5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
I love The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy about adventure, sacrifice, and heroism is one of the few truly great works of popular fiction. And Peter Jackson adapted it to the big screen with the visual flair and epic scope that it needed.
I am not going to explain all too much about the film, because that would require telling you non-LOTR fans about Hobbits and all the races and I do not wish to do that. Just know that it is filled with some great characters and some truly good performances, notably Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf.
The film is about three hours, so needless to say, some might be turned off by it. But inn terms of how it tells its story, it is truly engaging. The costumes, sets, visual effects, makeup, and musical score are all some of the best in the history of film. In addition to this, the action scenes are wonderful, notably the troll scene in Moria.
But this isn’t so much an action film as it is an adventure film. It’s about bringing you into the fantasy world that Tolkien created over a span of decades, and it is perfect in that sense.
4. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (1966)
This has been (correctly) said by Quentin Tarantino to be the best directed movie ever made. I know what he means by that. Its combination of close-ups and wide shots of sweeping landscapes are able to tell you so much in the area of emotions, character, and a sense of adventure.
It introduces its three characters perfectly, and they’re all great characters played by excellent actors. Clint Eastwood is Blondie, the Good; Lee Van Cleef is Angel Eyes, the Bad; and Eli Wallach is Tuco, the Ugly. From the beginning of the film, you know these three characters are destined to collide in the most epic way possible.
Of course, the movie is not pointless before the final confrontation. There are a bunch of wonderful moments and lines of dialogue. The film even takes the time to create an anti-war message.
I argue that the film’s final forty-five minutes or so are the finest forty-five minutes ever put on film. There’s a wonderful battle on a bridge over a river, one of the more thematically strong moments in the film. And then Tuco makes his way to the cemetery and is met by the other two. The Mexican standoff in Sad Hill Cemetery is the greatest scene in the history of film. It’s so tense and it’s been built up to the entire film; it doesn’t disappoint one bit. Also the music, while being great the entire film, is absolutely outstanding here.
3. Field of Dreams (1989)
I argue that the best sports films extend beyond their sports and this one certainly does. This baseball film manages to be one of the most poignant film about father-son relationships I’ve ever seen. It’s sentimental and emotional but never overly so. And as all great baseball films do, it points out why I love the game so much.
Kevin Costner plays a typical Iowan farmer who hears a voice telling him “If you build it, he will come.” After seeing visions of Shoeless Joe Jackson, he decides to build a baseball field. Eventually he meets Jackson, played by Ray Liotta, in a wonderful scene. He then hears more orders from the voice.
Despite the building of the baseball field putting his family in significant financial troubles, he decides to set out to Boston and meet a JD Salinger-like author, Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones), one of the film’s many strong characters. Their journey also takes them to meet an elderly doctor who played baseball a long time ago, played by Burt Lancaster.
This movie is outstanding. The ending scene leaves me with tears in my eyes every time. No other film has portrayed the theme of following your dreams so well.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
If you know me well, you knew this would be up there. This movie never ceases to amaze me. The music and the visuals are so astounding, that since film is a visual art, one could easily make the case that this is the greatest movie ever made. Adding the fact that the film goes about finding an answer to the meaning of life, this argument is made all the more stronger.
It’s a movie primarily about evolution and man versus machine. The first twenty minutes or so, with no dialogue, shows a tribe of apes who are subject to the dangers of big cats and other tribes. Then they discover a strange black column and shortly after, one of the apes discovers that he can use a bone as a tool. The tribe is able to kill animals to hunt and fight off other tribes to maintain their home and in the most famous jump-cut in history, the bone becomes a spaceship after it is thrown into the air.
A column has been discovered on the Moon, and another one out by Jupiter. Men are sent to investigate without full knowledge of what their mission is, being controlled by a computer, HAL 9000. This is such a great thematic message, showing that man creates machine and that eventually machine controls man, only for man to barely overcome and become a god. It’s strange, sure, and it’s quite abstract, but the visuals and ideas are greater than any other film.
This is a film you need to see more than once. It’s slow-moving and quite strange. If it were to be released today, it would certainly be called an art film. But then again, so was Drive, and that was one of the most entertaining films of the year. I don’t want to say a whole lot more about the movie because it really needs to be seen.
1. Jurassic Park (1993)
I have always loved this movie. I grew up with it; it represents my childhood perhaps better than anything else. In addition to that, this is a relentlessly entertaining picture, with a strong story of man versus technology and special effects that make for some of the best action ever.
The opening scene draws you in, working much like the opening scene to Jaws. And after that, it’s some character introductions followed by a trip to Isla Nublar and Jurassic Park. I love the wonder this film is able to encapsulate with the first sight of living dinosaurs. And on top of that, this was the first time realistic dinosaurs were ever in a film, so it really makes sense.
The first half of the film relies mostly on wonder and slow-building tension. Once the dinosaurs are set free, it’s quite thrilling. The scenes with the t-rex and then the velociraptors in the kitchen are two of my favorite scenes of all time.
I love virtually every scene in this movie. The action scenes are all outstanding and even a lot of the expository dialogue scenes are quite good, thanks a lot to Jeff Goldblum’s performance as Ian Malcolm.
This movie is certainly worth watching. It’s been overshadowed by more recent blockbusters with more special effects and stuff, but I’d take this any day over Inception or Avatar because of the story.
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