1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[Formaldehyde]

I'm rather surprised this film is not on the list.


Link to video.


Link to video.

 

[Greizer85]

That's a pretty hamfisted way to go about it, imo. Noone's forcing me to eat excrement or cutting my eyes out in modern capitalist society. But I guess you can't be a great director without some pretentiousness.

 

[holy king]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory

 

[Greizer85]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory

...It's a hamfisted allegory, duh. There's allegory and then there's ALLEGORY.

 

[sophie]

I could see why some people wouldn't like Citizen Kane that much. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but all the same it was spectacular. Cinematography was amazing, every shot was incredible.

Oh, and just because you have to see it doesn't necessarily mean it is the greatest movie of all time (Example: Many wouldn't consider Star Wars an outstanding movie, but it's influence on American culture is sufficient enough that it is certainly a must see).

 

[Earthling]

Read title of thread; Citizen Kane is a pretty bad movie.

 

[holy king]

Read title of thread; Citizen Kane is a pretty bad movie.

but everyone is talking about it, which i think is the main criterium for this list.

 

[Gilder]

I'd recommend To Kill A Mockingbird and the original 1960s The Manchurian Candidate.

A lot of what's on the OP's link is actually pretty spot on, although it does disappointingly end in '03.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Dr. Strangelove and The Godfather (I and II) I have watched and absolutely love.

As for the list, I'm ashamed that I haven't watched many of these.

 

[Syterion]

I'm only going to comment on the ones he picked out because I am not looking through a list of 1000 movies to find the ones I have seen.

I know that nobody will read it, I was just bored

I have seen much more, but I dont know English names and lazy to translate. Some I identified, but not able remind plot so rather not included them

Masterpieces - not needed comment, you realy must see
141. Citizen Kane (1941)
152. Casablanca (1942)
278. The Seven Samurai (1954)
449. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
479. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
488. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
591. One Flew over the ****oo's Nest (1975)
728. Brazil (1985)

Casablanca is overrated as far as I can tell. Watch it if you want to see what Humphrey Bogart was, but don't expect anything special. It felt like a normal movie to me. I understand that it was influential as all hell, but don't expect to be wowed.

One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest has the same problem above. Movie lost all, ALL of the subtlety and beauty of the book.

Loved the rest except haven't seen The Seven Samurai.

Liked it - good movies
30. Metropolis (1927) - design, feeling...all is great. Plot and others are outdated (and you will not find complete version because it was destroyed i think)
274. Rear Window (1954) - see below, only lower crew.
315. 12 Angry Men (1957) - without any technological specialities, discussion of 12 men in one room. Great?
432. The Shop on Main Street (1965) - great Czechoslovak thriller, but for majority is should seem boring.
459. The Graduate (1967) - great comedy if you want relax
462. Hombre (1967) - Paul Newman is great here, I love westerns
476. Closely Watched Trains (1967) - if you want try some Czechoslovak cinematography, this isnt bad choice. But I like more another ones
480. Planet of the Apes (1968) - I still remind last scene, one of my favorite movies
495. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - yeah very funny, light comedy. Western plot is not necessary
525. A Clockwork Orange (1971) - because design and beining banned it should qualify for masterpice, but not best Kubrick´s movie
550. The Godfather (1972) - first great gangster movie imho.
562. Papillon (1973) - not boring, but also not masterpiece...similiar to Cool Hand Luke
587. The Godfather Part II (1974) - some say better than part I, dillema
595. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - not best monthy python but still good
610. Rocky (1976) - Rocky rocks...but I find Rocky I more boring that some other parts
617. Star Wars (1977) - am not big fan of star wars, but yeah it was fun
618. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - somewhat on edge, worthy to watch but also not close my heart
636. Grease (1978) - yeah, musicals havent best plots...but still great
652. Life of Brian (1979) - imho best monthy python´s movie
662. The Shining (1980) - good psychological horror, but must see? nope.
663. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - same as first episode
664. The Elephant Man (1980) - ugly outside, beautiful inside - not that original
668. Raging Bull (1980) - movie about boxer who is boxing in another way than in other sport movies, hero of this movie falls lower and lower
679. E.T.: The Extra-Terestrial (1982) - I liked it as kid!
682. Blade Runner (1982) - dark atmosphere, interesting plot
695. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - still same as first epsiode
706. Once Upon a Time in America (1983) - just another good gangster movie
710. The Terminator (1984) - love it
726. Back to the Future (1985) - the same, one of my favorite, next episodes were great too
743. Aliens (1986) - most scary monster movie
748. Platoon (1986) - war makes monsters...worthy to see
796. Batman (1989) - I liked design and style, much more fun to me than recent batmans
813. Goodfellas (1990) - just another gangster movie, imho one of weaker ones, but I LOVE gangster movies
816. Dances with Wolves (1990) - loved it, I love western, indians, soldiers and helping weaker ones
822. Edward Scissorhands (1990) - same as in batman, Burton is master in making stylisation
824. Total Recall (1990) - arnie and crazy scifi movie? Yeah.
835. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - maybe better than first episode
836. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - good thriller, realy evil Hopkins
844. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - only movie from Tarantino which I find quite funny
859. Philadelphia (1993) - gay and aids, very sad, maybe too much
860. Jurassic Park (1993) - typical mainstream movie
863. Schindler's List (1993) - some very strong moments, should be mandatory movie in schools
878. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - strong movie, I enjoyed plot and message
886. Casino (1995) - just another gangster movie, I liked end
890. Braveheart (1995) - if I would be Scottish I would declare immediately independence after this movie
901. Dead Man (1995) - another untypical western movie, travelling for death
902. The Usual Suspects (1995) - nimble detective story
912. Trainspotting (1996) - mainstream movie about drugs, still enjoyed
915. L.A. Confidential (1997) - same as The Usual Suspects
917. Princess Mononoke (1997) - Japanese manga movie, this is one of more watchable
928. Titanic (1997) - same as jurassic park, liked it
931. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - first scene is great
945. The Blair Witch Project (1999) - not bad, more horror than majority of expensive horrors
953. Fight Club (1999) - interesting main plot, rest nothing special
958. The Sixth Sense (1999) - I enjoyed WTH moment
959. The Matrix (1999) - one word - bullet time
974. Memento (2000) - plot nothing special, special is form of narrative aproach
975. Dancer in the Dark (2000) - Björk in movie from von Trier about Czechoslovak emigrant in America? My dream should become true. It was ad absurdum musical I love von Trier and Bjórk, enjoyed his playing with emotions of crawd, but I like more his other movies. I hated musical inserts
990. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - same as jurassic park
991. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) - I liked it, but dont remind any great moment
993. The Pianist (2002) - another movie about life of jew in nacism, liked it but IMHO Czech ones are better

I disagree about Fight Club. It was a fantastic movie, one that has a marred reputation because people like it for its violence, but has a lot of subtle commentary about lots of ideas in it. A lot of fun to watch, too, and to think about after.

Rear Window was lame and boring. I found all the Freudian symbolism boring. Yeah it was there and that's interesting for a bit, but where's the plot and pacing? Vertigo is his masterpiece.

Otherwise, I in general quite liked the ones I've seen on this list.

Nothing special - I didnt like them much, but still worthy to watch - majority love them, except Marketa Lazarova, thats masterpiece only for elites
341. Some Like It Hot (1959) - great dialogues but not funny now.
363. Psycho (1960) - great horror...before 50 years
472. Marketa Lazarova (1967) - boooring
651. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) - fighting in marriage? well not my favorite plot for movie
709. Amadeus (1984) - too long to not get bored, maybe with some cuts...I understand why others like it, though
818. Pretty Woman (1990) - aargh, only for women! (rly?)
830. Naked Lunch (1991) - good for stoned people, not for me
845. Romper Stomper (1992) - I remind only good NAZI song, crap
865. The Piano (1993) - psychological depressing movie, more for women
870. Forrest Gump (1994) - I dont get why its considered as masterpiece
877. Pulp Fiction (1994) - Tarantino and me are incompatible
895. Seven (1995) - dark thriller, boring one
906. Independence Day (1996) - I tried play idiot to enjoy movie, but failed
913. Scream (1996) - same
934. Run Lola Run (1998) - name of movie says all, Lola runs. Huh.
955. American Beauty (1999) - it had some life message but I missed it
957. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - psychological triller starring naked Kidman and Cruise
967. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - sad movie about drugs
977. Amelie (2001) - normal movie with more colours and little changed form of narrative aproach
982. The Piano Teacher (2001) - another psychological movie for women, strange
985. Moulin Rouge (2001) - greatly stylised musical, you have to play director´s play. I failed.
988. Mulholland Dr. (2001) - didnt get it
999. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) - same as Pulp Fiction

Some well known ones which I have seen and considered them as masterpiece - Donnie Darko, 12 monkeys, K-PAX, Rain Man, Butterfly Effect, Neverending story, Dogville, Chinatown, Village, Life is beautiful, To live.

Some Like It Hot is awful. Don't even watch it. There was nothing, absolutely nothing remotely funny in it. Watch it if you want to see what Marilyn Monroe looked like then.

American Beauty was a beautiful movie, on the other hand. Fantastic screenplay and acting. All the characters were so real.

