The Gods Must be Crazy was among the most-watched movies.

There was a time when going to the cinemas was a major pastime in Nairobi. Indeed, the closure of Nairobi Cinema was once page one news. Those who could not afford ABC Cinema, 20th Century, Casino, Embassy, Odeon (that are now church halls) went to the open-air walk-in films to watch Jackie Chan in Lau Kar-Leung’s 1994 film, Drunken Master II. They then foolishly tried imitating his impossible stunts from building floors.  Then came the comedies and Nairobians have never laughed so hard as they did watching Jamie Uys’ The Gods Must Be Crazy  starring bushman Xi in 1980.  Of course James Bond films held their perennial charm and James Cameron’s 1984 flick Terminator was sure to deliver when Arnold Schwarzenegger said: “I’ll be back!”   The Nairobian looks at some of the most watched foreign films that we cannot forget, or fail to rewatch.

Jesus (1979)

There was no Easter or Christmas holiday without this film, a constant on television back in the day. In fact, Nairobians of all walks of life watched it in cinema halls, hospitals and even bars. Brian Deacon, who starred as Jesus, perhaps gave Nairobians the image of the son of God many had only read about in the Bible, a white, fully bearded man with long, flowing hair.

  The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

This rib-cracking South African comedy had one of the hugest cult followings locally. It revolves around Kalahari bushman Xi (played by the late N! xau). Xi is as surprised as the rest of his tribe when he discovers a Coke bottle, thrown from a passing plane which he calls, a “gift from the gods.”

  Sarafina (1993)

Another South African film pegged on Apartheid and student revolt against it. The musical features moving   freedoms songs such as; Freedom is Coming Tomorrow, which was played on radio many times.  Sarafina stars Leleti Khumalo and Whoopi Goldberg as teacher Mary Masumbuko.

 Rambo (1982)

Rambo set the bar for other action films. Rambo: First Blood,   released in 1982, stars John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), a troubled war veteran.   

  The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic, The Godfather, is regarded as the greatest film of the last century, the epic tale of a 1940s New York Mafia family and its struggle to protect their empire from rival families.  It featured a star-studded cast of Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and James Caan.

Coming to America (1988)

John Landis’ comedy film was a hit starring Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy), the crown prince to the throne of the wealthy African nation of Zamunda. He is unhappy with being pampered his entire life and desires to be more independent.

  Sound of Music (1959)

This movie by Robert Wise and based on Maria von Trapp’s memoirs ‘invaded’ many Nairobi homes. The musical movie showed a woman leave an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a naval officer widower. Many songs from the musical have become standards. Actress Eleanor Parker, known for her baroness role in the movie died on December 9, 2013 aged 91.

  Enter the Dragon (1973)

Robert Clouse’s Enter the Dragon is a Bruce Lee classic, not because it was the actor’s last film but everything from the story line to the fighting choreography was legendary. In the martial arts film, Lee plays a Shaolin martial artist from Hong Kong who receives an invitation to take part in a martial arts competition on an island controlled by the mysterious Mr Han.

 Escape from Sobibor (1987)

Jack Gold’s film is the tear jerking story of one of history’s most daring escapes by Jewish prisoners from a Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor in Poland.

  Tomorrow Never Dies (From 1997)

Nairobi movie lovers in the late 1990s had something of a masterpiece to ready them for the millennium. The eighteenth spy film by Albert Broccoli in the James Bond series showed Bond fighting to stop a media mogul’s plan to induce war between China and the UK to initiate World War III.

  Home Alone     (1990)

This comedy by Chris Columbus   was a must-watch for every Nairobian kid.   It was the ‘it’ kid film  starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation.