# The most famous movies you've never seen. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481 "2015-02-24T02:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/81 "2015-02-26T18:44:54Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Any of the Godfathers > Goodfellas > Caddyshack > Ferris Bueller’s Day Off I finally saw _Caddyshack_ a few years ago after my wife bought it for cheap. After we watched it I asked her how much she paid for it. I think her response was “One dollar.” To which I replied: “I think you paid at least double what you should have.” ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/82 "2015-02-26T18:52:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I much prefer older movies to most from recent couple of decades. From the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time: The 18 I haven’t seen: > > The Bridge on the River Kwai > Chinatown > Raging Bull > Apocalypse Now > The Godfather Part II > Double Indemnity > The Birth of a Nation > All Quiet on the Western Front > Stagecoach > Shane > The French Connection > The Wild Bunch > Platoon > A Place in the Sun > Goodfellas > Pulp Fiction > The Searchers > Unforgiven To _Bridge on the River Kwai_ I give the same thing I give _Citizen Kane_ - a giant “Meh.” I’ve read that _The Searchers_ is supposed to be pretty good but I’m just not all that “big” into older (meaning, for me: pre-1960s) movies. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/83 "2015-02-26T18:53:19Z")
Anything by Quentin Tarantino Anything by Alfred Hitchcock (excluding _Psycho_ and _The Birds_) Most of Stanley Kubrick’s body of work Any Best Picture-winning war movie ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/84 "2015-02-26T18:55:31Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Ironically, I reflected just this morning (through a convoluted chain of associations) that I had never watched “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. > > As in “Badges? We don’ need no steenking badges!” 😃 (Which is actually a mis-quote.) I’ve seen it. I wasn’t particularly impressed. I put it this way: nothing about it sticks out in my memory. I guess I just don’t like older movies all that much (although there are a few exceptions for me, such as _Twelve Angry Men_ [meaning the original one, of course, starring Henry Fonda]). ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/85 "2015-02-27T17:10:15Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > I haven’t seen most of the recent movies. > > Some of my friends are surprised that I’ve never seen Animal House. I dont really think your missing anything with animal house, its a movie thats best watched when you were both young, and in the time period it came out. Declan ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/86 "2015-02-27T17:49:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > \*\*I, on the other hand, would say that “The Oxbow Incident” is well worth it. \*\*It’s nominally a western, but it’s really a story about human nature, and beautifully filmed in B&W. > > For me, I’ve never made it through a **Harry Potter** movie. It took me five tries to finally get through **Blade Runner** (kept falling asleep). Never seen **Metropolis** (1927) or **Birth of a Nation** or **Uncle Tom’s Cabin**. Good choice. A few years ago when I was unemployed I noticed that “The Oxbow Incident” was on T.V. and I decided to watch it. Not bad, as I recall. And relatively short, too! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/87 "2015-02-27T17:53:20Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > Good choice. A few years ago when I was unemployed I noticed that “The Oxbow Incident” was on T.V. and I decided to watch it. Not bad, as I recall. And relatively short, too! That’s the reason I mentioned it. Like **Shane** , The Ox Bow Incident was a film based on a highly regarded novel. > **[The Ox-Bow Incident (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ox-Bow_Incident_(novel))** > > The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1940 western novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark in which two local cattlemen are drawn into a lynch mob to find and hang three men presumed to be rustlers and the killers of a local man. It was Clark's first published novel. > In 1943, the novel was adapted into an Academy Award–nominated movie of the same name, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan. > The Ox-Bow Incident takes place in 1885, and it begins with two cowboys, Art Croft and Gi... > **[Shane (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_(novel))** > > Shane is a western novel by Jack Schaefer published in 1949. It was initially published in 1946 in three parts in Argosy magazine, and originally titled Rider from Nowhere. The novel has been printed in seventy or more editions, and translated into over 30 languages, and was adapted into the 1953 film starring Alan Ladd. > The novel covered themes associated with the Johnson County War and took the side of the settlers in their conflict against the wealthy ranchers. > The story is set in 1889 Wyomi... ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/88 "2015-02-27T18:31:19Z")
Avatar, All except the first modern Batman film, Fight Club,Pretty Woman, Titanic, Any Fast and Furious, American Sniper, Snakes on a Plane, Jerry McGuire, any Twilight movie, Any MockingJay film, Anything after the first Saw - I wouldn’t have seen that if I hadn’t been stuck in a hospital bed next to someone who had a tv and was watching it. If it has a huge hammer a nail into the brain advertising campaign, after about the 10th HOUR of commercials I refuse to see something. I don’t think I have seen more than the accumulated commercials for most movies that actually end up released in the past decade. All the damned ads basically annoy me so damned much I figure that if they feel they need to drive it into our brain, it must not really be that good. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/89 "2015-02-27T18:56:10Z")
It’s a wonderful life Gone with the Wind Sound of Music Avatar Home Alone (any of them) ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/90 "2015-02-28T14:18:54Z")
I only recently watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which is about as old as I am (available on Amazon Prime streaming). It put me on a bit of an Audrey Hepburn kick and I watched a couple others of hers: How to Steal a Million, Paris When it Sizzles. I had seen Wait Until Dark long ago, however. ---
**Author:** ![H2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@H2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/91 "2015-03-03T14:51:34Z")
I have never been a big movie fan. Here are some I haven’t seen: Forrest Gump (It’s so often quoted that I feel like I’ve seen it. That’s good enough.) ET (Never got around to it.) Any Matrix movie (I like linear plotlines.) Metropolis (but I have it ready in Netflix) Citizen Kane (I want to see it.) Birth Of A Nation (Too much baggage.) Casablanca (There is something irritating about Bogart. He’s an anachronism.) Any Lord of the Rings (Just not interested. I read the books in school.) Harry Potter (except the first one, at my daughter’s urging) Schindler’s List (I know it’s an “important” movie. But I know history already.) 50 Shades (I refuse) There are many others. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/92 "2015-03-03T15:19:25Z")
> [@H2.0](#): > > I have never been a big movie fan. Here are some I haven’t seen: > > Any Matrix movie (I like linear plotlines.) > > . ?? There are many reasons people give for not liking the Matrix movies\*, but not this one. The movies all have linear plotlines. If this is all that’s keeping you from watching them, go see them. **Watchmen** , or **Memento** (which, like Matrix films, features Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantaliano) are non-linear plotlines. \*Not me. I love the first one and the second, aside from the filler stuff at Zion. I even like much of the third. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/93 "2015-03-03T15:52:51Z")
Is Birth of a Nation really all that famous outside of serious movie buffs? It’s a silent movie from 1915 for Christ sake. I bet almost no one has seen it. Nutty Professor (original) Mrs Doubtfire ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/94 "2015-03-03T15:53:28Z")
I guess the fact that I watch too much TV combined with my age means that I’ve seen 99.9% of the movies mentioned in this thread. Lots of them first run in the theater as well. What do all you snobs do with your time instead? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/95 "2015-03-03T16:00:50Z")
Personally I just change the channel when Mrs Doubtfire comes on. I decided in advance to hate that movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/96 "2015-03-03T16:02:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Is Birth of a Nation really all that famous outside of serious movie buffs? It’s a silent movie from 1915 for Christ sake. I bet almost no one has seen it. I knew about ity before I became a movie buff – it was in my encyclopedia in the section on the history of cinema. I’ve seen it more than once. Heck, I own in on DVD. And I bought it in an ordinary video store. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/97 "2015-03-03T16:10:03Z")
Do you think a lot of non movie buff people read the history of cinema section of their handy encyclopedia? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/98 "2015-03-03T16:48:39Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Do you think a lot of non movie buff people read the history of cinema section of their handy encyclopedia? No. Nowadays they’d read the history section of Wikipedia > **[History of film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film)** > > The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century. > The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. There were earlier cinematographic screenings by others, however, the commercial, public screening of ten Lumière brothers' short films in Paris on 28 December 1895, can be regarded as the breakthrough of projected cinematographic motion pictures. The earliest films were in black and white, unde... I notice that, although it mentions D.W. Griffith multiple times, doesn’t even mention _Birth of a Nation_, let alone have a still from it. Although the Wikipedia entry on D.W. Griffith, of course, does. And has a shot of the title card. ---
**Author:** ![H2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@H2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/99 "2015-03-03T21:01:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > ?? > There are many reasons people give for not liking the Matrix movies\*, but not this one. The movies all have linear plotlines. If this is all that’s keeping you from watching them, go see them. > > **Watchmen** , or **Memento** (which, like Matrix films, features Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantaliano) are non-linear plotlines. > > \*Not me. I love the first one and the second, aside from the filler stuff at Zion. I even like much of the third. I didn’t know, since I haven’t seen it. I heard people say that. Maybe I’ll give it a try. I saw Memento. Irreversible was also a backward plot. The former was pretty good. The latter was so realistic it was almost unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481/100 "2015-03-04T18:47:36Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Anything with superheroes. For me, it’s anything with mutants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-movies-youve-never-seen/713481.md?page=4)