Must-own, but not well-known

[mudrummer99]

I have been amassing a DVD collection for several years now, like many of you have. I am always excited when a friend or some random stranger recommends a movie that turns out to be pure gold that I had never heard of. I wanted to start a list/thread to try to throw some recommendations around for either DVD's or BD's that may not have been reviewed/marketed/sold well but are still quality entertainment. Thanks in advance for contributing.

Mike

 

[phlakvest]

Dark City (great for subs.)

The Fall (Kindof a grown up version of the Princess Bride.)

 

[j_garcia]

I own The Fall, but I wouldn't call it a must own. Definitely worth a rent though.

I have written up a number of reviews here and I generally only do when it is a non-mainstream movie that I feel others might enjoy as well. Some of mine:

Boondock Saints - seems like many have not seen or even heard of this, but it is worth owning. Solid, fun, action-type movie.

Mirror Mask - By the Jim Henson Group - excellent visuals, great sound, great story (another reinterpriation of Alice in Wonderland).

Both of these are now available on Blu-ray

There are others, will post as I think of them.

 

[john72953]

The Lives of Others - Germany
Black Book - Holland


The PQ and AQ are both reference quality.

The movies themselves are outstanding.

John

 

[strube]

The Jacket - It seems like very few people have seen this one. I think it is a great, psychological film, and one of my favorites.

Equilibrium - Many people have probably heard of this or seen it because of Christian Bale's rise to power, but if not, give it a look.

Plan 9 From Outer Space - See for yourself! Amazing! Oh wait... Yeah this was a really, really bad film from Edward Wood Jr., who is considered the worst director of all time. I haven't actually seen it, but I got it as sort of a gag gift. It is supposed to be "so bad its good" but I just don't know...

I will think of more as well.

Boondock Saints - seems like many have not seen or even heard of this, but it is worth owning. Solid, fun, action-type movie.

Is there really so few that have seen the Boondock Saints? It must just be well-known in my ever-so-tiny social circle . Did you know they are working on a sequel?

 

[skizzerflake]

Dark City (great for subs.)...

Hey..I was going to nominate Dark City. A really strange, smart piece of cyberpunk/scifi.

 

[strube]

Hey..I was going to nominate Dark City. A really strange, smart piece of cyberpunk/scifi.

I need to give that one another viewing. I wasn't impressed the one time I saw it, but it is possible I wasn't in the right mood.

 

[mperfct]

I love boondock saints and I vaguely remember liking Dark City.

I really liked Snatch (self-professed Brad Pitt fan) and accordingly liked Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well.

 

[mtrycrafts]

....

Equilibrium - Many people have probably heard of this or seen it because of Christian Bale's rise to power, but if not, give it a look.

And, it is available in HD from Japan It is in English, but you have to go through the Japanese menu to turn off the Japanese sub-titles. Pretty good film.

 

[strube]

Another good unknown Bale film is The Machinist - brilliant and creepy as hell. It is headed for blu-ray if the rumors are correct - score.

 

[j_garcia]

I was thinking about Equilibrium also, a really well done non-mainstream movie. This would be one of those movies that you can see started Bale on his path to his role as The Dark Knight. Not what I would call a top teir movie, but I just really enjoy it and would definitely say its a must own. I hear that this has a US BD release coming too.

The Machinist is disturbing, but I also enjoyed Bale in it as well. Just seeing how much weight he lost to play that part was amazing. Unfortunately, I figured this one out a bit too early on, so the ending didn't blow me away, but I still liked it a lot. This one is already on BD overseas I believe, so it shouldn't be long before it comes here.

While we are on Christian Bale movies, American Psycho was also entertaining.

I really liked Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels - I thought it was better than Snatch, but that one was good too. These are the two best from Ritchie IMO. Boondock Saints is so good that I don't see why more people haven't seen it. I have only met a small number of people who knew what it was. I didn't know what it was until a friend told me about it!!

Dark City on BD is excellent. I haven't seen it look better than that.

I haven't seen The Lives of Others yet, but I have it in my Netflix queue.

