Top ten movies for the home collection (1 Viewer)

[Eric_L]

I am curious what ten movies everyone here rates as the most important/best that every home theater should have. Please list what ten you feel should be in everyone's collection. Go ahead and include a description of why if you want. I'll try to take a summary after a while to see what ten are the most common mentioned for a collective report of the HTF 'top ten'. Include ones you think they are a good movie - or that show off your system nicely or whatever other justification you think is a priority - it is YOUR list. Just share what you would tell someone should be the first ten movies they should buy, or what you would keep if you were only allowed to keep ten, or what you would uyse as the core 10 movies to start a collection...

Here is my 'top ten' in no particular order;


Shrek
Matrix - first
Star Wars IV - ok - too easy, but still..
X-Men 1
Lord of the Rings Trilogy - extended
Meet the Fokkers - I am still laughing!
Enchanted
Stardust
Braveheart
Forest Gump
Little Shop of Horrors

OK, that's 11 - that's my privilege for being the thread author! Besides - I just added Shop of Horrors because I doubt anyone else will but it is my favorite musical ever and a very underrated movie. In fact - maybe after this thread runs it's course I'll start a 'top 10 most underrated movies' so we can give a nod to movies like Shop of Horrors and Dark World. In fact - you can count on it. I would remove Little Shop from this list and save it for the underrated list, but then this paragraph would not make any sense - so it stays by default.

An honorable mention goes out to Men in Black II for having an AWESOME intro to the movie that shows off your system very nicely. Also a nod to Across the Universe which - although is quite boring - has splendid surround music and stunning video effects. If only it had a plot deeper than a five minute music video that has been stretched out for three hours...

 

[Ockeghem]

I don't know if I can answer this according to the criteria, but I'll try. The titles constitute more of what I might call my favorites list, rather than a list I think every home theater ought to have. It's more in line with this part: "... or what you would keep if you were only allowed to keep ten."

1) The 400 Blows
2) 2001: A Space Odyssey
3) Vertigo / The Thirty-Nine Steps (either)
4) Jules and Jim
5) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner / To Sir With Love (either)
6) Small Change
7) The Andromeda Strain
8) A Hard Day's Night
9) Psycho / Notorious (either)
10) Shoot the Piano Player
10b) Night Of the Living Dead (1968 version)

Honorable mention: Strangers On a Train and The Story of Adele H.

 

[Carl Miller]

Godfather (belongs in every collection)
Saving Private Ryen (the sound of this movie got me into HT)
U-571 (love the explosions)
Casino Royale (great sound on blu-ray)
Wall-E
Chicken Run (ok movie, awesome surround sound)
Die Hard
Shawshank Redemption
Any of the Bourne franchise
Finding Nemo (makes me laugh every time, and I don't know why)

 

[Hanson]

1) Godfather. Do not pass, go, do not collect $200. The best movie EVAR.
2) The Matrix
3) Pulp Fiction
4) Goodfellas
5) A Bug's Life (or pretty much any other Pixar movie, but ABL is my absolute favorite)
6) Silence of the Lambs
7) Terminator 2
8) Raising Arizona (is it true that there isn't anything better than the non-anamorphic version?)
9) Ran
10) A Fish Called Wanda

The next 10 in no particular order would be The Fifth Element, Kung Fu Hustle, Die Hard, Star Wars (toss up between episode 4 & 5), 300 (or Sin City), Annie Hall, It's a Wonderful Life, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Miller's Crossing, and LOTR (TT or ROTK, FOTR is really slow and almost turned me off the franchise).

Kind of surprised by the lack of Euro cinema. Nothing came to me. I was surprised by the lack of comedies on the list. I think it's because I tend to like comedies that other people consider junk. In no particular order, my top ten critically drubbed comedies:

1) Tommy Boy
2) Idle Hands
3) My Blue Heaven
4) The Waterboy
5) Dumb & Dumber
6) Talladega Nights (or Anchorman)
7) Kingpin
8) Bad Santa
9) The Man With Two Brains
10) Half-Baked

And not technically a movie, but every home should have Planet Earth.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I'm shocked by some choices here. Anyway...

The Godfather (my favorite movie ever)
Godfather 2
Goodfellas
Jaws
Jurassic Park
King Kong
Psycho
Rear Window
Marty
Night of the Living Dead
Tombstone

 

[Ockeghem]

^^^

Night of the Living Dead. Yep, that one should be on my list as well. Good choice. In fact, I'm going to add it now.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I'm of the opinion that collections should always contain "classic" titles as their foundation. Here are ten, IMHO very accessible titles that would serve as a nice starting point for any collection - covering a number of genres. In no particular order...

The Godfather
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Wizard of Oz
Casablanca
Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Ben Hur
North By Northwest
It's A Wonderful Life
Singin' In The Rain
Some Like It Hot

- Walter.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Jim Mcc

I'm shocked by some bad choices here.

Really? I'm more shocked that people post dumb, insulting comments like this.

15 much?

 

[Jim Mcc]

I edited my post. I can't insult someone that I didn't name.

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo




Really? I'm more shocked that people post dumb, insulting comments like this.

