What's your perfect movie

[cbwjm]

My list:

• Blade Runner
• Fellowship of the Ring
• Jaws
• Ghostbusters
• The Princess Bride
• Mad Max Fury Road
• Night of the Living Dead (even if Dawn of the Dead is my favorite. And that's an important distinction to make. For example, Conan the Barbarian is probably my favorite movie, but is it a perfect movie?)

Would agree. Fellowship of the Ring is, in my opinion, the best of them.

I have been meaning to watch conan the barbarian again, I've fond memories but it's been so long it'll almost be like watching it for the first time.

I guess everyone would have a different definition of perfect, I'm definitely not being academic in my decision making. Maybe for me a perfect movie is one which I'll always go back and watch every year or so and still get the feelings it's throwing out, whether the terror of escaping from a a t-rex or raptor, or joyful tears every time I'd watch Klaus and that little girl would get her sail sled.

 

[DeviousQuail]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Prestige
Moonrise Kingdom
Captain America: the Winter Soldier

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This, too, is a perfect film.

It really is. Fury Road is a movie that does not let up, from start to finish. I could spend an hour praising it, easily. It was a movie in a series that had been fallow for decades, and it came back stronger than ever.

I have been meaning to watch conan the barbarian again, I've fond memories but it's been so long it'll almost be like watching it for the first time.

I guess everyone would have a different definition of perfect, I'm definitely not being academic in my decision making. Maybe for me a perfect movie is one which I'll always go back and watch every year or so and still get the feelings it's throwing out, whether the terror of escaping from a a t-rex or raptor, or joyful tears every time I'd watch Klaus and that little girl would get her sail sled.

That's the thing I struggled with. Conan the Barbarian is a movie I dearly love. The soundtrack is one of my favorites. I could talk about how it functions as a sort of action-opera, where the music and visuals convey the emotion. But is it perfect? When compared to the other movies on my list, I think it falls short, if barely.

 

[Reynard]

This thread is going to suffer from the problem of people confusing "was really important to me at the time" with "good."

 

[ShinHakkaider]

This thread is going to suffer from the problem of people confusing "was really important to me at the time" with "good."

I dont think that at all. The OP asks specifically "your perfect movie" meaning that its completely subjective. Who CARES what you or I think is good outside of our own parameters of perfect and good.

I'm just curious to see what other people enjoy. Not if I agree or stand ready to judge their choices.

 

[Clint_L]

It's good but a little simplistic. Top Gun Maverick, on the other hand, feels finely-crafted to deliver the best possible experience, its early acts introducing and defining its characters while also providing the audience with so perfect a roadmap for the actual mission to come that they aren't left wondering about any of the why or how of it, and can instead just experience it in its full intensity - and then, that final act sends us back into unknown territory, with enough death flags having been raised that the tension of the escape and dogfights is real and gripping.

Also one of the most rewatchable movies I've seen.

I agree with you despite the fact that I don't really like this movie. Mostly because I'm not American, so some things that will really resonate with its intended audience make me cringe. But that is not a criticism of the film, because I am not the intended audience. This is a good illustration of why I draw a distinction between favourite films and perfect films. (I wouldn't call Maverick perfect, but it's very well crafted).

This is a category where I tend to defer to experts. I teach film as part of our IB Language and Literature curriculum, but don't pretend for a moment that I am an expert in film analysis, so my opinions on whether or not a film is "perfect" aren't super significant, given my relative paucity of knowledge.

 

[Aeson]

Mad Max: Fury Road should be sued for false advertisement. There was no Mad Max in the movie.

The Dark Knight was near perfect for me.

 

[TheSword]

For me it's Jurassic Park. I've lost track of how often I've watched it but I love it every time I watch it. I love the ones that followed (I'm a dino fan), but the first one for me is the best. Sure, the large drop at the t-rex pen doesn't really make sense but the characters, the dinosaurs, the t-rex appearance, the suspense when they're trying to escape the raptors all combine to make a great movie and I think it still holds up really well even after more than 30 years since its release.

Yeah it’s top of my list every time. There is something unique about it. Both optimistic and cautionary. Cerebral but packed with action. Genuinely funny at times as well as pretty scary (kitchen scene being a highlight). Beautiful visuals, tactile special effects, a killer soundtrack and great cast. It’s where I first fell in love with Jeff Goldblum.

Our lift has been out of action for three months and when i got inside and tested it yesterday after the engineers finally fixed, I pressed the call alarm and when reception picked up I said “Mr Hammond, the lifts are working.” No one got the reference but it made me happy!

 

[cbwjm]

I dont think that at all. The OP asks specifically "your perfect movie" meaning that its completely subjective. Who CARES what you or I think is good outside of our own parameters of perfect and good.

I'm just curious to see what other people enjoy. Not if I agree or stand ready to judge their choices.

Exactly there is no formula for determining someone's perfect movie, it's very much personal to the viewer, using whichever criteria they want to use.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I'm someone who strongly believes that Spielberg has two eras in his career. His movies before JURASSIC PARK and his movies after JURASSIC PARK. I'm someone who grew up in the era of JAWS, RAIDERS, and E.T. , so to me those movies are MY Spielberg.

BUT...I remember showing JURASSIC PARK to my then 9-10 year old son (at home on DVD), who liked it but wasn't that impressed. A few years later, it was the 20th anniversary, and Universal had re-released it in IMAX, and I kinda dragged my son to see it. I distinctly remember him complaining, saying, "Dad, I've seen this already..." and me saying to him, "Yeah, but on the big screen it's a different experience."

When those cars stopped in front of the T. rex paddock, and that entire sequence started? He was riveted, and for the rest of the movie, he was locked in. Coming out of the theater, he turns to me and says, "You were right dad. That was so much different."

I don't think Jurassic Park is anywhere close to my top 5 favorite Spielberg movies, but to the generation that was just the right age when it was initially released in 1993(?) I get why it's their favorite, especially if they saw it on the big screen.