films that changed your life(or made you more aware)

This is a great topic!

Lets see

"Hook" (1991) was the first film I saw in a theater...I was 5 years old, I remember the red carpets of the Century theater, the smell of popcorn, and the rows and rows of red chairs...and the HUGE screen. Speilberg's magic on that screen ingnited something that night.

"Batman" (1989) - I realized that movies didn't have to be realistic. They could have some guy dressed up as a bat flying through the air saving screaming blondes.

The Star Wars Trilogy (the OT)..saw those in 5th grade I believe, and I was changed into the SW nerd I still am today. I realized that music and leitmotifs had a huge part in films.

The film that made me want to be a filmmaker, is flat out "Pulp Fiction". My best friend introduced it to me in my Junior year in Highschool. The gritty realism and the simplicity of the shots - movies didn't have to be about huge expensive crane shots and era sets and costumes and special effects to be really good.

The Godfather - I saw this in my Senior year in High School, this defined the way I looked at problems in society and corruption - I guess this film changed in the way i saw movies and my awareness. After watching it the first time I wanted to know more about my Italian heritage as well...and I realized how important family is.

The Exorcist - this film literally scared the **** out of me. I have never been so frightened by a film; it was so realistic, so controversal, so deadly and horrifying to me. I still can't watch it alone. No matter how far away I am from the screen or how many times i tell myself "this is not real, there is some dude holding a boom mic right next to the action", I still have to cringe when she looks right into the camera with those terrifying eyes and that pure evil grin. *shivers*.


The Lord of the Rings trilogy - Movies can be about stories...which you don't want to end because you've grown so attatched to the characters. These films not only inspired my apirations in cinematography, but they made me realize how affective character development is.

There are many more, but those are the ones that came from the top of my head.
 
Midnight Express...I'd never smoke hash in Turkey

Gandhi...I always try to use this man as a role model for my life, You don't need me to tell you how unsuccessful I've been
 
MIdnight Express is a great film and yeah; getting busted somewhere else would suck. Reminds me how comical our criminal justice system is (Key the clown circus music).

Gandhi was great film as well.
 
Cool topic.

I'd have to say these movies made me want to actually do this for a living (and continue to do so to this day):

Indiana Jones (the whole trilogy)
Chasing Amy
Desperado
The Usual Suspects
The Shawshank Redemption
A Few Good Men
Tombstone
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
High Fidelity
Casablanca

Maybe this shows my youth, but these are some of the films that got me going, whether they have great acting, beautiful cinematograpy, or spectacular writing.

I also recently saw (and then purchased) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Wow, what a great movie!
 
John_Hudson said:
Well yeah; but that's not life-changing or altering.

I once saw an ad in the paper for a Repo Man and thought 'That's be a cool job...' and applied and became a Repo Man (ages 19 to 21). Know what I mean? I guess that ad in the classifieds was one piece of work

I too have heard people say 'This CHANGED MY LIFE!' but I have to sya I'm not that easily influenced or manipulated by any media actually (Film, Art, Music). I love and appreciate and also have made music and art and films and it is just that; someone making it for creative expression or entertainment (or in todays' to make a buck' world).

Sure; films like Schindlers List showed me sides of human nature and events in history we cannot forget or films like The Passion may make people question their faith...

But for me; it is simply a film. I either laughed or cried or was entertained or educated but altered and changed? No. I just can't be.

If a film inspired me to climb Everest and I did; it would be the climb that changed me NOT THE FILM


I don't really think it has much to do with being manipulated easily. My life changed when I was 8 because of the movies (actually a TV show on behind the scenes special effects in the movies). So maybe you haven't had your life changed by a movie (so you say), but that's all just an attitude. You can let it affect your life or not, I suppose. We're all here because we love the movies and have been affected by them in some way.
 
Charlie Chaplin - Modern Times

I saw it when I was a kid, and was mesmorized.
It was the first silent film I'd ever seen (okay, it has a LITTLE bit of dialogue), and I was shocked as to what he was able to pull off without words. Amazing.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
DAMN that made me feel old!
:)
well if you shaved your whole face you would look much younger. yeah i know what you mean. i'm feeling it too :shocked:
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Charlie Chaplin - Modern Times

I saw it when I was a kid, and was mesmorized.
It was the first silent film I'd ever seen (okay, it has a LITTLE bit of dialogue), and I was shocked as to what he was able to pull off without words. Amazing.
I love this film!!!! :laugh:
nananananananaa nanananananaaaaa nananananana daladadadadaaa LMAO
 
"Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" got me thinking about working in production, when I was in grade school.

"Lawrence of Arabia," "Casablance," "The Sugarland Express" and "The Maltese Falcon" sealed the deal, when I was in high school.
 
Jaws
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Wild At Heart
Touch Of Evil
Rope
Lifeboat
Baron Blood(MArio BAva)
The Thing(Carpenter)
The Car
Ichi The Killer
 
Irreversible

Irreversible

Irreversible by Gaspar Noe. It took rape from being a 30-second bit on the news and accurately transformed it into the very real, very malicious assault that it is.
 
A film that changed my life or made me aware?
The Matrix.
No question about it. It confirmed everything I always felt.
 
Richie White said:
"The Hellstrom Chronicles," Right On! You rock for mentioning this gem. We're all doomed, the insect world has begun it's assent. Classic.

That's great. Cinema Verite with a twist: he's not a scientist, and the creepy elements are contrived. I really enjoyed that one, and the macro photography was stunning.
 
dat5150 said:
'They Live' John Carpenter movie from late 80's early 90's

I don't think a day has gone by since that movie when I didn't think about the thought conditioning that occurs in our society. Someday, I'd like to make a low budget version of the movie.


"I'm here to chew bubble gum and kick ass...and I'm all outta bubble gum."

"That's like putting perfume on a pig!"

Great lines, OK movie.
 
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