From this snapshot of the list, it seems like it's more of a cultural list rather than one that focuses on good movies. I've tried things like this, and I'm going to warn you right now if you happen to be a movie buff - stop. You will see that culturally what causes landmarks will remind you of bad movies you'll see today. Because people have repeated what was successful for years, and you will not enjoy it. Focus on movies that are legitimately good. And personally, I much much prefer modern styles of film than older ones. I appreciate good cinematography, but older movies are often based on cinematography so much it moves like molasses. And they don't care enough about the screenplay. Watch some modern classics, I think. I really, really recommend the recent A Serious Man (but then again I'm a huge Coen brothers fan). I also will recommend some better lists: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/

 

[sophie]

I'd recommend To Kill A Mockingbird and the original 1960s The Manchurian Candidate.

A lot of what's on the OP's link is actually pretty spot on, although it does disappointingly end in '03.

Yeah, I was upset about that as well. That's why I'm substituting this list http://forums.comingsoon.net/showpost.php?p=2668191&postcount=893 for the 2000s as soon as he finishes it. My only problem with it is he doesn't like Pixar, but that can easily be rectified

From this snapshot of the list, it seems like it's more of a cultural list rather than one that focuses on good movies. I've tried things like this, and I'm going to warn you right now if you happen to be a movie buff - stop. You will see that culturally what causes landmarks will remind you of bad movies you'll see today.

I'm actually quite content with this list. It's not so much about watching the greatest movies ever, just those culturally relevant movies such as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and Dirty Harry that I have not seen yet. The thoroughness of it I attribute to my pseudo-OCD with this kind of stuff.

 

[REDY]

Casablanca is overrated as far as I can tell. Watch it if you want to see what Humphrey Bogart was, but don't expect anything special. It felt like a normal movie to me. I understand that it was influential as all hell, but don't expect to be wowed.
...
Loved the rest except haven't seen The Seven Samurai.

Casablanca is great, my favorite romantic movie. I had to buy immediately when I saw it.

Hmm now it reminded me that I missed Roman Holiday in my list.

If you liked the Magnificent Seven, you will enjoy Seven Samurai too. Its a longer and better.

One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest has the same problem above. Movie lost all, ALL of the subtlety and beauty of the book.

Its possible, I am planning to read book but I loved movie. Maybe I will rate it lower after reading.

Rear Window was lame and boring. I found all the Freudian symbolism boring. Yeah it was there and that's interesting for a bit, but where's the plot and pacing? Vertigo is his masterpiece.

Havent seen Vertigo, but I rate Rear Mirror much higher than Psycho or Birds(I am not sure now how its in English, there are agressive birds attacking folk). Maybe major flaw is that people expect horror or frightening thriller.
Only what is imho lame was final when hero stopping murderer by flashing.
Dialogues were unbelivable intelligent and sharp. The problem of relationships was here presented in simple and beautiful form.

Some Like It Hot is awful. Don't even watch it. There was nothing, absolutely nothing remotely funny in it. Watch it if you want to see what Marilyn Monroe looked like then.

I fully agree, only for some good dialogues and for seeing Marylin Monroe (who plays bad). Dont expect that it would be funny.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I'm only going to comment on the ones he picked out because I am not looking through a list of 1000 movies to find the ones I have seen.

Ctrl + F is a handy command.

 

[Mise]

Not when you've seen, say, 100 movies in your life and are searching for them in a list of 1000

 

[Bast]

865. The Piano (1993) - psychological depressing movie, more for women
982. The Piano Teacher (2001) - another psychological movie for women, strange

That's not true. Although it doesn't help that I love them both. LOL

Although, I'll never forgive The Piano (really Anna Paquin) for stealing that Oscar from Winona Ryder.

 

[REDY]

That's not true. Although it doesn't help that I love them both. LOL

Although, I'll never forgive The Piano (really Anna Paquin) for stealing that Oscar from Winona Ryder.

All these movies in list have its quality, it depends on preference.
Women have different taste...I would never start watching it by myself, I was forced.
Have you seen? You should like it.
Une liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) 1999
Intimacy 2001

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Not when you've seen, say, 100 movies in your life and are searching for them in a list of 1000

You can still pick a dozen favorites.

 

[dirtyparrot]

I actually really liked Rear Window and thought that Vertigo was a bit overrated (still a good movie, just not one of the best ever). It's probably the only movie where I didn't find James Stewart's way of speaking annoying. I have no problem including Casablanca in my list of masterpieces.

I would add Lawrence of Arabia to the list of masterpieces. It's one of the few movies that I wished that I could see on the big screen. I would probably include Shawshank to the list as well.

I believe that they've found additional footage of Metropolis.

