Perfect Films - Do they Exist? (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel Goldfinger is a little before my time and I've always wondered what the response was to the film in the media and culture at large.

Even though it was the 3rd Bond film, it was the first big hit. You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing the theme song, water cooler conversations were fascinated with the opening credits, Bond taking off his wetsuit to expose a tux was big, everything about it was big. That summer after Goldfinger was released, a double bill of the first two films were released with the tag line "James Bond is Back-to-Back." If there had been an internet with discussion forums then, it would have been THE film to discuss.


Now back to the thread, sorry.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I think BEN-HUR (1959) is a perfect film.


ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) is also pretty close.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Thanks for the insight, Johnny. Re: Goldfinger.


- Walter.

 

[Michael Elliott]

There are no perfect films because every movie ever made at least has some sort of flaw in it. Every title mentioned in this thread could be voted down by someone. To me, the only way something could be called perfect is if people agreed that it was a perfect movie and that's never going to happen. People mention THE GODFATHER but some would eliminate this title since most think the sequel was better. BEN HUR was mentioned but some might scratch this off simply because it wasn't an original idea. THE SHINING is one of my favorite movies but there are countless flaws in the picture that would keep it from being perfect. Even CITIZEN KANE has flaws and some might attack it from ripping an earlier movie (I wouldn't go that far though).

If we just started throwing out titles here then anyone could give a reason as to why it's not perfect. Could be a technical flaw, a poor decision by the director, a questionable edit or whatever else.

Re: GOLDFINGER


It seems only one person gave that movie a thumbs down in that thread so I'm not sure why someone would shake their head and walk away.

 

[Steve Christou]

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott



Now it doesn't have to be the "perfect" film, best of their kind is good enough. And that's where I'd place - The Godfather, The Exorcist, 2001, Goldfinger, Ben-Hur, Singin' in the Rain, Duck Soup, Die Hard, Dawn of the Dead (78), Fantasia, Akira, Blade Runner etc etc

 

[Henry Gale]

Did I skim too quickly, or have NONE of you ever seen "To Kill A Mockingbird"?


Gee, it was just in all the papers too.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

There are no perfect films because every movie ever made at least has some sort of flaw in it. Every title mentioned in this thread could be voted down by someone. To me, the only way something could be called perfect is if people agreed that it was a perfect movie and that's never going to happen. People mention THE GODFATHER but some would eliminate this title since most think the sequel was better. BEN HUR was mentioned but some might scratch this off simply because it wasn't an original idea.

Well, I don't think things like "the sequel was better" or "it wasn't an original idea" are necessarily "flaws". A film can still be perfect in my view despite those two details you mentioned. In the case of BEN HUR, maybe a more applicable "flaw" would be that the sea battle looks kind of fake and the ships like toy boats. Still, I largely think a "flaw" is a matter of personal opinion anyway.

 

[Brett_M]

Perfect to me:


The Empire Strikes Back

Hoosiers

The Hunt for Red October

The Insider

All the President's Men

The Shawshank Redemption

Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World

Aliens


I find all of these gripping -- great performances, direction, music. Satisfying like comfort food -- rewatch value all the way.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I don't know how a film could be "perfect," but there are certain films where, when the credits roll, I'm physically affected by how much I enjoyed it. In the past decade, there have been only a handful of films that hit me that way. Some of them are:

 

Apocalypto

The Dark Knight

Millennium Actress

Gone Baby Gone

 

And maybe Letters from Iwo Jima or Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War. Pixar films consistently come very, very close.

 

[mattCR]

I think sometimes "Perfect" has to be crossed with: a film so indisputably good that you're hard pressed to find someone who hates it.

 

But these are the films I consider as close to perfect as possible.

 

Pixar's "Up"

Toy Story 2

Godfather II

North By Northwest

Rear Window

The Wizard of Oz

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

12 Angry Men

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Raging Bull

Empire Strikes Back

Amadeus

Wings of Desire

 

But "Close to perfect" isn't the same as my top ten. Their are lots of films on this list I consider as perfect as possible, but I wouldn't put in my top ten because while I find faults with some films in my top10, I enjoy the experience more.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by Dave B Ferris

I think one of the reasons 'Le Samourai' is perfect, or near-perfect, is the way in which the film can be watched virtually without dialog. In fact, as many critics have pointed out, there is very little dialog in the film. The famous chase sequence in the Metro is dialog-free.

