Last year (2015), I did a “Back to the Future” Trilogy Movie Marathon with my kids. Given that Doc, Marty and Jennifer travelled from 1985 to 2015 in the “Back to the Future II”, I’d thought it would be fun for them to watch what a movie made in 1989 predicted their present world would be like. And of course, whilst we were at it, why not do the whole trilogy as a movie marathon?

It was a blast – the kids loved the trilogy.

In the same year, I also did Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, Annie (1982), Grease, Galaxy Quest (you can tell I am a geek, no?), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, 50 First Dates and 阿郎的故事 (All About Ah Long) which starred a dashing Chow Yun Fatt who was a rising young star in Hong Kong at the time.

More recently, when the kids wanted to watch “Star Wars – The Force Awakens” when it was released at the end of 2015, I decided it made no sense to do so unless they have watched Epsiodes 1 to 6 first. I started them on Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) which they enjoyed very much but stopped at Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back because my kids freaked out a little (better not push it right?).

Anyways, reflecting back, it made me realise that unless there was divine intervention from their dear mother, my kids would eventually grow up missing out on a whole era of great movies and films I grew up with – many of these do not feature high on the holiday re-runs list.

So here is a list of movies (in no particular order) that I think they should not miss growing up that will be coming soon to a home theatre near you (some might take a little while longer to,  waiting till my girls to come of age. Some are really old might actually require a fair bit of hunting down). And in a few year’s time, there will be a new list with movies like the Godfather series, the James Bond films, Kill Bill, Kick Ass and Deadpool, 300, Philadelphia, Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Aliens, Hotel Rawanda and Schindler’s List.

Any you would add to the list?

• The Wizard of Oz
• An American Tale
• 101 Dalmatians (the original Disney cartoon)
• Peter Pan (the original Disney cartoon)
• ET
• Parent Trap (1961 version, before Lindsey Lohan was born)
• Jason and the Argonauts
• Ben Hur
• Singing in the Rain
• Indiana Jones Trilogy
• Star Wars Episodes I-IX
• Star Trek  Series
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Battlestar Galatica
• Starship Troopers
• The original Superman
• Rocky
• Terminator
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Die Hard Series
• Sleepless in Seattle
• You’ve Got Mail
• Life is Beautiful
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Look Who’s Talking
• Police Academy
• Love Actually
• Tron
• Dead Poet’s Society
• Annie Hall
• My Fair Lady
• Roman Holiday
• Somewhere in Time
• Top Hat
• Charlie Chaplin’s movies
• Cinema Paradiso
• The Wedding Singer
• Charlie’s Angels
• Once Upon a Time in China (Jet Li movies)
• Hero (英雄)
• Infernal Affairs I and II (the original Hong Kong version, not the Hollywood one)
• Fearless (Jet Li)
• Police Story (Jackie Chan)
• Ip Man series
• A Better Tomorrow I and II (Chow Yun Fatt)