While not exactly masterpieces, I thought that the following movies are particularly good (no particular order):

1) M (1931)

2) Shindler's List

3) 12 Angry Men

4) The Matrix/Dark City

5) Blade Runner

6) Dr. Strangelove...

7) Atonement

8) Requiem for a Dream

9) Alien

10) Chinatown

11) 2001: A Space Odyssey

12) Donnie Darko

13) Rashomon

14) Star Wars

15) Silence of the Lambs

16) Apocalypse Now

17) T2

While I'm not saying that any of these movies aren't good, I think that they're a bit overrated:

1) Godfather II (I don't understand how people can debate which of the first two is the better Godfather)

2) Once a Time in the West

3) It's a Wonderful Life

4) Léon

5) A Clockwork Orange

6) Amadeus (OK movie, but if someone wanted to make me go insane, they would play Mozart's laugh on a loop)

7) Full Metal Jacket (just an overrated movie)

8) District 9

9) Gone with the Wind

10) Munich

 

[JohnRM]

1) Godfather II (I don't understand how people can debate which of the first two is the better Godfather)

I don't...it was certainly The Godfather.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I know that nobody will read it, I was just bored

I have seen much more, but I dont know English names and lazy to translate. Some I identified, but not able remind plot so rather not included them.

You have watched a lot of American flicks! Great comments which I generally agree with for the most part.


Where I don't agree:

662. The Shining (1980) Not a masterpiece but a near-great. The Redrum reference alone makes it a must-see though.
341. Some Like It Hot (1959) I think it was the original "men dress up as women" flick which has now been done in so many forms. Great cast.
870. Forrest Gump (1994) Sheer genius.
877. Pulp Fiction (1994) Best Tarrantino flick by far. Masterpiece.
934. Run Lola Run (1998) - Great flick. Near masterpiece. And she runs so well!

Flicks you didn't mention:

51.All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - Best war flick.
56.Frankenstein (1931) Another classic.
75.Duck Soup (1933) Best Grouch Marx flick.
123.The Wizard of Oz (1939) Best synchronized with Pink Floyd Dark Side of The Moon.
195.It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Title says it all.
241.The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Klaatu barada Nikto.
250.High Noon (1952) Best western.
302.Forbidden Planet (1956) Best sci-fi / Shakespeare flick.
310.Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Best horror flick.
340.North by Northwest (1959) Best Hitchcock / Cary Grant flick.
349.Ben-Hur (1959) 2nd best car chase scene. Where's Bullitt?
381.West Side Story (1961) Best musical.
415.Goldfinger (1964) 2nd best James Bond Flick. And where is Thunderball???
421.Dr. Strangelove (1964) Just look at my avatar! Masterpiece!
467.Cool Hand Luke (1967) Best Law and Order / Paul Newman flick.
457.In the Heat of the Night (1967) Best racism flick.
485.The Producers (1968) Best comedy.
500.Easy Rider (1969) Best hippie flick.
514.Little Big Man (1970) 2nd Best American Indian flick. 2nd best Dustin Hoffman flick. Where's Midnight Cowboy?
517.M*A*S*H (1970) Suicide is painless.
548.Deliverance (1972) Squeal like a pig.
590.Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Best Pacino flick. Attica!
608.The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Best Eastwood flick.
611.Taxi Driver (1976) Best psycho / Scorsese / De Niro flick.
612.Network (1976) Prophesied present day "news media", especially Fox News.
667.Airplane! (1980) Do you like gladiators?
680.The Thing (1982) Another sci-fi classic.
704.The Right Stuff (1983) Definitely.
744.Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Beuller? Beuller? Harmless but great fun.
752.Salvador (1986) Oliver Stone's best flick along with Born On The Fourth of July.
816.Dances with Wolves (1990) Best American Indian flick.
824.Total Recall (1990) Makes even Schwartzenegger almost appear to be an actor.
846.Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) Real sleeper. Must see life of a salesman.
878.The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Epic.
905.Fargo (1996) Best Coen Bros flick.
949.Three Kings (1999) Near great. Somewhat weak ending.
972.Traffic (2000) Absolute must see by everybody. Explains the drug war as no movie ever has.
995.City of God (2002) Sheer brilliance.

Flicks that weren't on the list:

The Sand Pebbles - Steve McQueen classic.
Le Mans - Best racing film.
This Island Earth - 2nd best sci-fi flick.
American History X - Best present-day racism flick.
Lawrence of Arabia - Did this just happen?
To Kill A Mockingbird - Another racism classic.
Das Boot - German version with English subtitles. Makes you feel like you were there.
Modern Times - Best Charlie Chaplin flick.
Boyz N The Hood - Can't understand South Central LA without watching this classic.