 

[pcefrog]

a few more

if you like cristian bale....totally check out HARSH TIMES..hes good in it and its a great movie.
i also like him in Reign of Fire
Born into Brothels if u like slumdog $, this is a sad movie about young kids forced to become prostitutes,,,,sounds bad, it is, but there is a somewhat happy twist to this movie..
Darjeeling Ltd. awesome story, acting and visually stunning ,,,a great Wes Anderson movie
Quiet Earth...i keep recommending this movie...a small new zealand sci fi film.one of my all time faves
the Beach? leonardo , good flick
13th warrior..kinda cool horror/action ? movie with antonio b.

 

[Green_Flea]

Brotherhood Of The Wolf

 

[j_garcia]

if you like cristian bale....totally check out HARSH TIMES..hes good in it and its a great movie.
i also like him in Reign of Fire
Born into Brothels if u like slumdog $, this is a sad movie about young kids forced to become prostitutes,,,,sounds bad, it is, but there is a somewhat happy twist to this movie..
Darjeeling Ltd. awesome story, acting and visually stunning ,,,a great Wes Anderson movie
Quiet Earth...i keep recommending this movie...a small new zealand sci fi film.one of my all time faves
the Beach? leonardo , good flick
13th warrior..kinda cool horror/action ? movie with antonio b.

The Beach was good, not great. One of DiCaprio's better ones I thought though, along with Basketball Diaries (probably his best) and The Departed.

13th Warrior is a good one. I hated Reign of Fire.

Brotherhood Of The Wolf

Brotherhood of the Wolf = cult classic

I will add Pan's Labyrinth. A little disturbing but well done.

 

[mperfct]

The Beach was good, not great. One of DiCaprio's better ones I thought though, along with Basketball Diaries (probably his best) and The Departed.

13th Warrior is a good one. I hated Reign of Fire.



Brotherhood of the Wolf = cult classic

I will add Pan's Labyrinth. A little disturbing but well done.

Didn't like Reign of Fire? I thought it was pretty entertaining.

I haven't seen Brotherhood of the Wolf, and wasn't ever interested in it. I have seen a bit of it from a home theater demo dvd, but that was it. Now it is starting to pique my curiosity.

I also have Pan's Labyrinth in my Netflix queue. I'm excited to see it. I think that Guillermo Del Toro is a physical manifestation of the universe trying to correct for the existence of Uwe Boll.

 

[j_garcia]

I don't know what it was about Reign of Fire that didn't do it for me; I like Bale and I like McConaughey most of the time, so the two should have been good together. Something about it though, I just didn't like. Not enough dragons I guess

Brotherhood of the Wolf isn't the best movie, but it is like The Crow for me, it doesn't stand out as great cinema though I really like it.

The Orphanage is also good, though not directed by Del Toro, his influence can be seen in it. Del Toro's movies more than make up for anything Uwe Boll has done or will do

Darjeelng Ltd. was recommended on my Netflix and I had heard of it previously. I may have to give it a shot.

 

[chris6878]

The Orphanage Very creepy, had me a lil scared. Awesome sound!
Brotherhood of the wolf. I just scored it on HDDVD. Awesome movie!

 

[strube]

I hated Reign of Fire.

My theory: any potentially good movie + Matthew McConaughey = suckage

There are a rare few exceptions to the rule I suppose.

 

[MatthewB.]

I can't believe nobody mentioned "Donnie Darko" great movie.

I also agree with

The Jacket, The Machinist, Equilibrium (gun kata was the best), The Orphange (that was a creepy movie).

A great movie not many have heard of but has alot of stars in it, drama- comedy called "Queens Logic" with Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, Jaime Lee Curtis, John Malkovich and Joe Mantegna one of my all time favorite unheard of movies with a great soundtrack.

Great horror movie "Prince of Darkness" great unheard of movie by John Carpenter.

 

[jostenmeat]

I also have Pan's Labyrinth in my Netflix queue. I'm excited to see it. I think that Guillermo Del Toro is a physical manifestation of the universe trying to correct for the existence of Uwe Boll.

It's been a year since I've seen it, but Pan's probably represents the worst DNR I've ever seen. You've been warned.