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What do you consider to be the essential/must see films?

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
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What are the films you consider to be essential films that every film buff must see? Not necessarily your personal favourite or the best, but the films that are required viewing. List yours and tell me how many have you seen from my list? Here is my list of essential films:

2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
8½ 1963
A Clockwork Orange 1971
All About Eve 1950
Apocalypse Now 1979
Ben-Hur 1959
Bicycle Thieves 1948
Bonnie and Clyde 1967
Citizen Kane 1941
City Lights 1931
Dog Day Afternoon 1975
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982
The Exorcist 1973
Freaks 1932
The Godfather 1972
The Godfather: Part II 1974
Gone with the Wind 1939
The Graduate 1967
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages 1916
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels 1975
King Kong 1933
La Strada 1954
Lawrence of Arabia 1962
M 1931
Man with a Movie Camera 1929
Metropolis 1927
Midnight Cowboy 1969
Nashville (1975)
Network (1976)
The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
Persona 1966
Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975
Psycho 1960
Pulp Fiction 1994
Raging Bull 1980
Ran 1985
Rashomon 1950
Rebel Without a Cause 1955
The Red Shoes 1948
Rosemary's Baby 1968
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975
Sanshô dayû 1954
Schindler's List 1993
Seven Samurai 1954
The Seventh Seal 1957
The Shining 1980
Singin' in the Rain 1952
Solaris 1972
Star Wars 1977
Sunrise 1927
Sunset Boulevard 1950
Taxi Driver 1976
Vertigo 1958
West Side Story 1961
The Wizard of Oz 1939

[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Terminator 2
Rambo
Rocky
The Groundhog Day
My Cousin Vinny
Evil Dead
The Mummy

Your's is a mighty big list. I must have watched only half of it.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I've seen all the ones on your list. Terminator 2 is great and one of my favourites. My Cousin Vinny is fun. I liked the original Mummy. I'm not a huge fan of Rocky or Rambo. I liked Evil Dead. Groundhog Day is alright, but not one of my favourites.

[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Yeah, I knew you must have watched every movie that I could possible think of when I looked at your list :)
I meant original The mummy movie. New one was trash.
If you had to narrow down your list to just 3 movies. What would it look like?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Top 3 essential films would be:
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
2001

My personal top 3 favourite films would be:
Ben-Hur
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List

[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

I wish to see your reaction when I tell you haven’t watched any of those 6 movies.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I would strongly recommend checking them out as soon as you get the chance.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

I just use the AFI lists

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

There are some great films on their lists, but they only list American films. Have you seen the top 1000 film list on the web site, http://theyshootpictures.com. I think it is the bets movie list online. Check it out:

http://theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

I look at other lists from sources that know more than me about what makes a film essential. I didn't mean to exclude foreign. My point is that I can't create a list on my own without simply naming my favorites based on my standards -- and maybe a few historical firsts that changed the game going forward.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

i've been working through the 2012 sight and sound list. i've found some of the films to be great, some dreary, a few forgettable, but in the main i've found it to be a good resource for expanding my vocabulary.
i still have 85 to get through, though.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

This is a great list, but I take great exception to Salo. Salo is a piece of garbage. And no, I'm not objecting to it because of its content. This is over-glorified grindhouse with the pretension of being art house, and it has zero artistic merit. I would actually rank I Spit on Your Grave, Last House on the Left and Cannibal Holocaust above it because at least they didn't pretend to be anything other than what they were, and there were actually some compelling shots/scenes in these films.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I know Salo is a very divisive film, but I do think it has artistic merit and significance. Even if people end up hating it, I think every film buff needs to see it at least once.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

i agree with that mostly - i don't think everyone needs to see it, though.
salo is a nasty, ugly film, & it has scenes i wish i could rinse out of my mind, but pasolini had a pov, a message that he wanted to get across. you could argue it's a misguided message (i think i would), & you can hate the way he did it, but he had a message & he got it out.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Salo was never a "divisive" film because it was never widely released/screened to the public or for critics. It was instantly banned in several countries, reviled by the people who were able to see it, and then for decades was nothing more than an obscure movie that was passed around by a small group of B movie/exploitation fanatics who were into stuff like Mondo Cane, Faces of Death and Cannibal Holocaust.

It wasn't until the 2000s when people started rediscovering it again, and this is when film critics from certain elitist circles finally saw the movie and decided that it had to be an "important" film because it was directed by Pier Pasolini. But it never was.

[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

I like your list a lot and have seen most of them. But one movie that perversely has always stuck with me is the original Night Of The Living Dead, in all it's black and white gory. I mean glory. I don't like horror flicks generally, but there is such palpable low budget tension and they included a black actor before it might be considered PC to do so. Not saying it's a masterpiece but it's a marvel to experience.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Night of the Living Dead is a great film. I have the Criterion blu ray.

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

I would say it IS a Masterpiece. And a must see film.

