Lots of great picks, Panzer!

I especially agree with Master and Commander, Das Boot and has been ages since I've seen Excalibur, but it sure was cool.

So I assume this might mean films that can't or shouldn't ever be remade because the original film was perfect:

1) Sci-fi Horror
"Alien" / "Aliens"

The latter, Aliens, is more perfect than even its predecessor. The writing is soooooooo tight and the special effects, pacing and scripting are flawless, even 30 years later.


2) Sci-fi Space Opera
"The Fifth Element"

Like the movie's namesake, the film is perfect. No other film in history has such brilliant transitions between scenes.


3) Ultra-realistic Contemplative Sci-fi
"2001: A Space Odyssey"

Arthur C. Clarke + Stanley Kubrick can be surpassed? Please. Don't even try. Honorable mention: Interstellar. Unlike 2001, though, Interstellar violated its own universal constraints with rockets to blast off from planets and magic anti-gravity drives on small craft, later in the film, among many other issues.

4) Sci-fi Chronoshifted Social Commentary
"Total Recall"

Rare is a film that mixes multi-layering plus social commentary as well as Total Recall does. But that's Paul Verhoeven. He's a genius and pulls this off in other films such as...

5) Not another Sci-fi action movie
"Starship Troopers"

Based on Sci-fi great's novel, Robert Heinlein, Verhoeven takes the material and adds his own political undertones, brilliantly. If you saw this film and thought it was an action movie, then you missed the point.

6) Crime fantasy Drama
"Scarface."

The movie is like watching candy. 3.5 hours whisk by and you feel fresh and energized after this masterpiece. Brian De Palma delivers, as always.

7) Hitchcockian Noir
"Body Double"

De Palma delivers, again. He takes Hitchcock, and adds his own style.
Honorable mention: Dressed to Kill

8) Mystery/Thriller
"Rear Window"

Hitchcock + Jimmy Stewart? What couldn't go right? Classic perfection.


9) Crime
"The Godfather."

Do I really need to explain why? Like Scarface, this movie is like watching candy. The 7 hour combined version is even better.


10) War meets Literature
"Apocalypse Now"

Francis Ford Coppola + Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" + one iconic line from Robert Duvall. I love the smell of napalm in the morning, but this film takes war movies and melts the stereotype, giving us something unique.



Don't ever remake any of these films. Yeah, I listed a lot of sci-fi, but sci-fi is my favorite genre by far and we have far too few films in this genre to watch.