We are all affected by movies in different ways, but through film history there have been some films that have stood out significantly from the rest for their influence – either on the times, or on movie making in general. This “Your View” deals with that subject.
What is the Most Influential Movie Ever Made?
My answer to this is Citizen Kane. The reason for my choice is that Orson Welles (the director) and Gregg Toland (the cinematographer) devised many new ways for filming that have appeared in almost every film since then – for example, deep focus shots and low angle shots.
This “Your View” is a double whammy! Not only do I want to know the answer to the question above, I also want to know what the most influential movie has been in your own life. For me, that is Natural Born Killers by Oliver Stone. I saw that movie just after I started College and it was the first artistic type film I had seen. I was so moved by the directing style that I have loved films ever since – knowing that they can be used as an expression of art – not just entertainment.
For me, The Karate Kid was the most influential movie
Randall: But sharks won’t go for us *because* we’re their food. They are dangerous and will attack us if they *think* we’re something else that’s their food or if we act offensively toward them, but sharks don’t suddenly decide they feel like eating human for lunch.
Angelina – why don’t you go out further so I can give it some scale?
Randall; no worries about me…I know exactly where I would fall in the food chain without the benefit of society and a strong hulled boat. I’m 5′ 1″ and 115lbs. Animals do not think, at least in ways that humans do. Scent, kill, taste, decide.
I’m an appetizer…
Mom – thanks for the link. Though I don’t place a great deal of authoritative credence in “popular science” articles, at least they quoted some scientists, which is good.
I’m still not convinced, though that sharks “don’t want to eat humans”. Whilst we may not be their snack of choice, and realising that we both agree that most shark attacks consist of hit-and-run, if we picture a scenario of a hungry shark faced with a juicy human – I think we know what the outcome would be. There are certainly accounts of feeding frenzies involving shipwrecks and plane crashes.
I gave my answer above to this question, but it was kind of a cop-out…. so dragging film history into this:
Most influential films of the early years:
Any of Georges Melies films, particularly his biggest, “A Trip to the Moon.” Melies’ films opened up the then-unrealized possibilities of visual effects.
“The Great Train Robbery”–in one single shot, showed that films do not have to allow action to simply play from stage left or stage right, passively, but that the action can come out to the camera. Films ever after were different from the act of watching a stage play.
“The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” –popularized not only the horror film as a genre, but mainly brought us Expressionism in film, which remained a staple of horror, suspense and crime films for the next three decades–reaching a peak with the dark film noirs of the Forties.
“Birth of a Nation,” “Greed” and “Intolerance” – DW Griffith set the standards for modern filmmaking.
“The Last Laugh” – brought German Expressionism out of horror and into the mainstream of storytelling.
“The Battleship Potemkin,” and “The Man with a Camera” – montage and other camera arts used artistically for the first time, inspiring generations.
Bucslim: You got city hands, Mr. Bucslim.
If you couldn’t tell, I really, really like Jaws. RIP Roy Scheider.
chershey:
And exactly how do you know this?
I understand–the recent generation of marine biologists have tried to teach us not to fear sharks. And no, we shouldn’t be afraid to get in the freakin’ water—but being blase about sharks, even slightly, is to me foolish.
And in fact, despite what you say about sharks not just up and deciding to eat us…. sharks *have* been known to make sudden and unprovoked lunges towards humans, attacking them. It’s the fact that they *can’t* make the sort of “decisions” that mammals make that makes sharks particularly dangerous.
Another Kiwi – cool pictures – thanks. I’m in London (originally from Wellington). How about you ?
Kiwiboi: No worries. I’m a Hamilton (NZ) resident who spends far, far too much work time cruising listverse.
Randall: I know this from being a chondrichthyology fan since I was in third grade and complained to my mother when I came home one afternoon that I had not learned anything new in the new marine biology curriculum.
I am in absolutely no way saying that anyone should assume that sharks are not dangerous, that an attack cannot be fatal, or that we should be free to swim near sharks because they’re not there to eat us. I was simply saying that sharks do not attack humans *because* they are hungry for human meat and want to eat a human.
chershey: but that is what jaws showed us.
dischuker: *headdesk* LOL
Citizen Kane. Hands down.
