Great movies you've never seen

[Immortalfire]

The idea that people have seen the Star Wars prequels and not the originals makes me sick.

Amen.

Some of the films listed in here, I don't how some of you have lived as long as you have without seeing some of these classics.

 

[CConn]

For me, it's not so much that I haven't seen the classics, it's that there are a lot of ****ing classics.

Think of it has, instead of seeing Die Hard, I've seen Rear Window, and North by Northwest and Vertigo. Instead of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I've seen To Kill a Mockingbird, and 12 Angry Men, and Witness for the Prosecution.

There's just an incredible amount of incredible films. Thankfully.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea well get your **** straight and watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! And I'll get my arse in gear and watch North by Northwest!

But yea, there is just so many great movies, we're bound to miss some.

 

[CConn]

I really need to get back to watching movies from the 40s and 50s. I love that era of filmmaking so much. And there's still some really good movies I've yet to see.

 

[Laderlappen]

For me, it's not so much that I haven't seen the classics, it's that there are a lot of ****ing classics.

Think of it has, instead of seeing Die Hard, I've seen Rear Window, and North by Northwest and Vertigo. Instead of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I've seen To Kill a Mockingbird, and 12 Angry Men, and Witness for the Prosecution.

There's just an incredible amount of incredible films. Thankfully.

Reminds me, I havent seen Witness for the Prosecution. And Im a huge fan of courtroom dramas.

There are some classics that just should be on people's top priority when it comes to classics. Almost everybody is mentioning Citizen Kane and Casablanca.

 

[The Morningstar]

Another one that I think people absolutely MUST see, but is probably so unknown that people don't even know it exists, let alone that it's great... Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Seriously. The amount of films that has inspired is silly. Pretty much any "guerilla filmed" movie set in a jungle or woodland is inspired by it.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Yeah pretty much anything before the 70's or at least before my birth year of 1976 so this list is just for old movies as of now.

Citizen Kane
Gone With The Wind
King Kong (original)
Casablanca
It's A Wonderful Life
Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
The Blob (original)
Ben Hur
The Ten Commandments
Bonnie & Clyde
The French Connection
Rebel Without A Cause
Some Like It Hot

 

[CConn]

The original King Kong was so sexist it was hilarious.

"Don't let her outside during the day, she's a woman." Hah!

 

[Spike014]

Off the top of my head...

The Shawshank Redemption
The Godfather Trilogy
Battle Royal
Apocalypse Now
Mad Max

 

[humbdrumb]

Casablanca
Lawrence of Arabia (been holding out for years in hopes of seeing it on the big screen)
The Mad Max films
Citizen Kane
12 Angry Men
Ben Hur
Any of Kurosawa's movies
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
All the President's Men
Midnight Cowboy
The Conversation
Gone With the Wind (never plan on watching it)

 

[Cain]

Another one that I think people absolutely MUST see, but is probably so unknown that people don't even know it exists, let alone that it's great... Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Seriously. The amount of films that has inspired is silly. Pretty much any "guerilla filmed" movie set in a jungle or woodland is inspired by it.

It's one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time. I don't see how people who don't know Werner Herzog's movies wouldn't know what that is if at least by name; and there are many movie fans that know who Werner Herzog is across different generations.

 

[steintym]

The first movies that came to mind when I saw this thread were the Godfather movies. I tried watching the first once and couldn't get through it. Since then I haven't had the desire to go back and watch them, although I feel I should.

 

[cherokeesam]

Another one that I think people absolutely MUST see, but is probably so unknown that people don't even know it exists, let alone that it's great... Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Seriously. The amount of films that has inspired is silly. Pretty much any "guerilla filmed" movie set in a jungle or woodland is inspired by it.

Alas, that's part of the problem with the older movies. Those that were groundbreaking in their day have now been copied so much that younger generations look at the original and say, "Yawn, I've seen all this before in a dozen other movies." Being the first at something no longer appeals to a lot of younger generations.

 

[BruceWanner]

Edit

 

[Mace Dolex]

The first movies that came to mind when I saw this thread were the Godfather movies. I tried watching the first once and couldn't get through it. Since then I haven't had the desire to go back and watch them, although I feel I should.

This. and even especially that there like almost 3 hours long each is very demanding, I remember as a kid my father having rented them to watch at home and thinking they were boring.

Alas, that's part of the problem with the older movies. Those that were groundbreaking in their day have now been copied so much that younger generations look at the original and say, "Yawn, I've seen all this before in a dozen other movies." Being the first at something no longer appeals to a lot of younger generations.

