# The best movie no one ever heard of. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922 "2005-07-18T00:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/81 "2005-07-19T18:35:11Z")
[Restless Natives](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089904/), a Scottish Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; [The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp](http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=173§ion=synopsis), the Criterion Collection version, with commentary by Martin Scorsese (the film is one of his favourites). [10 Rillington Place](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066730/), one of the creepiest, scariest films ever made. And it’s a true story. Early appearance by John Hurt. [The Hit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087414/). John Hurt as a hitman sent to rub out Terence Stamp in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/82 "2005-07-19T19:14:57Z")
Oh, and I’d like to add another; **[Kissing Jessica Stein](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A53243-2002Mar19¬Found=true)** – “The movie, written and performed by two actresses who will undoubtedly ride it to the big time, is the freshest, hippest, un-hippiest (The gals are both skinny! They eat like birds!) romantic comedy to come along in months, possibly years.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/83 "2005-07-19T19:19:06Z")
[The Party](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/) starring Peter Sellers. Easily the funniest movie I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/84 "2005-07-19T19:37:45Z")
Hmmm…I forgot about **Sneakers** , then again, everyone I know has seen it (probably because I organized the outting in high school - sight unseen). However, my vote goes for **The Zero Effect**. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/85 "2005-07-19T22:06:55Z")
> [@Nature's Call](#): > > **Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead** I’ve been waiting for this DVD release for years, hopefully poking around HMV, never seeing it - until finally a couple weeks ago. Bought it on the spot. R&G, as you’ll recall, are Hamlet’s friends. They make a couple of appearances in Willie’s play then quickly leave. The movie is set simultaneously to the play, but the camera follows R&G. An intelligent, whimsical, silly comedy, My brother and I have been playing “Questions” for years, inspired by the flick. And more importantly, it’s the film of Tom Stoppard’s (writer of Shakespeare in Love and The Empire of the Sun, among many others) first commercial play, written back in the 1960s. A must see, both as a play and (then) a film. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/86 "2005-07-19T22:23:47Z")
Er, I forgot my own nominations. Many of mine have been taken already: The Party, Sneakers, What Dreams May Come (although I thought that was dreadfull!), The 7 Faces of Dr Lao, Vozvrashcheniye (The Return), the Secret of Roane Innish. Left for me to mention are are [Proof](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102721/) (1991, Hugo Weaving and Russell Crowe), [The Sum of Us](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111309/) (1994, Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson), [The Last Days of Chez Nous](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104685/) (1992, Miranda Otto, Kerry Fox and Bill Hunter), [Confessions of a Dangerous Mind](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290538/) (2002, Goerge Clooney directing), and [Destry Rides Again](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031225/) (1939, James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich). ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/87 "2005-07-20T00:14:41Z")
Prince of the City ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/88 "2005-07-20T00:18:05Z")
> [@mambocrow](#): > > Prince of the City I meant for the title to be a link. One more time: > **[Prince of the City (1981) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082945/)** > > Prince of the City: Directed by Sidney Lumet. With Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett. A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon... ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/89 "2005-07-20T01:15:06Z")
And…am I one of the few people who saw _The 13th Warrior_ in the theaters, _and_ has it on DVD? P.S…“Yeah, I’ll ‘kaboom’ tank.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/90 "2005-07-20T03:38:08Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Oh, and I’d like to add another; **[Kissing Jessica Stein](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A53243-2002Mar19¬Found=true)** – “The movie, written and performed by two actresses who will undoubtedly ride it to the big time, is the freshest, hippest, un-hippiest (The gals are both skinny! They eat like birds!) romantic comedy to come along in months, possibly years.” I agree with the review…I loved this movie. A while back there was a thread about romantic comedies, and a couple pages in somebody asked if there were any same-sex romantic comedies out there. I took that opportunity to mention both KJS and _Jeffrey_, though I’m not a big fan of the latter. (No interest in the subject matter, so I found it annoying, but I had to watch it because of Picard.) A couple movies mentioned have left me scratching my head. _What Dreams May Come_ and _Confessions of a Dangerous Mind_ were big Hollywood productions with saturation marketing blitzes. I can’t imagine they are unheard of. ---
