• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

The perfect film?

movieposter.jpg
 
Citizen Kane
Dr. Strange Love
North by Northwest
Rear Window
Blade Runner
2001 A Space Odyssey
Shindlers List
The Empire Strikes Back

Honorable mention for BrainStorm which I remember seeing as a teenager and thought the effects were ground breaking.
 
After seeing The Iron Giant when it was first released I recall a discussion I had with friends. We all loved it, but there was disagreement about whether there should be a sequel. I and another friend argued the film didn't need a sequel. We didn't need to know the Giant's origin. On the other side another friend argued for a sequel.

Well because the film realized limited commercial success (despite wide acclaim) the likelihood of a sequel became essentially zilch, which was fine by me.

Absolutely no sequel required. It ended on the perfect note and I don't need to know what happens next because it's obvious. ;)

As for the Giant's origin, that was meant to be told in the film in the form of an abstract dream (picked up on Dean's TV set while they were all asleep.) The sequence was never fully animated, but appears in story board form as a feature on the Special Edition DVD. Brad Bird has I think hinted that they might go back and finish it for the inevitable BluRay, so here's hoping.

The short version: he's a war machine left adrift in space after the planet he was fighting on (presumably the homeworld of his creators) blew up in the midst of a war in which he and hundreds light him were the foot soldiers. The implication is that it was some ultimate doomsday bomb, which given the setting and themes of the movie shouldn't be too shocking, especially given the resonence with the ending.
See, if it was illustrated like that in broad strokes it probably wouldn't hurt the film as is. That said it isn't really needed because you still get the idea that he is/was some sort of alien weapon from what we see in the film we got.

The film is fine as it is and you don't really *need* that scene, but I do think it'd be a significant enhancement. And yeah, it'd be best to keep it stylized and somewhat abstract.

If nothing else it'd be a good way to better connect what happened with the deer with his reaction to Hogarth's toy gun.
 
The Prestige
The Fountain
Jurassic Park
Gattaca
North by Northwest
Starship Troopers
Inception
Black Swan
Cast Away
Ocean's Eleven
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Pulp Fiction

There are alot of others I might enjoy even more than some on this list (the usual suspects: LOTR, SW, etc) but these are the ones I wouldn't change in any way.
 
The only films I never had absolutely no issues with were Hot Shots!, The Naked Gun and Spaceballs. And Shawshank Redemption.

In every other movie I've seen there is always something.
 
I'd take issue with Spaceballs as being utterly unfunny and features Rick Moranis...

It's all down to personal taste though !
 
I'm jumping on the Red October bandwagon. John McTiernan, et al, nailed it.

Other movies I wouldn't touch:

Transformers: I think Michael Bay gets unfairly maligned for his treatment of the Transformers franchise, because it wasn't uber-serious and dire or whatever. I remember thinking after seeing the first one in the theaters: "This movie is so perfect if it were a woman I'd marry it!"

Marvel's The Avengers: In my review here of this movie, I officially forgave Joss Whedon for everything he's ever done that I hated because this move was just note-for-note perfect.

The Empire Strikes Back: Not only does this movie show Darth Vader at his most bad-ass in the entire series, it has the Battle of Hoth, the greatest battle scene in science fiction!
 
Transformers: I think Michael Bay gets unfairly maligned for his treatment of the Transformers franchise, because it wasn't uber-serious and dire or whatever. I remember thinking after seeing the first one in the theaters: "This movie is so perfect if it were a woman I'd marry it!"

I actually agree, this film is quite perfect the way it is. fun and pretty damn awesome
 
Several people have mentioned Gattica as a, 'perfect film.' While I think it was a good film about the potential harmful nature of manipulating genetics in the future, I'd hardly put it in my top 50. Even Rotten tomatoes gives it an overall 80% score.

Your opinion of course is your opinion but I was wondering if someone would outline what makes this film so, "perfect," for them?

Andrew Nicci also wrote The Truman Show which I thought was more brilliant in terms of being original.
 
I recently saw Prisoners. It's really good.

Prisoners was awesome.

