theater had only three screens, and the third was showing "Cocktail", with Tom Cruise, which had already been out for some time. I think maybe only two people were there that afternoon for "Cocktail",LOL. Anyway, we went into "Young Guns", finally got seated, and proceeded in the sold out theater to have an absolute blast with the movie.

We came out at just after three PM, to even MORE protesters, and an even longer line of patrons. It was a happening, an event. We were determined to see "Last Temptation", which had been all the rage in the media. On every news broadcast, on every talk show. We got back in line and waited. This time we got up to the box office, "Young Guns" was sold out this time, and we thought, "This is just how it was supposed to go." We got tickets to the big, scary, controversial one, this time. We had our brains on entertainment mode for "Young Guns"; "Now," I thought," we better put our thinking caps on, and tune our brains for a different kind of film experience."


We got patted down by the cops, a lady got her large purse searched, and we were in.

We went in to another packed auditorium, this time with a security guard in each corner of the room. The lights went down, and the film immediately started, no trailers or ads or anything. It was a truly great, mind-blowing film. When it was over, we came back out (by now it was nearly 7 in the evening), and news cameras and reporters were waiting at the exit to interview people for the news, getting their reactions. We slyly stepped around the people being asked, and beat it.

We walked back through lines of protesters giving us super dirty looks.Finally, we chugged on down the sidewalk, looking back at the spectacle.

It was quite something. One of the more memorable movie-going outings of my lifetime, and there have been thousands.

Because of this, though the two films couldn't be any more different, I always have these two films tied together in my mind, LOL. I can't think of, or watch, either one of them without thinking of that day, and thinking of the other film.

I've seen both countless times, now, and own them both on blu.

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly 27 years since then...

I saw Elm 4 in the theater,too,LOL.

I went constantly back then.

I even remember that a few weeks after, David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers" also opened in that theater, and "Temptation" was still playing there. When "Temptation" and "Ringers" left, they were replaced by "Alien Nation" and "Imagine: John Lennon". I saw all of those in the theater.