OT: The eight perfectly made films

[Dokey]

Gone With The Wind
The African Queen
The Lion In Winter (Hepburn/O'Toole version)
Airplane!
Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars

Hated Gone With the Wind as a kid. Despise it as an adult. But glad a Colorado woman won an Oscar for best supporting actress.

 

[Shenandoah]

In no particular order:

Animal House (STILL mad at John Belushi)
Casablanca .(my dad was in Morocco during WW2)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The Wizard of Oz
Tombstone
King of Kings
Field of Dreams
Rio Grande
Braveheart (a lot of holes, historically, but, it's Scotland!)
The Sands of Iwo Jima

 

[bbfanLA]

Trying to think of movies that are perfect for what they are ---
Casablanca
Godfather
Zulu
What's Up, Doc
Almost Famous
No Country for Old Men
O Brother Where Art Thou
Singin' in the Rain
Chinatown
Airplane!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rio Bravo? - forget which version of this plot I like the best, all starring Wayne.

I think every aspiring action movie director should watch Mad Max: Fury Road just like how the Chinatown screenplay is always talked about in screenwriting classes. No silly subplots. No cheesy dialogue. Just pure action from start to finish that never lets up.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Ah, a pleasant trip down memory lane:


12 Angry Men
To Kill a Mockingbird

12 Angry Men on TCM tonight at 8pm EDT
To Kill a Mockingbird on TCM Wed 5/26 also at 8pm EDT

Both are in my Top 10.

 

[CL82]

I love 12 Angry Men. It is just a great film. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[browns]

I actually didn't think Casablanca was that great.Maybe because I was never a big Bogart fan, liked James Cagney more.Met Cagney years an years ago in a drug store in Providence R.I..Two things stood out..he was really sociable and how short he was.".Angels With Dirty Faces "starring Cagney and the Dead End Kids was a great movie

 

[Zorro]

The Princess Bride
Airplane
To Kill a Mockingbird
Young Frankenstein
Shane
High Noon
The Third Man
Showboat
The Wizard of Oz

 

[CONN78SEJ]

The Princess Bride
Airplane
To Kill a Mockingbird
Young Frankenstein
Shane
High Noon
The Third Man
Showboat
The Wizard of Oz

Good list.....

my wife reminded me of The Wizard of Oz and To Kill a Mockingbird, another I had thoroughly enjoyed when I first saw it, “A Passage To India”, which of all the classics he directed, was David Lean’s personal favorite. It was a monumental undertaking, with many saying E.M Forster’s novel could never be filmed.

 

[darkstar1]

I am a big fan of Casablanca. Must of seen it 70 to 80 times. "Just looking at you kid."

I would add Gone With the Wind and either The Maltese Falcon and Key Largo followed by To have and have not. Probably, all Bogart movies.

You have to include my favorite movie with you Bogie movies: Treasure of Sierra Madre.

 

[Hoops66]

I still have a clear memory of the first time I went to the movies alone. A Saturday double feature Matinee....African Queen and High Noon. I also remember walking back home pretty star-struck.

 

[CL82]

I actually didn't think Casablanca was that great

 

[UcMiami]

Psycho - The first time I saw it someone in the audience let out a scream during the second stairway shot, and the whole theater erupted in screams, went on for about ten seconds until we all realized nothing had happened in the film! And I mean, who kills their star in the first ten minutes of a film?

Wait Until Dark - The first time I saw it was with a veteran of the film who was going to be real cool until I jumped, turned, grab her leg, and sunk my teeth into her thigh, at which point she lost it!

Probably should go with me to watch a horror/thriller movie! Bad things happen!

 

[ConnMotors]

Wish that the Thread title was which movies do you watch whenever that they come on TV. For me they would be in no special order:

The Shawshank Redemption
The Blind Side
The Replacements
The Godfather
The Godfather II
Remember the Titans
Saving Private Ryan
Apollo 13
Taken
Forest Gump

Just to name a few.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

In the limited category of World War II films I'll give you three of my favorites:

Navy: "The Cruel Sea"

Air Force (Corps): "Twelve O'Clock High"

Army: I suppose most folks would go with Saving Pvt Ryan, and it's a fine film, but
let me suggest a small offbeat film called "Attack" in which Eddie Albert gives perhaps
his finest, if least sympathetic, performance.

 

[UcMiami]

The Usual Suspects

 

[Skeets]

OK, I'll do the mods a favor: absolutely religious references. The second most spectacular theater experience I had (after the aforementioned "Midway") was the "Passion of the Christ". I sat there (and just about everyone else) with my mouth agape at the end of the movie. The lights came on, but I couldn't move for about 5 minutes. I knew how both movies were going to end (duh) and yet I was still blown away. Not nearly as good: "Top Gun", which may be a distant 3rd for inspiring an audience.

