Must See
by kgprophet | created - 10 Aug 2011 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicThe number of movies I own in my personal collection as of 2016 is 686. Many I own are above-average films that have some redeeming aspect to them. Others I own because of some personal connection with the film despite it's flaws. Some movies definitely belong in the 'Camp' category. It is hard to decide what belongs in my 'pantheon', but here's a few and my reasons they are a "must see"
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1. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,067,933 | Gross: $402.45M
An event film akin to the original "King Kong". This film was the first to introduce "Photo Real" animation that truly sparked the digital effects age. This film convinced George Lucas that he could make the new "Star Wars" trilogy, along with inspiring scores of other filmmakers.
2. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,560 | Gross: $32.87M
The production design (conceived by Scott along with Syd Mead) inspired a new generation of Sci-Fi Grunge, where the future had a retro look to it, and had a noir quality. Countless filmmakers as well as product designers have taken ideas directly from the look of this film.
3. Bullitt (1968)
M/PG | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A nonconformist San Francisco cop is determined to find the underworld kingpin who killed the witness under his protection.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon
Votes: 75,876 | Gross: $42.30M
A perfect moment in time where an actor, who had earned his stripes as the most admired movie star, catapulted himself into the modern gritty filmmaking scene, and featured the first piece of action editing that left audiences' adrenaline pumping and hearts pounding. A smart thriller with cool cars, anti-establishment tone, and the original tough detective that begat many others - such as "Dirty Harry".
4. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,014,120 | Gross: $134.97M
Godfather I & II have been re-edited together chronologically, known as "The Godfather Saga" . Solid acting and a source of fascination by generations, this larger-than-life criminal empire comes to life like no other film.
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,365,133 | Gross: $57.30M
Godfather I & II have been re-edited together chronologically, known as "The Godfather Saga" . Solid acting and a source of fascination by generations, this larger-than-life criminal empire comes to life like no other film.
6. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, War
An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 518,556 | Gross: $0.28M
At once a parody and a statement about the absurdity of nuclear buildup, one of the most entertaining movies ever made. Peter Sellers seamlessly plays several major characters. Beautifully photographed and full of thrilling action. Stanley Kubrick is the only filmmaker to make such a complex mixture of elements of comedy, horror, politics, and sex successfully.
7. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 466,192 | Gross: $1.59M
Simply the film that invented modern movie making. Up until this time, all Hollywood films had been beaten down into a formula that had become outdated. It took a genius from outside the system to find new techniques of film making in almost every aspect. Every shot in this film has probably been studied for it's innovation and effectiveness in storytelling.
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 720,093 | Gross: $56.95M
A film that altered audiences notion of what a Science Fiction film should be. Before then, little attention was given to scientific detail and realism. Except for big films like "Forbidden Planet" and "War of the Worlds", science fiction films were mostly of the forgettable B-movie variety. Kubrick and effects wizard Douglas Trumball made the future look real, and helped to enable films like "Star Wars" to be taken more seriously.
9. The Incredibles (2004)
PG | 115 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
While trying to lead a quiet suburban life, a family of undercover superheroes are forced into action to save the world.
Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee
Votes: 809,358 | Gross: $261.44M
The best Pixar movie ever made. The Pixar magic comes mostly from organic story writing. The script is honed to smoothly blend adventure and humour, using a situation that has not been tried before. In this case, it is your normal family that have super powers. Domestic issues are addressed as they would a normal family, then put to the test as they are thrown into harm's way.
The film was so difficult to make, Pixar waited over a decade before finally making a sequel, despite the fact that survey results show more people want an Incredibles sequel more than any other.
10. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 261,350 | Gross: $83.40M
One of the first films to multiply the number of jokes per minute more densely than any conventional comedy. Taking a stab at movie cliches, particularly from a bad 40s movie called "Zero Hour", audiences are caught off guard as recognisable actors such as Peter Graves or Lloyd Bridges say something disturbing. The source of inspiration for this troubled airline flight comes from all directions, including props, TV commercials, and risque humour not seen before.
11. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 763,606 | Gross: $85.16M
James Cameron creates a tale of human survival instead of merely a sequel to Ridley Scott's excellent horror film. The tension created when the creepy insect-like creatures attack is genuinely heart pounding. Expert editing, sound, and special effects make this an unforgettable experience.
12. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 710,774 | Gross: $83.47M
Few films become events upon themselves. When Coppola set to find out how the excess of the U.S. warped Viet Nam, he was actually setting out to see the excess of a big film director warp the making of a large war movie. The audience is seduced into the drug-induced haze of fighting a war U.S. soldiers don't want to fight.
13. Blue Velvet (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern
Votes: 215,853 | Gross: $8.55M
David Lynch challenges audiences to examine their own responses to scenes of extreme violence mixed with a 50's-era air of purity. A nervous excitement of disturbing imagery presented with offbeat humour forever changed modern storytelling in movies, such as "Pulp Fiction".
14. Catch-22 (1970)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
Votes: 26,510 | Gross: $24.91M
Foremost a comedy, but actually a very human drama about the absurdity of war. The movie's title is now an everyday expression of being trapped in a situation where you can't possess the answer. Such as: the only way you can get a job out of college is by having job experience. Also a very telling lesson about how the notion of right and wrong is not always how the world works.
15. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 217,019 | Gross: $132.09M
This film along with "Star Wars" were big reasons why I became fascinated with filmmaking. Spielberg can take the standard tools of moviemaking: lights, locations, camera lenses, and turn them into something magical. Along my own fascination with UFOs, this film does a great job in being a huge summer event film and be small and pedestrian film at the same time. However, the main reason this film is on my Must See list is the complex and beautiful music score by John Williams.
16. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,258,360 | Gross: $46.84M
My favourite Martin Scorcese film. Even though the running time is nearly 2 and a half hours, the fast pacing makes it go by in a flash. Literally not a second of screen time is wasted. Joe Pesci is downright frightening. De Niro is at his most De Niro.
17. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,567 | Gross: $44.82M
The epic of all epic films. Practically nothing shot on set, David Lean went to very remote parts of the desert to capture this stunning biography. Peter O'Toole is so attached to the role of the unbalanced Lawrence, nothing else in his career ever topped it.
18. Miller's Crossing (1990)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 142,201 | Gross: $5.08M
Many films might aspire to be worthy of the "Godfather" persona, with distinct dialogue and signature movie moments. The Coen brothers have carefully crafted a period piece with dialect that captures the cartoonish caricatures of a bygone era. The film makes you smile with it's lyrical dialogue, and swept along with the beautiful cinematography and soundtrack.
19. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 570,551 | Gross: $1.23M
Richly inspired script takes on religious history, gleefully going on tangents that spark humour with expertise. Too many one-liners to mention ("He's not quite dead yet"). A comic masterpiece as good as any Marx brother movie.
20. Patton (1970)
GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War
The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong
Votes: 108,005 | Gross: $61.70M
Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola. The narrative weaves together the major events of World War II with the powerful personality Patton possessed. George C. Scott is unmatchable in bringing the monster to life.
21. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,222,046 | Gross: $107.93M
Quentin Tarantino brought the art of hip lingo into screenplay writing. Well versed in the french new wave cinema, he fashions together a collection of anecdotal episodes of shady characters getting into off beat predicaments.
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,336 | Gross: $248.16M
Created at the height of their powers, Lucas and Spielberg spin a piece of movie magic that captures the essence of what movie going is all about. Adventure, love, humour, intrigue, good guys and bad guys, wonder, and excitement. It also features lead actors that are directed with charm. Nobody knew it at the time, but Harrison Ford fit the Indiana Jones personality in such a way that we the audience had fun watching anything he did.
23. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,497,459 | Gross: $216.54M
After Spielberg "grew up" making Schindler's List, he set out to make an unorthodox action film that would resemble nothing else he had ever done before. The result shocked and mesmerised audiences with unflinching images of war. Combining very human reactions to life during wartime, with a solid mission filled with great action scenes, Spielberg reinvented the War film and Action film genres.
24. Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Billy Pilgrim has mysteriously become unstuck in time. He goes on an uncontrollable trip back and forth from his birth in New York to life on a distant planet and back again to the horrors of the 1945 fire-bombing of Dresden.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans
Votes: 13,917 | Gross: $0.57M
Kurt Vonnegut's time travel story has an existential observation about how to live one's life. The movie jumps from moments of mediocrity to moments of horror. These moments are to be interpreted in the larger arc of your life. Using the time travel premise shows how traumatic events can reverberate through your life.
25. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,660 | Gross: $322.74M
This film came out when I was 13, it sparked my imagination and influenced my desire to get into filmmaking. George Lucas disposed with the old notion that Science Fiction meant slow plots and slow motion flying through space. He insisted the pace be faster and the space vehicles sound like jet fighters. Patching together the best elements of World War II action films, and the grand staging of Kurosawa's classic Samurai films, Lucas created a brand new universe for impressionable youths like me. Even more, the top notch special effects and admirable acting by Alec Guinness surprised audiences by the density of the mythology in a time where most Hollywood films lacked such dedication.
26. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,174,889 | Gross: $204.84M
James Cameron redefined big budget action films by making a non-stop action extravaganza. Huge trucks fly through the air, large office buildings explode, when two cyborgs destroy a good part of Los Angeles - even before judgment day arrives. Jaws were dropping in the theatre when it was first released. The CGI had advanced to a level unanticipated by audiences. Nobody had ever seen a human form walk through a steel door that was 100% believable.
27. The Hunt for Red October (1990)
PG | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill
Votes: 214,871 | Gross: $122.01M
A study in solid storytelling. Not a frame of film is wasted in this military thriller. Nuance drips from the walls as two governments and two submarine captains play cat and mouse. Momentum carries our reluctant hero through a series of engaging characters, each with a bit of enlightenment that rewards the audience's attention. This is my "Ice Station Zebra", a film I have watched over a dozen times.
28. The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
G | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Inspector Jacques Clouseau is put on the case when the Pink Panther diamond is stolen, with the Phantom's trademark glove the only clue.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom
Votes: 29,658 | Gross: $41.83M
One of the very few movies that elicits guttural laughs. Peter Sellers plays the imbecile Inspector Clouseau with deadpan perfection. The best of all the Pink Panther movies.
29. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, War
A tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell
Votes: 15,809
Gregory Peck is statuesque in this hard hitting drama that demonstrates what it means to be a leader. An honest portrait of the vulnerability and deficiencies our country had at the beginning of World War II.
30. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,975 | Gross: $86.30M
A movie that combines many actors that are scene stealers on their own right. Gene Wilder gives a brilliant performance of a man does not dare examine his own borderline insanity. There are moments where he is confronted with disdain, and must accept who he is. Marty Feldman is the lab assistant, Madeline Kahn is the overbearing wife. Includes Terri Garr as the loopy young lady. Outtakes from the DVD reveal how hard it was to keep from laughing on the set.
31. The Men Who Killed Kennedy (1988–2003)
Documentary, History
A detailed examination of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, with emphasis on the discrepancies and inconsistencies in the government's official version of events.
Stars: Hilary Minster, Robert J. Groden, Cyril H. Wecht, Gary Mack
Votes: 655
A documentary so controversial that two episodes were removed on later broadcasts. This series from England holds back nothing in it's examination of the circumstances surrounding President Kennedy's death. Many anecdotes from witnesses are available to examine, some sound credible, others sound unlikely. Some pieces of the puzzle make sense, others seem more outlandish. However, it is better to view the material that has not been filtered already so I can make up my own mind. As a viewer, I am interested in hearing all facets of the conspiracy (yes folks, it has been officially determined to be more than a lone gunman.)
32. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 367,040 | Gross: $0.27M
A world in ancient Japan that immerses you in humanity and adventure. Foremost, this is a very intelligently directed action film, that knows how to hit emotional beats in an effective way. Also, it explores chivalry in the face of poverty. A group of samurai teach a village how to defend themselves, while the new leaders grow attached to the villagers. When ultimately some people die, we have felt we have lived along with them ourselves.
33. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 47,897 | Gross: $20.97M
A moment of true romance strangled by Victorian customs is elegantly filmed and acted. There is a giddy energy to the charismatic cast (Daniel Day Lewis disappears into a stuffy role). This is what movies are about, transporting you to a different time and place with a sense of yearning.
34. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,883 | Gross: $2.08M
This is more than a movie, it is part of our fabric of American culture. That is why the ruby slippers are encased at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. It is also why it is embedded in our psyche in such a way that it synchronises with the Pink Floyd album "The Dark Side of the Moon" (which is a separate DVD I have). As an adult, you realise how how strong the imagery was to witness when first seeing this as a young child. One of the most important movies in American history.
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