Favorite Movies
by powerofberzerker | created - 24 Nov 2018 | updated - 14 May 2022 | PublicThis is a list of the movies that I've revisited, or will gladly revisit in the future, that have surprised me and left a lasting impression. All of these films have at least one scene of high art that will forever send chills down my back or evince primal emotions.
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1. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 42,216
This is the most fun film from Kurosawa. I like Star Wars but while those films were like bolts from the blue and now look silly, the Kurosawa film is eternal.
2. In the Mood for Love (2000)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Romance
Two neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
Director: Kar-Wai Wong | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Siu Ping-Lam, Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung
Votes: 166,750 | Gross: $2.73M
To me, this is how love looks like. It's elegant, it's gentle, and above all else, it's as fragile as the very thought of it.
3. 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: 709,774 | Gross: $83.47M
A ride of emotions from the first to the last minute. Iconic scenes galore and some of the best acting ever filmed.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,978,173 | Gross: $377.85M
My third or second most favorite film. It's a little too ambitious and some effects now don't look the best. It suffers from mild pacing issues, mostly at the end but it's still the final part of the best trilogy I've ever seen.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
PG-13 | 178 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Votes: 2,006,082 | Gross: $315.54M
My most favorite film. Its only problem is that it has some visually dated scenes and that in the beginning, Sauron's demise wasn't done in a better way. He should've fought Gil-Galad and Elendil. After that, while defeated or very wounded, he loses the ring to Isildur. But then again, that is a narration from Galadriel which might be inaccurate or inspired by the old painting in Rivendel if we only think in the movie universe.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
PG-13 | 179 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron's new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,782,941 | Gross: $342.55M
My second or third most favorite film. I'll never know. This one has the best cinematic battle ever but the ents could've been portrayed better or at least quicker. Their scenes just slow down the pace, at times too much, especially in the extended edition.
7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,052 | Gross: $0.09M
Best B movie of all time. Tons of iconic, spine-tingling scenes and an incredibly moody film. Best zombie film of all time as well. The one that reinvented, or better said, invented the whole genre.
8. The Samurai (1967)
GP | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier
Votes: 57,099 | Gross: $0.04M
My first contact with Melville and my God, what an amazing director. His atmosphere and visual intricacies are one of a kind. I don't really know which one from him is my favorite but since this is the first I've seen, let it be this one.
9. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field, Sydney Pollack
Votes: 374,905 | Gross: $55.69M
I love films that are off in the sense of mood. You are watching it and everything is just slightly weird but then it gets weirder and weirder and it's like you're having a very interesting dream that you would like to revisit. Well, now you can.
10. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 433,447 | Gross: $2.38M
Fantastic visuals and vistas. Breath-taking action, world-building, and designs that will forever remain special and touching. My favorite soundtrack from Joe Hisaishi.
11. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 949,893 | Gross: $78.90M
The only problem in this film is the janky death of the alien. Everything else, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the characters, the acting, the scares, the tone, and the aura that the ship gives off are of the tippy top degree.
12. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)
R | 103 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A legendary dhampir competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to return a young woman, who has been seemingly abducted by a vampire, to her family.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Andrew Philpot, John Rafter Lee, Pamela Adlon, Wendee Lee
Votes: 35,786 | Gross: $0.15M
Another sublime visual feast and a mix of fantasy and sci-fi. Such Gothic cinematography and atmosphere will never be equaled in anime again. This is also a movie of strange, nuanced depth that mostly happens and shines in the end. Until that point, it's just a non-stop adventurous ride.
13. The Sword of Doom (1966)
Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Naitô
Votes: 12,063
Another film from Okamoto with issues, but at its best, it's the best. The action and the main character are great, but this movie reaches the next level of greatness with its ending. The cinematography here is, at times, transcendental.
14. American Psycho (2000)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage
Votes: 714,814 | Gross: $15.07M
I can't really find anything wrong with this film. I want to say it's too simple but what's wrong with a simple film that is pulled off in such a great way.
