Movies Everybody should Watch at least Once
 

What are the movies you think that everybody should see? Not necessarily your favorite movies, just movies you think are a notch above the rest and everybody should be forced to watch... Be it because of entertainment value, creativity, special effects, plot, or mind-blowing philosophy...

Here's a few I think everybody should see to kickstart it:

Ben Hur (If only just for that chariot scene)

The Princess Bride (You killed my father, prepare to die!)

The Matrix (Only the first one, sequels need not apply)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Sequels again need not apply)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (I don't know why, but this movie is made of the awesome)

Its a Wonderful Life (The only movie that's ever made me tear up)


How about it guys?

Liar, you know you sobbed straight through Bambi.

...oh wait, that was me.

ONTOPICALLY:

The Dirty Dozen is pretty classic.

La Vita è Bella
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)
Diarios de Motocicleta (Motorcycle Diaries)
Amores Perros
Grave of the Fireflies
Every Disney canon movie, from the good to the bad. The bad only help one appreciate the good even more.

The charion scene in Ben Hur bored me. Then again, the whole movie bored me.

Mantan
Cloverfield
Liar Liar

...yes i know i have weird taste in movies

Ah Pan's Labyrinth...

I'm not sure if it's possible to watch Grave of the Fireflies more than once. It's that sad!

It's funny a while ago, my family decided we'd rewatch some of the older Disney films like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

I'm going to take "Everybody should see once" as "once in their theoretical lifetime," as I would not recommend In Bruges to children. But Masked and me agree, you need to see it.

It's essentially Snatch, except about assassins instead of thieves, and better. Yeah, I'm using spoilers just in case this would somehow ruin it for someone. (???)

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Serenity (I am appalled nobody already mentioned this).
Aliens (see below for why).
Terminator 2 (for being one of only 2 sequels that were better than the originals).
Childeren of Men (purely for the use of oners during epic action scenes).

That is all.

The Hustler/The Color of Money/The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean/The Sting
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (you should really watch the other two as well, but this one is just absolutely required)
The Godfather
Scarface/Carlito's Way
Schindler's List
Fargo/Miller's Crossing/No Country For Old Men (at least one of those is required, but I'd go with all three if I were you. Which I'm not, but if I was, that's what I'd do).
Goodfellas/Casino
Desperado
Pulp Fiction
Aliens
Children of Men

Comedies:
Johnny Dangerously
Raising Arizona/The Hudsucker Proxy
Blazing Saddles/all those other Mel Brooks movies
Super Troopers
Anything with John Candy
Many things with Chevy Chase
Everything with Chris Farley

Rocky 4. Cause even a bachelor's degree in history, no book I ever read revealed the true history of the Cold War like Rocky 4.

The Boondock Saints maybe? How about the usual suspects? "Oswald was a fag" is about the coolest thing any sniper could possibly say.

not really warning anyone but just as a general suggestion some sort of like, actual explanation of why you think such and such thing is so particularly good generally makes for better thread content than just a lot of lists.

Desperado never really thrilled me but I would totally recommend Once Upon A Time in Mexico for this list. If only for the device where it was basically fourth in a series of movies where the third one was never actually made, which I thought was a quite clever way to go about things.

Usual Suspects was interesting for its use of the unreliable narrator though I could never quite figure the ending in that if Verbal is Kaiser and they have the witness that IDs him as the dude who was doing the killing then doesn't that mean Kaiser's whole scheme for the entire movie was a big fat Pthbbbbt, cause now there's another guy who can identify him?

Memento was quite good plus it has value-added in that you'll end up watching it at least another couple times to figure out what on Earth was going on. Donnie Darko was the same way, though for obviously different reasons. Though I understand they did some director's-cut rerelease where all the cool mysterious WTFness got pretty much Buckleyboxed into suckitude? So don't watch that version.

Any Disney movie from the Disney Renaissance period. All of them had great stories, and some of the best music from movies. Even though they're kids movies, I still think they're great.

Anything by Mel Brooks. He is the master of comdey as far as movies go. I especially love Spaceballs.

