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Ask HN: What's the "best" movie you've ever seen?

by codingclaws on 10/10/24, 9:30 PM with 27 comments

Someone recently asked what's the best book you've ever read. I thought I would ask the same question but movies instead.

by nicbou on 10/10/24, 10:33 PM
The Wind Rises. I love everything about it. Beautiful soundtrack, fun sound design, and a fascinating treatment of various topics from the ethics of engineering to the miracle of flight. The end scene completely wrecks me every time.
The Downfall is one of the best movies about being on the losing side of a war. It’s impressively accurate, and the acting is outstanding.
When I don’t know who I’m watching the movie with, I recommend Snatch or Amélie.

by sandreas on 10/11/24, 4:26 PM

Pretty much in this order

  The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  Pride and Prejudice (2005)
  Second hand lions (2003)
  Hidden Figures (2016)
  Angel-A (2005)
  Warrior (2011)
  Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
  Spy Game (2001)
  Drive (2011)
  V for Vendetta (2005)
  Lost in Translation (2003)
  Into the Wild (2007)
  The Big Lebowski (1998)

by Doctor-R on 10/10/24, 11:40 PM
2001: a Space Odyssey. I saw it in the theater in 70mm when it was released in 1968. It totally blew me away. A majestic vision of the future. Thirty three years from now (1968) there was going to be all this marvelous stuff: Pan Am space craft going to a huge rotating space station to a round globe ship to a moon with several lunar bases. And a talking intelligent computer! Cool space suits! Video telephones!
Remember, this was before the first moon landing in 1969. There were Apollo flights happening, like Apollo 8 that orbited the moon in December 1968. There was a strong commitment to advancing space flight.
In 1968, the movie presented things that could actually happen, by the year 2001. Much more like a bunch of product announcements rather than science fiction (long ago in a galaxy far, far away).
by anenefan on 10/12/24, 1:04 PM
Well adding to the above list of what could be considered stand out movies, these below are some I really enjoyed / admired -- in no particular order.
Dark City
Ice Planet (2001)
The Green Mile
Mortadelo & Filemon: The Big Adventure
Flodder 3
Gettin' Square
Midnight Run
The Accountant
Slipstream (2005)
To Kill a Mockingbird
North by Northwest
In the Heat of the Night
What the Deaf Man Heard
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Short film - Forklift Driver Klaus – The First Day on the Job
by newaccount74 on 10/10/24, 9:59 PM
Children of Men (2006)
The mysterious story draws you in, and the epic takes make you forget that nothing makes sense.
by 7373737373 on 10/11/24, 12:06 PM
I can't decide either so here are some top ones: Drama: The Social Network/The Big Short, Sci-fi: Dune I/II, History: Downfall, Comedy: Yesterday, Fantasy: Lord of the Rings trilogy, Action: Inception
by thorin on 10/11/24, 11:27 AM
One of the 1st adult films I enjoyed: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Beautiful pacing, acting, multi-layered.
The Conversation is well worth watching for someone interested in surveillance and paranoia.
by ActorNightly on 10/11/24, 2:46 AM
Not movie, but Mr Robot is the gold standard when it comes to film making. It is by far the best piece of produced that humanity has ever done.
by sam29681749 on 10/11/24, 1:58 AM
Love Exposure made me the man I am today.
by kadushka on 10/13/24, 1:54 AM
Looking at the comments here, you can just randomly pick any 8+ rated movies on IMDB.
by geenkeuse on 10/10/24, 10:22 PM
Top 5 Classics
V for Vendetta, Fight Club,Phonebooth, Idiocracy, Holy Motors
Newer Stuff I liked recently
Fresh, Blink Twice
Both have real Psycho vibes, with a bit of a twist.
by bdz on 10/10/24, 10:28 PM
Tokyo Story (1953)
Nemā-ye nazdīk [Close-up] (1990)
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Kimi no Na wa. (2016)
by tocs3 on 10/10/24, 11:06 PM
Breaking Away was pretty infuential. "Best", as I am sure is hard to define.
by elpocko on 10/10/24, 10:14 PM
Some movies in various genres that I like:
* Everything Everywhere All At Once
* The Matrix
* Fight Club
* Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
* Pulp Fiction
* Shutter Island
* Inception
It's hard to pick one "best" movie.
by billybuckwheat on 10/10/24, 10:49 PM
Can't pin it down to one, so here are some of them:
* Solaris
* Tokyo Story
* Rashomon
* Apocalypse Now
* Doctor Strangelove
* Band of Outsiders
* Grand Illusion
* Metropolis
* Repo Man
by Crier1002 on 10/11/24, 6:07 AM
over the past few years: Dune Part I/II. I love the story telling, the visuals, the character building, the intensity etc.
by nataliste on 10/11/24, 7:27 PM
* Network (1976)
* Groundhog Day (1993)
* A Man for All Seasons (1966)
* Apocalypto (2006)
by fragmede on 10/11/24, 11:38 AM
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
by undopamine on 10/17/24, 3:19 PM
The Prestige
by lucozade on 10/11/24, 3:45 PM
In no particular order:
12 Angry Men
Princess Bride
Shawshank Redemption
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
My Cousin Vinnie
by Zeetah on 10/11/24, 5:11 AM
Gataca, Fifth element, Memento
by jjgreen on 10/10/24, 9:52 PM
The Silence, Bergman.
by rogerkirkness on 10/11/24, 1:01 AM
Casablanca
by tomohawk on 10/10/24, 10:21 PM
Brazil
The Princess Bride
by aristofun on 10/11/24, 1:14 PM
Most of shwarzenegger starred films.
Most of Zemekis works.
Early Cameron works.
Some Tim Burton’s works.
Leon
Etc. etc.