Movies you MUST see

Flippy the Squirrel

EGO Zealot
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
1,960
I'm a movie freak, as my NetFlix Queue will confirm. So, I want to talk about those must see movies that, in your opinion, no-one's life is complete if they haven't seen.

If you're able to find it, post a link to a trailer or Wikipedia page.

So, we'll begin with, quite possibly, one of the finest movies ever made: Brazil

Make sure, if you get this, that you don't get the American "Love Conquers All" version, as it's NOT Terry Gilliam's original version, and it sucks rocks. Get the Criterion Collection version, as it's the most complete of the three or four versions out there.

Trailer: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtUI4XfhMM[/ame]

If you're curious about the different versions of the film, you can check out it's Wikipedia entry, or read the fascinating [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Brazil-Universal-Pictures-Screenplay/dp/1557833478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207230287&sr=8-1"]The Battle of Brazil: Terry Gilliam v. Universal Pictures in the Fight to the Final Cut (The Applause Screenplay Series): Jack Mathews: 9781557833471: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SA%2B8Ul1ML.@@AMEPARAM@@51SA%2B8Ul1ML[/ame], which details the fight between Gilliam and Universal to get his vision of the film released. (This fight is now a feature of many college film classes.)
 
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club_%28film%29]Fight Club[/link] is a MUST SEE, i've seen it 46 times as of April 2...
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dredd_%28film%29]Judge Dredd[/link] is also in my opinion a must see, i've seen it 17 times as of March 24th.
If you're wondering i actually keep a running tally of the movies i like :)
 
My all time favorite movie: [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/trailers-screenplay-E10189-310]Casablanca[/link]. It's probably one of the most quoted movies out there and is an all time classic.

Second on my list? [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/trailers-screenplay-E13525-310]Seven Samurai[/link] has got to be one of the best epics I've ever watched. Yeah, it's 3.5 hours long, but you barely even notice the time until the intermission halfway through the movie. And make sure you watch the 200+ minute version and not one of the chopped versions for international release. (Funny, actually since US is technically "international" in this instance as well.)

Third would probably have to be [link=http://us.imdb.com/video/trailer/me60504348/]Blade Runner[/link]. There has been a lot of controversy over different cuts of this film, so if you can, just get the [link=http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Runner-Four-Disc-Collectors-Harrison/dp/B000UBMSB8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1207234616&sr=1-2]Four Disc Collectors Edition[/link] or the [link=http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Runner-Five-Disc-Ultimate-Collectors/dp/B000K15VSA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1207234616&sr=1-3]Five Disc Ultimate Collectors Edition[/link]. Both collections contain each of the major cuts of the movie. I own the five disc and really like the new "final cut", but it's been sooo long since I've watched the Director's Cut and even longer since I saw the Theatrical Release version that I'm reserving judgment until I can have a rainy weekend where I can stay home and watch each version back to back to back to back. That's not happening any time soon, though.

Lastly, while I don't have a ranking for it, if you're a science fiction fan, you have to see [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/]Metropolis[/link]. Fritz Lang's classic was probably the first sci-fi film ever made. It is a silent film, though, so be warned.

Oh, and I whole heartedly endorse Flippy's suggestion of Brazil. It's an amazing movie. Like Blade Runner, the overall atmosphere created by the set design entertains me just as much as the movie itself.

I could go on ([link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/trailers-screenplay-E17486-310]Citizen Cane[/link]), but I won't ([link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0038355/trailers-screenplay-E17485-310]The Big Sleep[/link]).

Also, there are a lot of really excellent modern movies out there, but I just picked older ones as many of you are less likely to have seen them. (Don't forget to watch [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/trailers-screenplay-E10132-310]Dark City[/link] and [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/]Equilibrium[/link]!)
 
[quote1207236726=RESPAWN]
Lastly, while I don't have a ranking for it, if you're a science fiction fan, you have to see [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/]Metropolis[/link]. Fritz Lang's classic was probably the first sci-fi film ever made. It is a silent film, though, so be warned.
[/quote1207236726]
You're dead on there RESPAWN. Metropolis was an amazing piece of work, even if 25% of the most complete version is missing. The influence it had on the look and feel of modern cinema is still felt today, and it was only in the last ten or fifteen years that many of the advancements in visual effects pioneered in it were superseded by more recent technology. It's truly a landmark piece of cinema.

I also need to add to the list some Charles Chaplin films. He was the most successful film maker of his time, perhaps of all time, and his work introduced whole new genres of cinema to the world. He was the first to mix drama and comedy in film with [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTlUxNzt5Kw]The Kid[/ame], starring a young Jackie Coogan, who would later play Uncle Fester in the TV series The Addams Family.

His masterpiece, however, is [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_W1tOngo-w]City Lights[/ame], which was the last silent film made by Chaplin, years after talking films had taken hold. It took him years to make, and was a tremendous gamble for him, but it all paid off when it was a tremendous hit. The ending of City Lights is called, to this day, the finest ending ever filmed. Many movies pay tribute to its ending, a few of which are enumerated in its Wikipedia entry.
 
