I love the design of Interstellar. It’s less surreal than other movies but still beautiful. Alien is similarly gorgeous but in a far more haunting way.
Poor Things is extremely surreal and gets progressively ungrounded throughout the movie.
Tron: Legacy to this day remains one of my favorite movies to watch in spite of its dumb story thanks to its awe-some audio and visual design.
Transformers: Age of Extinction stands out in my mind with some of the coolest and weightiest CGI of any movie I’ve seen.
Then there’s live-action steeped in cartoon inspiration which Speed Racer and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World both nailed.
+1 Tron: Legacy
+2 for Tron Legacy. I play through the soundtrack on long drives or when I just need an hour of thoughtless music. It’s a movie I’ll watch when nothing else is on. It just gives me a certain feeling like rather than seeing something cool, I feel more like I’m experiencing a different world. It scratches an exploration itch outside the normal avenues (space, underwater, wilderness, etc) by being a non-tangible universe. And of course the non-traditional score composed by Daft Punk is entirely the right choice for a digital world film. Maybe it kinda resembles playing a video game, which should be exactly the goal anyway. I know the visual stun comes from dark scenes and flares of lights, feeling like an amalgam of the Onion headline saying “Not sure if art actually good, or just lights up” but who am I to argue with the mush running my body?
Lawrence of Arabia. The cinematography and score work together to make you feel like the sun is bearing down on you. It isn’t particularly colorful, but it is a true spectacle.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse & Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Gorgeous animation and endlessly creative.
The recent Dune movies blew me away, especially Part 2.
What Dreams May Come
Brazil
Time Bandits
Pan’s Labyrinth
Spirited Away
Kubo and the two strings
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Forbidden Planet
Prometheus
Dune Pt. 1 & 2
Bullet Train
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Nice Guys (Great movie with stunning recreation of the 1970’s)
The Fall, from 2006.
This is one of my all time favorite movies, and not only is it visually beautiful, the story is too.
Similarly, the cell. Same type of visuals, more of a thriller story.
We’ve often described this as “…the best film you’ve never heard of.”
I love this movie. I wish there was a 4k release
- Bladerunner 2049
- Inception
Mad Max: Fury Road
Pacific Rim has gotta be up there. Every action scene was glorious.
Coraline
Hellboy (Guillermo del Toro version) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army Blade Runner AvatarAkira
The Cell
The Matrix
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The City of Lost Children
Aeon Flux (the show, not the movie)
The Fountain
Roger Deakins’ filmography basically. Special mention of his work with Denis Villenueve: Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners, and Sicario. Most recently, Greg Frasier for Dune Part Two. Absolutely gorgeous cinematography.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is not very good, as movie, but I keep rewatching it because it’s just so pretty. The music is pretty on point too.
I assume you mean the new one?
Yes, the Ben Stiller one
Has anyone mentioned BARRY LYNDON yet?
Such a good choice!
I think it depends on what you mean by stunning. I personally prefer
- The Martian
- Interstellar
- The original LOTR trilogy in 4K HDR, though the fellowship sure has the most beautiful scenes.
IMO, Fellowship has more natural landscapes while the other two have a lot more miniatures and CGI.
The Thin Red Line
