Pretty classical question, curious to see what you all think.
For me, it’s Pacific Rim. It is mostly about giant robots fighting huge monsters, but the the psychological treatment of the characters is more refined than someone would expect for this kind of movies.
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And the intro is very poignant scene, again, not something you would expect in this kind of movies.
Last Action Hero (1993). It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s way better than its reception warranted. I think most people who don’t like it, just didn’t really get it.
That movie is sooooo underrated.
The critics never really understood it at the time, and the movie suffered from poor press. Definitely a cult classic. Also love that Arnie got Sly to do a Terminator poster for the video store, and all the references to other movies hidden all over the place. It’s an Easter egg extravaganza!
I didn’t see it for years after its release, just because of the bad press. When I finally ended up renting it, I really enjoyed it.
Death to Smoochie is a fucking masterpiece
I forgot all about that movie and agree it’s a phenomenal movie.
Everyone already appreciates that movie, though.
Everyone who has seen it, yeah. But at least in my experience, mentions of this movie are met with blank stares. No one seems to know this movie even exists, which is tragic because it is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
Everyone except Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
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Creepshow (1982)
Best horror movie ever made and almost no one talks about it 😭
Those roaches were pure nightmare fuel when I was a kid. I actually just rewatched Creepshow 1 and 2 pretty recently.
Pacific Rim also makes great use of its aspect ratio, to make the mechs and monster look HUGE.
Speaking of monsters, perhaps Monsters (2010) would be my suggestion.
It gave the director an in-road into the film industry, and is broadly appreciated, but it didn’t redefine filmmaking in the way the crew thought it would.
Made for less half a million, the techniques used in the film to make it look more expensive weren’t adapted as widely as presumed.
It’s a shame, because now all movies seem to look very low-budget or very high-budget, and the mid-budget film has all but disappeared. This offered an opportunity to provide a mid-budget-looking film, without the struggles for financing. It’s possible, though, that Edwards’ next film (The Creator) will take advantage of his previous work, and the studios will produce some new IP without the $200M risk that’s usually associated.Pacific Rim had a terrible plot but it didn’t matter because the mechs were so cool. Plus it had Ron Perlman in it.
“It had Ron Perlman in it” is the bets selling point for any movie/tv show. During the Beauty & The Beast TV craze they made an album of him as his Vincent character reading friggin poetry, and it works!!!
Pacific Rim also makes great use of its aspect ratio, to make the mechs and monster look HUGE.
Definitely!
Thanks for your suggestion!
Equilibrium
Oblivion
Triangle
Silent Running (1972) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running
Macross Plus (was originally a mini series). It reflects a lot about our current times and the possible future to come. Has some amazing dog-fights, plot twists and some of the best music around.
SSS tier.
Runner up: Patlabor 1. A masterpiece in many ways.
A tier
Original Tron. It was the matrix before the Matrix (watch one before the other for extra fun). Again,really reflects the current times and possible future to come.
Pacific Rim made me think of Ron Perlman who was in Ice Pirates. It had an interesting premise and I would have loved to see more of that universe. I mean, it had space herpes!
The Road to Wellville (1994)
https://imdb.com/title/tt0111001/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_road%2520to%2520well
It’s a historical farce about Dr. John Harvey Kellog (brother to the cereal mogul) and his bizarre obsession with health. Ridiculous cast for it’s time, including Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, and Chief Miles O’Brien (or Colm Meany, if you will).
Gattaca (1997) - Sure it has a relatively high IMDB score but no one I know has seen it and I always recommend it when I can.
The Green Hornet with Seth Rogan was fucking hilarious and everyone hates it for some reason.
It’s one of my favourite movies.
It Happened One Night (1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Doubt many here have seen it just simply due to its age, but I always find myself recommending it. It was appreciated at the time – won Best Picture in 1935 – but likely isn’t well known today outside of film circles and history groups.
Pretty much the template for every
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“a man and a woman thrown into a situation where each has a secret and aren’t too fond of each other at first but end up falling in love anyway”
movie that’s come after it.
Still holds up very well, in my opinion, and avoids a lot of the pacing issues that some movies from that era really suffer from. I watch it once every few months.
Do note that, being made in the 30s, there are social and racial things that are wildly different than today. Very much like watching Pepe Le Pew or Speedy Gonzalez cartoons today.
The Jacket (2005)
It’s a mindbendy mystery thriller with some great performances. A bit like Memento or Inception but without Nolan’s focus on the gimmicks.
Virtuosity - Denzel Washington is a former cop chasing a rogue psychotic AI played by Russel Crowe. Awesome movie.
I watched this on HBO all the time as a kid. It’s ridiculous in hindsight but kid me ate up Sid 6.0’s craziness.
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