# 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:** 7
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/121 "2024-09-08T03:05:57Z")
> [@velomont](#):
>
> Six Days
Which Six Days is this?
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### Author:  [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/122 "2024-09-08T03:15:33Z")
Has the thread officially devolved into “some movies I really like a lot” or is there still some semblance of the OP’s question remaining?
I’m going to assume the latter, which is a really tough question. A perfect movie, like a perfect game in baseball, must have no missteps, no escapes. The directing, writing, casting, cinematography, and acting need to have no flaws.
That said:
_Seven Samurai_ (Kurosawa, 1954) actually, one could make a list of 5 perfect Kurosawa films!
_Children of Paradise_ (_Les Enfants du Paradis_, Carné, 1945)
_Paris, Texas_ (Wenders, 1984)
_Pulp Fiction_ (Tarantino, 1994)
_The Godfather Part II_ (Coppola, 1974)
These aren’t the only perfect movies, but they are the ones that came to mind (_Day for Night, Singing in the Rain, Logan_, and many others). Going in, I thought that at least one 21st century movie would suggest itself, but I think for me there is a “test of time” that has to happen to separate perfection from just favorites.
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### Author:  [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/123 "2024-09-08T03:50:02Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> > [@velomont](#):
> >
> > Six Days
>
> Which Six Days is this?
It’s a 2017 Brit docudrama about the hostage taking at the Iranian embassy in London in 1980.
> **[6 Days (2017 film)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_Days_(2017_film))**
>
> 6 Days is a 2017 action thriller film directed by Toa Fraser and written by Glenn Standring. A British-New Zealand production, it is based on the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London and stars Jamie Bell, Abbie Cornish, Mark Strong and Martin Shaw.
> The siege situation is presented from three perspectives: that of negotiator Max Vernon (Mark Strong), SAS leader Rusty Firmin (Jamie Bell) and BBC news reporter Kate Adie (Abbie Cornish). The film was released on 4 August 2017 to mixed reviews and ...
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### Author:  [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/124 "2024-09-08T04:24:18Z")
Major League
White Men Can’t Jump
Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan
The Avengers
Deadpool
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/125 "2024-09-08T04:29:32Z")
> [@Fugazi](#):
>
> The Avengers
Which one?
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### Author:  [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/126 "2024-09-08T06:02:20Z")
The 1st one.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/127 "2024-09-08T06:05:32Z")
O.k., it is your opinion.
[The Avengers (1998 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(1998_film))
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/128 "2024-09-08T09:53:11Z")
Probably talking about the first Marvel Avengers movie. The one you linked to was far far from perfect. Many people don’t know it or remember it.
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### Author:  [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/129 "2024-09-08T17:51:35Z")
I certainly didn’t. I guess I should have googled for “other movies named The Avengers” before posting. Yes. I did mean the 1st Marvel Avengers movie.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/130 "2024-09-08T17:53:03Z")
Everyone knew what you meant.
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/131 "2024-09-08T19:47:42Z")
I’m not a perceptive movie reviewer _in this life_, but:
**Dr. Strangelove …** (everybody dies)
**Young Dr. Frankenstein** (Blazing Saddles also but not perfect)
**Rogue One** (everybody dies)
**The Fifth Element** (I like everything about it, great performances, visuals, pacing, Bruce Willis winning the Oscar for most Bruce Willis evah.) So shoot me.
and … I’m thinking
**Galaxy Quest** over Airplane (same redemptive arc but more story than strung together gags)
Not so highbrow but perfect for me.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/132 "2024-09-08T20:18:00Z")
Just having a little fun. 😁
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/133 "2024-09-09T23:51:53Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> I have two to start:
>
> The Browning Version (1951, Michael Redgrave)
>
> Ikiru (1952, directed by Kurosawa)
>
> More to come, I suppose, as I think of them.
One more to add for now:
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) a perfect noir film
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/134 "2024-09-10T14:53:18Z")
> [@peccavi](#):
>
> A perfect movie, like a perfect game in baseball, must have no missteps, no escapes. The directing, writing, casting, cinematography, and acting need to have no flaws.
Not necessarily:
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> 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).
As I said, I prefer glorious messes to flawless films. The question can be answered with either.
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### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/135 "2024-09-10T15:48:09Z")
**Joe Vs. The Volcano** The actors and director hated the film, but they are wrong. It’s absolutely perfect. The budget sets and disjointed dialogue just add to the outer worldly dreaminess of Joe’s condition. I have seen this over 15 times, the latest with my teenage son’s first viewing and not only does it hold up, I find new things to appreciate about it because I have changed since last seeing it. I don’t know another film that does that for me.
Nothing about this film is what it seems at first and the experience is richer for it.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/136 "2024-09-10T20:53:44Z")
> [@brachyrhynchos](#):
>
> I need to think about the rest.
This isn’t how I remember it…
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### Author:  [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/137 "2024-09-10T21:21:58Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#):
>
> The Shawshank Redemption
I don’t know about this one. The fact that none of the guards or other prison personnel ever peeked behind the poster seems like a big flaw in the plot.
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### Author:  [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/138 "2024-09-11T03:56:39Z")
You’re right! I’m done thinking.
_Rashomon_ (1950, Kurosawa)
_The Thing (from Another World)_ (1951, Hawk/Nyby)
_Charade_ (1963, Donen)
_Jurassic Park_ (1993, Spielberg)
_Field of Dreams_ (1989, Phil Alden Robinson) Okay, this last one is a movie I will watch just about anytime it is on and it is very likely I am using it because of my emotional response to the passing of James Earl Jones, but there it is.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2024, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/139 "2024-09-11T04:02:53Z")
My numbers 3 and 4 are _Pulp Fiction_ and _Shock Treatment_.
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### Author:  [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-perfect-movies/1006586/140 "2024-09-11T13:18:15Z")
Well in fairness, those guards hadn’t seen or read _The Shawshank Redemption_ at the time, so they didn’t think of it.
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