Movie lovers: What is the greatest movie ever made?
 

Please keep in mind that, given the limitation of the size of this poll, not every movie could be listed, so I limited the choices to only those that were obviously worthy of consideration.

Gilda

I've always thought Casablanca was one of the greatest movies ever made, so I had no issue voting for it given the limitations of this poll.

The only other movies that come close for me are The Seven Samurai and The Shawshank Redemption.

I've always believed the Godfather to be number one.

Obviously great - I just watched it again last month.

Can't fault the movie for this, but as the years pass I'm increasingly distracted by thoughts of the period and location when watching older films. We (the films and I) didn't carry that baggage 20yrs ago.

BTW, anyone voting "haven't see it" just made their next rental decision. :)

I've seen it and I didn't like it, not that good of a movie, and I’ve watched a lot of movies. It’s a sappy love story, it’s not a bad story but I don’t find it interesting. Why make the poll, seriously, if you want to start a thread about Casablanca why not do that? If I would have to pick a favorite/best movie of all time so far I would say the Shawshank Redemption.

i agree, i've seen it and it's not the best movie ever made throughout all time and space. there is no response to reflect my opinion. my favorite movie might be metropolis. is it the greatest? i don't know.

I can't complete your poll. I've seen Casablanca and I don't think it's the best movie of all time and I love movies.

that is such a hard question to answer. i love all sorts of movies a whole lot. maybe a pick a genre? but i suppose the greatest movie ever ever...then...um....uh...(good lord the pressure)....i guess....'forrest gump'. yeah, that sounds right.

My analytical side brings up different genres, qualities, messages, periods...
Then my artistic side backs up and says "Damn, that was a great flick!"

Where art is concerned, lines become indistinct. Shades take over.

I chose not to vote

because i've seen it

and shawshank redemption gets my vote as well as best ever

I am a movie lover, thats why I don't believe in Greatest Ever Movie Polls. There are too many great movies for just one to be voted THE greatest.
As far as this poll is concerned, I've never seen Casablanca

if that's your assessment of Casablanca, you've watched the wrong movie... :) Sappy love stories are really heinous chick flick type movies like Love actually and other such crappy movies... Casablanca had intrigue, and mystery, the beautiful Ingrid Bergman and oh heavens... Bogart and Henreid...

It's a great movie... and so much quotable from it as well..

ibid djflish.

I feel bad for never having seen Casablanca. I'm not a huge fan of 'classic' films anyway. I find them often trying to hard to fill space.

as opposed to current movies which just use nudity or have something blow up to fill space? :D At least in the classic movies there's a story... and a plot... and character development... and dialog.

No I haven't seen it. I'll reserve judgement of it until I do, but until then, my vote could go towards either Lawrence of Arabia or The Godfather.

Casablanca is a great movie. I'm not sure that it's the greatest movie ever made. I suppose it depends on your criteria.

In terms of the most innovative. Casablanca is not.
In terms of the most influential. Casablanca is not.
In terms of the most entertaining. It's probably up there near the top for me.

I think that the greatest movie ever made was Citizen Kane, though I find Casablanca far more entertaining.

With all due respect, I found The Seven Samurai to be the most amateurish, boring, overhyped piece of shit movie I've ever seen.

Like, The Big Lebowski, man.

I love Casablanca. It is one of the best examples of Hollywood at the top of its game.

There a many great films, I am not convinced Casablanca is the BEST film of all time just one of them.

I would also put these films in the top of a list of great Hollywood films:

To Have and to Have Not
It's A Wonderful Life

There are a ton of great films made independently in the US as well as around the world. I have to admit I am amazed at the popularity of The Shawshank Redemption. I thought it was a good film, just not a great film.

woah, woah, woah... Let's not get down on nudity in films...

I agree with you that classic films often to have a story, plot, and some character development. In my opinion a few of today's writers and directors have learned how to do it as well, if not better than some of the older films. Not to knock the classics. Without the classics we wouldn't have the films we have today, that includes the gold and the crap.

eh.. i saw casablanca one late night.. I was expecting more for some reason. It was entertaining but I didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.

I've never seen it. I guess I will go rent it. I don't think I could even pick a 'greatest movie ever made'. I have a lot of favorites. As far as storylines go, I would have to say The 13t Floor. I really really enjoyed that movie. I guess I need to rent Shawshank Redemption too.

