I'm gonna have to go with Oh Brother Where Art Thou? This is truly one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's truly symbolistic of man sruggle in life and nature, It was also based on the Odessy(sp?) by Homer It's a really good movie.

Full Metal Jacket, and Apocolypse Now are today, and forever will be the best movies interperting the Vietnam War.

The Adventures of PRISCILLA Queen of the Desert.
 

What a wonderful film that is! Unfortunately only ‘rocky’s horror…’ was performed in the small town in Israel where I used to live, but they did screen Priscilla few times a year. I was deeply influenced by the outfits! They are just cool.
I also liked Cube. Has a lot about society and that stuff in it.
And a French film called something like ‘life is a quiet and long river’. Unfortunately I can't remember what it is about, but I really liked it few years ago when I watched it.

The Power of One, for me. it told the story of South Africa's road to independance. it was rather graphic, but also a major tear jerker. i saw it in my freshman geography class, and i loved it. i wanted to see the whole thing without 24 hr breaks, and i also wanted my mom to see it, so i went to blockbuster and rented it. it made my geography teacher laugh when he heard i did this. heyyyy...it was really good!

Full Metal Jacket and We Were Soldiers were great Vietnam movies, showing the reality of war, along with Saving Private Ryan.

The Matrix was great also, for what Tjrage said (too lazy to type)

Grave of the Fireflies for how Japanese civilians went through in the war.

Ghost World becuase it makes me feel like there are people out there like me. ;)

Terminator 2 becuase it shows the destructive nature of humans.

And Jin-Roh cuz I like to see people get shredded up by machine gun fire. Muhahaha:D (C'mon, you gotta get that out once in a while!)

The best social commentaries I've seen (semi-influential, but I had already asked myself the questions before seeing the movies):

The Matrix: Is "reality" real? What makes something "real"? Do you exist?

Minority Report: How far is too far? How much should the government know about us? Is the future written in stone? Do our actions matter?

Gatacca: Where will science take us? How unrealistic is Huxley's Brave New World (READ THIS BOOK if you haven't already)? What will become the "poverty" of a moneyless society?

The Green Mile: What is "right"? Who gets to decide what is "right"? When is it OK to disobey orders?

one movie that i remember a lot and kind of has an impact on me is called (i think) Life is Beautiful. it's an italian movie (has subtitles) about WWII, and this italian jewish man, who marries the girl that everyone wants, and basically has a great life, until WWII starts. then he's sent to a concentration camp, with his son. then the whole time, he's trying to make it into a game, and protect his son, who was supposed to be killed cause he was too young. the mother goes to a concenration camp (i forget why) and is working and i believe finds her son's clothes, and breaks down. then, at the end right before the allies, come, the father dies, but he tells the son to go and hide, and then the allies come, and liberate the camp, and find the boy. then the boy is sitting on a tank as it's driving down the road, playing with the soldiers, and then they pass his mom on the side of the road, and then i think it ends.

yeah, it's a bunch of gibberish up there, but that movie left a lasting mark on me, and it's kind of interesting, cause i didn't even plan to watch it. i wound up walking into the den, and my dad was watching it, so i sat down and watched it.

i think i'm going to go to sleep now and stop the rambling... :p

Beautiful Mind. Some people picked up about this horrable desease and some benifets of it, but I got something else. I got something about the social structure, the education system, and living life out of it's boundaries.

Lilo & Stitch- debated about this one, but hey, Go Pleakley!

The main thing is that I'm not into movies. Never saw a Indiana Jones. Barely saw Star Wars. Only seen 3 Bonds. I'm just not a movie type of person.

Yes. That movie really opened up my eyes... the book was even better. I'd have to include The Power of One on my list of movies that have affected me.

its late so the only movie i can think of right now is a french movie amelie on tape/dvd so go rent it! I guess I can really relate because its about a girl who tries to solve everyone else's problems and makes them happy instead of worrying about herself. Even though its a comedy, there was a message that really hit me: while its good to take care of other people, it shouldn't be a substitute for dealing with your own issues.

Life is Beautiful was also good...all these foreign movies of quality!

Flubber... Definately Flubber
 

Man, flubber changed my life more than anything else... I laughed, I cried, and I found my manhood. This beautiful movie even taught me about robotics! Robin Williams poured out his soul. If you haven't seen it, you must!

Eeeek!

/me falls over backward in my chair.

Life is Beautiful was an interesting study on the true and sicere love of a father for his son. He tried to put a humorous spin on everything in that awful concentration camd so that the little boy would not despair and becoma afraid. Even as he marched to his death, he made it comical so that the boy would think it was a joke and would not realize what was going on.
His father not only sacrifced his own life to distract the guards away from his son, but he attempted to save the boy's sanity by hiding the truth from him of what was really about to happen. That way the boy could function well enough to survive and escape.
I believe it is the director's own story. He played his own father in the film if my information is correct.

Star Wars, followed closely by the matrix. The force and the Jedi order are more than concepts spewed by the brilliant mind of Lucas, but a way of life. The universal concepts of good vs. evil are explored in ways of which I find new meaning in every time I watch each movie (with the exception of Episode I, since the primary movies known as "Star Wars" had been long since established with this tradition). Anyway, the Star Wars trilogy stands as the most influential movie/movie series in my life, followed closely by the Matrix, and Disney's The Lion King.

all i can say is.....















COMMANDO!!!

best arnold schwartzeneger movie ever!!!


Badjokeguy

Re: Most influential movie on your life?
 

Yup I agree. The matrix trilogy influenced me more than probably anything has (as far as philosophy and view of life). I would say the second movie with the "causality" discussion was the most influential on me. My english teacher doesn't like the movie because he "doesn't understand it", but yet he introduced us to Plato's allegory of the cave and Brave New World. I recommend everyone read the allegory of the cave, Brave New World, and Descartes' meditations (probably what the wachowski brothers got most of their influence from to make the matrix).