Movies that made an impression on me

[DreadPirateMurphy]

On the Flightplan spoiler thread, somebody mentioned that there lacked well-reasoned discussions of movies. It was all fan-boy or trash talk. Well, here is an attempt to contradict that. Here are films that made an impression on me, and some brief explanation.

Spirited Away: Probably one of the most charming anime films ever made. I have never failed to have an adult watch the film and be impressed. It is both an excellent gateway film to anime and a good film in its own right. It is also I fine film for children. The breadth of appeal alone is extremely rare.

Duel: This simple-concept film was the first film I saw that was creepy without the over-the-top gore of horror films that were so prevalent when I was growing up in the 80s. As such, it was an eye-opener.

Saving Private Ryan: Least "Hollywood" portrayal of death and gore in war I've ever seen. It is hard to bring myself to watch the film repeatedly, even though I enjoyed the film.

Silence of the Lambs: Saw this in the the theater by ACCIDENT. I knew nothing about it. It proved to me that gore doesn't automatically imply a bad film (in the age of Freddy and Jason), and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Casablanca: While it has its flaws, the film still defines both film noire and "cool" in my perspective.

Goodfellas: Joe Pesci's performance in this film is both chilling and hilarious at the same time. In my mind, his character here is the archetype of the criminally insane.

Unforgiven: This was the film that prompted me to re-examine a genre that I had largely ignored -- classic westerns. For that, it remains a favorite, though other genre films are quite arguably superior.

Dead Poets' Society: A good film that is notable for me in that it proved that one of my favorite comedians actually had some range, rather than just being a loon.

Jurrasic Park: Ignoring the minimalist plot, this movie was sea change in what people expected from computer-generated effects. Since it came out, audiences have actually come to expect flawless special effects, and the days of models on strings and stop-motion techniques are mostly gone.

Well, that is a subset. I could probably think of more with time.

 

[Werdnam]

Duel: This simple-concept film was the first film I saw that was creepy without the over-the-top gore of horror films that were so prevalent when I was growing up in the 80s. As such, it was an eye-opener.

I'll second that. I caught this on TV this summer and couldn't turn away. There are so many things this movie does right, but the two that most impressed me were: First, the enemy remains faceless and incomprehensible for the entire film. We never see him, we never understand why he is malevolent. This really enhances the emotional/thematic impact of the film. Secondly, and more importantly in my view, the movie does an amazing job of putting you in the protagonist's shoes. It's so easy to imagine oneself in the situation in which the protagonist finds himself, and I found myself constantly wondering "Is that how I would react to that? What would I do?" For me, that enhanced the "fear factor" -- since it was so easy to imagine myself as the driver of the car, it was easy for me to feel his terror.

Unforgiven: This was the film that prompted me to re-examine a genre that I had largely ignored -- classic westerns. For that, it remains a favorite, though other genre films are quite arguably superior.

My situation is similar. I used to dismiss Westerns, but after seeing several great films in the genre (for me, this includes High Noon, The Searchers, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Once Upon a Time in the West, Unforgiven, and, though many wouldn't really see it as a Western, Giant) I've come to enjoy them. They're still not usually my first pick of a movie to rent or see, but I don't avoid them anymore.

 

[sniffles]

The Best Years of Our Lives - Best war film that doesn't have actual warfare in it. A truly realistic portrayal of what it's like to return from war and realize that the world changed while you were gone. And it does it without sex or bad language.

Jeremiah Johnson - An overlooked film that has so much feeling to it considering that it has relatively little dialog. I always cry at the end - something about it seems so sad to me, yet I can't explain what it is that's affecting me.

Little Big Man - Made me think a lot harder about the history I'd been taught in school. It certainly isn't a historical film in the sense of historical accuracy, but it made characters and events from history come to life for me. And it's the first film I ever saw where the Native Americans were shown as real people, not just cardboard caricatures.

2001: A Space Odyssey - Just mind-blowingly wonderful, in a non-spaced-out-on-drugs way. Full of concepts that made me feel like someone was opening doors in my brain.

 

[Chaldfont]

Little Big Man... I love that movie.

How about:

The Game: This movie had me doubting my second-guessing of what I thought might be the ending. Is it a con job? Or is it really what he paid for? What would role-playing be like if you had an unlimited budget? This is the first movie where I wished I had some kind of memory eraser so I could watch it for the first time over and over again.

