Most thought-provoking movies you've watched

[rocklobster]

okay, I did books, so why not thought-provoking movies? Here are some for me:
Dead Poets Society (it really challenged me to think about purpose)
The Passion (figured I'd better say it before anyone else)
Star Wars Ep 3 (OK, I liked it. I'm sorry, everyone, but I can't hate Star Wars! There I said it)

[The Liar XIII]

"Pink Floyd: The Wall".
If you thought the album was twisted.. Watch the movie.

Plus, "The Strangers" was pretty thought provoking. And the original "Amityville Horror".

[ClosetOtaku]

Memento; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- the nature of memory.

The Matrix; The Sixth Sense -- the nature of existence and perception.

Das Boot; Saving Private Ryan; Pahts of Glory -- the horror (and politics) of war.

Donnie Darko; Twelve Monkeys -- the nature of time.

The Seventh Seal -- the inevitability of death.

Seven Samurai -- the force multiplying factor of leadership and courage.

Pan's Labyrinth; Kiss of the Spider Woman -- the infinite capacity of the human mind to tolerate suffering and find escape.

Dr Strangelove -- just how big a bunch of idiots we are in accepting Mutual Assured Destruction as a national strategy.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Memento
Dark City
Equilibrium
Children of Men
City of Lost Children
The Matrix
The Machinist
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth
The Dark Knight
OldBoy
Se7en
The Incredibles
Stranger than Fiction
Nausicaa
The Shining
Sunshine
Millions
28 Days Later


There are many more but I can't think of them at the moment.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Too many to list. XD

[Scarecrow]

Well I have to agree with 12 Monkeys...

Umm.. Stay... near death experience and all that stuff...

The House of Sand and Fog, Romeo and Juliet, Oedipus (they need to make this a real movie... the version I saw was some filmed stage version) and just about any other real tragedy of greek proportions. Tristan and Isolde COULD have been listed here but the movie really took out all the things that make the original poem(s) a great tragedy story.

Just something about tragedies that get my head spinning. They have so many things where the end could be avoided but because of character flaws and such, it ends up in epic disaster. It really leaves you thinking about how certain situations could have been avoided and the ending could have been much different.

[FukuokaGirl]

Hmmm...
Requiem for a Dream. (extremely graphic, but a tragic and heartbreaking look at drugs. Definitely R rated for a reason... so there's my disclaimer)

Also, V for Vendetta, Equilibrium, American Beauty, Fight Club, American History X, Children of Men, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine.... I love film. <3

[Cognitive Gear]

Hmmm...
Requiem for a Dream. (extremely graphic, but a tragic and heartbreaking look at drugs. Definitely R rated for a reason... so there's my disclaimer)

Also, V for Vendetta, Equilibrium, American Beauty, Fight Club, American History X, Children of Men, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine.... I love film. <3

Yeeees.

For myself:

Dark City

What is it that makes us individuals? Are we simply the sum of our situations and experiences, or is there something more?

A Clockwork Orange

The nature of "goodness". This movie is... uh... the most disturbing movie I have ever seen.

Trainspotting

The power of addiction.

Millions

Innocence and money.

28 Days Later

A number of themes, such as loyalty/family vs. survival.

Babel

How very small our world has truly become.

Children of Men

Men, women and civilization.

Park Chan Wook's Vengeance Trilogy

Vengeance, of course.

Gone with the Wind

Made me revisit my very simple and naive views of the US' Civil War.

Ikiru

How short and beautiful life can be.

As well as countless others. These are just off the top of my head.

[Scarecrow]

Ah I forgot about Requiem for a Dream... yes definitely that one. That one pretty much falls in my post of "tragedies of Greek proportions" part of my post so I covered it I think

Also has one of the greatest soundtracks ever The way it builds as the lives of the characters begin spin out of control. Character flaws abound.

And BTW, it's NC-17, not R so ya... I could never recommend it cause of that one scene towards the end alone but if you got rid of that it'd still be a solid R I think but much more easy to recommend.

[GhostontheNet]

Nosferatu The Vampyre
Ghost In The Shell
Blade Runner
The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
Edward Scissorhands
Fight Club
The Gospel Of John
The Ring
Sleepy Hollow
Dolls
Wall-E
Lady In The Water
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

[FukuokaGirl]

Ah I forgot about Requiem for a Dream... yes definitely that one. That one pretty much falls in my post of "tragedies of Greek proportions" part of my post so I covered it I think

Also has one of the greatest soundtracks ever The way it builds as the lives of the characters begin spin out of control. Character flaws abound.

And BTW, it's NC-17, not R so ya... I could never recommend it cause of that one scene towards the end alone but if you got rid of that it'd still be a solid R I think but much more easy to recommend.

Yeah, certain uuhhh... things happened furing the filming of the last scene to make it garner an NC-17 rating. However, this version is actually a bit tricky to get ahold of now. The one you can rent or buy at most stores is the slightly edited R rated version. Though, I personally own the NC-17 version. And yes the soundtrack is simply gorgeous!!!

Also, The Shawshank Redemption! How did I forget to mention that one? Such a powerful story of hope, forgiveness, perseverance, inner strength. Etc etc.
I adore that movie.
And yeah... I'm also adding Schindler's List.

[Nate]

Ernest Goes to Camp.

[bigsleepj]

Oh deary dear... this is my kind of subject.

Seven Samurai: More the ending than the film as a whole.

The Seventh Seal: How the only thing we can truly be certain of is the inevitability of death. Oh yes, and he cheats.

