So, I was ill for a couple of weeks recently and found myself mainly reading thick biographies and watching movies. More about the illness some other time... I began thinking, "what are my favorite movies?" That led me to compile a dozen or so of what I consider to be The BEST Movies of all Time:
1. The Outlaw Josey Wales
2. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
3. Jeremiah Johnson
4. Patton
5. Chariots of Fire
and these in no particular order...
The Sting
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Dirty Dozen
Lawrence of Arabia
The Great Escape
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
Legend of Drunken Master II
Bloodsport
Police Story 2
Unforgiven
True Grit (2010)
High Noon
Winchester '73
They Died with their Boots On
One will notice the list is weighted towards pre-1980 westerns and war movies. Extra love for the ones that are readily quotable.
"Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms." -Josey Wales
"It is sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see... It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life, or death. It shall be life." -Ten Bears
"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." -Tuco
"In this world there are two kinds of people, my friend: those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." -Blondie
"I told my pap and mam I was going to be a mountain man; acted like they was gutshot." -Del Gue
"Can you skin griz? ...Skin that one, pilgrim, and I'll get you another!" -Bear Claw
"They're ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol."
"We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose and we're going to kick him in the @ss. We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we're going to go through him like crap through a goose!"
-Gen. Patton
"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."
-Eric Liddell
My favorite movie quotation is also from one that is on your list, Lawrence of Arabia. It goes: "For him, mercy is a passion; for me, it is merely good manners. You may judge for yourself which is the more reliable."
ReplyDeleteI would also add from my personal list of greats, a couple more movies that I think you would like. These two by the great Akira Kurosawa, with subtitles:
The Seven Samurai
Dersu Uzala
The Magnificent Seven, a remake of The Seven Samurai is a great one, too. I somehow left my favorite John Wayne/ Jimmy Stewart movie off the list: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Honorable mention goes to Lee Marvin as the title role villain.
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