And I'd say the original Star Wars trilogy, but who HASN'T seen those? (I know someone is just itching to prove me wrong.)

So it's a step up from the earlier movies? We watched El Mariachi in one of my Spanish classes, and it entertained us for the wrong reasons... though now, all that stands out in my memory is the production value. I mean, I'm aware that a lot happened in the intervening period, it's just kind of hard to get my mind around.

No Country for Old Men is one I would recommend for this list. It's basically the closest thing I could think of to a cross between a 20's detective film and a western. Also, when the main villain wields a modified cattle gun that's as effective as any sniper rifle and almost totally silent, you can tell it's going to be one hell of a battle.

EDIT: I've been beat to it, but in fairness I skipped right on past the Fargo row, as I figured you were just justifying it.

Star Wars- Because it revolutionized sci-fi/fantasy in film.
Logan's Run - Because it makes you appreciate that fact more.

Children of Men - Because it's a terrific dystopian movie, and for the incredible cinematography.

Princess Mononoke - Because it's one of the best animated movies, gives a look at another era and culture, has excellent morals about shitloads of stuff without ever being over the top, and makes use of unusual pacing for a very unique movie.

The Big Lebowski, just because it's so damn different than alot of other movies. It's a very special piece of cinematic magic that's hard to describe in words, let alone describe what's so astoundingly quality about it. It's just... it's wizardry at work.

No one should have to watch The Boondock Saints. How about the Breakfast Club instead? Beautiful acting, brilliant script, and it's hugely influential.

If you have pets, I can think of no better way to appreciate them infinitely more than watching "Where the Red Fern Grows" and hugging anything nearby with four legs.

"City of God" is a great example of boiling the essentials of what made Pulp Fiction great into an immensely devastating piece of entertainment.

I just watched "Election" again recently and was reminded of why it's a great, probably timeless, look at politics and school life.

"Waking Life" is a great example of what happens when a guy wants to bring some esoteric and mind boggling theories to viewers in a mesmerizing fashion.

As some who has seen Trolls 2 and Manos, I can safely say that "Southland Tales" is hands-down the best So Bad It's Good movie of our generation (hell, the best SBIG ever).

"Oldboy" is the perfect example of taking a genre (revenge) and pushing it as far as it can go.

If you've ever enjoyed/defended movies like Saw, Hostel, or basically any slasher, you need to see "Funny Games" (either version, they're literally the same movie in different languages) so that you can properly feel like absolute shit and reevaluate your movie choices.

"Taxi Driver" is probably the closest you can get to watching someone succumb to inescapable insanity.

Together, "Godfather I + II" make up probably the greatest accomplishment in American cinema. However, "Goodfellas" is the best gangster movie.

I clicked on this thread, ready to say this, scrolling up through the posts only to find you said it on the first.

The Princess Bride is definitely one of my favorite movies. I recently made a whole bunch of my friends watch it (they had never seen it!) and they all were poking fun at my minor fanboyism before shit started actually happening what with the chickflicky-ness of the beginning. There were quite a few people so they were restless by the end but most everyone got it and they pretty much all liked it.

I can't really give a reason why its so important you must see it in your lifetime, but it's a damn fine movie and it'll only take a couple hours.

That's not so bad!

A really good friend of mine hasn't seen Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or Lord of the Rings.

Fight Club. First of all for the "Who would you fight scene?" Second of all because this movie still says a lot about out culture today. This was the first movie I ever saw where I realized that some people were really trying to get a message across.

A George Romero movie other than Day of the Dead. It will help you realize why zombie movies are awesome. My favorite is Diaries because of the whole theme of being able to observe everything but not be connected to it.

Dr Strangelove. Cause, well Peter Sellers and Stanley Kubrick at their best in a darkly, at the time chilling, black comedy about the extinction of the human race at the hands of madmen and incompetents? Not to mention the bomb ride.

Also "MEIN FUHRER I CAN WALK!"

Speaking of Fuhrers, The Great Dictator was pretty awesome too, and definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in old, old cinema. We watched that over a few history classes in high school. Still need to get me a copy of my own.

