Are there any movies that are/will be considered "classic"...

Anything Speilberg or Lucas comes to mind. James Cameron, Copolla, Ron Howard... Anything they make are the "greats" in entertainment. Everything else recently is a remake or some dumpster humor.

 

The Matrix will be a classic. Comparable to Star Wars or such.

 

Not everything Spielberg makes is great, we're just talking about how bad War of the Worlds was on another thread.

I think the great movies still need to emphasize the classic themes to have lasting interest. Special effects might be part of the movie, but it would be a great movie even without good effects. Having said that, there aren't any I can think of in the course of writing this, so yeah, it seems pretty sparse recently.

Star Wars will probably survive as a great, largely because it has most of the elements of a classic/mythic story. Rise, fall, then redemption. Temptation, human fallability, hubris, power of love, human spirit overcoming oppression, etc. The test here is that you still want to watch episode VI, even though you know the special effects in that are the most limited of the series.

Matrix, I'm not sure about. It is about the human spirit overcoming oppression, which is a traditional theme, but the hero isn't very flawed (flaws allow us to identify with the hero and give them something meaningful to overcome). In the Matrix trilogy, Neo has to "believe", which he does, then he pretty much just has to figure out what's going on before the machines kill everyone first. Overcoming material obstacles seems to have less lasting interest than overcoming spiritual/personal obstacles. The story ends up being too one-dimensional and relies too much on special effects. In effect, they made him too powerful by the end of the first movie and the second/third movies just played the story out. The first one is watchable again, but I have almost no interest in seeing the sequels now that I know how it turns out.

 

I would include the Lord of the Rings trilogy as receiving future classic status. In my opinion, the visuals in the LOTR trilogy are phenomenal. Undertaking a project like this is truly mind-blowing, and I think they executed it perfectly from many standpoints - the special effects, character interplay, costumes and scenery to mention a few were all top notch.

 

Old School...

 

Shawshank Redemption is considered to be one of the better films of the last decade.

As a kid, I loved the Tolkien books, but you couldn't pay me to sit through another Lord of the Rings film. I think the stories were just too large and complex to be competently captured on film.

 

Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), although I think it's safe to say that is already considered a classic.

Memento

The Machinist

Mulholland Drive

Traffic

 

I'd agree with The Matrix, I'd also add Titanic.

 

You forgot about the score. It had an amazing soundtrack.

 

i read that book when i was a kid, the movie at least was one of the few stephen king transfers that did it some justice... not that i've read stephen king since like 1990 or something

some classics by my standard:
se7en
fight club
starship troopers (still possibly the best CG movie yet)
american beauty
heat
pulp fiction
reservoir dogs
12 monkeys
dude where's my car

 

The requirements of a classic would be: timeless and the ability to remake the movie in twenty to fourty years so they can cash in on the actors and technology of the time. Not many movies come to mind, especially since the movies out are all remade or rehashed in one way or another.

Speed130's suggestion on Old School would be far from classic. Try Animal House. Nothing else can compare or stand up, but they all try.

ylshih and Al's suggestion on The Matrix would be correct because of the rules of filming that got thrown out the window. It will still remain timeless.

ashsimmonds - re: starship troopers - darnit, why didn't anyone else catch on? Not a classic, but one of the great sci fi movies.

 

Mystic River & Dodgeball

 

Office Space.
Jaws
Pulp Fiction
Blazing Saddles
Arthur
.................

 

Anchorman

 

Hero.

 

There has been a lot of crapy movies the last 5 years but here are a few of the latest movies that are good.

Wedding Crashers
Van Wilder
Oceans Eleven
The Italian Job
Gone in 60 seconds (The cars in it makes it a good movie)
Saving Private Ryan

These have been added to my personal collection.

 

No no no.

Horrible movie, and the sequel was even worse. The whole plot was centered around hiding things from the audience and was just a fan fare for the all star cast.

This is a rehashed updated remake. The original is much better.

Another rehashed remake.

 

the only one on your list that could even be close to classic, here I'll use Randy's word "timeless", is Saving Private Ryan. I can see it still being a relevant, thought provoking, viewable and enjoyable movie, five, ten, 20 years from now. Think of the classics you see on TV that have stood the test of time (again that word "time")-Public Enemy, Gone with The Wind, Citizen Kane, High Noon, Godfather, Schindler's List , etc

 

Gone in 60 seconds yes its a bad movie BUT how many movies can you name that have Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porshce, and Elenor.

Like I said in the last 5 years there has been nothing but horrible movies released and this list is the best that I can come up with. Thats not saying much for Hollywood now is it?

 

Hmmm...now you got me thinking. some of the ones I mentioned were late 90s. i'll have to think about it....

 

HEY!!! Big Al!!!

WTF????????????????

Isn't you list missing something???????

 

uh...something perhaps with a fish theme or maybe something set in a galaxy far, far away.......

 

uh....NO!