I’m loving my giant plasma screen, and now I’m looking for movies that bring out the best of the wonderful display. So far I have What Dreams May Come, 2001, and The Cell, and I have The Fountain saved for when it gets released on dvd. What are your favorite movies are just a feast for the eyes? The movie doesn’t have to be good, as witnessed by some of my choices, just visually impressive and not black & white (so Manhattan doesn’t make the cut).
Asparagus- it used to be shown with some midnight movies. Great visuals, espcially if coupled with the demon weed- not sure if a DVD is available.
Akira.
Days of Heaven. The most beautiful movie ever made.
***The Fifth Element ** * has kind of become the “standard” for showing off the capabilities of a video display. Eye-popping colors and just cool overall art design.
Finding Nemo also looks gorgeous.
For great, natural scenery, Dances With Wolves and The Last of the Mohicans are both beautiful.
I was going to say The Cell, so you have that covered. Travelogue in things like **Open Range ** and **Brokeback Mountain ** woud be cool. And Winged Migration and Microcosmos.
And parts of **Apocalypse Now ** are stunning.
I thought “House of Flying Daggers” was pretty visually impressive.
Reality Chuck beat me to it, but I’ll chime in to recommend Days of Heaven, the most beautiful movie ever.
I think the Lord of the Rings movies are great viewing experiences, esp. Fellowship of the Ring. The bigger the screen the better.
And when you’ve got that big screen don’t forget Lawrence of Arabia .
Hero, of course.
Fifth Element
Baraka
Spirited Away
Black Orpheus, Kwaidan, Days of Heaven, Elvira Madigan, Gone With the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Wizard of Oz, Thief of Bagdad.
The City of Lost Children
Brazil
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Metropolis (if you absolutely must have colors, get the tinted, Giorgio Moroder version)
Fight Club!
The Natural has gorgeous shot set-ups. It was a treat even watching the trailer for it. The same for Greystone: The Legend of Tarzan of the Apes (actually, it’s more fun to watch the trailer than the actual movie, which gets kinda dull near the end) and The Road to Perdition.
I’ve always felt that the guys responsible for the visual look of Forbidden Planet don’t get the credit they deserve. They created from scratch a lot of the visual images of science fiction, inspired by 1940s SF pulp prose and illustrations. Their influence was felt long afterwards – the Transporter on Star Trek owes a lot to the “Stasis Fields” (unnamed in the film, but that’s what they were) about cruiser C57D. The Enterprise, with its saucer shape, owes a lot to C57D as well (the first FTL spaceship carrying Earth Humans in any SF movie). Robby was the first faceless robot, inspiring others down through R2D2. The ventilating shafts of the Krel power cube influenced the shafts on the Death Star, and Joshua Meador’s crackling monster admittedly inspired the electrical displays in Star Wars.
The original Dr. Zhivago.
Mirrormask!!
If you don’t mind a Flash site (the official site), click on Enter site, then Previews. Even though the small size is woefully inadequite to convey just how stunning the visuals are, you should at least get an idea of what you’re missing out on by NOT watching it.
Ah wait! I just found a bigger version of the trailer at apple.com
I’m not saying it’s a great movie. The script itself was somewhat of a letdown, though I liked it (the script and story) more on the 2nd viewing. The story is pretty basic, it’s just the visuals make it seem more complicated than it is, because you never know what you’ll see and what will happen next. However, if you’re looking for a visual movie that has at least a decent story, this is a MUST SEE. This is one that I’m so glad I saw in the theater, twice. Each frame is packed with so much to look at and awe over, it’s impossible to see it all on the first viewing.
I found The Talented Mr. Ripley was beautiful at the movie theatre. Very lush, sensuous surroundings (Italy). Maybe not the best movie ever, but very gorgeous to look at.
I see it’s been mentioned but without the connection. If you like House of Flying Daggers’ visuals - and how could you not - you’ll also like the similar Hero, which is by the same director. Even the stills on that IMDb page are oustanding.
His new film, Curse of the Golden Flower is supposed to have equally stunning visuals, but I haven’t seen it yet to confirm.
I’ll confirm. Yes, it is.
Netflix queue has been properly adjusted. Thanks for the tips! Definitely curious about Days of Heaven, never even heard of that one…
Seconded, and expressing some surprise (and maybe a little dismay) that it took 14 whole posts to mention it.