# 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:** 6
### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/101 "2024-09-03T18:00:14Z")
Ah… one more:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/102 "2024-09-03T18:09:21Z")
For my first perfect movie pick, I’m going with **Miller’s Crossing**. It’s just about as perfect as a movie can be. Every line of dialog drives some part of the story forward. Several side stories, some out in the open, some are buried a bit deeper. Fantastic cinematography. Great acting and dialog. Easter eggs? Check. This screenplay and subsequent movie is just about perfect and has it all.
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### Author:  [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/103 "2024-09-03T19:39:07Z")
_Rashomon_ (1950, Kurosawa)
I need to think about the rest.
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### Author:  [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/104 "2024-09-03T19:49:06Z")
I think I did well to prune down to Eight; and will resort to trickery in hopes of avoiding sanctions:
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> …
> Casablanca
> Lord of the Rings [part 2]
> The Godfather
Those three are OK but how about the following FIVE? :
_Mystic River_
_Amadeus_
_Memento_
_One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_
_The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/105 "2024-09-03T19:52:01Z")
This isn’t a competition, and the fact that _you_ are absolutely wrong should not deter you from posting your own list.
😁
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### Author:  [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/106 "2024-09-03T20:47:54Z")
So many of mine have been mentioned, but I’ll add Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” and Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch.”
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/107 "2024-09-03T20:52:55Z")
Tossing out my original list and doing over:
Psycho
The Sting
Casablanca
The Great Escape
King Kong
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### Author:  [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/108 "2024-09-03T21:18:29Z")
Bearing in mind that I could probably list 10 or 20, I’ll go with five that are top of mind for me at this time:
Downfall
Zero Dark Thirty
2001: A Space Odyssey
Jésus de Montréal
Six Days
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/109 "2024-09-03T22:49:13Z")
> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> Psycho
Oh! 🤦♀️
See, this is why I’m not even playing this game.
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### Author:  [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/110 "2024-09-04T00:09:41Z")
_Rashomon_ (1950, Kurosawa)
_The Thing (from Another World)_ (1951, Hawk/Nyby)
_Charade_ (1963, Donen)
_Jurassic Park_ (1993, Spielberg)
One more! So many to chose from…
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/111 "2024-09-04T00:39:39Z")
Can a single scene prevent a movie from being “perfect?”
I’m seeing _Jurassic Park_ a lot here but I’ve always thought that scene where Hammond and Laura Dern (forgot her character’s name) eat ice cream and talk about flea circuses and “the people we care about” was boring and brought the whole movie to a screeching halt.
Maybe “That One Scene That Keeps a Movie From Perfection” deserves its own thread?
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/112 "2024-09-04T00:45:43Z")
It’s hard for me to limit it to five. I might come up with a different list if I re-thought it. The first one in my list, though, really is perfect. There isn’t a false note in it from beginning to end.
- _The Third Man_
- _Casablanca_
- _The Godfather_
- _The Apartment_
- _No Country for Old Men_
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### Author:  [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/113 "2024-09-04T01:07:26Z")
The further I read this thread, the harder the question got.
1. The Godfather
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. The Naked Gun
4. Jaws
5. City Lights
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/114 "2024-09-04T01:17:37Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> **Pulp Fiction** is close but if you are going to put a Revels song on the soundtrack, “Church Key” is a better choice than “Comanche”.
Not for that scene!
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> No Country for Old Men.
I was just listening to someone talk about this (maybe Bill Hader) and they pointed out that the mother is pretty weak, and I have to agree.
- Jaws
- Fury Road
- Pulp Fiction
Can’t be Jurassic Park because of the T-rex pen turning into a cliff. I’d have to re-watch, but Fargo is a good contender. Also would need to re-watch The Big Lebowski. Raiders of the Lost Ark? Depends on if I can convince myself the sub isn’t stupid.
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/115 "2024-09-04T01:46:43Z")
1. Dodes’ka-Den
2. Car Wash
3. Meant To Be Broken
4. The Last Detail
5. The Fly (1986)
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2024, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/116 "2024-09-07T11:03:17Z")
Badlands
Cool Hand Luke
Whiplash
Searching For Bobby Fischer
Fargo
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2024, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/117 "2024-09-07T11:37:54Z")
Apocalypse Now
The Godfather
Jaws
Full Metal Jacket
O Brother Where Art Thou?
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### Author:  [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/118 "2024-09-07T14:27:19Z")
Just thought of a pair of my favorites that I think belong in this thread:
_Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ - Some might not like Jim Carrey in the cast, but he infuses the dream sequences with just the right kind of mania for Gondry’s vision. Still one of my favorite movies of the millenium, a sci-fi romance with a message that sticks.
_Lone Star_ - a John Sayles classic that would be as timely today as ever. Murder mystery, border drama, race and family intersect in south Texas as the action and viewpoint moves between generations and subplots. A message movie, but rarely preachy.
I’d probably also go with _Casablanca_ and _Star Trek II_ and then be hard pressed to choose between _Young Frankenstein_ and _Dr. Strangelove_ for a comedy.
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/119 "2024-09-07T15:06:55Z")
Perfect movie, hmmmm… that’s different from great movie or entertaining movie or favorite movie. My take is that, among other things, a perfect movie matches all it’s actors to their roles, is balanced in it’s progression and makes it’s point concisely… Of course, as mentioned upthread, these are value judgments that depend on our moods.
So, maybe perfect is a fleeting property.
For perfect movies, I’ll go with:
“Some Like it Hot” - Comedy
“The Red Pony” - Suspense
“They Shoot Horses Don’t they” - Social commentary
“Treasure of the Sierra Madre” - Story telling
“12 O’Clock High” - WW2
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### Author:  [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/120 "2024-09-08T01:02:12Z")
@Czarcasm - Thank you for this thread. It sparked a very lively family conversation tonight.
All picks are in no particular order.
My picks:
Pulp Fiction
The Godfather
Jerry and Tom
Unforgiven
Iron Man
ZakWife’s picks:
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Pirates of the Caribbean
Toy Story 3
ZakDaughter:
The Great Gatsby (with Leo)
Scream
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Little Women (2019 version by Gerwig)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
ZakSon:
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Godfather
The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future
Into the Spiderverse
Honorable mentions that were heavily discussed, but didn’t make anybody’s list:
The Incredibles (both 1 and 2 interestingly)
Ocean’s Eleven
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