The Truman Show is a favourite of mine as well, it also is pretty impressive when you relate the subject matter to when it was made, almost prophetic really.

After watching the already recommended Romero movies watch Shaun of the Dead.

Most of the rest of mine have already been covered but I'm gonna add Bill Murray's comedies as well especially Stripes and Ghostbusters.

Hmmm... lemme think.

http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/images/HomageWALLE.jpg

It's a fantastic story that makes you wonder how far an AI could really go in independent thought, all while being as charming as it could possibly be.

That, and it makes standing up EPIC.

European movies.
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain is one of the best romantic comedies ever. It just has so much charm in it.
Life of Brian is best Python film. Good satire, it has George Harrison in it and Always look on the bright side of life is song which is made of awesome.

American stuff.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is wonderful movie and you know it.
Indiana Jones and the last crusade as it's probably the best of those films and one should really see one of them at least.
And I don't remember this one that well, but The Fisher King seemed to be good movie. It has been so long time and I would love to watch it again.

And I really should watch some movies mentioned here. Or more movies actually.

No, Southland Tales is the best movie movie of our generation. Period. We've been over this.

Arsenic and Old Lace & Bringing up Baby are two of my all time favorite old comedies, and are always worth a watch.

I guess I should pitch some in.

Anything by Hayao Miyazaki. Especially Whisper of the Heart. It's a really sweet romance type story that I never get tired of. Also, Castle in the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro.

Go. It's a strange, hilarious, and wonderful movie. It tells the perspective of several different characters in odd, akward, and downright moments that you have to watch to really appreciate.

Falling Down. Because the life of a business man in the city gets rough, and shit happens. Shit gets real.

Paprika. It's like watching a dream, and it only makes sense to a certain point, but in a good way. Plus the music is bitchin'.

Since greed mentioned The Great Dictator, I figure I ought to mention some good films by the Marx Brothers. While most of their films have at least one or two really hilarious moments to recommend them (with the possible exception of The Big Store), I for one think the best movies they made are Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, and A Night at the Opera. (I know those last two get recommended a whole lot; but I personally prefer the first two. Of course, your own mileage may vary.)

You generally don't go into a Marx Brothers film looking for a complex and densely layered plot; nearly all the humor is generated by the characters of the Marxes, and the plot just sort of guides them from one set-piece to the other. But they're some superlative set-pieces, and well worth watching.

I forgot that one, that was really a great movie.

Also I'm gonna recommend Apocalypse Now. Just how many things made since reference it is pretty incredible.

Quite a few to choose from for a should watch list:

Moulin Rouge! - Funny, Entertaining, Musical and terribly terribly sad.

Lord of the Rings- Long, epic and dramatic story telling. Too bad that the Hobbits are Cornish and that the last film just won't end!

Blade Runner- Cyberpunk Cult Classic.

Snatch - Funniest and most entertaining film from the Guy Ritchie collection, in my opinion.

Predator - Alien Hunter? Marines? Arnie? Explosions? What more do you want!

The Thing - Still a classic horror film even by today's standard.

Godfather I & II - Powerful film and story telling: Don't bother with the third one.

Lethal Weapon Series - Action & Comedy Packed Detective film. Favourite character Mel Gibson has played.

Beverly Hills Cop Series - Same as above, but more comedy inclined. Replace Gibson with Eddie Murphie.

Hot Fuzz - Parody of the above films, set in Merry 'Ol England: The West Country (Aka. Farmer land)! Oo' Arr.

People have already beaten me to the other film I was going to name, inconceivable!

I recommend picking up the book, like all books (except The Godfather) It is better than the movie.

