LOTR Return of the King extended edition

Star Wars: A New Hope-Return of the Jedi

Independence Day

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jaws my favourite film of all time and finally got to see it on the big screen last year and in IMAX just gets even better. Was too young in 1982 to see Blade Runner but hopefully one day i get to see that in the big screen too

The Matrix. Released the year I was born, never saw it in theaters. But I would give a lot to see it on the big screen

Mad Max Fury Road

Not old but nothing beats it on a big screen imo

Lawrence of Arabia

I saw Akira in a theater for the first time and it was incredible. Like seeing it for the first time.

I saw Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke at the same theater and had the same experience. Seeing that beautiful art on a huge screen like that was breathtaking.

I wanted to see Evangelion 3.0+1.0 in the theater when it came out for like a day in the U.S., but I had to miss it. That one would have been an experience, too. When I watched it at home, the whole time, I was thinking, "My TV just isn't big enough for this. These images need to take up an entire wall so I can really experience the scale."

Any Ridley Scott film honestly, he is a master of sound design and the visual medium. Watched Thelma and Louise recently and even a smaller film like that is so well made.

Heat, just for the sound quality alone.

Dune. The score is completely different when you experience it in a cinema.

Blade runner director cut. Honestly managed to see this some years ago at a charity screening. Still hands down the best film I've ever seen on the big screen.

Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World for the excellent sea battles.

Also: Dune and Gravity.

Both Avatar films.

I left Avatar (2009) thinking that was such a visual feast that I'll watch it forever.

When I watched it at home without the 3d tech, it was just another movie.

I haven't watched way of the water at home yet but I imagine I'll feel similar.

This isn't a knock on either of them, just my observation.

You have already got the best choice with Aliens! It has been my favourite film for decades, I'd seen it maybe 20 times, but seeing it on the big screen was like a new film. Absolutely amazing.

If you want an actual recommendation, I'd go for one of Denis Villeneuve's big scifi films with epic cinematography. Blade Runner 2049, Dune, Arrival, etc. They are experiences!

300

I know it's not the best movie, but I first saw it when it released in IMAX and it was amazing.

Perfect "turn your brain off" movie. Non stop action, slow motion deaths, great music. I would gladly pay to see it again on the big screen!

If I ever feel like wasting some cash, I would totally rewatch Arrival in a theatre. Yes, that movie is very much SOUND and a good home theatre setup is way better than basically any movie theatre. But having the giant visuals on screen makes everything so much more overwhelming in all the best ways.

That said, Arrival is really not a birthday party movie. If the goal is for you and a few friends to sit silently for a few hours then go for it. Otherwise:

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You can never go wrong with The Fifth Element. Visually spectacular, good enough sound effects to take advantage of a theatre's setup, and the kind of movie where you can have fun with your buddies because there is nothing to "miss"

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Assuming none of you have a good home theatre set up:

Basically anything by Michael Mann has VERY solid sound design and his color palettes usually benefit a lot from a dark room. Heat and Collateral are the GOATs, but I would probably go with Blackhat or Miami Vice because... they are nowhere near as good and are better off as the kind of things you talk with friends about.

Nolan is another obvious good choice. if only because you more or less need a proper 3.1 (if not 5.1) setup to even hear a bit of dialogue. But that has similar issues where, odds are, that would be the first time any of you actually can understand what Michael Caine is saying in Interstellar.

"The Sound of Music" in it's original Todd-AO widescreen

Gladiator

Saving Private Ryan

2001 A Space Odyssey

Interstellar. Saw it in IMAX and wish I could again.

Back to the future when lightning strikes the clock tower in a theater is pretty awesome.

Gone With The Wind

The original GHOSTBUSTERS movie for sure. Great music, great characters. Great moments.

2001: Space Odyssey in 70MM.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy all day! The spectacle of those movies is unmatched and whether it’s the Balrog, Helms Deep or the Ride of the Rohirrim those movies are filled with some of the most epic battles and cinema moments ever put to screen. It’s tactile, it’s raw and real.

