#5: The Matrix. The first one. Every so often, I make a concerted effort to pretend the sequels never existed, dig out the DVD and am surprised at how fantastic this flick still is. While bullet time has lost some of its gee-whiz appeal, the movie itself hasn't lost a bit of its power. From the "he's beginning to believe" moment when Neo wrangles the helicopter on, this one's still a killer.
#4: Scream Trilogy. Speaking of killers, my favorite horror series makes the list. The pop culture parts are less relevant now, and the meta-appeal of characters being aware of the film versions of their peril has now been overdone, but at the time, Scream was like that shot of adrenaline plunged into Uma Thurman's chest in Pulp Fiction. Set the (fairly stupid) horror industry on its ear, turning what's traditionally an exercise in exploitation into a hyper-literate whodunit... and kept the momentum thru two remarkably solid sequels.
#3: Empire Strikes Back. Another exercise in pretending a certain section of the saga doesn't exists (the prequels instead of the sequels), but if you can forget Teenakin and the Jar-Jars remember how big a deal it was when Darth Vader said "I am your father." It's become kind of cliche to say that Empire's the best of the Star Wars saga, but watch it again – it's an incredible mix of action and emotion, pyrotechnics and pathos.
#2: Raiders of the Lost Ark. I almost went with another "whole saga" vote here, but a) Temple of Doom, while not as bad as I originally remembered, still ain't great and b) dunno how Part IV will turn out... yet. Last Crusade was a fantastic return to form – but the form was founded with Raiders. It's Lucas doing what he does well (story, not script), Spielberg at his absolute best and Harrison Ford before he started making stuff like Firewall. An absolutely perfect adventure.
#1. The Lord of the Rings. Yes, the Extended Editions and yes, the whole damn thing, as I consider it one twelve-hour movie. One can quibbles with a few details and someone will eventually surpass the special effects, but for raw grandeur and sheer spectacular emotion, it can't be beat. I have, on occasion, sat and watched all three extended edition DVDs in a row – it's a hell of a day. Confession: I got a little teary the first time I saw Rivendell. Anyway, the most impressive example of consistent filmmaking vision I know.Some honorable mentions that occurred along the way: Back to the Future Trilogy, particularly Part II, which I think is beyond brilliant. The New Jersey Trilogy consisting of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Clerks II (ignore Mallrats and Jay & Silent Bob, etc.) And can't forget the two great two-letter sequels, T2 and X2.
Frank and Chris, you're it. Everyone else – thoughts?
7 comments:
My boys watched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Last Crusade" for the first time in the last few weeks. So I've been watching them a lot lately...which is nice because I like both of those movies a lot. I only saw "Temple of Doom" once and it was one time too many for me. What a waste.
Chad and I discuss quite often the casting of Karen Allen as Marion and how we don't understand it. She wasn't a great actress and she wasn't even close to pretty. Was she really the best choice for that role? She must've been schtupping the casting director, for sure.
I enjoyed LOTR a lot. I had not seen I or II in the theater, but saw them back-to-back on DVD and then a week later saw III in the theater. I wish I had seen I and II in the theater because those movies are so theater worthy (IMAX worthy). I haven't seen any of them since then, but it'd make a good movie weekend event (but not all 3 straight in a row).
I have no arguments.
The Matrix - Personally, I only have problems with the third one, but the first? The most influential sci-fi movie since the first Star Wars. It's brilliant.
Scream - Not a devoted horror fan, but a great movie.
Empire - "I am your father," was one of the greatest movie moments of all time, and probably the biggest movie moment of our lives. Now ruined by those prequels.
Raiders - Perfect in every way. Maybe my favorite ending of any film.
Ring - I agree, it's one big movie. The best book to film adaptation ever.
5. Willie Wonka - Man, I forgot what a masterpiece that was until I rewatched it - a lot - with my two kids.
4. The Matrix - Easy choice.
3. Seven Samurai - Try it you'll like it. Plus, I'm a big Toshiro Mifune fan.
2. LOTR - Tough choice between #2 and #1.
1. Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back (sequentially it had the most infuence on my future geekdom)
Geo- a little off the cuff, but since I stumbled onto your blog (not a cyber stalker), I wanted to chime in. -p
Normally I'm content to sit in the shadows and just read, I feel like I have an obligation to defend the honor of Revenge of the Sith. I won't deny that it was not on par with The Empire Strikes Back, which when I'm forced to choose a favorite move is my #1, but with a choice between ewoks or a lightsaber fight on on Mustafar, I'd have to say that Episode III really managed to go above and beyond what we were given in its two predecessors and not leave you with the not living up to your expectations feeling that you get after Return of the Jedi.
Now aside from the fact that I think Luke's sentiments in the Robot Chicken bit sums up how I feel about the Prequels in general, I think that Episode III really did its best to pull away from the pitfalls of the first two. Given the actors they had already cast (I personally think that Hayden Christensen is a hottie, though I will agree that he can't act. Then again Mark Hamil couldn't either.), I think they managed to put together an end to the prequels that, I'm not going to say in any way, shape, or form redeemed the Prequel Trilogy, but at least gave it relevance to the originals.
And c'mon.. how cool was it to finally see "Rise Lord Vader" after all those years.
Rachel - I agree, it has it's moments. I think it would have been great as the second movie, with a third coming after Ani is all Vader.
But to reveal that Vader is Luke and Leia's father, before you would get to that moment in Empire, is to great a crime.
Valerie: I'm a big Karen Allen fan, actually. In fact, she's my goddamn partner ;) But seriously, worlds better than Kate Capshaw or Alison Doody. Aside from the fact that her last name is Doody.
Phil: For most of Reloaded, it's merely a sub-par sequel with a few great moments. Once Neo walks into the Architect's room, it begins to slide into Revolutions, which is world-shatteringly terrible. Basically ruined the franchise. Speaking of ruining the franchise, for some reason I can separate the Classic Trilogy from the Perfunctory Prequels better. It may be that I've also read upwards of 100 tie-in books that take place after Jedi.
Paul: Holy crap! Former Frankel Paul Morris? How've you been? Email me and catch me up. Oh, and I'm praying you mean the original Willy Wonka, not the Tim Burton disaster.
Rachel: First, welcome if I haven't said so before. Second, I thought Sith had some mildly workable moments while I was sitting in the theater, but it barely held up even then. Once I saw it again on DVD it felt only somewhat less terrible than eps I and II. I'll take the Ewoks over any CGI critter in the prequels any day. And while it was fun to see the helmet get strapped on, any sense of awe was immediately replaced by an "aw," as he turned Vader into a Frankenstein homage and then did the so-cliche-that-making-fun-of-it-is-cliche "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Phil: I think it would have been an ok first prequel at best. The stuff with Lil' Anakin and Teenakin in eps I and II were varying degrees of worthless.
YES! the original. My wife and I went to see the Burton turd on opening night. We were very excited on the way in. It was a very quiet ride home.
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