Memento: Another one I would use the memory eraser for. I'm amazed they were able to pull off this unorthodox story-telling technique.

Dune: First time I learned that just because its an awesome book doesn't mean it will be an awesome (or even watchable) movie.

The Godfather: First time I learned that just because its a mediocre book doesn't mean it will be a mediocre movie.

Spiderman: Comic book movies CAN work! Sweet!

Sin City: Not only can comic book movies work, but they can be more comic book than movie!

 

[ragboy]

Matchstick Men - A con-man movie in which you know the con is going to get conned, but you don't care, because it's about so much more than that. It was such a great allegory for the father-daughter relationship...

Glengarry Glenross - Fantastically acted and edited. Thought I was going to get an ulcer the first time I saw this movie. Very visceral, but not in the typical hollywood fashion.

Platoon - One of the best war movies, not for its message, its preaching, or its attempt at 'literary moviemaking,' but because it showed the 'regular joe' side of the war. And the unglamorous job of the American grunt in all its unglamorous glory.

Saving Private Ryan - The story was a little fantastical, but it was (again) the unglamorous parts of war. One of the best sound edited war movies I've ever seen. The sheer volume of noise in the beach scene... Two scenes really stood out for me, and showed the real connection between guys that go to war together: The two 'gum' scenes. One where Hanks' character sticks his finger in the soldiers mouth to get his gum to MacGuyver a periscope and the one where one soldier asks the other if he has anymore gum and he takes it out of his mouth and splits it with him.

 

[Mystery Man]

All great movies!

True Grit - One of the best John Wayne movies ever.


May - I watched this movie and was freaked out for several days after.

 

[Wombat]

Wow, trying to limit myself here...

The Lion in Winter -- proof that a film about the Middle Ages could be fun and interesting! Great performances all around.

Citizen Kane -- a "big classic" movie that lives up to the hype? It certainly did for me. A truly majestic film.

Blue Velvet -- such a creepy film about such an ordinary community; really had me rethinking what happens in the world just outside of my eyesight.

The Princess Bride -- I loved this book. Then I heard they were making it into a movie. Oh, the wailing! Oh, the gnashing of teeth! And yet ... the movie is not the book, but it is precisely the spirit of the book, so I was deeply satisfied.

The Lord of the Rings -- 'cuz no one else has mentioned it yet. Once again a project that I had absolutely zero faith in... until I saw it. I am still in awe over that film (okay, it was released as three films, but, just like LotR as a book, it is meant as one long film).

 

[Harmon]

Red Dawn- not the greatest movie, I liked it, thing was I saw it with my Mom. Patrick was holding his pistol on the soldier in the truck and my Mom whispers- "kill that F-er." I looked at my mom in disbelief and jumped when the shot went off. It was years before I saw that scene all the way through.

Pay it Forward- again, not a great movie, but a great idea. Leason teaching.

Sixth Sense- pretty predictable ending, lot of hyp, but tells you something about making the most of the time you have. Never leave things unsaid.

 

[WayneLigon]

I've been trying to think of films that left a true lasting impression on me. It hasn't been easy and I'll post more, I'm certain.

Starting back from the most recent, I finally watched The Talented Mr Ripley. It's what I like to call a 'train-wreck' movie, where each decision by the characters pushes things further down a terrible path and there seems to be no good end in sight. The decisions and the consequences of those decisions form a unified whole, each affecting the other. At any point, one or more characters could stop the entire process and things might end up at least tolerable for them, but no... they make the wrong decision, or the selfish decision, or the decision without knowing something vital.. and things fall into place. Taboo is another similar film, where a young man uses the passions of others to get ahead, on;y to be brought down by the weight of fate.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

There's a good amount of movies that have made an impression on me.

Chief among them, which shouldn't be surprising to anyone that has seen my posts here at ENWorld, would be the first Star Wars movie...all of them after have had an effect(even the prequels), but it was A New Hope that I saw first, even though I was too young to see it in the theaters until '97 when it was re-released. Special Edition or not, when that's your first chance, you don't complain much.

If I start naming others, though, I'll make a fairly good sized list and I'm too lazy to type all the movies that have had a considerable effect on me. Just so I don't name only one movie, though, I'll throw out Hero, too, as that movie was simply amazing and really enthralls me with its use of colour to set the mood.