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The title says it all. Visually, what is the most beautiful film ever made?

For me, CGI effects ruin the beauty, as they don't really require masterful cinematography. CGI is like cheating.

That being said, I would have to give my vote to:

Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick

I just watched it last night and it's hard not to notice such a striking film visually. I was captivated the entire time. Each shot looks like an 18th century painting. The plot moves kind of slow, but the film is still great. Recommended to all patient film buffs.

Anyways, tell what y'all think (whatever that means).

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I don't mind CGI personally - sometimes it's used well, othertimes not. But simple does often makes for the best, I'll agree. Oh, and Barry Lyndon is great - one of Kubrick's finest.

Anyway, I ABSOL HEART the style of Jean-Pierre Jeunet films, like Delicatessen and Amelie. He does use a lot of effects, but the end result is well worth it. And I recently Siddiq Barmak's Osama - good simple style but powerful.

And I have to admit, I really like the style of Tim Burton films too - a favourite would be Sleepy Hollow.

American Beauty. It reflects humanity in an amazing way.

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It's funny, but I think the prettiest movie ever made IS actually a CGI movie. But it's all CGI, so...

Finding Nemo. My jaw still drops a little every time I see the scene with the water sloshing around inside the whale's mouth... it just looks... incredible.

But without CGI, I'd have to say that Spirited Away really wows the pants offa me!

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(Insert Tim Burton film here). Also, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's got some good... beauty in it.

CGI, done right, can be used to good effect as far as beauty is concerned. Jackson seems to have mastered this in both the LOTR movies and King Kong.

Moving more towards traditional cinematography, I would go with The Third Man for one. It takes a pretty good eye to make a bombed to heck post-war Vienna look eerily pretty. Gone With The Wind of course is probably one of the most beautifuly filmed uh, films, of the 20th Century. Visually it's a work of art.

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i'm going to be annoying. i can't really think of any beautiful movies aesthetically off the top of my head, so in lieu of that i will name the most visually jarring movie i've seen. 28 Days later. not exactly the height of fine film, but serious credit is due here for the cinematography and its deft avoidance of "annoying zombie movie shaky cam" symdrome.

as for cgi, i really am not impressed by it. it all looks so fake all of the time and i don't particularly like the way that a sea of fake looking orcs looks. (don't get me wrong lord of the rings is good and all).

Mon Oncle - Jacques Tati - or any Tati film really.

Also, a short film called Destino by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney. I wish I could find a copy of it now. I think I saw it along with The Triplets of Belleville, but the dvd of that film doesn't include the short Destino. Boo.

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Let's see...


Pretty much anything by Miazaki (I probably spelled that wrong) is beautiful, though I don't really like any of those movies... they're all very weird.


Appleseed is pretty stunning too. Though, I haven't seen it in English, so I can't really say what it's about, aside from the fact that there are some robots...

You hit the nail right on the head CT. I love those movies! Oh, what would I do without Pixar...

Anoher movie that I find beautiful is The Truman Show, as well as Chariots of Fire

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Mirrormask. CGI, but Dave McKean's artwork will blow you away.

Also What Dreams May Come. Visually and ... um, scriptically.

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I thought you meant beautiful like you meant the message or story of the movie. In which case I would choose Pay it forward.

But in terms of how it looks, I'd say, even though it is CGI, and I think is better than Nemo, Dinosaur. Everything looks real. Even the lemurs.

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Jurrassic Park I.
Best thing I have ever seen. John Williams with the music is a good one too.

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Big Fish and the Truman Show, but I'll probably think of more.

That movie made me bawl. I'm not proud, but darn it... it's just so... sad...

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Ugh. That was, IMO, one of John Williams' WORST scores--the music had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening on the screen. It was more like "Hey look at me! I'm a big Wagnerian pretty John Williams piece of music! Pay attention to me--not what's happening on screen! Me me me!!"

Anyways, to toastpaint: The most absolutely gorgeous cinematography I have seen was in Road to Perdition. It certainly deserved the Oscar it won for that field, and I'd say it's even more visually stimulating than the ever-popular Citizen Kane, which pioneered a lot of new camera techniques. Also up high on my list are The Matrix (back when Bullet-time photography was new--plus that movie had a lot more artsy camera views anyway, as opposed to the other two films in the trilogy, which were slightly less stimulating in that regard) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (which loses major points with me for being entirely too long-winded, boring, and downright confusing...not to mention overrated).

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Actually, the trees and jungle stuff in that movie was real stuff filmed.

...I think I'm now one of only two people who actually liked Dinosaur, even if it was an archelogical mess.

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Somewhat touching on PMG's post and going back to Snoops first post, I think that there isn't a movie Kubrick made that didn't have at least two visually amazing scenes. My personal favorites (from a visual standpoint) are A Clockwork Orange, and Full Metal Jacket.

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Yeah, I know, but the CGI looked so real, and it went so well with the real world!

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Big Fish is a good candidate for this. The movie was stunning...

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Sin City was visually cool too. I forgot that one earlier.

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Heck yeah. I've wanted to see that movie just for the visuals alone...

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Titan A.E. is one of the prettiest films I have ever seen. Don Bluth (the guy who did Dragon's Lair) was one of the directors, so the animation was top notch.

Princess Mononoke is a great looking movie as well.

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There's another movie I love that gets hated on too much...

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Ahem...

ME. Because... I am a movie.

But being serious here... What about Finding Neverland?

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NOT A SIGNATURE!

Big Fish is my all time favorite movie. I thought it was beautiful, I just loooooooved it.

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Dag, yo.

Darn! I know there is this movie that I adore and love watching that is so beautiful it makes me want to cry...
BUT I CANNOT REMEMBER WHAT IT IS!

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NOT A SIGNATURE!

My Dog Skip? I cried at that. BUT I WAS 9!!! *runs away*

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Dag, yo.

Props to all the Kubrick fans. For my money, Kubrick is the Ansel Adams of cinema.

Hitchcock also did some amazing things with the camera.

Amelie is an obvious choice, but yeah.

And how about, well, anything by Miyazaki? Especially his most recent fare.

And while we're on asian cinema, has anyone else seen Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance?

Here's an oddball pick for you: 28 Days Later. The plot is pretty basic, but every time I watch it I'm taken back by how gorgeous some of the shots are. Say what you will about digital cinema, but you just can't pull off that kind of clarity on film. Unless you're Stanley Kubrick.

Oh, and then there's Requiem for a Dream. Darren Aronofsky's films aren't known for their cinematography, but they have their moments.

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Hey, Nausicaa's on Cartoon Network right now, and it's lookin' a pretty-pretty beautiful... is that redundant?