# Top ten must see films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 6, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587 "2022-03-06T23:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/1 "2022-03-06T23:25:57Z")
Okay, we have a person in my game group who has not seen a lot of classic films- So I need some must see films that are important in that quotes of them are common or are just a part of culture. If you have not seen these films, you will miss many cultural references. Not necessarily meaningful films- _Schindler’s List i_s deeply moving, meaningful and important- but no one quotes it. _Citizen_ Kane is almost there but just one word- _Rosebud._ In no order B&W _Casablanca_ \*Maltese Falcon, \* _Seven Samurai_ Color _Wizard of Oz_ More recent _Star Wars - A New Hope_ _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ _Monty Python & The Holy Grail._ I need a few more. Princess Bride? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/2 "2022-03-06T23:28:36Z")
Pulp Fiction Fletch The Big Lebowski ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/3 "2022-03-06T23:28:57Z")
You had me wondering what obvious classic movie I couldn’t think of abbreviated to “B&W”… ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/4 "2022-03-06T23:32:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If you have not seen these films, you will miss many cultural references. I guess I’m a bit puzzled why you think _Schindler’s List_ doesn’t quality on this criterion, but _Maltese Falcon_ and _Seven Samurai_ do. Great movies, of course, but what cultural references are you like to miss with these two? All your other picks make good sense. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/5 "2022-03-06T23:38:09Z")
2001 Psycho Alien A Clockwork Orange ET Silence of the Lambs Jaws Terminator Dr Strangelove Fight Club The Godfather Jurassic Park The Matrix ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/6 "2022-03-06T23:59:14Z")
Full Metal Jacket ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/7 "2022-03-07T00:03:03Z")
Airplane! ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/8 "2022-03-07T00:13:06Z")
Ten each, English and foreign language Vertigo Apocalypse Now Treasure of the Sierra Madre Sunset Boulevard Easy Rider Goodfellas Blade Runner 2001 Videodrome Some Like It Hot La Strada Persona Seven Samurai The Wages of Fear M Breathless Run Lola Run Rififi Amarcord The Exterminating Angel ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/9 "2022-03-07T00:16:55Z")
Particularly for gamer culture: _They Live_ _Big Trouble in Little China_ _Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension_ _Flash Gordon_ _Aliens_ _Terminator 2_ _Ghostbusters_ _Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ _Pirates of the Caribbean_ And yes, very definitely _The Princess Bride_ ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/10 "2022-03-07T00:35:01Z")
Thank G-d for @gdave, because his additions included most of the ones I would add for Gamer Culture. A few extra, less iconic, less quotable, but still probably key. Zombieland (because all gamers have rules for operating in a tropeverse) Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness - AoD especially is extremely quotable, but ED2 has many moments and lines that persist in gaming. Tremors - for so very, very many reasons. 🙂 Robocop - can’t imagine why this isn’t on the list “I’d buy that for a dollar” being one of the most common quotes in my group, but both style, quotes and general culture. Fifth Element - Gamer culture aplenty, including the lines about negotiating, Zorg on warriors and the zf1, and the of course, ZERO STONES, ZERO CRATES! Spaceballs. I mean, just all of it, why isn’t it on this list??? Conan the Barbarian - while lacking in quotes (although I always say ‘contemplate this on the tree of woe’, and “What is best in life? Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of de wimmen”), it is the source of many gamer tropes, including why turning into a snake never helps, and it is a must for most Fantasy RPG culture moments. But largely, the rest are there… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/11 "2022-03-07T03:36:36Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The Big Lebowski Yes, Not the other two. > [@Riemann](#): > > I guess I’m a bit puzzled why you think _Schindler’s List_ doesn’t quality on this criterion, but _Maltese Falcon_ and _Seven Samurai_ do. Great movies, of course, but what cultural references are you like to miss with these two? All your other picks make good sense. - Sam Spade: The stuff that dreams are made of. \* Sam Spade: When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it. And there have been how many films that take off on the _Seven Samurai_? I count six, maybe more. wiki \*t has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most “remade, reworked, referenced” films in cinema.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai#cite_note-Desser-10) The visuals, plot and dialogue of _Seven Samurai_ have inspired a wide range of filmmakers, ranging from [George Lucas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lucas) to [Quentin Tarantino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino). Elements from _Seven Samurai_ have been borrowed by many films. Examples include plot elements in films such as _[Three Amigos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Amigos)_ (1986) by [John Landis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Landis), visual elements in the large-scale battle scenes of films such as _[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Two_Towers)_ (2002) and _[The Matrix Revolutions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix_Revolutions)_ (2003), and borrowed scenes in [George Miller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Miller_(filmmaker))’s _[Mad Max: Fury Road](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road)_ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/12 "2022-03-07T03:37:23Z")
Yes, good films all. But not also great films. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/13 "2022-03-07T04:08:40Z")