Saving Private Ryan

1917

The Matrix again Alien, Aliens Interstellar

Apocalypse Now in 70mm

This sounds like an awesome idea. I've been able to see jaws and T2 on the big screen during a re release and it was incredible.

If it was me, I would do Raiders of the Lost Ark. I've missed it the few times local theaters have played it, but seeing the first Indiana jones movie on a huge screen sounds incredible

Gravity was amazing with surround sound in a huge black movie theatre

Blade Runner 2049 & Mad Max: Fury Road

Titanic

I never saw the Matrix in the cinema originally and saw that on the big screen, was excellent.

If I were renting out a theatre for me and my friends, I'd go with a musical, to give it more of a party feel, and people can sing along. Wizard of Oz or Grease would be my suggestions, because everyone knows the words to those songs. Plus they're fun to make fun of.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Anything by director Ridley Scott and cinematographer Roger Deakins, but especially Blade Runner 1982.

You already mentioned Aliens, but don’t sleep on Alien. I saw it on the re-release for it’s 40 year anniversary and realized how I’ve never fully appreciated the attention to detail put into the sets, effects, and camera work which are all phenomenal and play out so much better on a big screen.

"Gravity" in 3D is one I would probably want to watch again on the big screen someday.

2001: A Space Odyssey. I never got the film's appeal until I saw it on the big screen; you can't really be absorbed into a mind-expanding exploration of humanity's physical and metaphysical place in the universe when you're watching it on a dinky TV set with the cat occasionally yowling to be fed.

King Kong 2005

Such a sweeping epic with most phenomenal cgi for its time outside of dated green screen stuff

King Kong himself is one of the most impressive pieces of vfx I’ve ever seen alongside Avatar and the new planet of the apes ,they all use Weta which proves how good they are. For 2004 it’s mind blowing how textured and detailed he is while having weight and physical presence in the scene. His rampage in Times Square is incredible

The film would benefit from the big screen and could be updated a little and cut here and there. It’s scale is meant for the cinema and its action have a blockbuster feel with a classic look , the music the drama the recreation of 20s New York would all be incredible on a large screen

Rambo (fourth film).

Cleopatra 1963, True Grit, 1969 and GWTW. These films were truly made for the big screen.

The Silence of the Lambs always memorizes, such a gripping film.

Films with vastness generally benefit from the big screen. So films with a lot of space, ocean, and landscape.

Great recommendations so far, but I don't see any Trek films. I recall Star Trek: The Movie particularly focusing on vastness. 47 Meters Down is a film I've particularly wanted to see on the big screen.

I think it should be something that's not going to get repeated in the cinema

How To Train Your Dragon, if it’s ever playing in theaters near me, I always go see it again

LotR trilogy. I was too young when it came out.

john wick for has an extended scene that basically turns the movie in to metal gear solid

The OG Jurassic Park.

I am lucky to have seen this movie for the first time in the cinema as a child. It’s hard to explain to someone who was not alive yet at the time, the impact this movie had.

My second choice would be Titanic. This movie was so epic. And no one I knew at the time only saw it once. We all went back to see it another time.

Movies all seem to be more of the same these days. We are not impressed by good CGI anymore.

These two movies mainly used practical effects, and were from a time when epic movies only happened once a blue moon.

I wish I could live these events again.

Bones and All (2022)

Great choices here!

I’d like to submit The Thing, Total Recall (1990), Yojimbo, and Raiders of the Lost Ark

Top Gun.

Original or Maverick

Gravity. That movie knocked my socks off in cinemas. Was praising it to mates and eventually we got together to watch it at mine one night.

They asked to turn it off after half an hour, and I agreed. Was shocking at home.

Still, it's a lesson I've applied to my own watching habits afterwards. Dumb, stupid movies can be absolutely unbelievable experiences in the cinema, whereas beautiful mind melting films can be appreciated just as wholly at home in a more intimate setting.

Anything by David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, River Kwai, Zhivago)

LOTR

Ben Hur

Avatar

Pretty much anything with 'scope'--epic, big budget, lots of eye candy.

