Great Movies You Can Only Watch Once

[Midpack]

For example, The Sixth Sense, one of the best movies I've ever seen. But once you know how it ends, it's just not the same, completely spoils the experience compared to the first time. Some movies with surprise endings are still enjoyable a second time (e.g. The Shawshank Redemption, my #1 fav movie ever), some just aren't IMHO.

If you haven't seen The Sixth Sense, I highly recommend it.

Other movies that are great - once?

 

[nash031]

Memento.

On the flip side, a movie like Fight Club is actually more interesting the second time where you can see all the cool stuff the filmmakers do throughout that augments the twist that you didn't catch the first time through.

 

[Onward]

I never felt like watching Citizen Kane a second time.

Blade Runner either.

These aren't on my list of greatest movies, though.

Sixth Sense I could watch again. I still consider that the scariest/spookiest movie ever.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I immediately had to see 6th sense after I saw it. Once I knew the ending I needed to see If I could pick up on the "tells":

 

[Scrapr]

The Crying Game

Sixth Sense comes in as #1 on this list of Movies with a twist ending. But also as #3 rewatchable. I don't watch scary movies. So I will take your word this is a good movie.

Movies with Twist Endings | Best Twist Endings in Film

 

[GrayHare]

Planet of the Apes

Any movie with a big reveal at the end is a candidate, but there may be other reasons to watch it again.

 

[Fedup]

Silence of the Lamb. I was half watching it. Then I went home and bought the book to read it because I missed half of the plot. When it became too scary, I just fold the book. Easy Peasy. That's how I got through the book.

 

[LauAnn]

Disagree about watching the Sixth Sense a second time. Which I did just last week. Knowing the ending was enjoyable as I was able to view it from a different perspective.

 

[easysurfer]

Ex Machina

 

[Koolau]

The Crying Game

Sixth Sense comes in as #1 on this list of Movies with a twist ending. But also as #3 rewatchable. I don't watch scary movies. So I will take your word this is a good movie.

Movies with Twist Endings | Best Twist Endings in Film

I guess I don't think of SIXTH SENSE as particularly "scary." Plenty of goose bumps and the ending is way cool. There are only a couple of "gotcha" scenes (where something "jumps out" at you or otherwise startles you.) It's no slasher movie but more in the vein of Psycho. You can really identify with all of the characters and there are only a couple of actual bad people in the whole thing. I really liked it because Bruce Willis was playing against type. Could be his best.

Watch it on the small screen and the "scariness" will be very manageable in my opinion. Still, you have to know yourself, so YMMV.

 

[Jaded salami]

Manchester by the Sea - well acted, well written, but wish I had those two hours of my life back, however. Loved rewatching The Sixth Sense.

 

[FlaGator]

Great topic!

Discuss this frequently with DGF, who is a big movie buff. My list, and the reason:

-Reservoir Dogs - Every time I hear "Stuck in the Middle with You", I think of THAT scene..
-Kill Bill Vols. 1&2 - Only need to see how the vengeance plays out once.
-Sunset Boulevard - Actress at the end of her career, actor on his way up. Too much like real life and depressing to watch again
-Chinatown - Nicholson in his prime, but once you know the secret, no need to see again. Just watch it closely the first time.
-Apocalypse Now - Amazing on many levels - the logistics to get it done, Brando, the portrayal of the intersection of duty and reality. Seen it 3 times since released, too depressing to see it again for another 10 years.

Need to start a thread on movies one is always happy to watch. Would be a longer list for me

 

[W2R]

Almost all of them. Actually, watching them even once is like pulling teeth for me.

 

[timo2]

Almost all of them. Actually, watching them even once is like pulling teeth for me.

+1. once is enough for almost every movie.

 

[SecondCor521]

No Way Out might fit the category.

In the category of must watch several times to even understand what's going on: Inception and Primer.

 

[Midpack]

Memento.

+1, great underappreciated movie. I tell my friends to watch, but be prepared for a mental challenge, I like to be challenged.