Okay, I love this topic, worked in a movie theatre for 5 years during/(shortly) after college.

One of my all-time favorite(s) both in movie and book form is Requiem for a Dream

It's actually horribly depressing but a very well done adaptation film and really gets into the grittiness and psychological issues that comes along with extended and habitual drug use. I think that everyone should watch it at one time or another just for the feelings it will provoke within you.

And, if we're talking about good/GREAT video game/comic book movies I must say that Sin City is by far the ideal movie for adaptations from the series.

I have read all of the 7 Sin City graphic novels (yes, there is a difference between a comic book and a graphic novel, so this may not count as a "comic book" movie but...). But, it clearly is one of the best adaptations from a graphic novel/comic book, EVER. There are parts of the movie where if you compare it to the scene/frame in the grNovel it is nearly identical. I truly can't wait for the sequels to come out to finish the series. The biggest gripe I have...Jessica Alba plays a stripper in the movie and while every other character is true to their novel form, she is the only person that doesn't act how the character does in the film, granted the character is nude most of the time, but if you're going to play a "stripper" character that is nude through most of the Sin City novels, please follow character just like everyone else...I mean a stripper character that is never naked?! Come on. Meh.

I'm sure I'll think of some more.
 
I love Darren Aronofsky's work, but haven't seen Requiem for a Dream yet. I'm hoping to have the chance soon. (Need to make sure it's in my queue ... time passses... yes. it is) His work on [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQYYGwYTPuY]PI[/ame] and [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IP_Rjx4wVY]The Fountain[/ame] were simply stellar. (My wife and close friend didn't like The Fountain, but I still think it's a visionary piece of film making.)
 
I'm just gonna go on a list here.

The Outsiders
Sin City
West Side Story
Pirates of the Carribean 1,2,3
Rush Hour 1,2,3
Grease
All John Wayne movies
All Jerry Lewis movies
Fast and the Furious 1,2,3 soon 4 (yes there will be a fourth)
Bourne 1,2,3
 
I won't even try to pretend to be some kind of a classic movie critic, or some kind of black-and-white connoisseur. I slept through Citizen Cane, made a C in my cinema appreciation class. I can't stand old westerns or classic WWII movies. I rarely agree with "greatest movies of all time" lists.

That being said, these are my recommendations:

[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_%28film%29]The Exorcist[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_private_ryan]Saving Private Ryan[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park_film]Jurassic Park[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13_%28film%29]Apollo 13[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_%28film%29]Jaws[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_gump]Forrest Gump[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twister_%281996_film%29]Twister[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Trilogy]Original Star Wars trilogy[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Towering_Inferno]The Towering Inferno[/link]
[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List]Schindler's List[/link]

Now that I step back and look at the list, I notice Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and John Williams. Ah well, all three of them are masters of their crafts.
 
I think the preferences here might be different for the different generations, and even countries. LIke westerns, there are some pretty cool ones I suppose, but I dont think that genre is even remotely popular in my country.
Anyway, movies that I think a person MUST see are :

Star Wars -> I think that's the most popular movie ever made. Even if you are one of the few that havent seen it, you've heard about it a lot of times for sure.
Indiana Jones -> Also an All Time Classic
Matrix - Also something that was never seen before. It's kinda new, but I'm sure it'll become a legend as well.
The Lord Of The Rings
Aliens Just to make it clear, that's the second movie. The other movies are also nice and they show more of the story, but Aliens is the best of the series.

Obviously I've chosen only movies that are easy to watch, entertaining, and when they are done, you find yourself kinda sad that there is no more. The wish that you could somehow move to live somewhere in the universe from the movie, crosses your mind all the time.

There are a lot of other great movies that are worth watching beside those, but a lot of them tend to be dramas or romance, and you really need to be in the mood to enjoy them.

I'll name a few movies that I'm happy I've seen, but I cant say if they are a MUST see
American Gangster I was kinda pesimistic when i went to watch it, but I really enjoyed the movie.
Evil Dead (a.k.a. Army of Darkness) I dont even know what genre that is, but I laughed a lot while watching it. Could be due to the fact that I like the game Blood, and it seems to be related with those movies.
Silent Hill Again my affection for that movie is due to the games with the same name.
Stargate That movie marked the begining of a decade with my favourite series Stargate SG-1
Pirates Of the Carribean Curse of The Black Pearl is definitely the best of the series, but I think captain Jack Sparrow will be famous for a lot of years to come. I can almost add it to the MUST see. Truly great trilogy to watch for everyone.

Well, obviously I like Sci-Fi and Fantasy :P But hey, I look at movies as way of entertaining myself, running away from the problems of our world.
 
Serenity.

A brilliantly entertaining bit of sci-fi with plenty of well written dialog.

Totally makes up for that Buffy the Vampire Slayer crud.
 
Ever watch the show? Same cast, same everything.

Very good.

There were even a couple graphic novels to bridge the gap between the season end and the movie.
 
Princess Mononoke is my favorite movie and I think that everyone should see it. It leaves you with a great fuzzy feeling at the end.
 
Back
Top