As we grow older, there are certain things that we gain as we become adults, but there are also things that we lose along the way as we make the transition. As kids looking at the world for the first time, we see this big magical place full of mystery and wonder. As adults, we see the world as something that can be brutal and very mean at times. It is one of the great tragedies of growing up that we lose that sense of wonder and excitement that we had as children. While some of us are able to retain some of that, most of us gradually accept the reality of living in the real world: Bills, jobs, taxes, and eventually death. It’s depressing, really, that a lot of us can no longer see the world through the eyes of a child. What’s even worse is that some of us, myself included, rushed to grow up only to be confronted with certain harsh realities. To quote Calvin’s dad from Calvin and Hobbes, “I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to grow up if I’d known the whole thing was going to be ad-libbed.” It’s one of the reasons why I’ve chosen to bury myself in movies and video games to balance things out, because let’s face it: Being a grown-up sucks sometimes. Because of that, I want to talk about movies that have allowed me to remember that having a child-like sense of curiosity and wonder is an amazing thing and shouldn’t be taken for granted that many of us do from time to time.
Jurassic Park
Dinosaurs! Who hates dinosaurs as a kid? I sure didn’t. While dinosaurs have been a part of cinema since the beginning, they’ve never been brought to life like Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. I remember seeing this film back in 1993, and this scene just floored me. I wasn’t concerned about how the film was made, I was just simply glued to the screen watching a brachiosaurus rear up on its hind legs. Then the scene cuts to a group of dinosaurs roaming in herds. 26 years later, this scene still gives me goosebumps. Jurassic Park is such an amazing experience. Every time I watch it, I’m transported back to the first time that I saw it theaters. While Jurassic Park has multiple sequels, none can compare to original film. Not only was the film exciting and visually spectacular, it pushed visual effects and CGI to their absolute limits while still using practical effects, puppets and models.
Star Wars
While this one really doesn’t need an explanation, I’ll provide one anyway. Star Wars was one of the first films that I remember watching. I don’t even know how many times that I’ve seen the Original Trilogy. I didn’t get to see these ones in theaters, but I do remember how amazing these films were. As an adult, these films are still among my favorites. Star Wars changed things forever in the film industry and has become a pop-culture phenomenon unlike anything else that has come before or since. Every time those famous blue word, “A Long Time Ago, in A Galaxy Far, Far Way” pop up, I get excited. Whether it’s the original films, the prequels or the new Disney films, there is something about Star Wars that speaks to us on a certain level. For me, Star Wars will always be a reliable source of entertainment that will always make me feel like a kid.
Hook
To me, Hook is probably the best Peter Pan film ever made. I loved it as a kid, because it was so imaginative, colorful, and Robin Williams was in perfect form. While the film didn’t necessarily garner the following that it has now, there was something really magical about the film that brings me back to a simpler time and simpler story-telling. As an adult, this film has multiple meanings for me. For one, it teaches adults that being a kid should be one of the most cherished times in a person’s life because it will never come again. At the same time, kids learn that growing up has its benefits as well, such as being able to have a family of your own. This scene that I picked isn’t the whole scene, but it’s still intact enough to really capture what it means to be a kid and what it means to be a grown-up. Watching Peter find his happy thought and soaring out of the tree-house never gets old.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Granted, when the first Lord of the Rings film came out back in 2001, I was 19, so I wasn’t technically a kid anymore, but that didn’t stop me from taking in the world of Middle-Earth like a kid. It was an epic fantasy film that had very familiar themes that I remembered as a kid. That opening prologue with Sauron and the One Ring had me glued to the big screen. I had never seen anything like it before, at least not on that scale. The Fellowship Of The Ring reminded me why I loved fantasy as a kid and why I had such a vivid imagination as a youngster. Even to this day, The Lord of the Rings captured my imagination to a degree that not even Star Wars could. From The Fellowship of the Ring to The Return of the King, these films told me that it’s okay to have an imagination and to enjoy stuff like this.
Aladdin
Disney’s always been a source of great imagination. Just look at their old-school animated line-up. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to The Lion King, each of their films were just brimming with creativity, color, story and humor. Aladdin was my absolute favorite animated film during the early 90s. It was incredibly vibrant with an incredible performance by Robin Williams as the Genie. As far as I’m concerned, he made that movie what it was. Yeah, it had good writing, great animation and music, but Robin’s incredible and oft-improvised performance just stole the show. There was a lot going on visually. I was utterly captivated when it first came out and I still feel that way whenever I watch the film.
The Abyss
To be honest, The Abyss doesn’t actually make me feel like a kid whenever watch it, despite it being a really great movie. For me, watching The Abyss takes me back to when I saw it the first time. I remember when the family went to go see The Abyss at the Pioneer Drive-In theater in Orem, UT. The great thing about drive-ins is that they often played two movies for the price of one as double-features. When we went to go see The Abyss, the film was playing with Tim Burton’s Batman playing right after. That was a helluva one-two punch. Two fantastic movies playing back-to-back was a steal. But it was the experience of being in that drive-in with those big clunky speakers that would hook on to your window that made the experience so memorable. It will be 30 years this summer since I saw these films for the first time. Whenever I watch The Abyss, it takes me all the way back to 1989 when things used to be simpler.
Superman: The Movie
I’m a huge fan of comic-book movies. I always have been. But there’s always been one movie to which all the others are measured: Superman. The original 1978 film was and still is one of the greatest superhero films of all time. Christopher Reeve inhabited the character of Kal-El/Clark Kent the way that no-one else has been able to accomplish. Like the film’s tagline said, you believed that a man could fly, and while the visual effects don’t hold up as well, the film is so well-written and acted, that it doesn’t matter. The film was FUN. A lot of comic-book movies these days try to be a little too serious for their own good, but Superman was pure joy. Even more so as a kid. There was so much imagination and the music by John Williams was nothing less than iconic. After watching the film as a kid, I remember tying a towel around my neck and charging around the house and outside pretending I was flying. Kids these days don’t really have that anymore.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. is the third Steven Spielberg film on this list. There’s a reason for that. His movies have been a huge part of my childhood. From Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Indiana Jones, Spielberg’s movies have really been ingrained in my subconscious since I was a kid. His movies were incredibly real, fun and powerful at times. E.T. is one of his best movies. I picked the film up on Blu-Ray last year because I hadn’t seen it in 20 years. This film truly encapsulates what it means to be a child. Look at the way its filmed. The adults are filmed mostly from the neck down so the film can focus on the youngsters and that is where the heart of the film is. It’s a lot of fun with some really incredible visuals, and watching Elliott fly across the moon with his alien friend is iconic. There are many themes and messages about the importance of friendship and imagination throughout the film that are just as relevant today. As complex as movies have gotten today, E.T. is a perfect example of how simple a movie can be but still reach people of all ages on an emotional level. How many movies being made today can do that? The ending to E.T. still gets me every time.
Growing up sucks. It really does. We don’t see the world with the wide-eyed optimism that we used to when we were younger. A lot of the dreams that we had as kids and what we wanted to be were often dashed on the rocks of reality. We often get told by our peers, teachers and bosses that we should just grow up and accept reality as it is. To that, I say this:
Life’s too short to take everything so seriously. In these dark times, it’s good to be reminded that sometimes we should say, “fuck off, I’m going to go have some fun!” That was our attitude as kids and losing that attitude has kind of made life…..mundane. I believe Sir Anthony Hopkins said it best:
