The Best Movie Of All Time

We've discussed this as really being a personal best movie and it's often possible to select one but a list of ten would be revealing. That's an interestingly diverse three movies, for sure. Which of the three LOTR movies do you think was the best?

As wiz said, our views change.
My favorite right now is DANCING WITH WOLVES
followed by DINNER WITH ANDRE then
GET SHORTY.
Im so transparent

I like the first LoTR best out of the three, the pace at which the plot is moving forward, the suspense and the tension it gives you, the refreshing scenes.

I think the LOTR 2 and 3 have tooo many "fillers", and the way they fight is a bit,um....trite and corny, don't ya think?

No, I found the battle scenes quite faithful to the books but if one has been over-saturated with, for instance, sword-and-sandal epics that are less than mediocre I could see where they'd be jaded. In fact, there are no "fillers" in II or III but a lot of material left out that was in the books. Nearly all complaints are that there wasn't enough of the more contemplative, character building sections of the book in the movies. The extended versions somewhat corrected that. The books do not fly along at such a kinetic pace as the movies and for some are a difficult read.

I've seen the books but I addmit I haven't read them, they're too thick to me. Oh, yes , I sure think the the novels can be better developed
into a very long TV series. Maybe as you said there wasn't enough time for the character/plot building , by fillers I mean I found some scences,um......took too long, and some scenes finished too quick..... I think it's just personal preference, I don't like swords-fighting secenes get too much or too long ....

Tolkien managed to hide the fact that the plot is actually highly simplistic which is easy for anyone of any age to follow. It's the sub-plots and especially the story of the Riders of Rohan in "The Two Towers" that was condensed into a series of scenes that seemed to blur by in a flash. I think the films were intended almost primarilly for those who read the book and enjoy Jackson's personal interpretation into a cinematic form. I've said it before, but the effort should be judged as a whole -- in other words, an over 12 hour movie. When watched in sequence (as I did with a group, albeit over three days) in their extended version, the movies are 100% more effective. Curious that you would point out the lengthy sword fights when the longest one was in "Fellowship" at the end of the movie.

Longest one was in Fellowship?! I guess I forgot(early onset demnentia)........................

Anyways, the first installment is still my favorite.....

I've been unable to pick out one favorite although I remember when reading the books that when I got to the end, I was sad that the experience was going to be over. Seeing the first installment, I got the same feeling. I love these characters and their personal stories and I realized this too will come to an end in "The Return of the King." Critics, especially those who haven't read the books, rated the final film as the best of the three. Sam and Gollum nearly walked away with the show but the recreation of the enormous battle sequences were the most spectacular ever filmed -- even "Troy" paled in comparison.

".....when I got to the end, I was sad that the experience was coming going to be over."

Yeah, I know that kind of feeling, which a good film or a good book gives you in the end, always.

".......the recreation of the enormous battle sequences were the most spectacular ever filmed -- even "Troy" paled in comparison."

I agree totally, and that makes me avoid watching any ancient battle film after LOTR for a long time until now because I know they just can't compare....

I didnt really care for the battle in LOTR 3because I couldnt get over the art problems. The background mountains were mat painted and the action was CGI and they didnt blend for me. Theres gotta be a nother generational jump made with this stuff ,

My favorite battle scene in movies was the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor in Tora Tora Tora. It was like a true documentary and so, didnt leave one criticizing the effe ts like "Pearl Harbor" that immense POS with the cartoon bomb hitting the Arizona.

Of course , if it werent for the crappy music , the old Harryhousen stop action battles in" Jason... insert number here..." were always fun.

I have to give "Saving Private Ryan", "The longest Day" and "Patton" some kudos for battles

The greatest fistfight in a movie has gotta be "The quiet Man"

Best battle scenes? Braveheart, Braveheart, Braveheart! Those were unbelievable! That **** was intense.

there ya go, guys in drag shootin moons.

The background mountains were actually not matte paintings in the usual sense (painted on glass with openings for blue screen) but were John Howe created art that was scanned into the computer and I didn't see the same problem with juxtaposition. As Pearl Harbor is a real event and this was a fantasy film, I don't see the correlation.

You realize that "Jason and the Argonauts" was scored by Bernard Hermann, the great Hitchcock film composer? Disagree there completely.

"Braveheart"'s battles may have been intense but historically there were as inaccurate as ****.

I hate to just repeat what's already been said (on page one at that), but in reading this thread, all I keep thinking is that for any single movie, there's another five or ten that are just as good. That is, for every It's A Wonderful Life, there's a Gone With the Wind and Wizard Of Oz; for every Platoon, there's a Glory and Full Metal Jacket.

It's all about genre & era. Picking one is literally impossible.

Here are some of the best (modern takes of) battle scenes:

Band of Brothers: Episodes 2-7
Full Metal Jacket: Depiction of the Tet Offensive, Search for the Sniper
Platoon: Last battle scene (before Charlie Sheen takes out Barnes)
The Longest Day: the entire movie!
The Finest Hour: the last operation

Please include any others that you may like. I am trying to make a definitive list. :wink:

Again, excepting that "Band of Brothers" is a TV miniseries.

I was impressed by "Full Metal Jacket" for it's first part but not as impressed with the final parts of the film.

I think "The Finest Hour" was also a TV movie?

all kubrick movies plus a hundred thousand others....but war movies, I'd say braveheart, bridge over the river kwai, longest day, and apocalypse now redux

There is a thread specifically on war movies as this is a thread on the best movie of all time which is more like a favorite movie of all time.