Now for movies to recommend: (I will try and avoid others that have already been recommended)

The Searchers: [Western] This movie is beyond visually stunning, it created the standard for western cinematography, even though I am not a John Wayne fan
The Magnificent Seven: [Western] entertaining western remake of The Seven Samurai
The Good The Bad and The Ugly: [Western] Leone could do more with silence than almost any other director since the advent of "talkies" and the cinematoraphy is again, beautiful
Stalag 17: [WWII Prison Break] This movie set the stage for the success of The Great Escape, but was far superior. Amazing performance by William Holden as Sefton.
True Romance: [Action, Romance] Great Action, Great Romance, engaging performances
This is Spinal Tap: [Comedy] The King of the Mocumentary. Still sharp and brilliant 20 years later (And the DVD commentary by "The Band" is nearly as good as the film itself)
The Killer: [Action] (Cantonese) Most people pick Hard Boiled as the best John Woo movie, but the story is much better in this movie. The action isnt as sharp, but the story is more engaging
Le Samourai: [Thriller, Crime Drama] (French) Alain Delon is the pinnacle of cool in this film noir classic.
A Better Tomorrow II: (Cantonese) Probably the best sequel ever filmed.
The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor and Humanity: [Gangster, Crime Drama] (Japanese) This film is a powerful response to the American romanticism of the Gangster film, shortly after the Godfather came out. Bloody and brutal, it was a pointed response to that film.
Hard Boiled: [Action, Gangster] (Cantonese) This movie contains some of the greatest scenes in all action movies, including the Tea House Shootout and the Hospital Shootout.

Already recommended films I love: Akira, Princess Mononoke, The Godfather I & II, Pan's Labyrinth, Blazing Saddles, Dr. Strangelove, Animal Crackers, Duck Soup

Almost forgot one.

Blazing Saddles. Hilarious westernish movie, has the dude who played the first willy wonka, and sometimes breaks the third wall.

I would recommend Black Christmas. It proves that slashers can have a decent enough plot to justify the killer while not being completely over the top. Its a very gruesome movie but brilliantly executed (haha get it).

Pulp Fiction is great. With so many characters, its difficult to deepen their personalities but Terrantino does it beautifully.

I can't come up with a good description of why Boondock Saints is such a great movie, but its just fun to watch.

Ah so many good mentions...many that I would have done if I had noticed this earlier and if I hadn't been busy with school crap...Also I wonder why people feel the need to mention LOTR and Star Wars so much here...I mean yess I'm about to mention Star Trek in my own but I'd say that the Wars fans out weigh the Trekkies and Trekkers here...But seriously if we were still allowed polls I think every single person would say that they have seen Star Wars...and yes I read that some other people outside the forums haven't seen them...but they aren't going to see this, are they? Sorry to get all rant-y but seriously we don't have to list Star Wars as a great achievement here...and yes I know I am being slightly hypocritical by listing not one but two Trek films but I gave reasons

*sound of cracking knuckles* let's get started shall we?

The Untouchables- The best gangster film from the side of the law...hands down...nothing can top it in that category (though the up coming sequel does seem to have a nice story) Also Sean Connery won an Oscar for his role...so many classic scenes and quoteable lines (you wouldn't think so but I say some stuff from it from time to time). And I don't want to hear people say "oh but the Departed was blah blah blah" No just stop. The Departed was good but it didn't have a train station shoot out that starts with a shot of Kevin Costner (before he started sucking...really really hard...Robin Hood I'm looking at you...) Holding his arm out with a shot gun and then blowing a guy clear out a door. The only thing that could have made this film better was if Harrison Ford hadn't turned down Costner's role.

Field of Dreams- Speaking of Kevin Costner this baseball classic should be on any fan of the game's list. The ultimate baseball movie. James Earl Jones makes one of the most moving speeches in all of movie history.

Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home- The best Star Trek film and the first one I ever watched as a kid. I even remember the first time I watched it. It's not like the show with constant action and people flipping over consoles and what not. It is funny and charming and by the end you'll actually be cheering.

Star Trek Insurrection: The Best of the TNG films. F. Murry Abraham as the bad guy faces off against Patrick Stewart as the always awesome Picard. This one has the same lightness that made me love Star Trek 4 as a kid...I saw this one 3 times in theaters.

Amadeus- Again F. Murray Abraham is one of the stars stars. I cannot describe how cool and awesome and powerful this movie is...if you have any feelings you will be moved to tears.

