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Greatest Movie You Have Ever Seen

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It's always tough to narrow it down, even to ten. But that never stopped me before. Some of these are more to shine a light on less obvious choices, while others are quite obvious choices:

1. We the Living

2. Casablanca

3. Braveheart

4. Queen Christina

5. It Happened One Night

6. Zulu

7. Whispering Smith

8. Prince of Foxes

9. The Scarlet Pimpernel

10. The Winslow Boy

11. The Great Escape

12. Stealing Heaven

13. Only Angels Have Wings

14. Only the Valiant

15. Hobson's Choice (starring Sharon Gless) . . .

Someone mentioned A Bridge Too Far. I loved that movie, but it was really more like a documentary of what actually happened, than a movie.

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Some favorites in no particular order:

Lord of the Rings

Spirited Away

Grave of the Fireflys

Schindler's List

Seven Samurai

High and Low

Rashamon

Lawrence of Arabia

The Samurai Trilogy

M

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Aliens

If I were to pick the one I view as the greatest it would be The Seven Samurai.

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Some favorites in no particular order:

Lord of the Rings

Spirited Away

Grave of the Fireflys

Schindler's List

Seven Samurai

High and Low

Rashamon

Lawrence of Arabia

The Samurai Trilogy

M

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Aliens

If I were to pick the one I view as the greatest it would be The Seven Samurai.

Yay, someone who recognizes Kurasawa awsomeness. Spirited Away is quite good as well. I wholeheartedly endorse a great many movies on your list, however I was extremely dissapointed with Grave of the Fireflys. What did you see in it that I didn't?

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Yay, someone who recognizes Kurasawa awsomeness.  Spirited Away is quite good as well.  I wholeheartedly endorse a great many movies on your list, however I was extremely dissapointed with Grave of the Fireflys.  What did you see in it that I didn't?

It just got to me, that's all. It was also beautifully animated and I thought the movie serves as a good showcase for what animation is capable of.

As for Kurosawa, I can't get enough. Yojimba, Sanjuro, Stray Dog, Ran, Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood; all could have made my list. I have Ikiru but haven't steeled myself up to watch it yet.

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I liked Hoosiers, but my all-time favorite sports movie is "Remember the Titans."  It's theme is teamwork AND individualism.  There are no villains -- just heroes -- each working toward a common goal for his own personal, selfish reasons in his own unique way.

Definitely. I bought "Remember the Titans" as soon as it came out on DVD because of those themes. Having some really good sports scenes didn't hurt either. The hits are almost real when you play it on a decent hi-fi.

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Yay, someone who recognizes Kurasawa awsomeness.  Spirited Away is quite good as well.  I wholeheartedly endorse a great many movies on your list, however I was extremely dissapointed with Grave of the Fireflys.  What did you see in it that I didn't?

Grave of the Fireflies is a very sad movie. Why are you all ignoring Princess Mononoke? :yarr: BAKA!! B)

I never thought of a Bridge to Far as a documentary... but you are right. In that sense the story was not so much a creation of the artist. However I still give props to the actors (go Sean Connery!) and the structure of the film, even if the director had somewhat of a historical script to go by as opposed to a purely original one. Either way -> good movie. :D

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In no particular order:

The Rock

Braveheart

Cry Freedom

Lord of the Rings

Doctor Zhivago

The Magnificent Seven

Patton

A Few Good Men

O Brother Where Art Thou

A Beautiful Mind

Men of Honor

Funny, but pointless movies:

Dumb and Dumber

Tommy Boy

Napoleon Dynamite

Spaceballs

Billy Madison

I am wondering what you guys liked about Kill Bill? I thought it was an awful movie. The way blood spouted out of peoples arms was just so random and unrealistic.

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I would also like to add that I particularly enjoy "Holiday Inn".

It is an old movie with Fred Astaire that is considered a 'holiday classic'. It is a pretty simple and silly movie-but that is why I enjoy it so much. The movie is very jovial and light-lifting me away (especially with Fred Astaire!)

If anybody is looking for a light, fun movie with great music-I would very much suggest this one :yarr:.

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It's very hard to pick a most favorite movie. Lots of those here have listed many of my favorites, so I'll try not to be too repetitious. Here are just a few...

Flight Of The Phoenix -- This is a great movie about a plane crash in the desert and the attempt by the survivors to get out alive. This movie demonstrates the value of the men of the mind. Acting is great.

Amadeus -- Someone else mentioned this, but it should be mentioned again. What makes this movie especially great is that the genius is real. You hear the music of Mozart, which greatly enhances the realism.

The Forbidden Planet -- the special effects of this movie are amazing, in that they were done in the 1950s, yet are still pretty effective. The plot is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Rob Roy -- honor is something you can't give to a man, nor take from him.

Strictly Ballroom -- this is a quirky Australian film. I didn't think I would like this going by the title, and it starts out slow, but it ended up being superb. Remember, a life lived in fear, is only half lived.

