Films that totally blew your mind.

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

I was scrolling through 'What Movie are you Watching' and got to think about the films I have seen that just totally blew my mind, so much so that I had difficulty getting up after the film. I just had to sit there for a couple of minutes to collect myself.

For me, it was a couple of films.

First and Always - 2001 A Space Odyssey.
I saw it when it first came out, in a Cinemascope theatre. It still gets me over 50 years later.

Second, a film you have never heard of - if... from 1968 (providing a linky for the curious)
with a very young Malcolm McDowell.
It is based in a British boarding school, and as I was boarding at a similar institution in Aus. it resonated a lot with me and my mates that I saw it with. No spoilers but it had an apocalyptic ending. So much so that at the end, the whole audience just sat there stunned, except for the one young lass who piped up with a loud "Shiiiiiiit..."

What other films have left you feeling like that?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have many movies that qualify but, here are a few that resonated with me and have stayed with me over the years.

The Elephant Man

Man Without a Face

Star Wars: A New Hope

The Wizard of Oz

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

 

[MBAir2010]

debbie does dallas!
blew everyone's mind!

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

debbie does dallas!
blew everyone's mind!

I think we are trying to be a little more serious than that...

 

[MBAir2010]

I think we are trying to be a little more serious than that...

I'm surprised i posted that comment before 69 other members.....

 

[satcomer]

To Me:

1. Star Wars
2. Jaws
3. Breakfast Club
4. Die Hard
5. Superman Vs Batman

 

[velocityg4]

Probably Jurassic Park. The dinosaurs just looked so incredibly real. Just an excellent melding of CGI, practical effects, animatronics, puppetry and even dino suits.

I watched that movie in the theater seven times. I think that's the only one I went multiple times too.

Then there was Fight Club. My friend and I just looked at each other in bewilderment at the end. Like what the f*** did we just see? A lot of other people coming out of the theater had that same stunned look.

War of the Worlds (2005) was another one that left me a bit stunned. Just because it was the most plausible defeat of aliens. Of the alien invasion movies I've seen.

 

[44267547]

Then there was Fight Club. My friend and I just looked at each other in bewilderment at the end. Like what the f*** did we just see? A lot of other people coming out of the theater had that same stunned look.

Unbelievable man, I can’t believe you just violated the first two rules. Reported.

The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.

The Second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club!

 

[MedRed]

Fight Club
Equilibrium
The Matrix
Kill Bill Vol 1

 

[Madhatter32]

The Godfather
The Godfather Part II

Everything else is just conversation.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The Godfather
The Godfather Part II

Everything else is just conversation.

I liked that film so much when my Dad let me watch it as a young teen, I took my wife to Sicily on our honeymoon lol. Still me favourite film (1 and 2 is one long film lol) of all time.

My favourites:
The Godfather 1,2
Trainspotting
In Bruges
Star Wars - A New Hope
Full Metal Jacket
Heat
The Breakfast Club
Dead Man’s Shoes

All blew my mind the first time I watched them

 

[rpmurray]

debbie does dallas!
blew everyone's mind!

It wasn't your mind that she was blowing.

 

[Steven-iphone]

2001
Star Wars (original) - saw it in an art deco theater
and, Close Encounters

 

[Smartwatchlover]

My best 5, not in any specific order:

1 The best offer (amazing script)
2 Slumdog millionaire (amazing script)
3 LOTR trilogy (special effect, soundtrack)
4 Star Wars (ep. IV, V, VI, script, special effects, soundtrack)
5 Once upon a time in the west (script, photography, soundtrack)

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Arrival - I went to see this film twice in a theater because it was so good. That and I enjoy watching Amy Adams
Total Recall (The Arnold version)
The Sixth Sense

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Probably Jurassic Park. The dinosaurs just looked so incredibly real. Just an excellent melding of CGI, practical effects, animatronics, puppetry and even dino suits.

...

The big dinosaur reveal, where the Brontosaur* was stretching up to get the tasty top bits of the tree, always looked wrong to me. It wasn't until some years later that I was watching a cat stretch up that way that I realised that the animators had taken a 3 kg cat movement and given it to a 15,000 kg animal, scaling it up by a factor of 5,000. They would have done better by watching an elephant do the movement and scale that up by a factor of 3.


* For the pseudo-pedants. Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus are zoological synonyms.** They are equally valid. I grew up with Brontosaurus, and you won't budge me.

** Further reading suggests that Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus may actually be two separate genera. So I, and 50 million other young people have been correct all along. So there...

 

[MBAir2010]

dirty dances with wolves
"no one tells babe she is a tontaka!"

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

inception
momento
insomnia
donnie darko
eyes wide shut
magnolia
punch drunk love
american beauty
good will hunting
no country for old men
fargo
a clockwork orange


just to name a few. many more I can't think of right now.

 

[Mousse]

Grave of the Fireflies. That really hits me in the feels. I haven't been able to complete a second viewing because it's so depressing to see Setsuko's mental deterioration.

 

[turbineseaplane]

"blew my mind" might be the wrong way to describe it, but Traffic has always stuck with me.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Inglorious Basterds
Pulp Fiction
The Matrix
No Country For Old Men
John Wick
off the top of my head, too many to list

 

[rhett7660]

Star Wars - Hands down followed by The Matrix. A few notable mentions:

Donnie Darko
Better Luck Tomorrow
Inception
Requiem For A Dream

 

[omeletpants]

The Godfather
The Godfather Part II

Everything else is just conversation.

Godfather is greatewst movie of all time

 

[danny_w]

Only 2 that I can think of:

1) The Mission (1986 Robert DeNiro, Jeremy Irons) - This is the only movie ever that I have experienced where the audience was completely silent and glued to their seats all though the ending credits and even after the lights came up. It was THAT impactful!

2) Being There (1979 Peter Sellers) - Very thought provoking movie that leaves you wondering what you just saw and if the ending really meant what you thought it did.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Star Wars A New Hope has stuck with me my whole life.

But in terms of how a film that blew my mind when I saw it in the cinema, Schindlers List. The whole audience left without saying a word. It never had the same affect when I saw it on the TV at home some years later.