**Author:** ![gruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/57b2e6/32.png) [@gruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gruver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/91 "2005-07-20T04:27:47Z")
> [@mazinger\_z](#): > > However, my vote goes for **The Zero Effect**. you beat me to it! this is a fabulous movie and immediately what i thought of when i saw this thread! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/92 "2005-07-20T05:08:05Z")
**The Keep** , directed by Michael Mann: possibly the last German Expressionist horror movie ever made, with a very intriguing devil imprisoned inside the titular keep, which is currently occupied by Nazi soldiers who are dying off one by one as the Devil amasses the power he needs to escape. At one point the captive Old Nick bargains with an equally captive Jewish professor, offering to end the Holocaust in return for the professor abetting his release… Sounds like the worst kind of schlock, but beautifully shot, intelligently scripted, well-acted and very thought-provoking. Besides, how many movies make you shout at the on-screen _Nazis_ “No! Don’t go in there!”? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/93 "2005-07-20T06:07:04Z")
> [@dearissues](#): > > \*I nominate [Legend](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/), although I’m not sure of it’s obscurity. The only reason I believe it to be so is because I have yet to meet anyone who has seen it. Legend would have been a GREAT movie if the only dialogue in the film came from the Lord of Darkness. Erase all the other dialogue, keep the ASWOME soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, and this becomes Tom Cruise’s best movie. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/94 "2005-07-20T06:55:20Z")
Some excellent movies mentioned so far. Of course, it’s always hard to know exactly what constitutes an unknown movie. Anyhow, my contribution for this thread is [The Plot Against Harry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064820/). This great film is about a small-time New York Jewish gangster just released from jail and trying to get back into his old life. The movie was shot in the late 1960s and finished in 1969. It was never released at the time, however, and only saw the light of day in 1989. In my opinion, a minor classic with some funny dialog, entertaining characters, and some amazing sets. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/95 "2005-07-20T09:24:07Z")
[Proof](http://imdb.com/title/tt0102721/) is an Australian movie about a blind man who doesn’t trust anyone. He takes pictures (yes, a blind man using a camera) and asks people to describe what is in the photos. He uses the pictures and their descriptions to try to figure out when people are telling him the truth. The plot sounds odd, but it comes across as real, largely because of the fine acting by Hugo Weaving, Genevieve Picot and Russell Crowe. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/96 "2005-07-20T11:06:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Hear, hear! Other Matthau films in this same category, and perhaps even less well known, include The Laughing Policeman and \*\* Hopscotch.\*\* Hopscotch is one of my favorite films. A nicely paced, wonderfully acted comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/97 "2005-07-21T16:54:14Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And…am I one of the few people who saw _The 13th Warrior_ in the theaters, _and_ has it on DVD? > > P.S…“Yeah, I’ll ‘kaboom’ tank.” 😃 Yeah, I love that movie and have the DVD. a lot of really great scenes. Is anyone familure with _ **Real Men** _ with James Belushi and John Ritter? I never meet anyone who has heard of it but I really enjoyed that movie and thought it didn’t get the recognition it deserved. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/98 "2005-07-21T18:15:33Z")
> [@Nicodemus2004](#): > > Is anyone familure with _ **Real Men** _ with James Belushi and John Ritter? I never meet anyone who has heard of it but I really enjoyed that movie and thought it didn’t get the recognition it deserved. I’ve seen it. Thanks to that movie I always write down the serial number of my bikes. Marc ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/99 "2005-07-21T21:07:22Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > [_The Last Valley_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065969/). With Omar Sharif, and Michael Caine as a grim German—I think he was German. Could be something else, though—mercenary captain in the Thirty Years War. Good movie. _Great_ soundtrack. Not exactly an “upbeat” ending, though. (Well, the rest of the story ain’t too cheery, either. I mean, _any_ movie that references the sack of Magdeburg…) Wow. I hadn’t seen, or even heard anyone mention that movie in years. I hardly remember much beyong a rough plot outline, but I do remember that I liked it. And my memory tricked me into thinking Omar Sharif’s character was actually played by Maximillian Schell. Another seldom seen (or at least seldom mentioned) movie I liked was [The Dish.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/100 "2005-07-22T00:48:10Z")
_How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog_ with Kenneth Branagh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922.md?page=6)