For comedies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is definitely my favorite, but you can't go wrong with Young Frankenstein. And, it's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember Woody Allen's Sleeper being very funny. Volunteers, with Tom Hanks and John Candy.

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Flight Of The Phoenix -- This is a great movie about a plane crash in the desert and the attempt by the survivors to get out alive. This movie demonstrates the value of the men of the mind.  Acting is great.

Yes! I had forgotten about Flight of the Phoenix, an excellent movie.

Amadeus -- Someone else mentioned this, but it should be mentioned again. What makes this movie especially great is that the genius is real.  You hear the music of Mozart, which greatly enhances the realism.

I remember being put off by the extreme vulgarity of Mozart's language in that movie. That kind of naturalism can spoil a good movie.

The comedies I like are the old-fashioned kind--romantic comedies. Movies with Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, etc.

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It's very hard to pick a most favorite movie. Lots of those here have listed many of my favorites, so I'll try not to be too repetitious. Here are just a few...

Flight Of The Phoenix -- This is a great movie about a plane crash in the desert and the attempt by the survivors to get out alive. This movie demonstrates the value of the men of the mind.  Acting is great.

This is being remade into a film with Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Ribisi.

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I remember being put off by the extreme vulgarity of Mozart's language in that movie. That kind of naturalism can spoil a good movie.

I'm not a big fan of it myself. However, they did try to portray him as an unrefined character. Remember, Salieri called him "the creature".

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Greatest Movies I have ever seen: (not in any particular order, just off the top of my head)

1. Without Limits (movie about Steve Prefontaine) - PLEASE WATCH THIS ONE!!

2. Rudy

3. October Sky

4. The Shawshank Redemption

5. The Matrix (Part 1)

6. Gladiator

7. Remember The Titans

8. Dangerous Minds

Humour Wise - "Analyse This"

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My three favorites

Young Frankenstein

Mel Brook's best - what more can you say!

We Were Soldiers

When I first saw this movie, the memories came rushing back, I swear that I could smell the Army paint and feel the roughness of starched uniforms.

In Country

The final part at the Vietnam Memorial for me is the most moving part of any movie that I have ever seen. I have known too many whose names are on that wall.

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My three favorites

Young Frankenstein

Mel Brook's best - what more can you say!

We Were Soldiers

When I first saw this movie, the memories came rushing back, I swear that I could smell the Army paint and feel the roughness of starched uniforms.

In Country

The final part at the Vietnam Memorial for me is the most moving part of any movie that I have ever seen.  I have known too many whose names are on that wall.

I concur about "Young Frankenstein", i.e., best Mel Brooks film. (Though I loved "Blazing Saddles" as well.)

I can barely watch anything about Viet Nam. Not only is my husband's name on the Wall, but I nursed many others as well. Thankfully, most of those I nursed made it!

My tastes run more towards the old movies, especially many of the screwball comedies and the Fred and Ginger movies. For drama, give me movies such as "The African Queen", "Notorious", etc. I'll also add my name to the fan list for "Flight of the Phoenix." One of the best.

Westerns: "The Big Country" is one I never miss. Marvelous camera work, and a great story.

I also like "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" for Stewart's character.

For the oater as comedy, I like "Cat Ballou." I can't stand Fonda, but it is worth watching just to see Lee Marvin do his schtick. Marvelous!

I'm not too crazy about most modern movies. They are too loud and, while I enjoy special effects, I don't like movies that are nothing but. I liked "The Piano" for reasons I've yet to articulate. I loved the film about the Irish boy who fought to dance ballet -- sorry I can't remember the name off the top of my head. Billy something? I like "Chocholat."

Comedy: As I said, I like many of the old screwball comedies, such as, "My Favorite Wife," "The Awful Truth," "My Man Godfrey," etc.

I liked Python's "Holy Grail" a lot, but I think I liked "The Life of Brian" even better. Every time I hear the talking heads rattle off the different Palestinian terror groups, I think of the scene in the collisium. I also enjoyed the "What have the Roman's ever done for us?" scene.

This is already too long, but before I go, I want to recommend "Bad Day at Black Rock." I know the title sounds like like a B western, but it isn't. It is set somewhere in the post WWII American dessert. Spencer Tracy plays a man who lost the use of one arm after being injured at Anzio. He has come to Black Rock, one of those tiny dessert towns stuck in the middle of nowhere. The tension is palpable the minute he steps off the train as he is met by the station manager who immediately starts questioning him. Tracy's character has given up on life and is there to perform his "final duty", giving the medal a Japanese-American boy earned saving his life to the boy's father. The father has disappeared, however. Tracy finds himself again as he works out what the dirty little secret poisoning the people at Black Rock. Good story and good performances all around.

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I also like "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" for Stewart's character.

Eh???