15 much?

 

[Eric_L]

If I was more sensitive I might me insulted. Meh - no I wouldn't. The whole world needs thicker skin. Hell - If I can admit to liking 'Little Shop' that pretty much proves I'm bullet proof...

Can you beleive I've never watched Godfather???? It is on my 'to do' list. I'll have to bump it up some. Can't believe I missed that one.

Alot of htese are good ideas for audio - Saving Ryan's Privates, Bugs Life, JHusrassic Park. My sister wantes me to add Twister. I tried to stick with movies that had not only good video or audio effects, but also good story.

I have to admit I'm more than a bit surprised more people haven't include Lord of the Rings...

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Eric_L

Can you beleive I've never watched Godfather????

I'm shocked. That fact invalidates your entire list.

I wasn't offended on a personal level (I'm used to worse things on other forums) but I consider HTF a bit of a safe harbor from that kind if thoughtless arrogance. So it got my panties in a bunch.

I was afraid after I hit reply that the poster was being sarcastic (like I was in the beginning of this response), but, unfortunately... no.

I'd include LOTR in my top ten except it's too long for the kind of repeat viewing my top ten is responsible for. EE, of course.

 

[Carl Miller]

I wasn't insulted either. I stopped caring about what other people think of my taste in movies and music when I was in the 6th grade.

Eric, seriously? Never watched the Godfather? I recommend a day off from work spent in front of the TV with parts I and II of the trilogy. I didn't get past an hour of LOTR. Hated it. I think the biggest hit movie I've never seen is Titanic.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Eric_L

Can you beleive I've never watched Godfather???? It is on my 'to do' list. I'll have to bump it up some. Can't believe I missed that one.

I love The Godfather but you've probably heard how great it is so many times that you run the risk of being underwhelmed when you actually see it.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Carl Miller ">[/url]

Eric, seriously? Never watched the Godfather? I recommend a day off from work spent in front of the TV with parts I and II of the trilogy.[/QUOTE]Don't bother watching part three unless you want to sully the memory of the first two. There was plot in Rules of Engagement where Adam hadn't seen The Godfather, which was Jeff's favorite film. Adam finally watches it and says loves it, but then they realize it was Godfather III, and which point Jeff disowns him.

[QUOTE]I didn't get past an hour of LOTR. Hated it.[/QUOTE]
The first LOTR was hard to get through. But The Two Towers and Return of the King are fantastic. Even my wife loved them, and she normally doesn't like that kind of movie.

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by [b]Carl Miller[/b] [url=/forum/thread/295844/top-ten-movies-for-the-home-collection#post_3638645]

 

[Ockeghem]

My oldest son loves all of the LOTR films. He bought extended editions soon after they came out. I prefer sci-fi to fantasy, but I have watched the films with him and I've enjoyed them. He and I also love the Rocky saga.

 

[Hanson]

I also love The 39 Steps. It's actually my favorite Hitchcock film. My favorite Kubrick film is The Killing. It has a very sophisticated narrative when you conisder the era in which it was made, and Timothy Carey (who was also in Paths of Glory) gives an amazing and oddball performance -- it's like John Turturro's entire movie persona was lifted from this movie. The acting is kind of out of place in the movie because of its modernity, but we're talking 1957 here!

I'm surprised no one else chose Pulp Fiction or Silence of the Lambs.

 

[gene c]

Here's my list of movies that should be on my shelf.

1) Gone With The Wind
2) Citizen Kane
3) The Godfather
4) Saving Private Ryan
5) Maltese Falcon
6) The Titanic
7) The Wizard Of Oz
8) It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
9) Casablanca
10) 2001: A Space Odyssey
10a) Avia Setup Disk

Here's some that I can't live without. I'm shocked by some of my own choices )
8) Christine (O.K. That one ain't bad)
9) The Cheap Detective/Murder By Death (Same Movie)
10) And Then There Were None 1945 (Brilliant!)

10b) Night Of the Living Dead (1968 version)

This one scared the $%^^$# outta me when I was 8-10 so even though I bought the dvd several years ago it's still shrink wrapped. I'm afraid to open it.

 

[Hartwig Hanser]

1) Lawrence of Arabia
2) Schindlers List
3) The Godfather
4) The Shawshank Redemption
5) North by Northwest
6) 2001
7) Once Upon a Time in the West
8) Some like it hot
9) Wall-E
10) LOTR Trilogy

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I am not a fan of making these lists, because I always leave out lots of favorites, but here goes anyway.

1. Godfather 1 & 2 (can't separate them, and it's my list)
2. Casablanca
3. Patton
4. Lawrence of Arabia
5. LOTR Trilogy (see #1)
6. Singin' In The Rain
7. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
8. Toy Story 2 (had to get a Pixar film in here)
9. Rear Window (need something from Hitchcock, but tough to pick a favorite)
10. Monty Python & The Holy Grail

 

[gene c]

I am not a fan of making these lists, because I always leave out lots of favorites, but here goes anyway.

It's inevitable. 10 isn't enough. I drew mine out of a hat. Still 15-20 left in it. And did you notice I managed to squeeze 16 titles into my second list?