As for most personally influential, I would choose between these three films from my childhood, when my mind was still being shaped. My love for cinema is due in large part to being so awed by the depth, theatricality and technique of these 3 films.
1. E.T.
2. Jurassic Park
3. Radio Flyer
what happened to the science facts list?
Another Kiwi – Hamilton ? I have good memories of a school trip to Hamilton when I was 15. The guy I was billeted with had 5 sisters
And ***** sharks.
American History X was pretty influential.
It was a very powerful movie with a lot of depth and emotion..
or that’s just my take.
The most influential movie ever made was “Get People to Creat Content for your Website.”
and ***** you too Borg.
Next time you get in the water…I’ll be waiting…
…then we’ll see who likes humans and who doesn’t
You tell’em, sharks!
American History X. It was just so powerful, even despite how graphic it was at times.
Big Fish definetly.
Oh *****! Sharks have learned to read???!!! Well, just as long as they haven’t figured out how to open doors…
Candygram!?!
Yall know what I do for a livin’ Not like catchin blue fin or tommycats! Fish like that, swallow ya whole. I’ll catch this bird for ya, but I value my neck a lot more than 3000 bucks. 3000, catch him, 10000 I’ll kill him. For that, you get the head, tail, the whole damn thing.
kiwiboi; i don’t think the world of popular science either, that would be why the article i sent had actual scientific credentials. You shouldn’t be too dismissive about the word “popular”. Just because something is made accessible doesn’t make it less true. Isn’t that the point of this website?
My top 10 influentials are
10)Big Fish
9)American history X
8)300
7)Titanic
6)Diary of a mad black woman
5)E.T.
4)Birth of a Nation
3)Citizen Cane
2)The Color Purple
1)Forest Gump
There, thats all i have to say
Csimmons; why Titanic? just curious, the story or the scale or the cool effects?
Akira is important for popularizing anime in the U.S. The Star Wars trilogy made sci-fi what it is. Seven Samurai pioneered the samurai genre. The Good, Bad, and the Ugly is probably the greatest western ever. Black Christmas is the father of modern slasher films. Super Mario Bros. was important because it told us that virtually all licensed movies are garbage. What I’m trying to say is that there are a ton of influential movies for a ton of different reasons.
I honestly don’t know what the most influential movie would be. I’m fourteen, and right now, I’m insanely busy with “most influential/famous music”, but I’m working my way into the film genre.
As for what influenced me personally, I’m not sure.
I have to be honest, the Disney (?) cartoon Anastasia most definitely influenced me. I used to watch that movie when I was like 5, and it made me realize that I don’t have to dress trashy or throw myself at guys to find love. =]
Pretty much, Anastasia showed me that not ever girl has to be a Damsel In Distress that needs to be saved by a guy.
Which is pretty big, when you’re 5.
I am legend. It made me want to hug somebody afterwards.
Mom424: The story, it made realize that death can happen at any moment and to live life to its fullest, plus that one scene where Dicaprio is painting Rose was awesome
Battleship Potempkin, how can it be otherwise.
as an athlete, even more as an undersized athlete, i say rudy really got to me. but one that really affected me in a completely different way was dawn of the dead(2003). for like a month i was paranoid that there were zombies lurking around every corner lol
Gah, you are really trying to drive us crazy, aren’t you, Jfrater? I think you’re right about Citizen Kane but for a more recent picture I’d choose Jaws. I mean, how many movies have aped the “big thing in the water”, three men bonding with different personalities, and “Ba dum…ba dum…” music?
Finding Neverland made a pretty big impact on me. But, as far as impact on the film industry goes…I dunno, I have to agree with JBaughn – Hitch*****did a lot for films.
