Viewing Thread:
"Great film/Rubbish film"

What makes a film great? Everyone has a favourite film, but why is that film a great one? Is it a certain actor, effect, plot or even one line?

There are plenlty of films lauded as 'great', but just because they're big grossing films doesn't mean they actually deserve to be called that.

Take Titanic - Winner of 12 Academy Awards and a massive box-office smash. An amazing film, you might say. But I hated it - thought it was rubbish. Ben Hur got 12 Oscars, and was far more deserving of it - So a great film isn't defined by how many Oscars it won, in my estimation.

It could be one line. What's the best line from your favoruite film? My favourite is Dogma, so I'd best not say any lines, or I'll be banned ;). Some films, good films, have been distilled over time into just one line. I'd say Terminator is the best example of that. You think of Terminator - you think of Arnie saying 'I'll be back', ignoring, or forgetting, what actually made the film great in the first place. Sure wasn't the acting though, heh.

Acting. That's another factor. An actor can make a film. Some average films are regarded as much better because of the principal acoter, or have become great because of that. The best recent example of that? Gladiator, surely. Russell Crowe carried that film himself. Sure it had a great plot, but Crowe was the best piece of that film. But, on that note, does that mean that just because an actor is famous, he or she will cause a film to bring in buckets of money? Perhaps. But famous actors don't make films memorable. I'd say a great example of that was 'The Mexican'. Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts - two Hollywood giants - put together, and the film wasn't massive. Why - because the leads need chemistry. If its a romance, they need to seem good together. If its a comedy, the one-liners and jokes need to come naturally. Example for this? 'Rush Hour'.1 or 2. Rush Hour was a surprise hit - $250 million dollars worldwide. The actors weren't massively famous. Jackie Chan was only a cult hero before this - Shanghai Noon came later. It was because of the star chemistry between Chan and Chris Tucker that this film succeeded.

Special effects - This really can't account for a great movie, can it? Sure, some people's favourite movies are The Matrix or Phantom Menace - but all they are is special effects. Saying that though, these films earned huge amounts of money, and you can't say the acting was particularly good in either of them. Its just the rippling bullets or strange alien things that make these movies good. Although special effects can have thier downside. Hands up who wanted to kill Jar-Jar Binks? :-)

Plot and originality. This is, in my opinion, what makes a truly great film. You have a great plot, and you can stick in unknown actors, and be a success. This is why I love Dogma. It's got such an original plot. Those who have seen it will know what I'm talking about. Then you list some great movies - Ben Hur, Citizen Kane, Star Wars(original trilogy), Gladiator, The Shining, Jaws - And you see they all have a great plot. Sure, special effects, music, acting or whatever may back up and contribute, but its the plot that is the deciding facotr in choosing a great film.

But then again, I tend to be wrong about a lot of things :-)
So, I'll ask you to say your favourite movies - but not just that. What do you think makes them your favourite? I'm just interested - see if I'm right about the plot thing.

Cheers, Stryke

Dr. Gonzo made a very good point there about films being enjoyable and films being well made. Take for example, the first two Alien movies. If I had to watch one of them right now, it'd be Aliens, but if you asked me which is my favourite, then I`d say Alien because the directing, acting, set design and so forth are so much better. Another good example of this is Taxi Driver, it's my favourite film of all time. The themes behind it, the acting, the brilliant characterisation, the acting again, are all fantastic, but being such a slow movie, the thought of watching it more than once in a fortnight doesn't appeal to me very much. Having said that, watching it for the first time was brilliant.

As long as Jay and Silent Bob are in it, it rules. And Kevin Smith directs.

Mallrats, Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma - All Kevin Smith, all with the two class guys. Snoogins.

Stryke wrote:
> I may as well answer my own post

Dogma - because of original plot, funny
> script, and of course, Jay and Silent Bob.

So you will like a new film coming out then. Its called Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. And its about these 2 stoners that are in Dogma. It also stars Ben Afleck. I got it from the internet yesterday so I will watch it today and post what I think of it.

I think Heat is the best film ever. It's got great acting in from De Niro and Pacino and it has a pretty good plot with hundreds (not litterally) of sub-plots. The only thing wrong with this film is the ending which I hate. But the rest of the film is so good that it is still my favourite film. De Niro should either escape or kill Pacino and then escape. I think it would be better if he just escaped and didn't kill Pacino though.

An example of a film being made by the acting is American History X. This is still a great film but it is just made so much better by Ed Norton's performance. Ed Furlong is also brilliant in it but he is overshadowed by Norton who gives the best performance I've ever seen anyone give. And he never won an oscar.

Tiltawhirl wrote:
> Titanic lol, that was like Brookside on a boat

LOL, yeah, as I said above, Titanic was the biggest muck up. You want everyone to like a film? Don't cast Pretty Boy DiCamp-rio.

Titanic lol, that was like Brookside on a boat

nah man, its gotta be either titanic or pearl for the great shots, i mean look at the bomb dropping down onto the boat, poor american, soo many died, i pray for them, especially in the light of what is happened in teh past few days, come lets pray for them, everyone say a prayer for them, please. its the only way you can mekke yourself feel better

I think the character development of a film contibutes to the overall outcome of its success. Take Terminator II: Judgement Day for example, this is a really far-fetched film but it is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. This is because James Cameron developed the characters so well, I mean you actually felt sorry for the Terminator being terminated at the end. Arnies character was developed brilliantly. A far-fetched film, made into a really realistic, emotional story.

Slaveunit wrote:
> I thought Traffic was the biggest pile of pants ever, and so did
> everyone I saw it with.

well done, so did I. I almost walked out. Someone has to tell Caterine Zeta Jones she can't act.

I thought Traffic was the biggest pile of pants ever, and so did everyone I saw it with.