Best Movie of All Time: #

[calsnowskier]

Which is the best? Use your own criteria.

Note that your pick will be visible.

 

[Indrid Cold]

Tough call...2001 was iconic, but pretty much a snoozer. Were there like 30 straight minutes of flashing lights towards the end? I love baseball and baseball history, but 8 Men Out just struck me as dreary and formulaic.
48 Hours was a great buddy movie...smart, hip, great pace, big laughs and a great chemistry between Nolte and Murphy. One of the best of its kind, up there with "Midnight Run" to me. I still hear people say, "My dick gets hard if the WIND BLOWS" all the time.

 

[calsnowskier]

It was between 2001 and 48 Hours for me as well, and my thought process was pretty much identical to yours.

2001 was good, but TOO artistic. It really is a boring movie.

48 Hours was Murphy at his absolute best. Roxanne instantly became a classic song thanks to his cover.

 

[PatsFan2003]

yes 2001 is a THINKING man's film....

Seriously though.

It was the first serious science fiction likely ever with some profound premises, insights, beautiful special effects and music.

When I first saw it I thought the future of space travel was being shown.

But yes I also had to explain the story to my dad...

 

[broncosmitty]

48 Hours was second for me.

Went with 8 Men Out.

 

[Innermind]

Wow... I'm the first to vote for The 13th Warrior. This is one of my all time favorite movies, and IMO, is a vastly underrated/under appreciated film.


I love this moment just prior to the final epic battle:

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Zero Hour
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Two Lane Blacktop
Three Days Of The Condor
Four Rooms
Five Easy Pieces
Six Degrees Of Separation
Seven Samurai
Eight Men Out
tNine Lives Of Fritz The Cat
tTen Commandments

 

[Innermind]

Zero Hour
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Two Lane Blacktop
Three Days Of The Condor
Four Rooms
Five Easy Pieces
Six Degrees Of Separation
Seven Samurai
Eight Men Out
tNine Lives Of Fritz The Cat
tTen Commandments

A few weeks ago, it was agreed upon that films beginning with the number spelled out as a word do not qualify for this category... rather, the official title of the movie must begin with a numerical digit in order to be included in this category.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

A few weeks ago, it was agreed upon that films beginning with the number spelled out as a word do not qualify for this category... rather, the official title of the movie must begin with a numerical digit in order to be included in this category.

Well that's just ludicrous..but thanks for clarifying.
Meh, it is what it is....and I still stand by my picks.


But for the sake of this silliness, the obvious winner should be the Kubrick/Clarke masterpiece.

 

[Wazmankg]

Well 2001 is clearly the "best movie" of these and I love most of Kubrick's work, but I enjoyed 40 YO Virgin and 8 Men Out more... maybe even 48 Hours... it's been a long time since I watched that one. I went with 40 YO Virgin.

 

[Indrid Cold]

yes 2001 is a THINKING man's film....

Seriously though.

It was the first serious science fiction likely ever with some profound premises, insights, beautiful special effects and music.

When I first saw it I thought the future of space travel was being shown.

But yes I also had to explain the story to my dad...

I'm all for cerebral flicks...but, I wanted to watch 2001 with my wife and daughter and realized that they would bail on it before it got anywhere. Most people want things to happen while they're watching a movie, and a long debate on an AI machine incorrectly predicting the failure of an antenna probably just don't do it.
I like it and it was groundbreaking...

Blade Runner was another scifi flick that dabbled in profundities, but had a lot more interesting stuff happening to hold one's attention. Roy Batty, the artificial superman with the tiny lifespan, shows mercy and doesn't kill Decker in the end...after killing so many people on the way. Did his pending (in minutes) death lead him to choose mercy? Was it because he realized that Decker was also a replicant (was he?) and shared a similar fate? Was death even more terrifying for the replicants because they did not have souls as created beings? Does anybody have a soul? Are all these things really lost like tears in the rain? What would it be like to be a manufactured superman who was used as a slave and only lived a few years? Does it really matter since we'll all be dead for an eternity anyway?
Can I stop asking questions now??

 

[PatsFan2003]

I'm all for cerebral flicks...but, I wanted to watch 2001 with my wife and daughter and realized that they would bail on it before it got anywhere. Most people want things to happen while they're watching a movie, and a long debate on an AI machine incorrectly predicting the failure of an antenna probably just don't do it.
I like it and it was groundbreaking...

Yep. I couldn't agree more. I have the DVD at home and I have fallen asleep while watching it on occasion.

People do want action, interesting dialogue and a more involving story. There's no crime in that.

Of course it also doesn't mean that those films that do require more from their viewer than normal are automatically worse either.