Some of my personal faves:
The Bucket List
The Silence of the Lambs
The Shawshank Redemption
Girl, Interrupted
Lost in Translation
Gattica
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
The Terminal
Castaway
Garden State
The Shining
Gran Torino
Blade Runner
Home Alone
WALL-E
Being John Malkovich
Blank Check
Donnie Darko
Sideways
Little Miss Sunshine
Million Dollar Baby
March of the Penguins
The Magic of Belle Isle
Planet of the Apes (original)
Cube (1,2,3)
Moon
Back to the Future
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
The Fly
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Big Lebowski
No Country for Old Men
Life of Pi
 
IMO, the ones that at least come closest: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), All About Eve, 12 Angry Men and, in Sci-Fi, Metropolis and Star Wars.
 
Harry and Tonto
Mr. Roberts
Shawshank
It's A Wonderful Life
The Bear
and for scifi:
Planet of the Apes(Heston)
Raiders
Forbidden Planet
12 Monkeys
 
I totally forgot Forbidden Planet, awesome, awesome film!

Concerning Gattaca, it's hard to explain, it wasn't especially the (still pretty good) story, it's more the whole atmosphere, the art design, cinematography, music, the acting, it all just fits so perfectly together like I have rarely seen in any other film.
 
Again, since the topic is perfect film, as much as I enjoy Forbidden Planet a lot, I can't call it perfect.

In the nude swimming scene, Anne Francis is too obviously not really nude! You can see the skin-colored swimsuit she's wearing when she comes out, not to mention hints of it while she's still in the water.
 
Hmmm...an incomplete list off the top of my head:

The Artist
It Happened One Night
The Royal Tenenbaums
Inside Llewyn Davis
Casablanca
Dark City
The Kid Brother
The Hudsucker Proxy
City Lights
Amelie
The Big Lebowski
The City Of Lost Children
Our Hospitality
 
Two of my favorites that haven't been mentioned:

Amadeus (theatric cut)
Casino Royale
 
Again, since the topic is perfect film, as much as I enjoy Forbidden Planet a lot, I can't call it perfect.

In the nude swimming scene, Anne Francis is too obviously not really nude! You can see the skin-colored swimsuit she's wearing when she comes out, not to mention hints of it while she's still in the water.

Hear, hear!
 
I was recently thinking about the whole concept of “best”, which is akin to this thread’s discussion of “perfect”, and I’d like to share some of my thoughts.

What I decided is that I’m going to avoid calling things “the best”. No more “this is the best movie of the year”, “that is the best sci-fi show ever”, “this is the best book I’ve read in a long time”, “that is the best video game I’ve ever played”.

When you talk about “best” or “perfect” you are making a judgement of the quality of the material, which as we’ve already seen in this thread is entirely subjective. Someone, somewhere can and eventually will find argument with your judgement. And it’s not like your superior arguments why one film is better than another will convince someone else to abandon their opinion and adopt yours. That’s not now this works. :p

Besides, there is a battery of award shows where the entire industry gets together and decides on the best movie/actor/writer/director/etc., and even then half the time we disagree with their selection.

“Best” is subjective, I think the better approach is to talk about your personal enjoyment of things, aptly described by Warped9 as

"I wouldn't change a thing."

If you talk about how much you enjoy the material not only can people take less issue with it, but it also makes your opinion, your review of it, more personal and thus more meaningful. There have been plenty of movies I recognize are very good but which I have not enjoyed (American Hustle most recently); there have also been movies which are bad but that I enjoy nonetheless (and who doesn’t have some guilty pleasures like that?)

Movies, shows, books, all of these things are created to entertain us. We don’t watch a movie to be able to decide if it’s good or bad, we watch it to hopefully enjoy it, so that’s the approach I’m going to take from now on, I won’t be deciding if a movie is good or bad, but if I enjoyed it or not.
 
I think it's fairly implicit that when anyone says something is "best" or "perfect" they're expressing their own subjective opinion. Discussions like this would get boring and redundant real fast if everyone felt the need to explicitly point out that everything they say is opinion based.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top