What Makes a Movie Great?

So now we have our goal: Our Top 50 Movies All-Time. But what makes a movie great? What puts a film on that hallowed pedestal of “Awesome?”

This differs for everyone, but for me it comes down to a few simple keys.

The movie has to be quotable. Sometimes it might be a single quote like Field of Dreams. Or it could be ever single line as the case is with The Big Lebowski. No matter how many classic lines a movie has, it needs to have at least one truly memorable line to make this list.
Humor. A movie as serious as Saving Private Ryan still has humor, even as it’s characters head toward an unthinkable final unwinnable battle. It’s those moments of light spirit that are inherent in all great movies.

At least one great role. There are movies that will be on this list with a cast that could easily fill up a table at any Academy Awards event. But all that’s needed is that one great role. Gary Oldman in The Professional is one such case. The movie would be nothing without his powerful turn as a cop with a few issues.
Would the Bourne movies have the same power without Matt Damon? Doubtful.

One scene that defines the movie. Sonny Corleone falling a hail of bullets. Indiana Jones sprinting down a tunnel with a boulder at his heels. Kurt Russell in the rain shouting “Tell them I’m coming! And I’m bringing Hell with me!” Every great movie has that one moment, that one scene where time stops.

The film is on your mind two days later. Days after watching Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid I couldn’t stop thinking about the ending. Same with The Usual Suspects. Great films stay with you.

The film must have been released a minimum of six months ago. This will hurt No Country For Old Men, but I have no doubt when it gets reviewed, it will be on this list, Friend-o.

I’ll be back later with my preview of this week’s movie, Shaun of the Dead.

Joe