And it's not like there isn't a lot going in 2001. It just wasn't as obvious.

The space special effects still hold up really well even after 50 years imo.

The reason that much of the space segments are long and drawn out pieces is that a lot of space travel seems to be long and drawn out conducted by boring scientific/engineering types. Is there any surprise that once we reached the moon, interest in the space program plummeted?

Or that HAL, the computer is the most interesting character in the movie and that was probably by design. And more human than the astronauts he supported.

And that doesn't even bring up the whole story line of aliens saving mankind from extinction!

Blade Runner was another scifi flick that dabbled in profundities, but had a lot more interesting stuff happening to hold one's attention. Roy Batty, the artificial superman with the tiny lifespan, shows mercy and doesn't kill Decker in the end...after killing so many people on the way. Did his pending (in minutes) death lead him to choose mercy? Was it because he realized that Decker was also a replicant (was he?) and shared a similar fate? Was death even more terrifying for the replicants because they did not have souls as created beings? Does anybody have a soul? Are all these things really lost like tears in the rain? What would it be like to be a manufactured superman who was used as a slave and only lived a few years? Does it really matter since we'll all be dead for an eternity anyway?
Can I stop asking questions now??

I love Blade Runner too. Great movie! One of my favorites ever.

Still you have to wonder if it would been possible without 2001 15 years before.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Wow... I'm the first to vote for The 13th Warrior. This is one of my all time favorite movies, and IMO, is a vastly underrated/under appreciated film.


I love this moment just prior to the final epic battle:

it was my 2nd on this list. It is one of my favorite movies.

 

[gohusk]

Meh, comparing films of different genre's doesn't work. How do you compare Star Wars to The Godfather? They both definitely accomplished what they set out to do. Star Wars was obviously not very original as far as the story line goes but revolutionized the film industry. And even within the same genre doesn't really work. I'd have to say that Chinatown is "better" than LA Confidential, but the latter is the only one I'd watch no matter what point it's on if I happen to stumble upon it on the TV because I think it's more entertaining. And everyone talks about how Raging Bull not getting the Best Picture award was such a robbery, but Ordinary People was also a great movie which nobody seems to ever mention. Raging Bull seemed like an art project to me and I find it next to unwatchable. But those are just my opinions.

 

[redseat]

 

[PatsFan2003]

Meh, comparing films of different genre's doesn't work. How do you compare Star Wars to The Godfather? They both definitely accomplished what they set out to do. Star Wars was obviously not very original as far as the story line goes but revolutionized the film industry. And even within the same genre doesn't really work. I'd have to say that Chinatown is "better" than LA Confidential, but the latter is the only one I'd watch no matter what point it's on if I happen to stumble upon it on the TV because I think it's more entertaining. And everyone talks about how Raging Bull not getting the Best Picture award was such a robbery, but Ordinary People was also a great movie which nobody seems to ever mention. Raging Bull seemed like an art project to me and I find it next to unwatchable. But those are just my opinions.

It's a good point.

I liked Ordinary people a lot but Raging Bull was better. Even "Shakespeare in Love" was a fun, light entertaining movie... Just not as good as Saving Private Ryan.

I think over time the best movies still rise to the top.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Roxanne instantly became a classic song thanks to his cover.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

yes 2001 is a THINKING man's film....

Seriously though.

It was the first serious science fiction likely ever with some profound premises, insights, beautiful special effects and music.

When I first saw it I thought the future of space travel was being shown.

But yes I also had to explain the story to my dad...

I may have asked you this before, but did you come from FanNation? Eunich, or Enoch, or something?

 

[calsnowskier]

This is why I enjoy these discussions, and I was rather surprised by some of my own votes.

I personally view comedies as frivolous, but I found I was voting for a LOT of comedies in these polls. A good comedy becomes timeless (Stripes, Animal House, Holy Grail, Caddyshack). However, some REALLY good dramas do not really hold up to the test of time (Deer Hunter, Rosemary's Baby).

I like to hear others opinions about what "best" means, and is why I included the "Use your own criteria" clause to each poll.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

This is why I enjoy these discussions, and I was rather surprised by some of my own votes.

I personally view comedies as frivolous, but I found I was voting for a LOT of comedies in these polls. A good comedy becomes timeless (Stripes, Animal House, Holy Grail, Caddyshack). However, some REALLY good dramas do not really hold up to the test of time (Deer Hunter, Rosemary's Baby).

I like to hear others opinions about what "best" means, and is why I included the "Use your own criteria" clause to each poll.

For me I just picked the movies that entertained me the most or impaced me in some way beyond just a movie