# Five Perfect Movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [September 1, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586 "2024-09-01T22:00:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/81 "2024-09-03T00:49:25Z")
> [@Apodder](#):
>
> The Hunt for Red October
Thank you! I thought long and hard on that one - I adore submarine movies, and I’ve seen HFRO dozens of times. I was a Jack Ryan/Tom Clancy fanboy in the 90s, and just couldn’t get enough. It’s impossible to not watch it when it’s on, and exist as impossible to not point out to my wife when it switches from Russian to English on the word “Armageddon”.
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### Author:  [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/82 "2024-09-03T01:16:15Z")
Two right now because I feel the execution is so good:
- A Few Good Men (1992)
- Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
There are some others that I feel have higher esthetic value, but these in particular just seem to work right from start to finish.
`//i\\`
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### Author:  [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/83 "2024-09-03T02:42:39Z")
Oh, yes! My husband and I quote it at each other… “Personally, I give us one chance in three (while chewing loudly)” “I would’ve liked to have seen Montana” 😭
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/84 "2024-09-03T03:41:33Z")
Amadeus
The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen
Eraserhead
Jin-Roh
Ran
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/85 "2024-09-03T03:50:41Z")
> [@Stephe96](#):
>
> No joke. Top Gun: Maverick contains perfect scene after perfect scene
Yeah… I cannot think of any flaws. Is it the GREATEST movie I’ve ever seen? No, but it has no flaws I can think of.
> [@Munch](#):
>
> Thank you! I thought long and hard on that one - I adore submarine movies, and I’ve seen HFRO dozens of times.
One flaw kind of bothered me; it makes no sense that if Ramius wants to start a war and blow up the USA (which is the story the Soviets tell the Americans) that he’d risk getting sunk while creeping across the ocean because it’s a nuclear missile submarine. He could have just launched at the first opportunity. They’re SLBMs.
In the book, **this point is addressed.** The Soviets TELL the Americans that, and they pretend to sort of believe it, but this logical problem is part of how Ryan convinces the brass Ramius is trying to steal the sub and defect. It’s a fun thing that adds to the cat-and-mouse nature of it all.
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### Author:  [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/86 "2024-09-03T05:01:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> > [@Stephe96](#):
> >
> > No joke. Top Gun: Maverick contains perfect scene after perfect scene
>
> Yeah… I cannot think of any flaws. Is it the GREATEST movie I’ve ever seen? No, but it has no flaws I can think of.
The politics of it could be problematic. Not so much domestic, as foreign policy. Or, more mundane, the ridiculously contrived way in which they arrive at a Death Star trench run. Yes, they wrote an in-universe explanation. No, it wasn’t a very good one.
Fine movie, but hardly flawless IMHO. But you know, I have a soft spot for any film that manages to work in a plot point, however minor, about materials (in the engineering and design context). Specifically referring to their discussion of the consequences of Mav’s decision to exceed an F-18’s design parameters during a training run.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/87 "2024-09-03T05:16:59Z")
The Guns of Navarone
The Great Escape
The Apartment
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
Dr Zhivago
I’m not really a movie person, but still this was very hard to cut down to five.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/88 "2024-09-03T06:26:51Z")
Amelie
Wings of Desire
Spirited Away
Raising Arizona
Hot Fuzz
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/89 "2024-09-03T08:36:06Z")
The Princess Bride
Paddington 2
Groundhog Day
Toy Story
Dave
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### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/90 "2024-09-03T12:47:53Z")
I’m not sure I can get to five. The three that pop into mind are:
Back to the Future
Star Wars (original released version)
The Martian
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### Author:  [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/91 "2024-09-03T13:47:23Z")
I agree that I am not sure I’ve seen a completely perfect movie, but here goes, these are movies I will absolutely re-watch if I see them on TV and I feel are pretty darn perfect.
The Princess Bride
The Bourne Identity
The Hunt for Red October
Dead Poet Society
My Cousin Vinny
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/92 "2024-09-03T14:37:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Yeah… I cannot think of any flaws. Is it the GREATEST movie I’ve ever seen? No, but it has no flaws I can think of.
For me, it was the scene in which Tom Cruise explains G-forces at a kindergarten level to a group of supposedly elite fighter pilots. I realize it was perhaps necessary exposition for the benefit of the audience. But it made me laugh so hard I was unable to suspend disbelief after that.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/93 "2024-09-03T14:46:49Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#):
>
> My Cousin Vinny
Oh, good one.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/94 "2024-09-03T14:57:38Z")
Jaws
The Maltese Falcon
Casablanca
Blazing Saddles
The Godfather
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/95 "2024-09-03T15:08:36Z")
Wow, there are some good choices above. A real Sophie’s choice for my own list (which doesn’t include that movie). Suppressing my urge to discount movies for mere continuity errors (I mean, Paulie’s cigar just _disappears_…), or an occasional bum line reading, here are my picks.
In Bruges
Jaws
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Aliens
Son of Rambow
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### Author:  [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/96 "2024-09-03T15:26:46Z")
In chronological order:
All About Eve (1950)
Jaws (1975)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, yes, the remake)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Moonstruck (1987)
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### Author:  [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/97 "2024-09-03T15:27:44Z")
Thank you, there are just so many quotable moments from this film. I just used the phrase “Are these MAGIC grits? Do the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove?”
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### Author:  [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/98 "2024-09-03T16:43:35Z")
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Brazil (Director’s Cut)
Blade Runner (the first non-theatrical director’s cut / no-voiceover edition, not any of the later re-re-cuts)
Drunken Master 2 (choreography, acting, production, supporting actors, everything is perfect)
Spirited Away (wanted to include an animated movie, so so tough to pick the best)
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/99 "2024-09-03T17:47:03Z")
_Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure_
_Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion_
_A Christmas Story_
_Camp Nowhere_
_Flight of the Phoenix_ (the original Jimmy Stewart version)
I’m not a big movie (or TV) watcher; for whatever reason I just don’t have the patience to sit through ~2 hours of what is almost universally boring screentime. But the above 5 movies I could watch over and over without getting bored. Some of these are pretty lame by most people’s standards – _Camp Nowhere_ has a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, for instance – but I love them.
These are all movies I was introduced to as a teenager, when my patience and attention span was longer, so that may have something to do with the fact that three of the five are specifically marketed to and about teenagers.
I have more than 5 that I can watch over and over again, of course, but these are the top 5.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/100 "2024-09-03T17:53:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Yeah… I cannot think of any flaws. Is it the GREATEST movie I’ve ever seen? No, but it has no flaws I can think of.
It’s an interesting question: does “perfect” mean “without flaws,” or, “as good as it can possibly be”? They’re both valid definitions (I’m a pedant and checked).
But I love a glorious mess, so I lean in that direction. Give me something gloriously flawed over something safely flawless any day.
Mine, then:
- _City of Lost Children_: a dark fairy tale centered around a sibling love between two unrelated characters. It’s sweet and beautiful and terrifying and hilarious and so so weird.
- _Everything Everywhere All at Once_: no other movie’s title describes the movie so well. Oh, what a mess; but what a delight.
- _True Grit_ (Coen brothers): okay, this one isn’t a mess, but I literally left the theater thinking, “That was a perfect movie!” so I gotta list it.
- _Mad Max: Fury Road_: this one is in between. It sure looks like a mess, but I don’t think there was a mote of dust or a drop of blood that wasn’t exactly where the director wanted it to be. Truly masterful
- _Casablanca_: because obviously.
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