What Is Your Absolute Single Favorite Movie?

[gashford1]

My all time favorite movie is the Legends of the Fall. Genious actours, interesting plot and so beautiful landscapes! I can wacth this movie again and again! What's yours?

[Evil DM Mark3]

For the nostalgia, the songs that even now are starting to fire-up in the ol' mental juke box and the definitive proof that good child actors exist and in quantity if you can be bothered to try, Bugsy Malone.

Not the BEST movie I have ever seen, but my eternal, evergreen, favourite.

[2D8HP]

That would be the first movie I requested to see:
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad which I saw at a drive-in theater (since I later learned that the movie was made in the 1950's it must have been re-released in the early 1970's). I can specially remember first watching it through the back window of a V.W. bug while my parents watched some boring Burt Reynolds movie through the front window, and marveling at the Dragon and the sword wielding skeleton! A

[Yora]

The Empire Strikes Back

[Razade]

Probably The Big Libowski, just for how strange and unique it is as a comedy movie. Jeff Bridges absolutely slays in it.

[darkrose50]

Jm Henson's The Labyrinth

* It is okay to have an imagination and to grow up
* Do not follow the rules, just because they are the rules
* Sometimes rules are horrible, and need to be ignored or changed
* Do not go along with something you do not want to do because of peer pressure
* Peer pressure can be stupid, dangerous, and deadly
* Some people can do things safely that you cannot do safely
* Being old is not the same thing as being wise
* Make carful choices
* It is okay to fail, just keep going
* Do not trust advertisements / propaganda
* People will tell you that you are doing the right thing, when you are not
* Do no judge a book by its cover
* Do not judge someone based on their race
* Something that you do not value is something that someone else may value
* Do not let other people tell you how to think or feel
* Pay attention, people will try to look like they are your friends, but will try to take advantage of you
* Don't make deals with perverted Mirror Goblins hanging out in your parents bedroom's mirror
* Sometimes rules are good, sometimes rules are bad, and those in power can change the rules
* Life is not fair
* Your occupation and/or profession does not define you
* Anyone can be a hero
* Do your own thing, make up your own mind, and just keep trying seems to be a core concept

I am in awe of the moral, ethical, and life teachings of Jm Henson.

[Mith]

Probably Dead Poet Society. I love the use of Fields of Athenry as a musical framing device for the film, and it's just such s well put together movie.

[JeenLeen]

Probably Gattica. I can't say I'd likely like it as much now as I used to, but it was my standard 'put this on the TV just to have something on while I focus on other stuff' movie. It's probably the only movie I've literally watched dozens of times.

Well, besides some movies I really liked as a kid but don't care so much for now.

[darkrose50]

The Empire Strikes Back

This would be a close second (just on entertainment value). It is my understanding that George Lucas's ex-wife edited the film. I have a strong suspicion that she was largely responsible for it being so damned good (more than just editing). Either his divorce, or the lack of this woman negatively effected his storytelling (hands down the best Star Wars film).

So if I had a time machine attempting to fix his marriage would be somewhere behind stopping various evils, but after lecturing that monk that created the dictionary about how folks will someday insists that the way he wrote down a word was the one and only true way to spell it . . . complete with fanatical followers and everything. Heck if we were in a world where belief would make you a god, that dictionary monk would be a god.

[Peelee]

Does Quint's Indianapolis speech count as its own movie? No? Then A New Hope, the best Star Wars movie (y'all ESB people are allowed to be wrong).

[darkrose50]

Does Quint's Indianapolis speech count as its own movie? No? Then A New Hope, the best Star Wars movie (y'all ESB people are allowed to be wrong).

HNH is all about action, that is good stuff, and I love that movie. ESP was much more about the characters and their relationships. His films became more focused on action and less focused on character relationships as time progressed. That is okay, but I just really would have it the other way around.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The Shawshank Redemption. Kinda makes me wish I could spell the damn thing without having to google it first.

Grey Wolf

[Peelee]

HNH is all about action.

.... It's not, though?

[darkrose50]

.... It's not, though?

Comparatively ANH has the action verses relationship knob turned more towards action than ESB was. The character development and interactions in ESB just kicked up the flavor that I like more. I think that his ex-wife tossed that into the pot, and without her tossing that ingredient into the pot something was lost that I really liked.