Andrei Rublev: A monk, horrified by the world, takes a vow of silence until his belief in God and humanity becomes restored. A meditation on Christianity, redemption and the role our beliefs play in art.

Amadeus: Salieri declares war on God for not granting him talents equal or greater than that of Mozart. Arguably one of the most theologically fascinating movies ever made.

Ikiru: What would you do if you're dying of cancer? This is The Bucket List for smart people.

Dark City: The nature of reality, much better than the Matrix. Yes, I said it.

Au Hausard Balthasar: A donkey as a Christ-figure, or just a donkey viewing the world of human cruelty through it's uncomprehending eyes? You decide. No really, you do.

Requiem for a Dream: A movie about addiction to drugs, television, unrealistic dreams and the past, not in that particular order. Most disturbing movie I've ever seen.

Oldboy. Second most disturbing movie I've ever seen, I ask constantly what I would have done in the same situation as the protagonist.

White Hunter, Black Heart: A film director becomes obsessed with hunting an elephant, and begins to threaten a movie production. A half-forgotten Clint Eastwood movie that needs re-evaluation.

Mr Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter Jr: A documentary supposedly on an execution machine engineer takes a bizarre turn into "This can't be real?" country when the subject makes it clear he operates under the delusion that he singlehandedly disproved the Holocaust. It just gets more bizarre from there. I'd single this out as the most thought-provoking movie I've ever seen, hands down.

[bigsleepj]

for some reason I posted double.

[ADXC]

Big Fish, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 21, The Dark Knight, and many more.

[Htom Sirveaux]

American History X. It's an important piece of cinema that everyone should see, but once is probably enough. In fact, if you voluntarily watch it more than once, on your own, just for the heck of it, there's probably something seriously wrong with you.

[FukuokaGirl]

American History X. It's an important piece of cinema that everyone should see, but once is probably enough. In fact, if you voluntarily watch it more than once, on your own, just for the heck of it, there's probably something seriously wrong with you.

Hmmm.... I think have before. O_o?


Also... has anyone ever seen Life is Beautiful?
If not, I highly, HIGHLY reccommend it! It's beautiful, profound, and intense.
It's about a father and young son going through a concentration camp, and the father turns it into a game to protect his son from understanding the truth , the evil truth, of what's really happening to them.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

American History X. It's an important piece of cinema that everyone should see, but once is probably enough. In fact, if you voluntarily watch it more than once, on your own, just for the heck of it, there's probably something seriously wrong with you.

The only movie that I refuse to watch again is A Clockwork Orange.

Fantastic film. To graphic for me though.

[ich1990]

In my family, movies are mostly for explosions. We use books for thought provocation. Also, I tend to shun 'R' rated movies, although they generally have the most intelligent plot lines. Thus, my list is somewhat unusual.

Batman Begins
Blade Runner
The Dark Knight
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Gladiator
The Last Samurai
The Matrix
My Fair Lady (Stop laughing)
The Prestige

[bigsleepj]

My Fair Lady (Stop laughing)

Why should we? The issues of people judging others by their manners, accent and birthplace is still relevant today, even in British society.

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Fountain - made me look at time in a different way, as well as revealed to me why some people find the idea of reincarnation appealing

Gettysburg - must've watched it first when I was seven or something; it convinced me just how awful war is

Saving Private Ryan - similarly, made me realize how horrible war is

The Village - an interesting look at people who try to run from evil, but discover that evil is always with them

The Last Samurai - first time I really encountered what fighting for one's honor is, and embracing the good things in another culture

Twilight Samurai - made me think about what honor really is, and whether it's really all that important compared to one's family

I Am Legend - made me realize how important human contact is

Signs - made me think about how there are no coincidences

Mockingbird Don't Sing - very thought-provoking story about a girl who was abused by her parents

A.I./Artificial Intelligence - What makes humans different from artificial intelligence?

...and there's probably more, but that's what comes to mind.

[Htom Sirveaux]

The only movie that I refuse to watch again is A Clockwork Orange.

Fantastic film. To graphic for me though.

Yeah, that one was pretty squirm-inducing too.

[Song_of_Storms]

[SIZE="1"]Probably Everything is Illuminated. [/SIZE]

[ShiroiHikari]

AI: Artificial Intelligence, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Blade Runner.

[Sheenar]

I, Robot

I am Legend

[Fish and Chips]

Rocklobster is the most thought-provoking movie I have ever seen.

[ShiroiHikari]

Some of the other most thought-provoking movies I've seen:

Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Super Troopers
Austin Powers

































And Punisher: War Zone.

[Ante Bellum]

The Matrix. It's amazing how much one can actually take from it. And how much people before me said so.

3:10 to Yuma. It's a Western movie, and Ben Wade (the bad guy) is a really interesting character. It's rated R, so be warned.

Ummmm...I don't watch a whole lot of movies, so I can't think of much more.

[Peanut]

-Dr. Strangelove (mostly because I had to write a paper on it)
-The Matrix
-JSA
-The Passion of the Christ (yes, it did provoke thoughts from me...)

That's all I can think of for now...

[ninjaduckofdoom]

Turtles Can Fly

Nobody Knows

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Wandâfuru raifu (After Life)

Casshern


Not in any particular order...Though, I'd say that "Dear Zachary" was probably the most heart-wrenching movie I've ever seen. I sobbed after seeing it. All excellent thought-provoking movies though and I would recommend them to any deep movie buff.