What's your perfect movie

[delericho]

On the one hand, there's no such thing as a truly perfect movie. There's always something that could be tweaked.

On the other hand, there are a handful of movies where pretty much any change would end up being a change for the worse. I generally put three movies in that bracket: "The Empire Strikes Back", "The Wrath of Khan", and "Back to the Future". Arguably, "Aliens", "Terminator 2", "Toy Story", "The Dark Knight", and "The Fellowship of the Ring" are all in the same category... and yet I find I don't esteem them quite so highly.

Also... my favourite film is the original "Star Wars". But I certainly don't consider it perfect by any metric.

 

[Older Beholder]

Another perfect film for me was Nightcrawler.

 

[Cruentus]

Alien (Theatrical and Director's Cut, the latter filling in some holes)
Ran (Kurosawa)
Lawrence of Arabia

Those three I could watch forever. There are others I really like, but I wouldn't call them 'perfect'.

 

[jdrakeh]

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). It has a few minor continuity errors, but I'm still a mega-fan. I watch it a few times a year and am entertained every time. For me, this is as close to perfect as a film gets.

 

[Greg K]

I don't have just one:
Drama: 12 Angry Men
Fantasy: Fellowship of the Ring
Horror: Fright Night (1985), Jaws, The Thing
Kids On Bikes: Stand By Me
Sci Fi: The Empire Strikes Back, Galaxy Quest (Comedy/Spoof)
Superhero: Big Hero 6, Captain America: Winter Soldier (Honorable Mentions: Black Panther, The Incredibles)
Western: Unforgiven (Honorable Mention: Shane)

 

[Clint_L]

I think the answer is clearly yes, goofs or logic gaps do not necessarily detract from a movie because movies are not exclusively about realism or logic; they invoke an emotional response which is of greater importance than logical consistency.

Alfred Hitchcock argued that audiences cannot become emotionally invested if they are confused. I agree with him. Is a movie has goofs and logic gaps, instead of being in the movie, I am in my head trying to make sense of what just happened.

For me, this disqualifies Jurrasic Park, because although the deus ex tyrannosaur at the end is fun, it's also ridiculous.

That's unless the film is intentionally surreal, but then it must be obvious to the audience that you are in a situation where logic does not apply, or may not apply. A David Lynch film, for example.

 

[Artamo]

Alfred Hitchcock argued that audiences cannot become emotionally invested if they are confused. I agree with him. Is a movie has goofs and logic gaps, instead of being in the movie, I am in my head trying to make sense of what just happened.

For me, this disqualifies Jurrasic Park, because although the deus ex tyrannosaur at the end is fun, it's also ridiculous.

That's unless the film is intentionally surreal, but then it must be obvious to the audience that you are in a situation where logic does not apply, or may not apply. A David Lynch film, for example.

Every person is going to have a different point where that happens however. Hitchcock may have been speaking about audiences reacting to egregious instances of gaps in logic but many of his own movies were not immune to their own logical goofs.

I would argue that the entire plots of movies like Vertigo and Spellbound hinged on very loose and implausible medicine and conditions. The fact that the entire murder plot in Vertigo required Stewart’s character being unable to climb the stairs to the tower in time was a major flaw, as well as his miraculous cure at the end. But these scenes are for dramatic, emotional impact, not logic, too.

 

[GuyBoy]

I love movies, and it’s impossible to pick an all-time favourite, though some that I adore include:

Jubilee (as a 1970s punk, this is so evocative. Jarman was great)
Christiane F (desolation of a late 70s childhood in Berlin)
Lord of the Rings trilogy ( goes without saying really….)
Jurassic Park
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Alien
Legends of the Fall

Recently I enjoyed Train Dreams a lot. Not as a “lifetime movie”, but definitely recommended.