15. Drive (I) (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama
A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Votes: 704,135 | Gross: $35.06M
The first film that when I watched, I thought to myself, ''Why more films aren't this stylized and inventive?'' Great visual storytelling with this one.
16. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,583
There's some outdated action at the end of this film, besides that, only the biggest praises for this one. Watch Takashi Miike's version for a different message and approach to this story, a worthy remake of a legendary film.
17. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,798,025 | Gross: $100.13M
In short, Kevin Spacey just kills it with acting and Howard Shore with the music. On second thought, everyone kills it. Big props to the make-up people and the cinematographer as well.
18. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 67,138 | Gross: $34.97M
Almost every actor acts the same way and is kind of the same character but that's the point. This movie is sort of brash, messy, and disconnected but boy, oh boy, is it also a marvelous one. The cinematography is hazy, filled with greens and sparkling lights. The music is grand and full of pomp. And their mix creates a spirit so unique and enchanting that you will for sure want more if there is any knightly blood in you.
19. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 216,152 | Gross: $0.01M
Great, moody, rainy thriller with amazing cinematography and directing craft, with an almost perfect mix of comedy and horror.
20. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
TV-MA | 83 min | Animation, Action, Crime
A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.
Directors: Mizuho Nishikubo, Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera
Votes: 156,795 | Gross: $0.52M
This movie keeps on giving the more times you watch it. Visually, it can't be better than this, and Kenji Kawai gives us another masterful soundtrack. The ideas here are presented in such a powerful way that forever cement this film as one of the best sci-fi ever.
21. Angel's Egg (1985 Video)
Not Rated | 71 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
A mysterious young girl wanders a desolate, otherworldly landscape, carrying a large egg.
Director: Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Mako Hyôdô, Jinpachi Nezu, Keiichi Noda
Votes: 11,984
A film that's only 1 hour and 11 minutes, but at times feels eternal in the best way possible. The designs are beyond belief, and the whole thing is just poetic brilliance.
22. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 187,605 | Gross: $53.71M
This is yet another film that needs to be experienced and not just watched. Masterclass of visual splendor and use of color, with spiritually rich music that embodies the film.
23. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 100 min | Animation, Drama, Mystery
In the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.
Directors: Naoko Kusumi, Mizuho Nishikubo, Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Akio Ôtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Tamio Ôki, Kôichi Yamadera
Votes: 40,294 | Gross: $1.04M
Possibly the best sci-fi ever but too great for its own sake. The most captivating and confusing film I've ever seen. Animation at its best.
24. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen
Votes: 1,193,110 | Gross: $70.10M
Take the best stylistic bits from a crazy number of films and genres and put it all in one so that it works. Tarantino did it and created one of the best action, if not also one of the best revenge films of all time.
25. There Will Be Blood (2007)
R | 158 min | Drama
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer
Votes: 640,816 | Gross: $40.22M
The only problem, which I'm not even sure is a problem, that this movie has, is that it goes too crazy, almost surreal near the end. Everything else is forever re-watchable greatness of acting, cinematography, blocking, lighting, and symbolism.
26. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,188
Some directors can only scare you with the monster or with a smart way of building tension. Some may do it with camera work, with the soundtrack, with acting, with the tone, or with inventive and creepy ideas and concepts. This film doesn't just scare you, it scars you. I highly recommend that you go into it as blindly as possible.
27. King Kong (2005)
PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 446,690 | Gross: $218.08M
This is my favorite King Kong. The old one is great, and it came up with all the ideas. It might be scarier but also goofier. It had a revolutionary impact on film with its effects. But this new one is also a tour de force of visual artistry, fantastic special effects, and motion capturing performance. It has the richest, wildest Skull Island ever conceived and the best, most realized King Kong, who's both ferocious, wise, and kind. The damsel Ann is also leagues beyond the original one and a much more fleshed-out character, as many others also are. This is just cinema at its best if you ask me; fun, visually arresting, inventive and emotional. This has, as well, the best score that James Newton Howard ever made, perfectly capturing the grandeur of the story, the tragedy, and the ineluctability of nature.