Going back onto the Godfather films having just seen the first two for the first time years ago while I admit they are good films I just don't see what makes them classics.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

Alas, that's part of the problem with the older movies. Those that were groundbreaking in their day have now been copied so much that younger generations look at the original and say, "Yawn, I've seen all this before in a dozen other movies." Being the first at something no longer appeals to a lot of younger generations.

I'm the opposite I watch the older films,and think the new films are doing it wrong.I blame Spielberg and Lucas personally.



I'm not a big fan of their styles.

 

[CConn]

I'm the opposite I watch the older films,and think the new films are doing it wrong.I blame Spielberg and Lucas personally.



I'm not a big fan of their styles.

I...actually see where you're coming from.

I really do miss the charm and simplicity of old movies.

 

[CConn]

This. and even especially that there like almost 3 hours long each is very demanding, I remember as a kid my father having rented them to watch at home and thinking they were boring.

They're not though. Their length improves to their quality because the extended running time enabled Coppola to better flesh out the entire world of the film and really make it seem like a sweeping and vast epic; the film actually takes place over like 8 years or something, and in it we see pretty much the entirety of organized crime change from (slightly) more respectable men of honor, to money hungry drug pushers and thugs.

Inside of that larger story, you have the personal story arc of Michael Corleone (which is why I particularly like the movie so much). Through the movie he's transformed from an innocent idealist to a cold and calculating murderer. And - again, due to the running time - Coppola detailed that character progression in such a way that was extremely organic and deeply rooted into the overall plot of the film.

Going back onto the Godfather films having just seen the first two for the first time years ago while I admit they are good films I just don't see what makes them classics.

Outside of the plot and story points that I mentioned above, I think it's so highly regarded because it was the perfect storm of quality; the acting, the score, the art direction, the cinematography, the direction...it was all of a very, very high caliber. The films probably featured the absolute best ensemble casts of all time. Even the lesser known names and characters like John Cazale Sterling Hayden were renown character actors that have laundry lists of great films under their belt both before and after The Godfather movies were made.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

I...actually see where you're coming from.

I really do miss the charm and simplicity of old movies.

I actually miss the attention to detail that older films have.The lush cinematography,The snappy dialogue.The insane performances by Bette Davis or Marlon Brando.I miss the complexity.Sure there is complexity today,but it still feels like something's missing most of the time.
What I really like about older films are that they felt like they had a better chance of a ballsy non happy ending,but that's just me.

 

[CConn]

My other problem with modern films is how bloated and extravagant they've all become. I mean, I like a good 200 million dollar movie, don't get me wrong, but I very much notice that low budgets often force directors and writers to be even more creative, and put more skill into simple things like dialogue, cinematography, acting, etc - when there isn't a bunch of big explosions or special effects to attract an audience (or distract them from other flaws in the film).

 

[The Morningstar]

It's one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time. I don't see how people who don't know Werner Herzog's movies wouldn't know what that is if at least by name; and there are many movie fans that know who Werner Herzog is across different generations.

Well no one is mentioning it and I'm pretty sure most people here haven't seen it.

 

[The Morningstar]

My other problem with modern films is how bloated and extravagant they've all become. I mean, I like a good 200 million dollar movie, don't get me wrong, but I very much notice that low budgets often force directors and writers to be even more creative, and put more skill into simple things like dialogue, cinematography, acting, etc - when there isn't a bunch of big explosions or special effects to attract an audience (or distract them from other flaws in the film).

What I dislike a lot about modern films, big films anyway, is that SFX has made film makers lazy. Instead of building this magnificent sets, or scouting these beautiful locations, they just thrown a green screen up and CGI it all in.

Nothing beats a real, tangible set.

 

[CConn]

The reason why no one's seen it is because it's German and American culture is extremely xenophobic.

 

[The Morningstar]

My missions it to broaden their minds! There is nothing quite like seeing a man completely lose his **** and set up government in the middle of a jungle. lol

 

[CConn]

What I dislike a lot about modern films, big films anyway, is that SFX has made film makers lazy. Instead of building this magnificent sets, or scouting these beautiful locations, they just thrown a green screen up and CGI it all in.

Nothing beats a real, tangible set.

I agree. But you also need to look beyond even that.

Like, watch THX-1138 and you'll see George Lucas do things visually and cinematically that he's never done since. The way shots are framed, the way music and dialogue is given such major focus... It's because without that, the movie would be boring as **** due to him not having a budget to do anything interesting.

Or look at 12 Angry Men. They HAD to deliver on 90 minutes of exquisite dialogue, acting and characterization to keep the audience interested and entertained because, well, nothing actually happens in the movie.

It's that type of forced creativity I love.