@synth_cinema: Top 400 Movies...Ever! Countdown: 50 to 1

Search

Top 400 Movies...Ever! Countdown: 50 to 1

350 to 301

300 to 251

250 to 201

200 to 151

150 to 101

100 to 51

50 Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

The ultimate Ray Harryhausen creature feature. The children of the Hydra's teeth sequence is still a mesmerising piece of work and Talos the bronze colossus feels weighty and intimidating. There are also plenty of great period actors make it fun when the creature effects are taking the back seat, with Nigel Green as Hercules and Gary Raymond as Acastus. The Hydra itself always felt like a bit of a let down instead of a main event as they rush to the the skeleton battle finale, but it's still crazy to think how they got it moving at all. Another classic Bernard Hermann score adds a nice adventuring atmosphere to everything - it doesn't get much better.

49 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Bringing back back Nicholas Meyer (who contributed a lot of what works in parts II and IV) was a great movie and he adds a lot of wit and humour to this story of political intrigue and murder mystery. They even throw in some courtroom drama and a prison break for good measure. David's death in the third instalment never really worked as it wasn't earned but they even manage to get a good arc for Captain Kirk out of it here. Christopher Plummer might overdo it a little as General Chang but it fits with the tone and even David Warner gets to do something memorable after a bit part in part V. It fixes plenty of earlier issues and provides a fitting send off.

48 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)


Mixing both the oldschool magic of Yuen-Wo Ping and some nice character drama and depth, this is a best of both worlds kind of deal where emotional heft meets martial arts magic. The rebel Zhang Ziyi and the regretful heroes Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat have a lot of good moments, but it helps that the tea house fight and the courtyard sword duel are incredibly well done. Even if you're not a fan of the kind of over the top wire work that Wuxia films have in them it's got a lot of appeal beyond the action choreography, and stands as an example of balancing it all just right.

47 Porco Rosso (1992)

46 Being John Malkovich (1992)

45 Total Recall (1990)

One last hurrah for over the top 1980s ultra violence, and one of Arnold's last truly great releases before T2 and the descent into self parody. Ronny Cox may just be doing his Robocop bad guy act all over again, but then why not? Overflowing with eye popping (ha ha) special effects, giant squibs, stupid dialogue and all round Paul Verhoeven style madness, it might not capture the tone of the source material but it exists on its own plane of reality.

44 Rear Window (1954)

43 The French Connection (1971)

42 Jurassic Park (1993)

A bloodsucking lawyer is eaten by a dinosaur whilst sat on a toilet - what more can you ask for. Some of the flaws are very apparent towards the end as the embarrassing "hacker" stuff gets shoehorned in, but this is still a superior blend of thriller and visual effects material for the most part. There are also more great practical monster moments than people seem to remember. The characters are really what make this work and while Jeff Goldblum often steals the show and the dry exchanges between Dr. Grant and Dr. Malcolm are still great, every involved gets a few moments to shine.

41 Spirited Away (2001)

40 El Cid (1961)


'Can a man live without honour?'

39 Ghostbusters (1984)

38 Escape From New York (1981)

'If you get back in that glider and fly back here without the tape or the President, I'll shoot you down myself. You try to climb out, I'll burn you off the wall!'

37 Poltergeist (1982)

36 Alien (1979)

As discussed in the Aliens review, this is a fine example of how to turn around a cheap b-movie script and produce something special. The naturalistic dialogue, the middle aged characters and the great production design come together in creating a wonderfully atmospheric chiller like nothing else. They show a little too much of the creature costume and its limitations for my liking (in particular the airlock finale and that scene where it seems to be doing a little dance) but otherwise it's an exceptional job by the masters Giger and Rambaldi. My opinion of this being the superior film changes all the time, but at this point in the rankings it's all pretty even anyway.

35 Princess Mononoke (1997)

34 House (Hausu) (1977)

(Part of the Horror-thon)

33 The Killer (1989)

Sure it's no Hard Boiled and the references to Melville are worn on its sleeve, and yes the melodrama goes a little too far towards the end... but I am hard pressed to think of many other films in its league when it comes to hitman stories or guns blazing action features. It may even be style over substance in a few places... but what style. The usual heroic bloodshed themes about brother hood and honour are used well as the line between cop and assassin becomes blurred.

32 Big Trouble In Little in Little China (1986)

'Are you crazy, is that your problem?'

31 Drunken Master (1979)

Jackie Chan's breakout role (alongside the less memorable Snake in the Eagle's Shadow) his work while on loan to Seasonal Films after struggling to get a hit under Fist of Fury director Lo Wei would be the big break he had been looking for in a post Bruce Lee world. Opting for comedy instead of angst, his unconventional version of folk hero Wong Fei-hung is a lot of fun alongside Yuen Woo-Ping's father as Beggar So. While the stunts would become more sophisticated during the 1980s this still has plenty of good set pieces and sense of humour.