Loved the boiled egg scene, but as much as I love Melville (and I do love Melville) this one is not nearly as good as Bob Le Flambeur or Army of Shadows. I agree that movies that work well without dialogue are signs of first rate filmmaking (Alfred Hitchcock!), but dialogue is no barrier to perfection.

 

My nominee for perfect film Sullivan's Travels (dir. Preston Sturges, 1941) -- I can't imagine changing a single frame. Anyone who hasn't seen it, grab that Criterion Collection DVD ASAP! I also picked it ahead of many other great movies because IMO perfection in comedy is much harder than drama. AnNd a perfect movie about movies is harder still.

 

Some movies mentioned above like The Hunt for Red October and All the President's Men are compulsively watchable and rewatchable but lets not get carried away. Rear Window certainly is perfect, by why it and not Vertigo or The 39 Steps or... Hitchcock is his own worst enemy here -- he's made too many perfect films -- how do we choose one?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I can't believe no one in this thread has mentioned Casablanca. Citizen Kane always winds up at or near the top of the critics' list of greatest films, but Casablanca regularly polls as one of the all-time-favorite films of the general public when a broad sample is used. It has romance, action, comedy, nobel heroes, evil Nazis, intrigue, an exotic locale, Bogart at his tough-guy with a heart-of-gold best, Bergman at her most luminously beautiful and a great cast of supporting players. Paul Heinreid's freedom fighter is a bit of a dud, but the rest of the film more than makes up for him. Compulsively watchable, endless quotable and wonderfully crafted, Casablanca belongs on any list of perfect or near-perfect films.
 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I certainly would've mentioned Casablanca if I'd seen it for the first time in the past decade, but I could've sat here all day trying to think of every near-perfect film I've *ever* seen.

 

Ted, Sullivan's Travels is a real classic, but it suffers from one huge, glaring flaw: the idea that anyone would believe that Veronica Lake was a boy!

 

[Audioman321]

good thread , i like it .

 

[Richard--W]

Many of Ingmar Bergman's Swedish films, beginning The Seventh Seal in 1957 are perfect.

There's no doubt in my mind that Winter Light (1962) and Persona (1966) are perfect cinema.

 

Two of Josef Von Sternberg's collaborations with Dietrich, Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus (both 1932) seem perfect to me.
 

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I don't believe that there is such a thing as a perfect film, but for me the film that comes closest to being a perfect film is Chinatown.

 

Doug

What prevents Chinatown from being perfect?

 

The film doesn't explain who gave the love-nest photos to the newspaper.

Jake says he didn't do it and I believe him because when lies elsewhere he admits to it afterward.

We see the love-nest photos in Ida Sessions apartment when Jake discovers her body, but that doesn't mean she gave them to the newspaper.

And who gave them to her?

 

Other than that, Chinatown is perfect.

Possibly you were thinking of some other reason.

 

[robbbb1138]

Perfection is an evolutionary concept. What could have been seen as perfect when it was initially released can easily become dated, so there are several movies that I would have described as perfect when I first saw them in the year of their release. Which movies hold up as perfect that are at least 10 years old? The quickest ones that come to mind for me are Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Toy Story, Empire Strikes Back, and Alien.

 

[jt19006]

I agree with quite a few of the aforementioned films (Citizen Kane, Casablanca) and vehemently disagree with others (Empire Strikes Back? C'mon!). For a film to be considered perfect every performance, every line of dialogue, every shot, every costume, every musical cue...every detail of every aspect of the production has to be perfect. I'd like to add two films for your consideration...

 

The Adventures of Robin Hood

 

The Sting

 

 

[JonZ]

The Godfather part2

Ikiru

 

 

If not for James Caan's missed punch I'd say The Godfather also.

 

[Steve Christou]

 

[Mike Frezon]

Perfect gams, to be sure.