Animal House- The lead in Amadeus was one of the stars in this comedy classic too (Hint he played Kroger- also I'm not talking about F. Murray. I don't think I need to post a description of the film...but people who haven't gone to college yet need to know that it's not like the movie...I know I was disappointed anyways

The Blues Brothers- Another Belushi comedy classic. One of the best. Watch it!

Taxi Driver- classic, classic, classic...One of Jodi Foster's First roles and De Nero is explosive

Grindhouse- Probably only for true movie fans...just because the whole theory behind the movie requires one to have watched a whole lot of other movies...also got completely stiffed at the Oscars...I mean there was some good shit in there and people just didn't understand mostly due to not having the right frame of mind to watch it...

Easy Rider- A great countercultural film for all you hippies and wanna be hippies out there. 2 pals driving around on their hogs

Lupin III the Count of Cagliostro: Miyazaki's first directorial effort for an animated feature film...and it's a great one...plus it doesn't hurt that Solid Snake voices Lupin in an English dubbed version of the film (the one I own actually!)

Lupin III Missed By a Dollar: I always talk about how great Lupin is all over the forums and this movie is one of the reasons why...this is one of his finest hours and his first effort in this new century of ours. Just great, some laughs and a whole lot of action

It comes in a pack with some other great Lupin films. The whole pack is just fantastic. Well the Columbus files one isn't really so great but that can be over looked. It's a shame that licensing issues prevent more of Lupin's adventures from being dubbed and sent over to the US of A. But Missed by a Dollar will keep you coming back for more (if Count already didn't which it really should

The Great Escape- Best...WWII...Escape...film...EVER. Steve McQueen is so cool that Superman couldn't fight him...Steve McQueen would just win...also Superman is the worst super hero ever but that's a story for another time

Well...I probably have more but yeah...we'll see

DBS

Some of these movies are OK
 

You work with that you've got. Kaiser needed to get out of custody, so he spun his weave until that happened. I don't think he had intended to get interrogated, and even if he did that's not a situation where he could easily silence those who could ID him. They knew Verbal was involved in the score, they knew they could at least book Verbal if nothing else; Kaiser used that and Verbal's knowledge of events as his bargaining chip to get out. I'm sure a man like him can easily escape to places untrackable with the money he now has.

Didn't I JUST get through telling everyone that Stalag 17 is the better WWII escape movie?

You were obviously ignored. Or disagreed with.

Well I suppose everyone is entitled to their wrong opinion ;)

I cannot beleve that The Goonies has not been mentioned.

I grew up having NOT watched it in it's entirety, and when it gets mentioned...people just give me a look of disbelief and go "You haven't watched THE GOONIES!?" And let's face it, a bunch of lovable little scamps on a treasure hunt? And Sloth?


And this is just me, but "Die Hard". Not the sequels, just the first one. "Yippie ki ya motherf---er." is just classic.

Here's one good description of why Boondock Saints is an awesome movie.

Now, I know this text version doesn't cut it, but if you would just watch the movie (and I gotta say, there's even more awesome scenes before this part) you'll have the chills running down you spine.

EDIT: I could technically recite this from mind, but I just got lazy and googled the whole thing.

You mispelled Escape to Victory.
The Great Escape has an awesome theme song, though, which I often whistle while I"m walking along. It's super catchy.

Well, I liked and recommend Azumi for martial arts. For story, it's a movie based on the idea of a badass female ninja that was an orphan with 9 others. They fight as a unit and eventually one of their targets comes for them instead of the other way around. Azumi is one of the strongest and it is over the top action.

Reservoir Dogs. Seriously, the one that put Tarantino on the map was a pretty good story with a lot of twists and turns.

Lost Boys - I unno about the sequel. But there is no way you could NOT hear about the original if you're older than 20.

My name is Jagos, and I approve of this message.

