The best-looking films

[JRGoldman]

Speed Racer is by far the best Wachowskis film. It's not even close. The visuals are great.

[Bustronaut]

The final Gran Prix race in SPEED RACER is up there with anything put on film.  It's a symphony of visual storytelling, and brings me to tears every time I watch it.

[Reed]

 

 

Also, I just now remember someone said Speed Racer, and what the FUCK? That's one of the WORST-looking films I've ever seen in my life. A garish, painfully candy-coated whirlwind of shitty CGI and some of the most horrible transitions I've ever seen in my life.

 

"Candy-coated whirlwind" describes it pretty well. I don't know how that phrase could possibly be used in a derogatory fashion.

 

 

It is very trippy:

 

 

[Reed]

Maybe it wouldn't have flopped so huge if they'd played up that you can get high and watch it?

[SolidGoldBomb]

Vertigo (and the rest of Hitchcock's)

Lost In Translation

Avatar

Sin City

Lord Of The Rings

Conan The Barbarian

Gone With The Wind

2001, Clockwork Orange (and the rest of Kubrick's)

Brazil

Natural Born Killers

Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas

[Curt McGirt]

Well, SGB just filled out the quotient of all the films I forgot to mention

[Chaos]

The opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds is probably the best bit of cinematography that Tarantino has ever incorporated in a movie.

 

Plus, that opening shot with that score is pretty damned gorgeous.

[Elsalvajeloco]

The opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds is probably the best bit of cinematography that Tarantino has ever incorporated in a movie.

 

Plus, that opening shot with that score is pretty damned gorgeous.

 

I'm dying to see the The Hateful Eight teaser so I can look at whatever the hell QT and Robert Richardson have conjured up.

 

 

[SolidGoldBomb]

After seeing it on ~EL REY~ last week i've got to add Danger: Diabolik!

 

Man what a great looking movie, this was full on late 60's trippy psychedilia mixed with james bond and batman.  It was amazing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RandomAct]

I don't know if we want to count animated movies here, but I've always found Miyazaki films to be stunning to look at.  They definitely have their own unique charm.

[Reed]

 

Natural Born Killers

 

I always thought Stone intentionally made it garish to look at. It's visually striking of course, but not necessarily in a good way, IMO.

 

I would put JFK on this list, though. It's still probably the best edited film I've ever seen.

[Skeeball Wizard]

Maybe not a great movie, but Tron Legacy looked amazing.

[SolidGoldBomb]

 

 

Natural Born Killers

 

I always thought Stone intentionally made it garish to look at. It's visually striking of course, but not necessarily in a good way, IMO.

 

I would put JFK on this list, though. It's still probably the best edited film I've ever seen.

 

Yeah that's a very good way to put it.  It's not visually beautiful, but it's visually psychotic and schizophrenic. It fits with the theme of the movie so well the way Stone throws in those subliminal images that I think it accomplishes the effect he was going for perfectly.

[Lacelle]

I forgot how awesome The Abonimable Dr. Phibes looked. I used to date this gal who did set design in movies & she absolutely loved it & was shocked she never heard of it.

[The Unholy Dragon]

For all its flaws, Silent Hill had some beautiful and/or terrifying visuals. Had the look of the franchise if not the rest.

Also Scott Pilgrim while we're on the adaptation trail.

[Curt McGirt]

Oh, shit, if anime is in the conversation 

 

AKIRA

[Stevie Ray Von Erich]

Someone mentioned Only God Forgives a few pages back, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Really, any of Nicolas Winding Refn's fit into this thread.

[J.T.]

Oh, shit, if anime is in the conversation 

 

AKIRA

 

I don't know if we want to count animated movies here, but I've always found Miyazaki films to be stunning to look at.  They definitely have their own unique charm.

 

Mononoke Hime and Akira were two of the few examples of Japanese animation that had a breathtaking sense of scale, depth, and mass.  Things that were supposed to be huge looked like they were actually huge..

[Reed]

Masters of Horror note: Imprint and Cigarette Burns both look great, especially when you factor in they likely had rather crappy budgets. The brothel in Imprint is particularly stunning. 

[J.T.]

Masters of Horror note: Imprint and Cigarette Burns both look great, especially when you factor in they likely had rather crappy budgets. The brothel in Imprint is particularly stunning. 

 

Holy shit, but Miike's work on Imprint reminds me that his short piece for Three... Extremes, Box, is far more visually stunning than Imprint.

[The Unholy Dragon]

On an Anime note, Paprika has some amazing visuals.

[Reed]

Totally random, but I think the reason Dark City endures is that it represents the Batman: TAS, Burton-esque '40s neo noir everyone would like to escape into. It loses its steam when the guy tries to escape and all the alien stuff happens and then in the end we realized things are going to change.

 

Amazing setting, but I wonder what would have happened if the plot had went in a different direction. 

 

That's what Ebert loved it about. The ideas.

 

It would have probably made an amazing TV show, in retrospect. 

[Jingus]

That's what Ebert loved it about. The ideas.

The visuals weren't too shabby either, especially considering that Inception blatantly stole half of its "innovative" eye candy from Dark City and wasn't even TRYING to hide it.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I always thought that "Miller's Crossing" , besides being fucking awesome, just looked gorgeous.