So, I think I should've been more specific in regards to why I chose certain films, instead of simply listing them. For those who want to, it would be cool to hear why you chose the movies you did, and perhaps a brief synopsis of why you consider them perfect. "I just like them!" doesn't count, and in fact looking back at a few of my choices, they were leaning in that direction.
Here were the original choices I came up with, off the top of my head:
Jaws
Halloween
Raiders of the Lost Ark(duh!)
The Princess Bride
Big Trouble in Little China
Videodrome
Bullitt
Robocop
Twelve Monkeys
Now of those films I'd have to remove
Videodrome,
Bullitt,
Twelve Monkeys, and perhaps
The Princess Bride too, for the very reason they were too much in the "I like them" camp.
As for the others:
Jaws-This is Spielberg at probably his best next to
Raiders and
E.T.. It has a fantastic cast, one of the most memorable scores in film history, great use of building tension in a Hitchcock-like way, by not showing the shark until the big finale, terrific pacing, and honestly not a single scene I can see needing to be trimmed.
Raiders of the Lost Ark-I really probably don't even need to begin to explain this on this forum, but....once again Spielberg at the top of his game, yet another one of the best scores in film history, picture perfect casting, excellent pacing, one of the best action films ever...period, terrific use of real world exotic locales, top notch old school FX, and once again not a single scene needing to be trimmed.
Halloween-This is in my opinion one of the scariest films ever made, maybe it's tame by todays standards, but back in the day this movie gave me nightmares. The casting is great, specifically Jamie Lee Curtis, who was completely convincing as the timid, innocent, bookworm. Donald Pleasance was amazing, and turned in a fantastic performance as a modern day version of Van Helsing. Carpenter's direction was top-notch, and his use of Hitchcock-like techniques to build suspense was extremely effective. Yet another score for the record books, even more impressive for the fact Carpenter composed it himself. Lastly, not a single scene I can think of that needs to be trimmed.
Big Trouble in Little China-This is another Carpenter favorite of mine, and even though it may not be as technically good as
The Thing, it works in my opinion on so many levels making it the superior picture. It is a terrific blend of action, comedy, horror, and science fiction. Once again a great cast, from Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, to James Wong as Mr. David Lo Pan. Even the supporting characters are memorable, Victor Wong as Egg Shen, and Dennis Dun as Wang Chi. The movie is campy, goofy, and fun as hell, combining fantasy and martial arts in a way that is so outside the norms of a typical Hollywood feature of that time.
Robocop-Some might label this one as just a borderline exploitation film, but in my opinion Paul Verhoeven turned in one of the best sci-fi films of the last 25 years. Once again terrific casting, a great blend of action, horror, science fiction, drama, and comedy, top of the line FX for it's day, and a biting commentary on the 80's/Reagan era of big corporate business, that rivals
Wall Street. Most importantly, this film provides one of the best but typically overlooked movie villains in history, Clarence Boddicker.
*
Casablanca-This I didn't originally list, as I was picking films that were a little more outside the usual boundaries of typical "perfect" films, and going with the template from
http://chud.com/articles/articles/20...S-1/Page1.html , but it's just too good to not be on my initial list of films. Besides it being one of my all time favorites,
Casablanca has: one of the best on screen romances in history, a terrific moving score, an amazing ensemble cast with greats such as Claude Rains and Sydney Greenstreet, Bogart turning in probably his most iconic role, and one of the best Hollywood sets of all time. I honestly can't find anything wrong with this film!