[Peelee]

Comparatively ANH has the action verses relationship knob turned more towards action than ESB was.

If one movie is slightly more X than another movie, strictly compared to each other, that does not make that movie "all about X," is the thing. That's my only complaint here.

ETA: Also didn't she also edit the first one too? I seem to remember she is largely responsible for the OT being so good.

[Strigon]

Does Quint's Indianapolis speech count as its own movie? No? Then A New Hope, the best Star Wars movie (y'all ESB people are allowed to be wrong).

If we're talking about favourite movies, I think ANH beats ESB. I like that movie better. Objectively speaking, though, I've got to say Empire Strikes Back is better.

However, neither of them are my favourite movie. While I'd never say it's the best movie,* my absolute favourite is The Great Escape.


* Frankly, I suspect none of my top five favourites are contenders for best movie, though I can never narrow it down far enough to be sure.

[Asmotherion]

The first Dragonheart movie.

[Tvtyrant]

I'll be that person and say The Princess Bride. Too bad the full length S. Morgenstern based version was never released.

[Sermil]

I'll be that person and say The Princess Bride. Too bad the full length S. Morgenstern based version was never released.

If we're going by "# of times I've quoted it", my favorite movie would be Airplane! closely followed by The Princess Bride.

[veti]

Just one? For all time? Wow, tall order.

I'ma say, Singin' in the Rain.

[Tvtyrant]

If we're going by "# of times I've quoted it", my favorite movie would be Airplane! closely followed by The Princess Bride.

The metric of "which movies I watch if I am bored and I find nothing new to watch" includes Braveheart, Watchmen, Hot Fuzz, Princess Bride, and Death of Stalin.

[Xuc Xac]

This would be a close second (just on entertainment value). It is my understanding that George Lucas's ex-wife edited the film. I have a strong suspicion that she was largely responsible for it being so damned good (more than just editing).

The writers for ESB were actual writers. That's why it's good. It was Lucas's idea but he didn't actually write it. That's why it was so good. Lucas is an idea man, not a writer.

As for me, my favorite movie is "The Matrix". It was the movie that finally let me understand that cinematography isn't just pointing the camera at stuff. Also, in a better world, Hollywood would have looked at the Matrix and said "That's what movies should be about! This crappy life is not the life you should be living! That's the theme of modern life! Why aren't all movies 'The Matrix'?" Instead we got "'Bullet time' looks really cool. Let's do that all the time in everything!"

[Peelee]

The writers for ESB were actual writers. That's why it's good. It was Lucas's idea but he didn't actually write it. That's why it was so good. Lucas is an idea man, not a writer.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars (original title)

Director: George Lucas
Writer: George Lucas

That one probably didn't make all that big a splash though.

[Xuc Xac]

That one probably didn't make all that big a splash though.

It won 6 Oscars, but not for Lucas. SFX, costumes, editing, and the music of John Williams. Lucas was nominated for director and screenplay because it would have been rude not to acknowledge him when everyone else who worked on his movie was nominated, but he had no chance of winning.

After "A New Hope", he just wrote the story and got real writers to turn it into a screenplay. For the original trilogy, he had to work as part of a team and he had to compromise with people who knew better and weren't afraid to say "No, George, that sucks". When he made the prequels, he had all the money and power and answered to nobody. He went back to writing the screenplays by himself too. How did that work out?

In the original trilogy, all the best lines were either adlibbed by Harrison Ford or delivered with genuine gravitas by Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones who can make anything sound cool. What's the most memorable dialogue from the prequels? "I hate sand"? Or maybe "The Sith are evil!"/"The Sith are rubber and the Jedi are glue!"? Oh, I know : "NOOOOOOO!"

If the writing awards hadn't been split up and were still just "Best Story", Lucas would have had a chance because his world-building was really good at that point (before he started to retcon things "from a certain point of view" or explain things that didn't need explaining, like midiclorians).

[Peelee]

It won 6 Oscars, but not for Lucas. SFX, costumes, editing, and the music of John Williams. Lucas was nominated for director and screenplay because it would have been rude not to acknowledge him when everyone else who worked on his movie was nominated, but he had no chance of winning.

