What Movies Are "The Classics"?

[Zen Toombs]

There are a lot of movies out there, but a lot of them are really, really bad.

Escapists, what are the movies which every person should have seen?

Edit: Just to clarify, by "Classic" I don't mean "Ye Olde Movies" or "New Hotness" or the like. I mean a movie that is so good/important/influential that essentially everyone should see it, regardless of age, sex, race, creed, marital status etc.

 

[Bobic]

I'm first, so I get to say the Godfather series. Yay!

And Shawshank redemption. Yay!

Now I've got IMDB's top 3 out the way I'll go for my personal favourite.

Memento.

God that film is awesome.

Enter.

 

[Axolotl]

Godfather, Apoclypse Now, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Lawrence of Arabia, Bladerunner, Pulp Fiction and The Shining.

I could think of more but they're what I expect everyone to have seen.

 

[Shadowstar38]

The Godfather. Watched it before I even watched any disney movies as a kid. Its probably the greatest thing put on film.

Speaking of Disney movies...

The Lion King. I make a point of watching that about once a year. The only movie to ever make me cry to this day.

 

[Jadak]

Gladiator, Fight Club.

Back later with more.

 

[fenrizz]

I can name a few:

* Donnie Darko
* Fight Club
* The Matrix
* Shutter Island
* The Crow
* The Lord of the Rings triology

 

[MoNKeyYy]

Fight Club, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Manchurian Candidate, To Kill a Mockingbird, Inception, The Dark Knight, The first 3 Star Wars films, Saving Private Ryan, The Lion King...

There are a lot.

For a list all in one place, I would say basically any movie that won best picture and at least half of the nominees are all movies everyone should see.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

The Princess Bride

Star Wars, the old ones only

Dirty Harry for creating one of the most badass characters ever.

I might have more later.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

- Alien
- Blade Runner
- Donnie Darko
- Fight Club
- The Matrix
- Jurrasic Park
- Starship Troopers

I probably know some more but these are the ones for now.

 

[mwpher]

Offhand, Princess Bride and Star Wars.

 

[Michael Hirst]

Terminator 2, Alien, Rocky, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, The Seven Samurai, Gladiator, Fight Club, Seven, Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner, Star Wars (original trilogy) Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost ark and The Last Crusade. Pulp Fiction, Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future, Yojimbo, Die Hard, The Thing, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Sin City, Leon, Heat, Lion King, Aladdin, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Battle Royale, Unforgiven, Platoon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Scarface, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Heat, The Matrix, the Godfather, Once upon a time in America, The Usual Suspects.

I'm going to stop there but thats just a wide set of what I consider to be GREAT films, some of them (Shawshank Redemption) have more artistic value/credit than others (Die Hard) but all of them are great to watch.

 

[i love headcrabs]

Dr strangelove or how I stop worrying and love the bomb, oh how I love this film

 

[Terminate421]

Caddyshack is my favorite classic comedy

 

[darkcalling]

I rarely watch the so called "classics" as written up by the "legitimate" critics but there are certain movies I will watch over and over again.

Highlander (the original. the others are ok at best. avoid number 2 like the plague)

Robocop 1 & 2

Event Horizon

Watchmen

 

[SckizoBoy]

The Princess Bride

Ha! Cult classic perhaps... (don't get me wrong, I love that film, too, but it was such a B-movie)

OT: Good grief, I'm the first person to mention 'the Longest Day'

So:

the Longest Day - the warfilm that set the tone for what a warfilm should look like/do (John Wayne's ridiculous paycheque notwithstanding)
Snow White - the original Disney classic
Ben Hur - again, first mention of it, I am much disappoint!
Remains of the Day - words fail me, so I won't bother
20000 Leagues Under the Sea - one of the best early fantasy/steampunk(?) films

and because I feel like it: Dragon Gate Inn - the original one, if only for the fight scenes...