As I remember it, John Wayne's character is the hero while Stewart's takes credit for something he knows he didn't do and couldn't do. And he ends up with all the accolades, going to congress as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" while he knows he would have been gunned down while shaking in his boots had it not been for the real man (Wayne) coming in to save him.

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Eh???

As I remember it, John Wayne's character is the hero while Stewart's takes credit for something he knows he didn't do and couldn't do. And he ends up with all the accolades, going to congress as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" while he knows he would have been gunned down while shaking in his boots had it not been for the real man (Wayne) coming in to save him.

He accepted the credit because Wayne's character insisted on it. In the beginning he thought he had done the deed. I admired Stewart's character because he had the courage to stand there, shaking in his boots, and face certain death. No one would face up to the bully Valance, not even Wayne's character, though he was the only one who could have done so. Instead, Wayne's character stood in the shadows and shot Valance while Stewart faced him. He did it to save Stewart's life, but that doesn't mean that he faced Valance down, or even bested him in a fair fight. It was Stewart's character who stood for and fought to bring law and order to the area. It was Stewart who had the courage of his convictions, even if he lacked the skill to handle a gun. That is why, regardless of whose bullet killed Valance, Stewart was the man to win the Congressional seat he held.

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Of all the questions I've been posed, even those philosophical ones, this is one of the hardest questions for me to answer. I have watched hundreds of movies in my lifetime. In terms of my modern dramatic criteria, I would have to watch many over again. I imagine that I would need a thick movie guide, to go through it page by page and list those movies that I remember really loving.

For example, when I was very young, I loved Commando with California's governor. And many more which it is so hard to remember. I love movies as such, as a medium. I have come to appreciate stage drama in the recent years, and I see movies as an extension and perfection of that medium.

But what I did do is read the previous posts and jot down the noteable movies that others named.

Shawshank Redemption--Yes!

Princess Bride--The hero is so physically beautiful and so Franciscouesque.

Braveheart--One of the most exciting movies I have ever seen.

For the last seven years Good Will Hunting has been my favorite movie. But the philosophy of the hero has come to bother me, lately.

But some noteable movies that people haven't mentioned are:

Running on Empty--the beautiful and young River Phoenix is a pianist prodigy BUT his parents are running from the law as former hippie protestors.

The Killing Fields--The beautifully souled Sam Waterston loses an intimate friend to the Kamur Rouge. Will he find him again? (Just shivered as I remembered it).

Scareface (Pacino)--One of the best tragedies in film. Tony Montana could have been a good guy but he was a victim of Castro and of racism in America. His best characteristic is that he had "BALLS!" (or in a spanish accent "bowals!")--That is, he had daring. There are crucial moments, when he makes crucial choices, when his past choices come to haunt him.

Far and Away--Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman--I love the last scenes, the race to win their own land. And if I remember correctly, he was saved with a kiss. Now correct me if I'm wrong.

Pear Harbor--I have never cried so much with any other movie.

Actually crying is a standard for any movie. If it can make me cry, I definately like it.

Love Letters (screenplay by Ayn Rand)--Wonderful Plot. And the style is remarkably beautifully, not necessarily on the screen because a modern version could be much better--but in the script itself: Ayn Rand was a genius.

We The Living.

The Count of Monter Cristo.

I recently bought October Sky--It is one the best films I have ever seen. I certainly cried and cheered all the way.

Jefferson in Paris--He sets someone free at the end. And the character of Lafayette is admirable.

However, I know I am missing out on so many that I can't remember. There must be dozens. There are at least dozens that I've cried for.

As for the movie that made me laught the hardest the first time I saw it: Dumb and Dumber. However, the second time I saw it I didn't laugh as much. I actually almost had a heart attack the first time I saw it, but I was young.

Oh yeah: The Untouchables--Jame Bond: A View to the kill--Meet Joe Black--A River Runs Through it--Spy Games--The Legends of The Fall--Oceans Eleven--Seven....

I'll stop now.

Americo.

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Some of my favorite movies:

Immortal Beloved (Not an entirely factually correct account, but Oldman's performance is genius. Also, the flashback scene during the "Ode To Joy" theme of the Ninth with young Beethoven fleeing & floating on the water with the reflected stars is incredible & exalted - Beethoven: child of the universe.)

The Man Without a Face (Braveheart was great but this is my favorite Gibson movie - absolutely brilliant. The plot, characters & dialogue are all perfect. The beginning & the end are two perfectly constructed complimentary bookends.)

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (Classic morality play with a twist - most have moral vs. immoral. This one adds "amoral" as well. An excellent combination of a stark, taunt mythological style & a gritty, bare-bones realism.)

Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (This has great songs, a wonderful plot & Dick van Dyke in his prime dancing. Good stuff. Light, benevolent humor abounds - I love Jefferies doing "Posh" floating off in his outhouse!)

Christopher Schlegel

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