For the general public there’s a few that I think stand out. Crash, Fight Club, Hotel Rwanda, Schindler’s List, and Forest Gump to name a few…
As for me personally…
Rumour Has It (although kinda bad, had a subplot that pertained to my life, and a line that made me realize I had to fight for the man I loved)
Requiem for a Dream (displayed the power of addiction and how vulnerable we all are at any point in our lives)
Little Children (something beautifully imperfect about all of our lives)
Across the Universe (wove art and music into a beautiful representation of the 60′s in the US and how a whole generation changed everything, plus it had really powerful imagery)
Love Actually (true love can come in many forms, and you should fall as hard as you can, as often as you can)
I think thats the top few… although I do love movies so this list could go on forever…
-Woodstock documentary
-Harold and Maude
-Field of Dreams-the most beautiful movie, but especially for a baseball fan.
-Across the Universe
-DAZED AND CONFUSED!!!!
I love movies that can inspire me to write music. Those include:
1. V for Vendetta
2. Samurai X
3. Requiem for a Dream
United 93 was incredibly moving, as was John Q, possibly Denzel’s best performance. A movie called Mask with Eric Stoltz and Cher is really impacting and a movie called The World According to Garp with Robin Williams is probably the best book-to-film movie created, or at least that I’ve seen. I strongly reccommend all these movies as I guarantee you will be moved and emotionally impacted by them. Superb.
ProgRapture: V for Vendetta was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, by far Natalie Portman’s best screen performance.
When I was a kid the most influential movie was Old Yella
youth, it was Easy Rider
adult, it was Used Cars
I know its not technically a movie but Band of Brothers was incredibly moving.
For me, the most influential are:
Casablanca, Fantasia, Rashomon, 2001, and Hollywood Shuffle
mine would have to be legally blond
I DONNO!
162 riley: I like your choices. Have you seen Lives of Others? Judging by what you have selected I think that you would really like it.
Influential? That’s different than best movie ever.
I’ll go with Easy Rider, Animal House, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Seventh Seal, Stop Making Sense, Godfather trilogy, Rushmore, Vertigo, Silence of the Lambs and Wizard of Oz. Each of those was very influential to their genre or were pioneers in some kind of way.
Shawshank redemption, Godfather, maid in Manhattan(kidding), Taxidriver
I’m trying to sign up for the forums. Did it take long for anyone else’s verification e-mail to come?
Shipping news
Most influential would have to be “The Great Train Robbery”
Hotel Rwanda
jocsboss: No I haven’t, but thanx for the recommendation, I’ll have to check it out.
Depends. I can’t say with authority what film was the most influential, but I must say almost anything done by Alfred Hitch*****is a worthy contender.
Blockbusters: I agree with Randall about Jaws and Star Wars. Not only was Jaws one of the first summer blockbusters, it single-handedly made the world even more terrified of sharks. But by showing inaccurate behavior of sharks, alot of people today still think that sharks are huge slow-moving vengeful beasts whose presence are preceded by cello music.
Romance: I can only think of Love Story. Yeah it’s a corny tear-jerker, but EVERYBODY went to see it. They ALL came out crying. In my opinion I think this one set the standard for rich-dad-disowns-rich-boy-who-loves-poor-terminally-ill-girl and-they-struggle-to-make-ends-meet kind of movie.
Science Fiction:
2001: A Space Odyssey – Surprisingly accurate portrayal of vacuum and 0 gravity. Lead the way with using front projection for special effects.
The Matrix – Human batteries, mind-blowing action/FX sequences (bullet sequence), re-imagining of virtual reality.
Horror/Slasher/Splatter:
Psycho – Twist ending, early ridding of main character, and music. (think TEENG TEENG TEENG!)
Exorcist – Pea soup, revolving head, dubbed scary voice, subliminal images, profanity from a child actor.
Alien & Halloween – Whittling down of doomed victims/preys to move the story forward, a single WOMAN survivor.
Alien – Hidden/unclear view of menacing creature, shocking element of gore (chestburster).
Night of the Living Dead – Trapped victims in claustrophobic setting and ZOMBIES! Although there were earlier zombie movies, this was one that everyone saw, remembered, and influenced a horde of other horror movies.