 

[Blow_Pop]

and it depends if you go by lists or not

Spoiler

Yahoo movies list of classic movies:
1990

Goodfellas
DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese
STARRING: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci

Misery
DIRECTED BY: Rob Reiner
STARRING: James Caan, Kathy Bates
1991
Beauty and the Beast
DIRECTED BY: Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale
STARRING: Paige O'Hara, Robbie Benson

The Silence of the Lambs
DIRECTED BY: Jonathan Demme
STARRING: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins


Terminator 2: Judgment Day
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Thelma & Louise
DIRECTED BY: Ridley Scott
STARRING: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis
1992
Hard Boiled (Lat sau san taam)
DIRECTED BY: John Woo
STARRING: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Malcolm X
DIRECTED BY: Spike Lee
STARRING: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett
The Player
DIRECTED BY: Robert Altman
STARRING: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi
Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gao gua)
DIRECTED BY: Zhang Yimou
STARRING: Gong Li, Ma Jingwu

Supercop (Ging chat goo si 3: Chiu kup ging chat)
DIRECTED BY: Stanley Tong
STARRING: Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Unforgiven
DIRECTED BY: Clint Eastwood
STARRING: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman
1993
Dazed and Confused
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater
STARRING: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey
Groundhog Day
DIRECTED BY: Harold Ramis
STARRING: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Stephen Tobolowsky
Schindler's List
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
1994

Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam)
DIRECTED BY: Wong Kar-Wai
STARRING: Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong


Ed Wood
DIRECTED BY: Tim Burton
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Forrest Gump
DIRECTED BY: Robert Zemeckis
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
Four Weddings and a Funeral
DIRECTED BY: Mike Newell
STARRING: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Simon Callow
Pulp Fiction
DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino
STARRING: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
The Shawshank Redemption
DIRECTED BY: Frank Darabont
STARRING: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge)
DIRECTED BY: Krzysztof Kieslowski
STARRING: Irene Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant
1995
Babe
DIRECTED BY: Chris Noonan
STARRING: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski
Before Sunrise
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater
STARRING: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Clueless
DIRECTED BY: Amy Heckerling
STARRING: Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Heat
DIRECTED BY: Michael Mann
STARRING: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer
Living in Oblivion
DIRECTED BY: Tom DeCillo
STARRING: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener
Sense and Sensibility
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant

Toy Story
DIRECTED BY: John Lasseter
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT


The Usual Suspects
DIRECTED BY: Bryan Singer
STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

1996
Big Night
DIRECTED BY: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci
STARRING: Tony Shaloub, Stanley Tucci, Ian Holm
Dead Man
DIRECTED BY: Jim Jarmusch
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen

Fargo
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen
STARRING: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku kidotai)
DIRECTED BY: Mamoru Oshii
STARRING: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka
Lone Star
DIRECTED BY: John Sayles
STARRING: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey,

Scream
DIRECTED BY: Wes Craven
STARRING: Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Secrets & Lies
DIRECTED BY: Mike Leigh
STARRING: Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Timothy Spall
Sling Blade
DIRECTED BY: Billy Bob Thornton
STARRING: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Lucas Black
Swingers
DIRECTED BY: Doug Liman
STARRING: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham
Trainspotting
DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle
STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle
1997

Boogie Nights
DIRECTED BY: Paul Thomas Anderson
STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Eve's Bayou
DIRECTED BY: Kasi Lemmons
STARRING: Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan
L.A. Confidential
DIRECTED BY: Curtis Hanson
STARRING: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey
The Sweet Hereafter
DIRECTED BY: Atom Egoyan
STARRING: Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Polley

Titanic
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

1998
The Big Lebowski
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen
STARRING: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore
Fireworks (Hana-bi)
DIRECTED BY: Takeshi Kitano
STARRING: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto

Out of Sight
DIRECTED BY: Steven Soderbergh
STARRING: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Catherine Keener
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT


Saving Private Ryan
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

There's Something About Mary
DIRECTED BY: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller
1999
All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre)
DIRECTED BY: Pedro Almodovar
STARRING: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz
American Beauty
DIRECTED BY: Sam Mendes
STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
Being John Malkovich
DIRECTED BY: Spike Jonze
STARRING: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Election
DIRECTED BY: Alexander Payne
STARRING: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein

Fight Club
DIRECTED BY: David Fincher
STARRING: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT


The Matrix
DIRECTED BY: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
STARRING: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime)
DIRECTED BY: Hayao Miyazaki
STARRING: Yoji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida
Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)
DIRECTED BY: Tom Tykwer
STARRING: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu
The Sixth Sense
DIRECTED BY: M. Night Shyamalan
STARRING: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Three Kings
DIRECTED BY: David O. Russell
STARRING: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube
2000
Almost Famous
DIRECTED BY: Cameron Crowe
STARRING: Patrick Fugit, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson

Best in Show
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Guest
STARRING: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang

Yi Yi
DIRECTED BY: Edward Yang
STARRING: Wu Nien-jen, Issey Ogata, Elaine Jin
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

2001
Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain)
DIRECTED BY: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
STARRING: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz
Donnie Darko
DIRECTED BY: Richard Kelly
STARRING: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze
In the Mood For Love (Fa yeung nin wa)
DIRECTED BY: Wong Kar-Wai
STARRING: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-wai

The Lord of the Rings
DIRECTED BY: Peter Jackson
STARRING: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Memento
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Nolan
STARRING: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Mulholland Drive
DIRECTED BY: David Lynch
STARRING: Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring,
The Royal Tenenbaums
DIRECTED BY: Wes Anderson
STARRING: Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow
2002
The Pianist
DIRECTED BY: Roman Polanski
STARRING: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Fox
Y Tu Mama Tambien
DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron
STARRING: Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna
2003
City of God (Cidade de Deus)
DIRECTED BY: Fernando Meirelles
STARRING: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino De Hora Phellipe, Seu Jorge

Elephant
DIRECTED BY: Gus Van Sant
STARRING: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Finding Nemo
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton
STARRING: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres
2004

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
DIRECTED BY: Adam McKay
STARRING: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
DIRECTED BY: Michel Gondry
STARRING: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

Shaun of the Dead
DIRECTED BY: Edgar Wright
STARRING: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Sideways
DIRECTED BY: Alexander Payne
STARRING: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen
2005
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
DIRECTED BY: Judd Apatow
STARRING: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Seth Rogen

Brokeback Mountain
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

A History of Violence
DIRECTED BY: David Cronenberg
STARRING: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris

Oldboy
DIRECTED BY: Park Chan-wook
STARRING: Choi Min-shik, Kang Hye-jeong
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

2006
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
DIRECTED BY: Larry Charles
STARRING: Sacha Baron Cohen, Kenneth Davitian

Children of Men
DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron
STARRING: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
DIRECTED BY: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
STARRING: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian Koch
Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno)
DIRECTED BY: Guillermo del Toro
STARRING: Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones
2007
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile)
DIRECTED BY: Cristian Mungiu
STARRING: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov

The Bourne Ultimatum
DIRECTED BY: Paul Greengrass
STARRING: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon)
DIRECTED BY: Julian Schnabel
STARRING: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze
Michael Clayton
DIRECTED BY: Tony Gilroy
STARRING: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton
No Country for Old Men
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
STARRING: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
There Will Be Blood
DIRECTED BY: Paul Thomas Anderson
STARRING: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano
2008
The Dark Knight
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Nolan
STARRING: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Slumdog Millionaire
DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle
STARRING: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto

WALL-E
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton
STARRING: Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT

2009
Avatar
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

The Hurt Locker
DIRECTED BY: Kathryn Bigelow
STARRING: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty


Inglourious Basterds
DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino
STARRING: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent

That's one list you COULD go by

Another is this:
http://www.classicmovies.org/azlist/alphafilms.htm


It depends on when you were born and your definition of classic movies.