_Blazing Saddles_ _Casablanca_ _The Godfather I & II_ _Gone with the Wind_ _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ _Night of the Living Dead_ _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ _Star Wars: A New Hope_ _The Wizard of Oz_ These are not the ten best movies ever made (although some of them would also be on that list). But I feel these are the ten movies that have made the biggest impact on American culture. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/14 "2022-03-07T04:12:18Z")
Yes, I forgot about _the Godfather_. Good one. At least part 1, anyway. GWtW is so fucking racist I won’t list it. Same with Birth of a Nation. The very premise is racism. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/15 "2022-03-07T04:16:00Z")
I think I’d include _Swingers_ in this list of great quotable-type movies. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/16 "2022-03-07T04:21:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sam Spade: The stuff that dreams are made of. When people misquote “such stuff as dreams are made on”, do you think they are quoting Sam Spade misquoting it? Do people really think it was an original line in the movie? I guess the fact that Seven Samurai has been widely influential for other filmmakers counts as generating cultural references that your friend might miss - but only when they see some of those other films! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/17 "2022-03-07T04:28:20Z")
If this is a cultural education, I’d be more inclined to identify genres, and then the best 3 movies in each genre. Black and White isn’t a good category, because it covers all genres up to and well past the introduction of color. By the way, there’s a much better quote from Citizen Kane: “It’s no trick to make a lot of money … if all you want is to make a lot of money.” Really, Mr. Bernstein had all the best quotes in that movie. Here are some suggestions for genres: Drama (romantic, domestic, others not including the ones listed below) Suspense Crime Mystery Noir War Musical Comedy Fantasy/Science Fiction Supernatural (e.g. ghost stories, Universal horror) Western Well, I’ve run out of inspiration. Within each of these genres are important sub-genres. For example, “kitchen sink” dramas were important in England in the 50’s, and their influence carried on for some time after. You could easily do a 10-best list out of any of these categories. The more I think about it, the less possible it seems to get a useful list together. My suggestion: sit them down in front of Turner Classic Movies, give them food, drink, sleep and toilet breaks, and come back in a year. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/18 "2022-03-07T06:03:11Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > My suggestion: sit them down in front of Turner Classic Movies, give them food, drink, sleep and toilet breaks, and come back in a year. You could do worse. Likely my fave goto on OnDemand. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/19 "2022-03-07T07:11:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So I need some must see films that are important in that quotes of them are common or are just a part of culture. For B&W, then, you need to add _Metropolis_. It’s been pretty influential. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587/20 "2022-03-07T15:05:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, good films all. But not also great films. I guess I’m confused as to what you’re looking for. In your OP, you state: > [@DrDeth](#): > > Okay, we have a person in my game group who has not seen a lot of classic films- So I need some must see films that are important in that quotes of them are common or are just a part of culture. If you have not seen these films, you will miss many cultural references. Not necessarily meaningful films- _Schindler’s List i_ s deeply moving, meaningful and important- but no one quotes it. _Citizen_ Kane is almost there but just one word- _Rosebud._ Since you specifically indicated this individual was part of your game group, I listed ten films I thought were important to gamer culture, in that quotes of them are common around the game table and are just a part of gamer culture. In your OP, you actually seemed to directly indicate you _weren’t_ necessarily looking for great films. So, I guess you’re looking for films that are great in and of themselves _and_ are widely quoted or just a general part of culture? Even by that standard, though, I disagree with your assessment of my list. Just to take three of my suggestions: I don’t think _Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension_ actually is even a _good_ film. It’s an _important_ film for geek culture and by extension _gaming_ culture. But if you’re looking for _great_ films, then I’d agree that it doesn’t fit. On the other hand, I think _Flash Gordon_ does. It is at the same time a camp classic _and_ a loving homage to the original comics and even moreso the Saturday matinee movie serials. I think it is a great movie. But, I’ll admit, it’s has a relatively narrow appeal, so it may not fit a more general interest list. _Aliens_, though, absolutely does. It is _the_ military action/horror movie. “They mostly come out at night. Mostly” “Get away from her, you bitch!” And the immortal and _extremely_ widely quoted and referenced, “Game over, man, game over!” Bughunts. _The_ iconic archetypal Corporate Weasel Who Wants to Weaponize and Monetize the Monster. _The_ iconic archetypal Greenhorn Officer Who Is Going to Get Us All Killed. The first Final Girl who goes on to become The Badass Action Heroine. And on and on. It is a genuinely great movie, _and_ is very important to geek culture, _and_ it’s very much a part of wider, mainstream culture. Of course, that’s all just my opinion. If you didn’t find my suggestions helpful, and you don’t think any of them are worth recommending to your friend, that’s completely fine, of course. Individual tastes vary. But definitely _The Princess Bride_, though. That one I’ll brook no arguments about 😜 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-must-see-films/960587.md?page=2)