What's your favorite movie of all time and why?

Manilianus

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Mine's "The Thin Red Line". I could go hours gloryfying it, but will write just some of the few points:

- Hans Zimmer created an opus magnum with his score.
- It's not propagandized movie about "we were good, they were bad", it's not even an anti-war movie; it's more a movie of something Romans called "humanitas"; a human and life itself.
- The shots are simply beautiful, I know what Peter Jackson watched when filming LotR.
- There's no main hero, everyone is it. And the cast - I think I know why Mallick did it, he wanted a viewer to have a feel he "knows" these soldiers like they knew each other; brothers in arms that exists from simple beginning without adding a great background story of every protagonist.
- Battle scenes which are so intense and yet so "wrong" and "it shouldn't ever happen". When watching it I had no feel like "kill them all guys!" but "what for the love of God is going on here..." No frag hunting, just the horror.
- No over-the-top dialogues about the absurd of war, and stuff. Everything's so simple and minimal. Plus some minor blinks, like quote about Homer (all in all the poet of war), Greek captain and other subtle tones and contrasts.
- A parabole, or circle, scenario. From quiet beginning through loud middle and quiet end. It's a contrast between light and dark scenes, which blends slowly when going to the middle of the movie and then sharpens again slowly to the end of the movie.
- "a small spark of light"
- For everyone who wants to think about it.

And millions of other reasons, but I'll stop on those.

And what's your's no.1 and why?
 
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Blackcloud6

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Mine's "The Thin Red Line".
Mine too! This is such an emotionally stirring film becasue of the combination of music, visual aspect and the detached dialog. It is also a great movie of the harsh realities of leadership in combat.

There are sometimes I feel the movie is not even about WWII; Guadalcanal was just the setting for a much bigger, yet intangible story. Pure genius.

The music score is awesome and very moving.
 

Blackcloud6

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Here's one that I like. It's too bad there aren't more films like this.
I like Aliens very much too. Very gritty and one of the top movies using a great technique of building fearful suspense.
 
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