[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

I just remember stumbling on it late at night when I was much younger, and it was fascinating. These days you would have to pay me to sit through something like It and all the other horror type films (although there might be some exceptions).
Also, there is something about the First film in all these series where the 1st one seems genuinely inspired and all the sequels are ludicrous in comparison. It's like all these retreads seems to drag the whole genre down, while the people making them are laughing their way to the bank.

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

I first saw it while in Junior High, late night TV. I was blown away by how ground in reality it was. Meaning, this isn't Dracula's Castle - this is your own back yard! And the tone, from the very beginning. So eerie, and that ending.
I later learned that Romero made it on about 25,000 dollars. That it was made popular by the Drive-In crowd. Genius is recognized!

[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

On a sorta related note, I read recently the first three Creedence Clearwater Revival albums cost about $2K apiece to record in the studio. My god, those records recouped that the first couple days they were released.

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

I've seen 47 on your list. I would make my list smaller, so it's not daunting to the new film buff. Like maybe 20 films.
And I would have Casablanca on my list.
I need some more time to think, I'll be back with a list.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

I've seen 45 but most wouldn't make my favorites list.

And what's essential anyway? An aggregate of favorites from film critics/historians?

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

culturally significant, maybe?

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

I understand that if it's a first -- but if it isn't, we're back in "I liked this better than that" from those people. If no lists like this existed before, and they asked you to submit your list of essential films, wouldn't they just be the high end of your favorites? It seems like we're just borrowing from what we've been told are essential from critics and historians.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Essential to me means films that are important, influential, or significant. It isn't based on critics or historians, but on your personal opinion about which films were the most influential or significant.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

No offense but how would you know about the importance, influence, and significance of those older ones without historians and critics telling you. It's not like most of us could assess these things firsthand against all other films of the time.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I think that observant viewers may be able to determine which films are influential. How often while watching a film have you noticed that a scene or a character or a storyline seems to be influenced or inspired by a previous film? Critics and historians are just people, like us, and I believe that intelligent film buffs can make some conclusions about a film's significance based on what they have seen.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

I can say that about the period I lived through while being old enough to pay close attention to those things. But most of us have been directed to those older films by critics and historians who told us of their importance, influence, and significance. We may choose to agree but it's not b/c we surveyed the field firsthand. We were primed to adopt that view. And I agree, they are just people -- which is my point.

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

so i spent the day, off and on, making a list of the most personally influential films in my life. Nothing to do with history or critics or popularity.

Frankenstein, 1931
King Kong, 1933
42nd Street, 1933
Modern Times, 1936
The Wizard of Oz, 1939
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939
Wuthering Heights, 1939
Casablanca, 1942
The 400 Blows, 1959
To Sir, With Love, 1967
Night of the Living Dead, 1968
Easy Rider, 1969
Gimme Shelter, 1970
The Poseidon Adventure, 1972
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, 1975
The Vanishing, 1988
Do the Right Thing, 1989
American Beauty, 1999
The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001
Children of Men, 2006

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Good list! I don't think I have seen Wuthering Heights or Gimme Shelter, but I have seen all the other ones. I like most of the ones I have seen from your list. Personally, I'm not a fan of Children of Men, but a lot of people seem to really like it.

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

Children of Men makes the list because, while watching, I had to shut it off for about 30 minutes, and I just cried. Really hard. That had never happened to me before. Sure, lots of movies have made me cry, this was different - more like a breakdown.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

What do you mean by personally influential?

[–] LauraGrace (15570) 5 years ago

affected

[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

gotcha.

I'd have to think about that due to the age and stage of your life factor. I can even think of trailers that affected me as a kid -- even though I didn't actually see the film until years later.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72942) 5 years ago

Fine list, I've seen 35 of yours...
I might add Dirty Harry, Death Wish and Bullit, but that's like, only my opinion man

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I've seen those three and would agree they are fairly influential and significant.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72942) 5 years ago

Yes
The angry, fast driving violent man demo could use some respect LOL!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] samoanjoes (52156) 5 years ago

From your list, the only ones I haven't seen are: "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom", and "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels".

For me, I'd choose:
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Shawshank Redemption
The Matrix
The Godfather
Titanic
Schindler's List
Star Wars
City of God
Toy Story
Psycho
The Lion King
Persona
Requiem for a Dream
Seven Samurai
Jurassic Park

It's hard to do this list because if they're "must see", it's going to be a list of cliches.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Good list. I've seen all the movies on your list and I like most of them. I'm not a fan of City of God and I find Titanic and Shawshank to be overrated.

[–] samoanjoes (52156) 5 years ago

As you said, it's not that I must personally love them, it's just that they're essential.

[–] bohemianroxie (2471) 5 years ago

I think City of God is an important film that doesn't get enough attention. But it's one of those, like Requiem for a Dream, that is difficult to rewatch due to its bleak depressive nature..

I have always loved Shawshank because it takes you on a bleak dark journey but gives you light at the end. It gives you hope. A payoff for what has been endured. Requiem for a Dream is one of those that starts on the edge of bleak and ends with complete devastation.
I always feel a little ill after films like that.