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Greatest Movie You Have Ever Seen

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hmm...favorite movies...

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD (...and hopefully soon, LAND OF THE DEAD...) - When you come from Pittsburgh, there are two things that you hope to be when you "grow up": a Pittsburgh Steeler and/or a zombie in a George Romero film. His other films are great, too - THE CRAZIES, MARTIN (greatest vampire film EVER!), KNIGHTRIDERS - but its the DEAD series that made him.

LOST HORIZON - I could listen to Ronald Colman read an Appleby's menu, and I'd think it was great literature.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - Action, adventure...and that ginchy Karen Allen...BOO-YA!

As for as sports movies go, I gotta go with VICTORY. Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max Von Sydow, and Pele. PELE?!? Oh, yeah! A ragtag bunch of prisoners in a WWII POW camp vs. the German national soccer team. I learned how to drag the ball behind me and flip it over my head by watching Ossie Ardiles over and over and over...

Being its the season and all...A CHRISTMAS STORY. I don't care if TNT finds a way to pump the movie directly into my cortex for a week straight during the holidays...its still a funny movie. "You use all the glue...on purpose!"

Gotta throw in some Cronenberg so...maybe...THE BROOD or RABID or CRASH. David Cronenberg is pretty amazing. Hollywood tries to offer him crummy movie after crummy movie, and yet he stays the course and is true to himself and his vision. My favorite story is how he was supposed to write and direct TOTAL RECALL. When he turned in his script (which was very faithful to Philip K. Dick), the studio execs were like "What the hell is this? We wanted "Indiana Jones-goes-to-Mars". Ahh...Hollywood "high-concept"...gotta love it...

NORTH BY NORTHWEST - I could name a bunch of other Hitchcock movies, but this one is THE Hitchcock movie. Suave, sophisticated, intelligent, funny...you name it. I love "mistaken identity" movies...a man vs the law AND the bad guys. And Cary Grant is...well...Cary Grant. Plus, you got James Mason. What I said about Ronnie Colman above...same goes for Jimmy Mason...

There are tons more movies...but I don't want to hog space...

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Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (12 chapter serial from 1940, starring Buster Crabbe) -- thrilling fight to stop Ming the Merciless from devastating the earth with the Purple Death. I grew up on this.

Love Letters

We the Living -- aside from the great acting and story, the music by Renzo Rossellini is a treasure in itself

The Fountainhead

You Came Along (1945) starring Bob Cummings and Lizabeth Scott; Ayn Rand co-wrote the screenplay

Conan the Barbarian (1982) -- because it's about PSYCHOLOGICAL strength

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) starring a young Jodie Foster as Rynn Jacobs, a fiercely independent heroine. Incrediby suspenseful!

Cyrano de Bergerac -- the Gerard Depardieu version (1990)

Romeo and Juliet -- the Zeffirelli version (1968)

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1. Fight Club

2. Notorious by Hitchcock

3. Princess Bride

4. Inherit the Wind

5. Philadelphia Story

6. Iron Monkey

7. Count of Monte Cristo

8. Life is Beautiful

9. Trainspotting

10. Saw (since I no longer believe in God this has replaced the Exorcist as the best horror movie...not for the faint of heart) :D

ooh ..almost forgot Memento!

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1. The Matrix Trilogy (Yes, yes, I'm aware of the flaws, but I still love them)

2. Star Wars movies

3. Ghost in the Shell

4. Memento

5. Contact

6. 12 Monkeys

7. Outbreak

8. The Count of Monte Cristo

9. Spy Game

10. Se7en

11. Vanilla Sky

12. Magnolia

Hmm, that's all I can think of off the top of my head without going through my movies.

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Mine are:

1. Empire Strikes Back

2. Shane

3. Raiders of the Lost ArK

4. Shawshank Redemption

5. Groundhogs Day

6. October Sky

7. Lord of the Rings Trilogy

8. Star Wars: A New Hope

9. Planet of the Apes (the original)

10. Jaws

Others that are right up there for me are:

The Road Warrior, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1954 & 78' versions), Superman the Movie, Dirty Harry & Magnum Force, Cyrano with Jose Ferrer, The obscure 2001 for it's hypnotic cinematography, Tombstone, Conan the Barbarian, Singing in the Rain, and Die Hard.

I own all these films on DVD and never tire of watching them. Excluding 2001, they all serve their purpose of refueling my sole (not in a religious way)

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Lord of the Rings (all)

Matrix (all- yes, all)

Contact

Beautiful Mind

Shawshank (duh)

Kill Bill 1/2

Pulp Fiction

Resevoir Dogs (Quentin Fanatic, obviously)

Children of Dune Miniseries

The Great Escape (I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet!)

Bridge over the River Kwai

Lawrence of Arabia

and....

Christmas with the Kranks! (there's not vomit smiley on this forum)

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I'll say some of my favorites and my reson for loving it.

-What dreams may come?

Their interpretation of heaven is sort of how I visualize things within my own imagination and it is that feeling of surreal wonder that has always fueled my poetry. There are also several lines of dialogue that get stuck in my head and I'm left thinking about them for hours because it touches upon a personal emotion or life event.

