What Makes A Film Great?

[Myxo]

You either need a good story or lots and lots of..

's

[modage]

sadly, without the marketing, no one will see a great film...

well, that is usually true, but then there is the case of 'cult movies' like the ones listed by chuckhimselfo.

[Jeremy Blackman]

No, I just mean that if you or your producer doesn't know how to sell the film, it's possible that no one will see it.

Is the problem really with the selling, or is the problem with the buying?

[cron]

No, I just mean that if you or your producer doesn't know how to sell the film, it's possible that no one will see it.

Is the problem really with the selling, or is the problem with the buying?

selling.

[Chest Rockwell]

I know I'm late but, I'd say it's more in how the story is told. Look at Memento, which may or may not be a great film, but the only reason it ever garnered any of the fame it did was because in how the story was told, using that backwards story-telling. See also: 21 Grams.

[billybrown]

SECOND QUESTION: does a film have to be known to be great?  like if a great film is made, but no one sees it, is it still great?  (tree falls in forest).  like, does part of what makes a film great have to do with it being the first to do something, or its influence over other films/filmmakers?  so is it possible one of the greatest films ever made is one that no one has seen because it was made in some kids garage?

Cult film

A cult film is a movie that attracts a small but devoted group of obsessive fans or one that has remained popular over successive years amongst a small group of followers. Often the film failed to achieve mainstream success on its original release, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the audience response to a cult film is somewhat different to what was intended by the film-makers, although usually a film that becomes "cult" started-out with unusual elements or subject matter.

A film reaches cult status due to an audience's relationship to the film. This makes the designation of cult status to a film difficult, however continued success amongst a subset of moviegoers many years after the film's original release is a key defining factor.

Many cult films are from such genres as horror, science fiction and world cinema. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which combines the elements of science fiction, horror—not to mention transvestitism, incest and homosexuality—and, amazingly, is a musical, is considered by many the first true and seminal cult film.

The construction of meaning within the cult film text, and the nature and epistemology of cult film (and also its audiences), however, are now studied academically.

An instance of how cults differ between societies include the elevation of the British comedy film actor Norman Wisdom into a cult icon in Albania during the years of Communism under Enver Hoxha, at a time when his family-friendly style almost certainly ensured that 'cult' would be the last term on earth to be applied to him in the West. Curiously he and his films are now acquiring nostalgic cult status in Britain.

Selected List of Cult Films

2001 - A Space Odyssey
Abba - The Movie
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension
Apocalypse Now
Army of Darkness
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Bad Taste
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Blade Runner
The Blues Brothers
Boxing Helena
Braindead
Brazil
The Breakfast Club
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Dark Star
Dazed And Confused
Dr. Strangelove or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Drowning by Numbers
Donnie Darko
Eraserhead
Evil Dead
The Graduate
Grand Illusion
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Harold and Maude
Heathers
Henry--Portrait of a Serial Killer
If...
Incubus
The Italian Job
It's a Wonderful Life
James Bond series
Koyaanisqatsi
Little Shop of Horrors
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Mars Attacks
The Matrix
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Meet The Feebles
Paris, Texas
Pink Floyd's The Wall
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Princess Bride
The Producers
Pulp Fiction
Raising Arizona
Reefer Madness aka Tell Your Children
Repo Man
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Silent Running
St. Elmo's Fire
Santa Sangre
Star Wars series
This Is Spinal Tap
Tommy (the Who rock opera)
TRON
The Wicker Man
Withnail and I
The Wizard of Speed and Time
Yellow Submarine

IMHO, many of those films you listed hardly qualify as "cult" films in the technical sense of the word because they are a) universally known  b) made tons of money for their time and over time  and c) did both a and b, like 2001, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars series, Blade Runner, The Graduate, The Matrix, St Elmos Fire, Breakfast Club, Rocky Horror,  Apocalypse Now etc., and many others which qulaify as a's.

[modage]

so what? he didnt write the list. and did you have to quote that whole long thing instead of just the ones you wanted to point out? do you have any thoughts on the topic?

[NEON MERCURY]

..i guess a film could be great w.outr mass appeal.to audiences....b/c its doesn't matter if the ffilms sells it 's all about the film itself(in terms of its quality).....and thats all up to opinion ...but the only film i can thinnk off that is "great" ...but doesn't have mass maket appeal or earnings would be ......Sean Penn's The Pledge.....its truly a great film and nno one ever really mentoins it.......i seriously doubt that anyone w/ reasonable tates in film who has seen this would say other wise.....

[billybrown]

so what? he didnt write the list. and did you have to quote that whole long thing instead of just the ones you wanted to point out? do you have any thoughts on the topic?

Regarding this pointless, subjective, runaround thread filled with semantics... what makes a film great is how it moves you, personally, be it emotionally or just visually. No one element is more relevant than the other. Many of the films generally acknowledged as "great", whatever the hell that means, combine story with style, and maybe a lil subversion thrown in for good measure.

BTW, what do you care about me quoting the entire list? I was simply making a point on what was said, sorry that it bothered you soo much. Also, The Modern Age is the shittiest song on an otherwise brilliant debut album by The Strokes. Cheers.

[modage]

Also, The Modern Age is the shittiest song on an otherwise brilliant debut album by The Strokes. Cheers.

the demo is better.   thanks for your two cents though.

[billybrown]

Also, The Modern Age is the shittiest song on an otherwise brilliant debut album by The Strokes. Cheers.

the demo is better.  

I'm sure it is...

[modage]

Regarding this pointless, subjective, runaround thread filled with semantics... what makes a film great is how it moves you, personally, be it emotionally or just visually. No one element is more relevant than the other.

well, just to keep this going.  of course its subjective, but that requires opinions from boardmembers interested in participating in a discussion with their opinions on that subject.  so, are films that dont move you automatically out of consideration for a 'great film'.  will you read something about the film and then decide to take a second look?  or dismiss it because you didn't connect to it?  so, what makes a film great to you?

[billybrown]

Regarding this pointless, subjective, runaround thread filled with semantics... what makes a film great is how it moves you, personally, be it emotionally or just visually. No one element is more relevant than the other.

well, just to keep this going.  of course its subjective, but that requires opinions from boardmembers interested in participating in a discussion with their opinions on that subject.  so, are films that dont move you automatically out of consideration for a 'great film'.  will you read something about the film and then decide to take a second look?  or dismiss it because you didn't connect to it?  so, what makes a film great to you?

What makes a film great is how it moves me, personally. For example, many film historians, scholars, and critics rave and drool over films like Casablanca or Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind, etc., and while I can appreciate their cinematic value, I don't really care for them that much. I don't really connect to them and they don't really move me on an emotional level at all. Then, a film like Buffalo 66, which wasn't really critically hailed across the map so to speak, completely engages my visual and emotional senses, and for me, that is a great film. Sometimes a film connects with you later if you're prompted to give it a second via critical praise, but for me, it's all about how long a film or a particular moment or even music from a certain scene lingers with me, longer after I've stopped watching the film. Because the term "great" can be soo subjective, I think you need to apply personal feelings/emotions into what art, be it, film or music or literature, you deem to be great or worthy of praise.

[modage]

thank you.

[billybrown]

thank you.

You're welcome and good night to all of you fine Xixaxer's.