Casablanca is, hands down, the best movie...ever.

one word:

OVERRATED.


If anyone is interested it ranks #7 on imdb, behind Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, Return of the King(!!?), Godfather II, Schindler's List and Seven Samurai.

I go with Citizen Kane, but Casablanca is easily in the top 5.

CB lacks the "grey issues" that are confronted in CK. It's basically a good vs. evil film. The characters in CB are easily defined as perfectly likeable/dislikeable. I don't mean to minimize the greatness of the film, I just think the complexity of CK puts it slightly on top of CB.

Some of my other favorites: Rear Window, Harvey, A Christmas Story (Ralphie!), Pulp Fiction, Shawshank, Seven

If I get permission from my wife, can I take you as a mistress? :icare:

Disclaimer: The OP utilizes the literary technique of hyperbole, or exaggeration used to make a point, in this case in an attempt at creating a comedic tone.

Casablanca did very little new or innovative, but what it did it did very, very well. The romance, the political intrigue, the dialog, the good guys and the bad guys, the Plus there's the sexual chemistry between Ingrid Bergman and . . . that guy, whatshisname.

On any given day I might list Schindler's List, The General, Intolerance, Double Indemnity or Gates of Heaven as the best ever.

Is Casablanca great art? Maybe not. But it certainly is one of the movies that is at the pinnacle of studio system movies and was on my mind when I decided to make silly thread to help take my mind off of other things.

Gilda

I haven't seen it either, though I've meant to for such a long time :)

For my $.02 I'd have to add The Green Mile to the list, I thought the performances were incredible, the message impressive, and the depth very provoking.

I've never seen it, but I would like to. I love movies, and it's so difficult to say one is the best ever...every great film has something different to offer.

Wow, I can't see how you got that out of it. I love Toshiro Mifune in that movie, especially.

Are you not a fan of foreign films, perhaps? Or was it the lack of hollywood slickness?

It was the 4 hours of people sitting around staring at each other, over acting, bad editing, boring cinematography, dull plot, low stakes, annoying music...

I don't watch "great" films. I just watch funny and entertaining films. Give me something shiny by Pixar, I'm happy as can be. I'll take serious and philosophical in a book, but for some reason, I don't like it in a movie.

Another vote for Casablanca...followed closely by Citizen Kane.

Well I am shocked, stunned, flabbergasted that my favorite movie isn't on any of the IMBd lists, even on the Westerns list. Once Upon a Time in the West I think is one of the best movies ever made, period, let alone in the western genre. Anybody here seen it? If I had to name one movie, that would be it.

The second on my list would be Barbarella ;)

I would have to agree with Cimarron29414, Citizen Kane was better then Casablanca. although Casablanca was a great moive. Kane was greater.

of course the greatest of them all would have to be...wait for it...Dogma. Kevin Smith rules

Office Space or even Clerks was better than dogma :)

but casablanca was still better :D

< threadjack>
Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear, the stuff he pulled. It always makes us laugh. Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are just too bright... and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice... but still, the place you live is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.
< /threadjack>

greatest movie ever

The Big Lebowski:

"Look, let me explain something. I'm not Mr. Lebowski; you're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. That, or Duder. His Dudeness. Or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing--"

Fight Club or Usual Suspects. Great story, great pacing, entertaining, gets better on repeated viewings.

I will admit I have not seen Casablanca, but I do remember Coppertop playing the role of a ticket collector in a live action version of Casablanca (loosely).

Offtopic: Bigben, your new sig is awesome. :lol::lol::lol:

Hmm. I never quite understood the Fight Club or Usual Suspects cults. I like both movies, but they only work for me as two shot twist ending movies. Once for the twist, and once to pick out the clues once you know the twist. I think in Fight Club in particular you have to be able to connect to the main idea of the fight club philosophy on some level, not embrace or advocate it, but connect to it somehow, and I just can't. Good movies, both, but they don't work for me beyond that.

The attraction of The Big Lebowski will forever remain a mystery to me. Didn't laugh once, found the characters all unappealing without being amusing.

I "get" a lot of guy movies, like The Godfather, but I think I'm lacking some essential quality needed to fully appreciate these.

Gilda