-City of Angels

I love the character of an angel who has "eternity" but isn't capable of any emotion. I love how the relationship between the human and the angel becomes almost impossible but yet she is still able to show him the greatness of being alive... of being able to feel anything, even if only for a second before getting it all taken away.

-The Hours

It's prettymuch exactly how my mind is in a broad sense. But I can't permit myself to watch it anymore because the character most like myself within the movie, ends up taking a plunge off of a New York building. Surely that's not good for my sanity.

-Possession

It's how I view the most romantic relationships, aside from the stories in Rand's novels.

-The Piano

-The Pianist

I love pianos and the plot of both movies

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not in order

1. Paths of Glory - may be the best war movie ever - Kubrick at his best

2. The Hustler - perfect performances

3. We the Living - Alida Valli's may be the greatest performance by a female lead ever

4. Life is Beautiful - as good as this is w/subtitles, if you can understand italian it is twice as good

5. Chocolat - never would have rented it but for plug by dr. peikoff

6. Gattaca - another film (like chocolat) that could have been written by an objectivist.

7. The Godfather 1 and 2. Not 3.

8. Sleuth - If you haven't seen it - go rent it. (olivier and caine)

9. Two Women - Sophia Loren's performance was, I believe, the first oscar winner for actress or actor in a foreign film until Begnini in Life is Beautiful. She rarely ever got the roles that matched her ability.

10. Crimson Tide - had to get Hackman and Denzel in Here

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I'm so glad to see that movie mentioned. It is so rarely found on anyone's list, yet I too think it to be a great movie. Everytime I watch it, it gets better and better.

I saw it long ago but I was certainly moved by the film. The part when she arrives was magnificent, and her acting was splendid. I remember wishing that Jody Foster win the Oscar for her performance.

Americo.

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I just saw the movie. I fail to understand what is great about it except the blowing up of the Kwai bridge.

Why is this movie referred to as a timeless classic?

I've always wondered the same thing. As for my list:

1.) Dances with Wolves

2.) Once upon a Time in America

3.) Lord of the Rings Trilogy

4.) The Matrix

5.) American Beauty

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Someone complained that Ben Hur was a Christian movie: I would point out that several here have listed "Lord of the Rings" as one of their favorites, and that is definitely a Christian movie (implicit not explicit).

Someone, (jlew?) mentioned "A Christmas Story"---heh, that's one that we watch every year. "It was.......soap..poisoning!!!"

"Braveheart' was great.

"Lawrence of Arabia"---a classic.

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  • 3 weeks later...

01- Donnie Darko

02- Lord of the Rings trilogy

03- Girl, Interrupted

04- Thirteen

05- About a Boy

06- The Sixth Sense

07- The Day After Tomorrow

08- A.I.

09- The Ring

10- Dead Poets Society

11- Lost in Translation

12- Spirited Away

13- Requiem for a Dream

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No particular order:

Bridge on the River Kwai - I love the "battle of wills" between Nicholson and Saito.

Lord of the Rings

Amadeus

Blade Runner

The Great Escape - Even my wife, who usually falls asleep during long movies, loved this one.

The Shawshank Redemption

Master and Commander - a study in heroism and leadership

Hamlet (Zeffirelli, 1990)

The Godfather (Parts I and II)

Anything by Hitchcock (Notorious, Rear Window, Vertigo, NbNW, etc.)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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

I am a bit late to this discussion, but this caught my attention. Princess Mononoke???? I still want those three hours of my life back. I did not understand that movie at all. But since I'm third generation American, maybe I'm not Japanese enough to get it. :D I loved Spirted Away though. Grave of the Fireflies was really depressing...

As for my top ten:

1. LOTR RotK extended edition

2. We the Living :thumbsup:

3. LOTR FotR extended edition

4. Anne of the Thousand Days

5. The Princess Bride

6. LOTH TT extended edition

7. The Matrix (I)

8. Braveheart

9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (this one only made the list because it's Harry Potter and the story was already there, I think Cuaron did a rather crappy job)

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Which is the greatest movie you have ever seen, which you have liked the most?

Mine is Lawrence of Arabia closely followed by Guns of Navarone.

I would like to know yours.

First post for me......

All time greatest acting performance: George C. Scott in Patton

unbelievable that he turned down the Oscar because he didn't think it was good enough.

All time greatest romance: Cousins

" Life is like a chicken. You can either make it ChickenSh** or chicken salad"

something to that effect

All time greatest Comedy: Tie between Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas

The originality of direction and story completely make up for the tawdry subject matter

All time greatest Movie: Dr. Strangelove

I know I'm forgetting something better but this immediately came to mind

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Princess Mononoke???? I still want those three hours of my life back. I did not understand that movie at all. But since I'm third generation American, maybe I'm not Japanese enough to get it. :D I loved Spirted Away though.

Princess Mononoke saying, “I’m a wolf you hear?!” is about the equivalent of me saying “I’m Asian you hear?!” ; we both are in sprit.

I think Princess Mononoke has a good plot, and Ashitaka is in a lot of ways similar to Gihero. For me Princess Mononoke does have the edge – quite literally. It has sword play, archery, guns, lepers, brothel girls and giant wolves! They are both great movies though. :thumbsup:

As a curiosity, do you prefer the English or Japanese dialogue? There is not much anime I prefer to watch in English but these two movies are among the few.

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