28. Only Yesterday (1991)
PG | 119 min | Animation, Drama, Romance
A twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Miki Imai, Toshirô Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Mayumi Izuka
Votes: 37,201 | Gross: $0.45M
This is nostalgia done in the best way possible and love done in such a real, personal and original way. Gorgeous backgrounds, finely brought characters, and scenes with such unforgettable beauty.
29. Possession (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent
Votes: 42,786 | Gross: $1.11M
An incredibly disturbing and surreal film that I caught late at night while having trouble falling asleep in my bedroom. So I went to my living room and saw this gem on the TV. As I mentioned, a very uncanny film that showcases in a great way the unsettling feeling or dread of losing someone and going through a divorce. This movie is full of art.
30. 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: 570,041 | Gross: $1.23M
My favorite comedy. What can I say that hasn't already been said. I love this movie for every detail and not just as a comedy but as an adventure, as well. It is not just a great satire, but a whole lot more. Every bit is excruciatingly humourous.
31. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,242 | Gross: $11.49M
I've watched the extended cut that's around 4 hours, and in the end, it had me absolutely floored. The acting is incredible, the effects have a lot of charm and still hold up quite well, and the characters are good and diverse enough so that you can root and care for them. However, the most intriguing scenes here are the long, tense ones of the sheer terror that the crew experiences while on a U-boat.
32. Ninja Scroll (1993)
Not Rated | 94 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A vagabond swordsman is aided by a kunoichi and a spy in battling a demonic clan of killers - led by a ghost from his past - who are bent on overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Kôichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Osamu Saka
Votes: 40,700
''A perfect film doesn't exist'', they say. Well, sometimes, a group of creative people just accidentally makes the best action film ever that still looks crisp, moves fluidly, and has enough style and character care put into it to be forever entertaining. That film is this bad boy. After 28 years, this movie is still so detailed, so well-paced, constructed and designed that it's just unbelievable. My go-to action flick.
33. Noriko's Dinner Table (2005)
Not Rated | 159 min | Drama, Horror
A teenager called Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Tokoyama, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", ... See full summary »
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Kazue Fukiishi, Tsugumi, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Shirô Namiki
Votes: 4,989
By the end of this unorthodox film, you'll feel broken and emotionally tired in all the best ways. This is a sequel to the Suicide Club from the same director, which was a fun and crazy gorefest, with some terrifying scenes. This one doesn't go the same route at all but is even better for it. It adds to the first but is also a stand-alone film that has completely different characters, ideas, and pacing. It's a much longer film that uses its time to create a foreboding and anxiety-inducing tone. It also handles very important questions, of self-understanding and family relationships as well as problems like disappearances of children which is still a very common case, not only in Japan but the whole wide world.
34. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,537 | Gross: $15.00M
This, in my opinion, is the best spaghetti western of all time. Its style is perfected, the humor is used incredibly well, the pace is just right, and every scene keeps you on the edge of your seat. The characters are simple but effective, and the action is absolutely thrilling. It also features my favorite Ennio Morricone score that is never misused or repeated too many times.
35. Stalker (1979)
Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
Votes: 144,672 | Gross: $0.23M
My favorite film from Tarkovsky. Stalker is the best meditative film of all time. It has beautiful, poetic writing, cinematography that's unequaled in its reflectiveness, and subtle acting that speaks millions of words.
36. Titane (2021)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years.
Director: Julia Ducournau | Stars: Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh
Votes: 56,076
Titane is the most underrated film of 2021. It made me cry, had me feeling catharsis and confusion and anger and love and acceptance. Quiet similar to Miike films, bizarre, gruesome, Cronenbergian, but still works mighty good. Two films in, and I already love this director.
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