Question Your Favorite Movies

Andy44

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Instead of another thread limited to space movies, and face it, there really aren't that many good space movies, I thought it would be cool to discuss your favorite movies, period. What are your favorites, and what makes a good movie in your book?

I think my top 3 would be (not necessarily in this order):

- Last of the Mohicans (1992)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962, not the crappy remake with Denzel)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1967)

The last one is easy, but the first two are just flat out great story-telling.

Mohicans is emotionally moving, with great action and music and a very-hot Madeline Stowe, her best performance ever. Michael Mann, who created Miami Vice, did this film and he wisely changed the story from the ponderous novel (by James Fenimore Cooper), put the perfect soundtrack to it, and did a great job. Unfortunately, he ruined it (or should I say "Lucas'ed it" when he put out the "Director's Expanded Edition" DVD, so make sure you get the VHS or the rare original DVD.

The Manchurian Candidate was, to me, the best Cold War paranoia film ever. Frank Sinatra (yes THAT Frank) plays the main character, US Army Major Marco, who must investigate the strange activity of a former soldier and fellow Korean War POW Raymond Shaw, whose controlling mother (masterfully played by Angela Lansbury) is running her moronic husband's senate campaign. This movie is in black and white, as any good Twilight Zone-era paranoia film should be, and I can watch it over and over, it never gets old.
 

liber

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Star Trek - First Contact
Armageddon
Starship Troppers

Movie that could watch over and over again...
 

Urwumpe

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My current favorites:

All three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.


Now, this could be done, well except PotC, I like:

The Fifth Element
Serenity
Blues Brothers
 

Moonwalker

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1. In the Shadow of the Moon
2. Schindlers List (I basically like all the details, the authenticity and the camera work, more than well done and unmatched until today for such kind of historic movies)
3. Léon the Professional
 

Brad

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My favoriate movies in no particular order:

Amistad
The Sixth Sense - (The first time. Watching it again doesn't have the same effect)
Braveheart
12-Angry Men

Sci-Fi
Alien
StarTrek - The Wrath of Khan
StarTrek - Undiscovered Country
 

Jarvitä

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In no particular order,

Children of Man
Stalingrad (the 1993 German one)
Das Leben der Anderen (The lives of others)
Full Metal Jacket
2001: A Space Oddysey
1612: Хроники смутного времени (Chronicles of the time of troubles)
V for Vendetta
 

David

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2001: A Space Odyssey
Apocalypse Now
Fantastic Planet

are among my most favorites
 

astrosammy

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-2001
-2010
-Apollo 13
-The Right Stuff

Ok, now some non-Spaceflight:
-Harry Potter
-Black Hawk Down
-The Simpsons
-Pirates of the Caribbean

But I'm sure that there are many other that I forgot...
 

Kveldulf

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In no particular order

Glory
12 Angry Men
Das Boot (The miniseries, not the US theatrical release)
History of the World pt. 1
 

Andy44

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My current favorites:

All three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.


Now, this could be done, well except PotC, I like:

The Fifth Element
Serenity
Blues Brothers

I like Serenity as well, but I like it alot more when I think of it in context of the entire TV series, it's like a final episode. The series as a whole, including the film, is my favorite TV series in recent times.

In no particular order,

Children of Man
Stalingrad (the 1993 German one)
Das Leben der Anderen (The lives of others)
Full Metal Jacket
2001: A Space Oddysey
1612: Хроники смутного времени (Chronicles of the time of troubles)
V for Vendetta

Lives of Others, great movie! It won some awards and got mentioned on the radio, so I didn't see it until I rented the DVD, but it was good.

Full Metal Jacket is a personal fav of mine, too. The more I watch it, the more I notice, and the more it makes me think. Plus some of the characters remind me very much of some friends of mine. The dialogue was so witty, I had to watch it twice to pick up all the meanings. One of Kubrick's art works.

V for Vendetta was a little bit of a let down for me, because I thought the ending was implausible. A truly tyrannical government would've just gunned them all down, IMO. But it was still a great film, and to release an antigovernment film in this modern paranoid era where everyone who disobeys is a potential terrorist took some guts.
 

Jarvitä

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A truly tyrannical government would've just gunned them all down.

A truly tyrannical government would. An officer in the field, looking at the mass of his people dedicated to bring the said government down, would realistically see the pointlessness of it and have second thoughts.

As Hugo put it, "Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come."
 

SlyCoopersButt

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Lawrence of Arabia (Very good movie, Long, And very interesting!)
2001,2010 (It's classic!)
Star Trek: first Contact
Stargate (Saw for first time few days ago, Great movie!)
 

mjanicki

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There are so many good movies, but these are some that spring to mind immediately.

Fletch
Pi
Where Eagles Dare
The Outlaw Jose Wales
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (the original not the horrid remake)
 

spcefrk

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The original Manchurian Candidate was genius! It still blows my mind. I'm partial to The Wall for similar reasons (and it has a brilliant soundtrack ;) ) and Apocalypse Now for much the same reasons (despite completely hating Joseph Conrad's original basis for the story). Equillibrium and Fahrenheit 451 are also favorites (though I feel bad for enjoying 451 despite reading and loving the book first). I also liked The Postman, but maybe one of the best documentaries I've ever seen was BBC's "The Ascent of Man." It's right up there with Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" (another one that anyone would be remiss to have never seen).

2001 I loved once I got the message. And while Kubrick is my favorite filmmaker, I think he stumbled a little in making that point come across more clearly.
 

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Some of mine (in alphabetical order) - I tend to go for science fiction, fantasy and historical (there seems to be an absence of "chick flicks" :lol: ):

Aliens vs. Predator (1 & 2)
Batman Begins
Event Horizon (best space horror movie ever!)
Galaxy Quest
Hero
The Interpreter
Kagemusha and Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
The Last Samurai
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Species
Stargate (original movie)
Star Wars (Episodes 3, 4, 5)
 
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