Yes, which is why the movie faded into obscurity and never got any sequels or significant viewership.

[Xuc Xac]

Yes, which is why the movie faded into obscurity and never got any sequels or significant viewership.

I don't know what you're arguing about. I didn't say Star Wars wasn't successful. I said Lucas is a bad writer with good ideas. Do you honestly think Star Wars was a box office hit because it was well written?

[Tvtyrant]

I don't know what you're arguing about. I didn't say Star Wars wasn't successful. I said Lucas is a bad writer with good ideas. Do you honestly think Star Wars was a box office hit because it was well written?

I have to agree with this. Luke's aunt and uncle die, and so do everyone Leia knows. She also gets tortured. The emotional impact of this on the characters is effectively none.

Empire has similar content, but the characters look and act tortured after torture and broken by their loved ones dying/being captured. They feel like people in the second one, the first is a well done action movie/space opera.

[Peelee]

I don't know what you're arguing about. I didn't say Star Wars wasn't successful. I said Lucas is a bad writer with good ideas. Do you honestly think Star Wars was a box office hit because it was well written?

I'm saying that one of the most successful movies of all time, which spawned one of the most successful franchises of all time, probably didn't do that well just because it was really pretty.

I have to agree with this. Luke's aunt and uncle die, and so do everyone Leia knows. She also gets tortured. The emotional impact of this on the characters is effectively none.

Empire has similar content, but the characters look and act tortured after torture and broken by their loved ones dying/being captured. They feel like people in the second one, the first is a well done action movie/space opera.

Luke's aunt and uncle dying spur him to action, and he looks broken by that immediately afterwards. Leia acts exactly as tortured in ESB as she does in ANH. I'm not going to argue ANH is better written than ESB, but I am saying ANH is badly written is ridiculous.

[Tvtyrant]

I'm saying that one of the most successful movies of all time, which spawned one of the most successful franchises of all time, probably didn't do that well just because it was really pretty.

Luke's aunt and uncle dying spur him to action, and he looks broken by that immediately afterwards. Leia acts exactly as tortured in ESB as she does in ANH. I'm not going to argue ANH is better written than ESB, but I am saying ANH is badly written is ridiculous.

There is a bit of a underlying argument going on here. The split between popularity making something good or not is well trodden, if that is the crux of the disagreement better to just let it be as no one is getting convinced.

For all of 30 seconds of the movie. We see a much longer scene about Ben dying then anyone else, including the effective parents of two of the main characters.

Leia also comes out of torture, witnessing her life being destroyed and then solitary confinement in perfect shape. Quipping, perfect hair buns, ready to soothe Kenobi's death for Luke. In Empire when the crew gets tortured they come out angry and disheveled, with some physical ailments like Chewy being blind.

I'm not saying that A New Hope needed to be grim dark, but those are losses that would shake most people and they get totally glossed over.

[Peelee]

There is a bit of a underlying argument going on here. The split between popularity making something good or not is well trodden, if that is the crux of the disagreement better to just let it be as no one is getting convinced.

For all of 30 seconds of the movie. We see a much longer scene about Ben dying then anyone else, including the effective parents of two of the main characters.

Leia also comes out of torture, witnessing her life being destroyed and then solitary confinement in perfect shape. Quipping, perfect hair buns, ready to soothe Kenobi's death for Luke. In Empire when the crew gets tortured they come out angry and disheveled, with some physical ailments like Chewy being blind.

I'm not saying that A New Hope needed to be grim dark, but those are losses that would shake most people and they get totally glossed over.

1.) The Lars got two scenes and Ben got two scenes. Both Lars and Kenobi got about 30 seconds total. So I would argue the "Bens death got more reaction and focus" bit; they seek pretty equal.
B.) We see Ben onscreen much longer than the Lars family. He gets emotional impact because we respond emotionally to his death. And for Luke, he lost everything he had except the guy who was the missing piece to his father, and saved him, and taught him about a new world he knew nothing about,and then he lost that guy a few hours later. It makes sense to see Luke's reaction to that, since then hes truly alone.

Leia is the only one who gets her losses glossed over, and she doesn't really act any differently in ESB. Han and Chewie we see being tortured and affected by torture, but the princess? Not so much.