 

[Stymie]

In the limited category of World War II films I'll give you three of my favorites:

Navy: "The Cruel Sea"

Air Force (Corps): "Twelve O'Clock High"

Army: I suppose most folks would go with Saving Pvt Ryan, and it's a fine film, but
let me suggest a small offbeat film called "Attack" in which Eddie Albert gives perhaps
his finest, if least sympathetic, performance.

“ATTACK” also starred Jack Palance- great movie!
Regarding exceptional war movies, might I add “A WALK IN THE SUN” as well as “PATHS OF GLORY- exceptional cast including Kirk Douglas—regarded as the greatest anti-war war film of all time.
Enjoying this thread.
Many well versed film fans here.
Me- I have a wide range in taste , but an affinity for Film Noir

 

[Crossover]

“ATTACK” also starred Jack Palance- great movie!
Regarding exceptional war movies, might I add “A WALK IN THE SUN” as well as “PATHS OF GLORY- exceptional cast including Kirk Douglas—regarded as the greatest anti-war war film of all time.
Enjoying this thread.
Many well versed film fans here.
Me- I have a wide range in taste , but an affinity for Film Noir

Speaking of Jack Palance, I'd like to give a shout out to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Maybe not one of the 10 best made movies, but one of my faves. I used to include it in on course called Cinematic Images of the Law.

 

[Littlemin]

Speaking of Jack Palance, I'd like to give a shout out to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Maybe not one of the 10 best made movies, but one of my faves. I used to include it in on course called Cinematic Images of the Law.

A tour de force for Lee Marvin.

 

[bluedevil]

Loved The Graduate, Fail Safe, Bananas, Casino Royal, We Were Soldiers and We Were Young, The Red Violin, The Alamo, and Deep Throat.

 

[Replicant]

Tough to argue against the the old classics like Casablanca, all the Hitchcocks (my favorite North By Northwest), Citizen Kane, et al making the GOAT list, they've all aged beautifully. The Godfather - a no brainer.

For comedy I'd rank Dr. Strangelove, Young Frankenstein, Casino Royale, Clue, Bringing Up Baby and Christmas Vacation as immortals.

For romance I'd rank A Good Year, Sleepless in Seattle and Moonstruck as classic bests.

For other genres I'd rank It's A Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird, Green Card, Castaway, Pulp Fiction, Apocolypse Now and Hunt For Red October up for consideration.

Int'l considerations Farewell My Concubine, Slumdog Millionaire and The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman)

Offbeat considerations The Swimmer (Burt Lancaster), Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, True Romance, Blade Runner 😉

 

[Bigboote]

I definitely prefer laughing.

Life of Brian
Young Frankenstein
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson/Hugh Grant)
Princess Mononoke
Better off Dead
Holiday (Katharine Hepburn/Cary Grant)
Contact
Poltergeist
Silverado

(The last three I've seen recently, those could easily change)

Prefer most of the Bogart and Bacall movies to Casablanca (or the African Queen)
Prefer The Third Man and the Magnificent Ambersons to Citizen Kane

 

[CONN78SEJ]

In the limited category of World War II films I'll give you three of my favorites:

Navy: "The Cruel Sea"

Air Force (Corps): "Twelve O'Clock High"

Army: I suppose most folks would go with Saving Pvt Ryan, and it's a fine film, but
let me suggest a small offbeat film called "Attack" in which Eddie Albert gives perhaps
his finest, if least sympathetic, performance.

I would also add “Air Force” the movie, “They Were Expendable”, and “Wake Island”.

 

[Aluminny69]

In the limited category of World War II films I'll give you three of my favorites:

Navy: "The Cruel Sea"

Air Force (Corps): "Twelve O'Clock High"

Army: I suppose most folks would go with Saving Pvt Ryan, and it's a fine film, but
let me suggest a small offbeat film called "Attack" in which Eddie Albert gives perhaps
his finest, if least sympathetic, performance.

Ed, let me add three movies you might really like in this category:

1944 The Best Years of Our Lives. You'd have to be heartless not to be moved by this movie.

1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai Sir Alec Guiness ( before Star Wars), and William Holden.

1957 "The Enemy Below" William Holden (again) and Curt Jurgens play a cat and mouse game between an American Destroyer and a German U-Boat. If you haven't heard of it, take the time to watch it.

Honorable mentions go to "Platoon," "Full Metal Jacket," "Decision Before Dawn," (w/Oskar Werner and Richard Basehart--most excellent!), and of course, Kubrick's "Paths of Glory," w/Kirk Douglas, Adoph Menjou and George MacReady.

Enjoy!

-

 

[diggerfoot]

There are now more than 70 entries for this thread and no movie occurs on every one of them. Not surprising for a list of “best” movies of all time, a bit ironic for “perfectly made” movies.