It is interesting to note that Terence Malick translated Martin Heidegger’s The Essence of Reasons (Vom Wesen des Grundes) for the University of Illinois Phenomenology series.
Malick’s films – esp. Days of Heaven – make me think of certain passages from Heidegger, such as this, from What is Called Thinking:
“The presence we described gathers itself in the continuance which causes a mountain, a sea, a house to endure and, by that duration, to lie before us among other things that are presents…The Greeks experience such duration as a luminous appearance in the sense of illumined, radiant self-manifestation.”
I agree with most of the suggestions. I would include Kenneth Brannagh’s (sp?) Henry V, which has got one of the most gorgeous battle scenes ever. I agree that The Third Man is a wonderful, beautifully shot classic. If you like black and white films, I would add Raging Bull–it’s one of the most amazing films ever. Love the look of Blade Runner, City of Lost Children, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
An amazing if quirky (and probably not available on DVD) Chinese movie is Green Snake.
There are bunches more, of course, that I can’t think of right now. Depends on what you’re in the mood for.
Yeah gotta agree with Fargo… all that nothing was pretty impressive. Apocalypse Now’s helicopter scene is one of my favorites Casino Royale is a godawful movie with some of the coolest sets ever.
There’s some beautiful scenes in The Ice Storm.
and let’s see… one more Koyaanisqatsi is pretty much just cool visuals
Days of Heaven (I once drove 2 hours to have the chance to see this on a theatre sized screen)
LOTR:FOTR
Those would be my top two choices. Excerpts from some really good Disney animation - like Pinochio - can be appreciated for the beautiful visuals. On the other hand, even tho parts of The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago are quite pretty, they are still hard to sit through…
The Mission with Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro. It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen it, but some beautiful scenery shots and such, as well as being just a great movie.
Requiem for a Dream. If you’re into weird movies, you may even like it. But to watch that on a nice, large setup…
If you haven’t seen it, but have seen Snatch, then I can tell you to look for the “scene transitions” (for lack of a better term) that are similar to that which you see in Snatch when Avi (Avy?) Flies from New York to England and back. The “pill pop, bottoms up, slam glass down” transition. There are a few (drug-related, watch for the pupils dilating) transitions similar to that in Requiem for a Dream which I found to be beautiful, artisically. Especially loved the use of colors.
I thought the movie was pretty cool, and Lux Aeterna, the movie’s theme music, is beautiful as well.
Oh yeah, and I definitely agree with City of Lost Children and Delicatessen (though I’ve only seen part of Delicatessen), and though I haven’t seen Amélie at all, I’d be willing to bet it’d be worth it, too.
I’ll throw my vote behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon & The City of Lost Children. Any of the Pixar animations are great, as is Shrek and Chicken Run.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and her Lover is visually stunning, as are most Peter Greenaway movies.
You can’t go wrong with the recommendations already forwarded, but I
Elvira Madigan, set in the Swedish countryside during summer and fall.
Out of Africa, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Walkabout, and Picnic at Hanging Rock for their African and Australian backdrops.
Ran, Akira Kurosawa’s epic adaptation of King Lear set in feudal Japan, has stunning court and battle scenes.
For sheer mayhem and distorted, stylized (or uglified, if you will) cinematography, there’s (for starters) Altered States, Alien 3, Fight Club and Three Kings.
Stanley Kubrick was arguably the greatest visual stylist ever: 2001, Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut have distinctive looks. He also took over the direction of Spartacus, which has some great battle scenes.
Others: Interview With the Vampire; The Ninth Gate (dir.: Roman Polanski) and the Bonds On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (ooh, that first ski chase!) and Goldeneye in particular.
Damn, I feel like watching a visually stunning movie right now!
Kurosawa and visually stunning films and nobody’s mentioned Dersu Uzala yet?
OK. Dersu Uzala. It’s about a Soviet officer mapping the Siberian wilderness and his developing friendship with a hunter there. The shots of Siberia’s forests are amazing.
I mentioned Zulu in the other thread about the best war movies. To a very large extent, it is one of the best because of its visual impact. Red British uniforms, Zulu tribesmen, the landscape of South Africa, all in sweeping cinematography.
