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”.
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\\
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” 
Amadeus
The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen
Eraserhead
Jin-Roh
Ran
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.
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.
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.
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.
Amelie
Wings of Desire
Spirited Away
Raising Arizona
Hot Fuzz
The Princess Bride
Paddington 2
Groundhog Day
Toy Story
Dave
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
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
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.
Oh, good one.
Jaws
The Maltese Falcon
Casablanca
Blazing Saddles
The Godfather
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
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)
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?”
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)
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.
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.