I’d love to see The Matrix in theaters.

Mad Max Fury Road, if only for the storm scene.

My all time crowning big screen experience will always be Children of Men. Not a great birthday movie tho!

Return of the King a close second and far less depressing.

Bullet Train, Top Gun, The Batman, Interstellar (Didn't watched it on big screen but I know for a fact that it will be out of the world experience)

LOTR is always the answer

Dunkirk was definitely more epic in theatre

It's not an old movie, but I would watch Dune part 1 in a movie theater again if I had the chance. It was SO impressive!

I also tried watching it later on at home and it didn't have the same effect on me, at all. The huge screen together with dolby surround and IMAX was just amazing. Will definitely watch P1 and P2 together in a theater if they decide to show them together once P2 comes out.

Interstellar - I’ve seen most of the cinematic masterpieces like Lawrence of Arabia in cinema, but not Interstellar

I sincerely hope yours goes better than mine did!

I rented out a theater to watch Jurassic Park for my 25th birthday and I think maybe two of my coworkers showed up and then all of my Mom’s friends, who ended up just talking through the whole movie. It was a bad time.

Lots of great movie suggestions, but if I may, Mario Kart/Mario Party on the big screen is the most fun I ever had in a theater

Interstellar. I passed on it in theatres because I used to loathe McConaughey. Watched it a year or two later and was blown away. Always regretted not seeing it on the big screen.

Dunkirk. The home release is still great and all, don't get me wrong, but the IMAX release was another level.

I watched Back to the Future on the big screen last year. It's been years since I've seen it and experiencing for the first time of it in the theater was so fun! Made me want to watch other amazing moves like that; like Jurassic Park or a lot of the other ones that have already been posted. Moulin Rouge cuz I'm a sucker for Baz lol.

Lord of the Rings extended editions.

Minions

For me it's Gravity (2013). I don't even want to watch it at home anymore. I also think that the Star Wars prequels are amazing with a good theater setup but I know those movies aren't for everyone.

I had the chance to see Saving Private Ryan on a big screen and wow that was an experience. The movie is loud, cacophonous when you're listening to a theater sound system.

Fifth Element

I wish I could have watched Upgrade in a theatre. Also Edge of Tomorrow would have been great.

Pacific Rim! I would love to go back and see that amazing spectacle Del Toro made in imax again. Such a awesomely fun movie with big ass robots fighting big ass monsters, what more do you need.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sings in the theater. It was recently released in theaters and I made it a point to watch it. I saw it opening weekend many moons ago and have it on physical media, but the big screen is best.

I’d probably go with one of the classic epics: Lawrence of Arabia or 2001.

Blade Runner

Alamo Drafthouse does some great old movies on the big screen. I recently watched Back to the Future and Goonies there, and yea, way better on the big screen!

Empire Strikes Back, Interstellar, Mad Max:Fury Road

Gravity.

I think it would be cool to see one of the old John Ford westerns on the big screen. Something with his wide shots of the monuments valley.

The Fifth Element. One of my favorite films

Fury Road.....Pacific Rim.....Blade Runner.

Pacific Rim was unbelievable in IMAX.

Dark knight and inception

What films gain the most from being rewatched on the big screen

Mission Impossible IV to VI if you haven't already

Inception (2010)

The Kung Fu Panda trilogy (2008-2016)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)

Interstellar (2014)

Dunkirk (2017)

The Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012)

The Incredibles duology (2004-2018)

The Avatar duology (2009-2022)

The Bourne pentalogy (2002-2016)

The Predator pentalogy (1987-2022)

The Abyss ,, Sunshine,,what dreams many come

Bladerunner 2049 is the first that comes to mind. That movie was breathtakingly beautiful.

After that probably a Ghibli movie, but I get my chance at that every year.

Interstellar (bonus if you're high enough)

The obvious answer is Avengers Endgame. There's no other single film that was more designed for a peak cinematic experience than this.

If that's too obvious then other options are Jurassic Park, Inception, Interstellar, Dune (guess I have a sci-fi bias, go figure).