Perfect Movies - What's your list?

In the article in which @"thecuddlyninja" interviewed @"spence", Spence mentioned four films he believed were perfect; Star Wars, Princess Bride, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws.

Just curious, what's your list?

In no particular order:

Children of Men
Mulholland Drive
Requiem for a Dream
The Fountain
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rope
Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Magnolia
There Will Be Blood
Big Lebowski

I'm sure there are others but that's what comes to mind now.

^Great list! And thanks for reminding me that I've been meaning to see 'The Fountain' for years. Mine offhand to add to that are:

Godfather Part II

A Clockwork Orange

Alien

Fargo

Inglorious Basterds

Pan's Labyrinth

Dr. Strangelove

Se7en

I've given this some thought from time to time.

For me it's not enough that a "Perfect" movie has to be great. It has to tick all the boxes. It has to viscerally entertain an audience with almost limitless re-watch-ability but with enough emotional and narrative depth to be endlessly fascinating. It's gotta be a popcorn flick for the masses but done on the level of high art. Films that you could put any general audience in front of and they'd be captivated. I also believe that a fantastic score is essential. If the music isn't sweeping the audience up into the film it's never going to be perfect.

I'd say very few movies meet this grade. Here are a few that spring to mind...

Aliens
Back To The Future
Robocop
The Godfather
Jurassic Park
The Matrix
The Silence of the Lambs
Memphis Belle
Beauty and the Beast
It's A Wonderful Life
The Untouchables
The Terminator
A Muppet Christmas Carol
Die Hard
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Sting
Tremors

Basically if you don't enjoy those ^, it's you that is wrong not the movie .

I wouldn't include anything by Kubrick, Scorsese, Tarantino, Welles (My favourite Director), Leone, Scott or Kurosawa. They made some of the "greatest" films of all time but they're not for everyone.

in no particular order, here are a few offhand:

Pan's Labyrinth
The Empire Strikes Back
Memphis Belle
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Jurassic Park
Blade Runner

Ferris Bueller
Back to the Future
Jurassic Park
Brazil
Night Watch (Russian film)
The Prestige
Catch Me If You Can

I'm sure there are others but off the top of my head, that's my list. I've seen all these multiple times and wouldn't change a thing.

Raiders of the Lost Spookbox
The Man from Earth
The Empire Lashes Back
The Terminator

Rocky
Goodfellas
The third man
Paper moon
City of God
Casablanca
Ghostbusters
Toy story
Halloween
Singing in the rain

^ Yeah, Ghostbusters and Halloween. Forgot those.

Ferris Bueller
Planes, trains and automobiles
Terminator 1 and 2
Back to the future 1
Alien 1 (Theatrical cut)
Die Hard 1
Predator 1
Total Recall (1990)
Robocop 1 (not the remake!)
Matrix 1
Vertigo
Taxi Driver
Lawrence of Arabia
Heat
Rocky 1
12 monkeys
The wizard of Oz
Godfather 2
Seven samurai

I think for a movie to be perfect it needs to make you feel. Feel: scared shitless or ontop of the world, happy or sad, depressed or all cheered up. it should move you and have an effect on you that lingers at least a couple days after viewing. I disagree with tm2yc in that I don't believe it should be a blockbuster and have a wicked score and all that though it would certainly help, but some perfect movies you may never want to watch the movie again (*). Here's some examples of what I'm trying to get at:
The Omen
Carrie*
Requiem for a Dream*
21 Grams*
Blade Runner
Ace Ventura (either of first two)
Drive
Only God Forgives
Star Wars
alien/s
Jesus Son
Kontrol

crouching dragon, hidden tiger was a perfect movie for me when it was released.

after i messed with it, i could never see it again in the same light, as the heart-breaking, powerfully beautiful romance it once was. 

My personal criteria for a perfect movie is impact. Casting, presentation, delivery, and environment are also crucial. Here are a few that meet those criteria for me, in no particular order:

The Peanuts Movie
Inception
Interstellar
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Shenandoah
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
Temple Grandin
Life is Beautiful
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller)
The Empire Strikes Back
Sergeant York
Les Miserábles (Liam Neeson)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Lion King
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
Amazing Grace
Remember the Titans
It's a Wonderful Life
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Princess Bride
Castaway
Goodnight and Goodluck
The Return of the King (Rankin & Bass)
That Thing You Do
ST II: The Wrath of Kahn
ST VI: The Undiscovered Country
The Fellowship of the Ring
Raising Arizona
Willow
The Truman Show
True Grit (John Wayne)
Rooster Cogburn and the Lady
The Prince of Egypt
Ben Hur
Treasure Island (Heston & Bale)
The Lego Movie
Blackboard Jungle
How to Steal a Million

There are a few others but I'll stop here.

Fascinating lists! I think I agree most with TM2YC's criteria, and many of the films on that list, but here are a few of mine that immediately come to mind.

Back to the Future
Star Wars
Ghostbusters
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jurassic Park
There will be blood
Pan's Labyrinth
The Orphanage
*When Harry met Sally

* I realise this one is probably just for me.

Here's a list of all the movies I've rated 5 stars on Letterboxd.com. http://letterboxd.com/neglify19/list/five-star-films/

That's almost 300 films, so if I had to cut it down to just 10...

The Big Lebowski 
Die Hard
The Godfather
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rashomon
There Will Be Blood

Fight Club
Amelie


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American History X  ( The best movie ever made)
Blue Velvet
Jaws
Dawn of the Dead  ( European version with Goblin overdub)
Robocop (uncut edition)
Terminator  (The first 3)
Der Untergang
Almost everything of Cronenberg and Carpenter
and of course the movies of my fan edits

Trying to mix old and new:

King Kong 1933
City Lights
Modern Times
The Descent
Avatar
Titanic
Alien
The Terminator
Vertigo
Moon
The Orphanage
All is Lost
Highlander
Rocky
Hugo Cabret
Deep Red
Gravity

This is a tough one! Here are just a few I can think of in no particular order:

 - Remember the Titans
 - A Knight's Tale
 - Se7en
 - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
 - The Matrix

maniac said:

Terminator  (The first 3)

Click to expand...

Wow, Terminator 3, really? If it works for you, that's cool, but I never thought I would hear anyone say T3 was a perfect movie.