I immediately had to see 6th sense after I saw it. Once I knew the ending I needed to see If I could pick up on the "tells":

+1. I noticed one huge tell right off the bat, but never put it together until about a minute from the end. I'll never forget the instant near the end when I realized what was up and probably said "Oh My God." It took DW a few minutes more to see it, so she was pulling at my sleeve with "What? What?"

Ex Machina

Yeah, I didn't see that ending coming, but it made sense. Makes you stop and think about AI.

In the category of must watch several times to even understand what's going on: Inception.

I couldn't wait to watch Inception a second time. I knew when it ended that I'd missed a lot despite being very focused the first time through.

Interstellar was challenging also, a lot of thought provoking space-nonlinear time-dimension puzzles.

 

[gcgang]

Schindler's List.

 

[brucethebroker]

Memento.

On the flip side, a movie like Fight Club is actually more interesting the second time where you can see all the cool stuff the filmmakers do throughout that augments the twist that you didn't catch the first time through.

Conversely, I watched Momento a second time just because I felt like I had missed so much of the plot trying to figure out what was really happening the first time around. Interesting movie!

 

[Dawg52]

Almost all of them. Actually, watching them even once is like pulling teeth for me.

Same here with the exception of Shawshank Redemption. I've watched that one a couple of times. I too have difficulty watching a lot of movies. I guess my attention span is declining as I age. No problem watching an hour long TV show like Blue Bloods, Better Call Saul etc....

 

[RunningBum]

I like re-watching a good twist-finish movie, to see things from a very different perspective. Fight Club, already mentioned, is the classic example of this. Primal Fear is another. Edward Norton was great in this.


Some movies kind of fall apart though, not that they are considered "great". Stir of Echoes with Kevin Bacon comes to mind. I can't even remember the details, but while it was fun to watch for a lot of the movies, there was a "why didn't they just ___?" thing about it.


"The Sting" is one for me, though it's a well-done period movie and watching Redford and Newman a second time is not time wasted. It wasn't nearly as much fun knowing how it turned out though.

 

[Nemo2]

I've watched Zulu, The African Queen, and Pulp Fiction a number of times...most others not so much, if at all.

 

[jollystomper]

Movies I love I can always rewatch, sometimes especially the ones with twist endings. I always find there are things and nuances I missed the first time.

Just happens last night DW and I rewatched "Hacksaw Ridge" with some friends, and I still enjoyed it.

The hopeless/depressing/angst genre of movies I cannot rewatch. I want to be entertained. It may be well made movie, but if it the tone is one of those states I can't watch it again to be dragged down into that mood. Movies like "American Beauty" or "Requiem for a Dream" come to mind.

 

[Scuba]

Great topic!

Discuss this frequently with DGF, who is a big movie buff. My list, and the reason:

-Reservoir Dogs - Every time I hear "Stuck in the Middle with You", I think of THAT scene..
-Kill Bill Vols. 1&2 - Only need to see how the vengeance plays out once.
-Sunset Boulevard - Actress at the end of her career, actor on his way up. Too much like real life and depressing to watch again
-Chinatown - Nicholson in his prime, but once you know the secret, no need to see again. Just watch it closely the first time.
-Apocalypse Now - Amazing on many levels - the logistics to get it done, Brando, the portrayal of the intersection of duty and reality. Seen it 3 times since released, too depressing to see it again for another 10 years.

Need to start a thread on movies one is always happy to watch. Would be a longer list for me

+1 for Reservoir Dogs! Just heard that song a few weeks ago and was immediately transported to "that" scene!

 

[Fedup]

My husband and I never get tired of watching old Western movies, Clint Eastwood type of movie. My husband, not me, loves to watch Lawrence of Arabia multiple times. He never gets bored. Apparently, this is a movie his father took him to see in England when he was younger. My daughter said Steven Spielberg watched the same movie 5 times before he makes any movie, at least that's what I remember she told me.

 

[MRG]

"A Boy and his Dog". I guess you could watch it again but you're a pervert if you do.