Oh: if you ever have to watch one shitty teen coming-of-age comedy (and I think we basically all have to watch at one time or another at least one shitty teen coming-of-age comedy), make it License to Drive. Just for the way the movie throws gauntlet after hellish, ridiculous teenage gauntlet into Corey Haim's path, and he just throws himself into them one after the other in his unbreakable determination to score with a teenage Heather Graham. I think the movie is best summed up when as he's finally scored face-time with the Designated Love Interest, he turns around to see the tow truck driver wheeling off with his car, and - in a moment where lesser teen-movie protagonists would resign themselves to running futilely after a rapidly disappearing vehicle yelling "Waaaaait!" and then pouting pathetically at Heather in hopes of a pity fuck - Corey Haim throws himself onto the hood of the moving truck and makes that motherfucker give back his ride.

The Shawshank Redemption & The Green Mile are greats, IMO.

Edited to add:
I don't think Time Bandits & The Adventures of Baron Muchosen have been mentioned either.

SWB

Waxworks 2: Lost in Time

Seriously, changed my whole life.

A lot of great ones have already been mentioned, but...

Has no one mentioned Ghostbusters? Really? Tell me I just missed someone mentioning it. It and Ghostbusters 2 are extremely funny, classic movies.

And Back To The Future, sequels not required. It's just... I dunno. A classic. Really, a Delorian is my vehicle of choice, second only to the Batmobile.

Any Studio Ghibli movie. Miyazaki's a genius in art and plot (even if they tend to get a bit cheesy), and if you haven't seen any, you need to get some Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro ASAP.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's just so silly. So silly and awesome. Swallows and coconuts and rabbits and black nights and every stupid quote you could ever need.

Honestly, I love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the sheer detail it goes into.

Another movie I like is Broken Flowers. It goes from oddball to comedy to solemn quickly and abruptly.

Dirty Pretty Things is a good film about how far you're willing to go to get what you want, and to a lighter extent moral ambiguity.

Transamerica is about people who are fucked up and have to get along.

Also I never enjoyed the Goonies.

Somehow from this post, I got to remembering about The Warriors and Clockwork Orange. Still good movies mind you, but what is this Waxworks about?

The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Won't win any awards but god damn it was a great movie. I still get all pumped up when the theme song starts up for the second time in the movie right at the end and all the Foot soldiers go flooding out of the sewer, pursued by the Turtles.

The second one was...okay, up until Vanilla Ice.

NEVER SEE THE THIRD ONE

Boondock Saints was great not only for the prayers, the murdering, and for giving us the useful term, "Fuckass," but also for that scene where the guy sets his gun down and blows the damn cat all over the wall. I laughed until I cried.... it was one of those perfect moments in cinema.

For Anime films, Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven's Door was beyond excellent. Intensive storyline, well-drawn scenes and characters, and the voice-acting for both the original and the English-dub were much better than most you'd find anywhere.

Pixar has continued to impress me with Wall-E. To date, I think the only projects of theirs that didn't really do it for me were Monsters Inc. and Cars. Wall-E, despite it's quite limited script in the majority of the movie, was incredibly charming, funny, and overall a great joy to watch with it's unique humor.

And while The Love Guru bombed in theaters, for a belly-laugh, I would recommend it. Not for uptight types, the movie features plenty of crude and ridiculous humor, but if you can laugh at word/dick/fart jokes, you'll find plenty to enjoy. If it becomes a Good Distraction for you, it will free you from emotional pain. If, however, it is a Bad Distraction you will be left with a mouthful of whiz. I think about the only thing that hurt for me was listening to Jessica Alba butcher a classic song by attempting to sing it in the fashion of an Indian songstress. I'm not sure if it was because of her, or because of the style she was attempting to use, but something failed there.

Kung Fu

A Christmas Carol

Nobody else has mentioned it, that I've seen, so I'm going to throw out...

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

That is simply the best film adaptation of a musical, EVER.

Though I hear MTV is about to slaughter it with a remake that the younger generation will of course take to be the only version of it in existence, to the exclusion of both the original film and the play.

I hate MTV. If I ever get a chance, I will obliterate that network and all written and digital record thereof. Then I will make it illegal to mention it, on pain of death.

When I was but a young lad, my entire life was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I still can sing the entire theme song and I'm 23/

I can sing the entire theme song, and I'm 24. Consider yourself bested.

I have a picture of me making a Ninja Turtles Snowman when I was younger.