DreadPirateMurphy
Explorer
Alien & Aliens: These two films are probably the best example of how to take the same theme and deal with them in entirely different genres. Ridley Scott made a horror/haunted house movie, while Cameron made an action flick. Both films have basically the same premise.
Spirited Away: This movie is amazing for being remarkably accessible, even to non-genre fans. It is also notable for isolating fears to which both children and adults can relate. While Mononoke is good, I think this is the better film.
Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogies are no-brainers.
Metropolis: If you're looking for landmark pictures, this vision of a dystopian future by Fritz Lang is a must-have. It is in black-and-white and is silent, so don't expect sensational effects.
Akira: This anime film is for many people THE film that introduced Japanese animation to a western audience. It showed what the Japanese were doing when American cartoons (outside of Disney) was largely cheap and targeted at children.
Speaking of Disney, The Little Mermaid was the film that got Disney animation back on track, so it is something of a landmark. Aladdin was more entertaining, and one of the first non-European themed films done by the studio. Fantasia is a classic of artistic vision, if lacking in plot. Any of those three would be worthwhile.
Pixar has done so much good work it is hard to single out any one film. Wall-E is probably has the best combination of artistic vision and emotional impact. The Incredibles is one of the best superhero movies out there.
Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are both better than the old 80s series of Batman films, and actually are probably the best superhero series in total made to date.
It is worth getting something by Harryhausen, like Clash of the Titans, since stop-motion was the only way to get HUGE special effects before CGI.
Speaking of CGI, Jurrasic Park is an enjoyable flick that was the very first film to demonstrate what CGI would be capable of doing. Nowadays, folks don't pay it much attention, but at the time it was visually stunning.
The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet are both absolute must-have films from the Red Scare period of American film-making.
Blade Runner is a classic -- I'm more of a fan of the Director's Cut version. It is a far superior film to much that has come out in recent years.
The original King Kong is also a good film -- it is subtler than any of the later films, including Peter Jackson's effort.
The original 1954 Godzilla was a parable about the nuclear threat from the only country ever to directly suffer from an atom bomb. It is hard to argue that it isn't a classic, despite the rubber suit.
1953's version of the War of the Worlds is also an enjoyable flick, and is arguably one of the best film adaptations of any of H.G. Well's works. I like it better than the more recent version with Tom Cruise.
The Princess Bride is hands-down one of the funniest, quotable movies you will find. I consider it a must-have.
Horror flicks aren't really my thing, but there are several films that suggest themselves from the genre. At a minimum, Night of the Living Dead and The Birds can be considered sci-fi/fantasy.
A lot of people will disagree, but I really liked The Fifth Element. Ignore the absurdities of the plot and just absorb the stylistic vision of the film. If you can revel in the camp, then it is a great movie.
In contrast, I've always thought of 2001 as somewhat slow -- Solaris is a more mind-bending flick if you have the patience to sit through it. Both are worthwhile films to own, though.
Well, I guess that's more than 10...sorry.
Spirited Away: This movie is amazing for being remarkably accessible, even to non-genre fans. It is also notable for isolating fears to which both children and adults can relate. While Mononoke is good, I think this is the better film.
Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogies are no-brainers.
Metropolis: If you're looking for landmark pictures, this vision of a dystopian future by Fritz Lang is a must-have. It is in black-and-white and is silent, so don't expect sensational effects.
Akira: This anime film is for many people THE film that introduced Japanese animation to a western audience. It showed what the Japanese were doing when American cartoons (outside of Disney) was largely cheap and targeted at children.
Speaking of Disney, The Little Mermaid was the film that got Disney animation back on track, so it is something of a landmark. Aladdin was more entertaining, and one of the first non-European themed films done by the studio. Fantasia is a classic of artistic vision, if lacking in plot. Any of those three would be worthwhile.
Pixar has done so much good work it is hard to single out any one film. Wall-E is probably has the best combination of artistic vision and emotional impact. The Incredibles is one of the best superhero movies out there.
Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are both better than the old 80s series of Batman films, and actually are probably the best superhero series in total made to date.
It is worth getting something by Harryhausen, like Clash of the Titans, since stop-motion was the only way to get HUGE special effects before CGI.
Speaking of CGI, Jurrasic Park is an enjoyable flick that was the very first film to demonstrate what CGI would be capable of doing. Nowadays, folks don't pay it much attention, but at the time it was visually stunning.
The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet are both absolute must-have films from the Red Scare period of American film-making.
Blade Runner is a classic -- I'm more of a fan of the Director's Cut version. It is a far superior film to much that has come out in recent years.
The original King Kong is also a good film -- it is subtler than any of the later films, including Peter Jackson's effort.
The original 1954 Godzilla was a parable about the nuclear threat from the only country ever to directly suffer from an atom bomb. It is hard to argue that it isn't a classic, despite the rubber suit.
1953's version of the War of the Worlds is also an enjoyable flick, and is arguably one of the best film adaptations of any of H.G. Well's works. I like it better than the more recent version with Tom Cruise.
The Princess Bride is hands-down one of the funniest, quotable movies you will find. I consider it a must-have.
Horror flicks aren't really my thing, but there are several films that suggest themselves from the genre. At a minimum, Night of the Living Dead and The Birds can be considered sci-fi/fantasy.
A lot of people will disagree, but I really liked The Fifth Element. Ignore the absurdities of the plot and just absorb the stylistic vision of the film. If you can revel in the camp, then it is a great movie.
In contrast, I've always thought of 2001 as somewhat slow -- Solaris is a more mind-bending flick if you have the patience to sit through it. Both are worthwhile films to own, though.
Well, I guess that's more than 10...sorry.