30 Amélie (2001)

29 Predator (1987)

Hardly high art but in its own way it stands out as a well oiled machine, mixing the best of '80s horror and action spectacle. It's remembered for the ham and cheese script and talked about less just as a film, but the uses of great comic panel-esque shots, the editing, and great score all combine make for a great jungle adventure. The plot is simple but effective, offering plenty of thrills as the hunter versus hunted idea is flipped several times. It's an engaging dynamic that keeps things moving all the way to the end. The cast (with some almost good acting from Arnie) and the classic Stan Winston designs help of course.

28 Memento (2000)

'Oh I'm chasing this guy. No... he's chasing me.'

Christopher Nolan's first big break is still his best work, with an inventive structure he often returns to and a lot of character that he probably should revisit. The three leads have rarely been better and it's a shame that Guy Pearce is probably the only one of them to have stayed visible in recent years. The darkness of the plot is balance against a dry sense of humour ('I don't ...feel drunk') and as a result it's a film that's always interesting to re-watch.

27 The Invisible Man (1933)

(Retrospective)

26 The Empire Strikes Back

25 Ikiru (1952)

24 Suspiria (1977)

(Retrospective)

23 E.T. (1982)

22 The Godfather (1972)

'Son of a bitch! Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene!'

21 Star Wars (1977)

20 Jaws (1975)

(Retrospective)

19 Time Bandits (1981)

(Retrospective)


18 Goodfellas (1990)

17 Léon (The Professional) (1994)

16 The Thing (1982)

'Cheating bitch.'

Forget Halloween, this is the perfect marriage of John Carpenter and horror. The repulsive special effects, the two note score, the cast of middle aged kooks - and Kurt Russell's best beard and hat combo. It's a flawless creature feature that tops Alien in the Ten Little Indians plot department for suspense alone. The sense of suffocating dread is all engrossing as crew of Outpost 31 are slowing absorbed... or digested... by an indescribable creature from space. (Halloween Special)

15 Akira (1988)

Translating an epic six books of manga into a workable movie should have proven impossible, but creator Katsuhiro Otomo succeeds and in the process creates a vivid eye popping vision of Neo Tokyo. By re-editing and cutting down the original events into a tighter narrative the results are still impressive today despite a lot of side characters and story arcs being left aside. The animation is fluid with a full twenty-four frames being used, and the colour pallet is even expanded beyond the usual anime standards to realise a full on explosion of ESP, biker gang wars and body horror. The primal mix of vocals and percussion in the soundtrack are just icing on the cake.

14 Psycho (1960)

(Retrospective)

13 Police Story (1985)

(Retrospective)

12 Enter the Dragon (1973)

 
(Retrospective)

11 Where Eagles Dare (1968)

The definitive comic war caper. You know instantly that this is a classic as the blood red Germanic type face hits the screen and the full on brass of Ron Goodwin's best theme starts to play. Hundreds of useless cannon fodder enemies are shot, stabbed and exploded, plenty of scenery is chewed for good measure, and Richard Burton reels off a few good double agent ploys to keep everyone guessing in a story full of spies, assassins and TNT. Clint Eastwood doesn't exactly have a lot to do, but it's good to have him along for the ride all the same. Travelling by cable car has never been the same since.

10 Back to the Future (1985)

'What happens to us in the future? Do we become assholes or something?'

9 The Terminator (1984)

8 Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Guillermo Del Toro's finest work combines the horrors of fascist Spain with some of the most beautiful fantasy designs ever put to screen. It delivers a rich story full of contrasting real life and make believe moments as the grit of the wartime reality collides with the surreal nature a fairy tale, with each competing to be more grotesque than the other.

7 Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Satoshi Kon has always been known for strange and unsettling animated features like Perfect Blue and Paprika, but this is the one in which the real human drama hits the hardest. The quirky elements aren still present but the characters are more central to to story. Rather than avoiding the kind of coincidences which are  a distraction in many narratives, this tale of three mismatched friends living on the streets of Japan is almost built upon them with one weird situation leading to the next. Initially it seems like a simple case of this outcast trio reuniting an abandoned child with its mother as they find the typical Christmas miracle, but things progress without cliché and it balances the darker moments with those of sweetness.

6 The Good the Bad and the Ugly (retrospective)

5 Hard Boiled (retrospective)


4 Terminator 2 (retrospective)

3 Aliens (retrospective)
 

2 Robocop (retrospective)

1...

http://synth-cinema.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/weekend-retrospective-top-men.html