I can understand people listing the first one. Just from the buzz and anticipation alone. It was a special event for Transformers fans.

ROTF though? I just don't see it.

 

I just thought ROTF was a great action movie. I can understand why a lot of people hate it, but to me, Transformers IS action. So it was a win for me despite all of it's problems.

 

Hmm, top 20 movies. Been pondering this since Twin Twist started the thread, but I needed time to consider. I've bundled sequels together, otherwise about half the list would consist of a couple of films and their sequels. I'm sure that at some point I'll remember some classic I've missed, but here's what comes to mind at the moment, as requested, in no particular order:

1) Christoper Nolan's Batman films. Roger Ebert said of Batman Begins "I said this is the Batman movie I've been waiting for; more correctly, this is the movie I did not realize I was waiting for, because I didn't realize that more emphasis on story and character and less emphasis on high-tech action was just what was needed," and I totally agree with him. Watching these made me realise how much the Burton films left out (little things like character motivation, any sort of explanation as to how one obtains a bat-shaped jet, etc). Movies such as Blade and X-Men revived comic book movies, Batman Begins and Dark Knight showed us that you can reinvent whilst staying so very true to what the comics are about, and that a movie based on a comic book doesn't have to sit in it's own little ghetto. These films are great films, not just great comic book films.

Sidenote: I'd like to include Iron Man, but on repeat viewings the criticism of insufficient action becomes apparent. It's still a great film, but it needed a bit more of Iron Man. Hopefully, Favreau has been listening and will give us a bit more in the sequel, without sacrificing what he got right. Still a great film, but not quite a top 20 film.

2) The Princess Bride. If you don't like this film, you officially have no soul. This is almost the definition of the perfect family film: something for everyone to enjoy, without it being a kids film.

3) The original Star Wars trilogy. The classic fairytale concept in a sci fi setting. Almost worth having kids just to introduce them to these films.

4) The Indiana Jones trilogy (I'm excluding Crystal Skull because I haven't seen it). These films are classic adventure flicks of a type we don't often see these days. Indy is a compelling character because of the flaws mixed in with his strengths, and Harrison Ford is perfectly (if almost accidentally) cast as the charming rogue. I don't know how anyone can't enjoy watching the wisecracking archaeologist taking on villains so nasty they always deserve their gruesome fates.

5) Airplane! Surely this can't need justifying?
"It can need justifying, and don't call me Shirley."
Fine. One of the funniest films I've ever seen, and which almost invented a style of rapid-fire wordplay comedy in film. Police Squad, Naked Gun (In Color) and Hot Shots all come from this. If something in there doesn't tickle your funny bone, you have problems.

6) Commando. Template for the modern action movie, this film sees Schwarzenegger fully bloom into the definitive action star of the '80s. If you've ever watched and enjoyed a film with one man taking on an army, this film is why. And Die Hard is sorta it's sequel! Awesome.

7) Heat. I really don't know how one would make this film better. The character's are so well balanced that it's impossible to tell which group you're rooting for during the film, and I can never watch it without wishing McCauley would just get on the damn plane and leave Waingro to the cops.

8) Terminator 2 Director's Cut. Perhaps the pinnacle of the straight action movie. The role of an emotionless machine is perfect for Arnie, the special effects were groundbreaking at the time and still impressive now, and... and why the hell am I having to explain this? I will explain that I chose the Director's Cut because it adds so much depth to an already fantastic movie.

9) Kung Pow! Enter The Fist. A real Marmite film. Master Tang and Evil Betty crack me up every single time. Not many comedies remain funny after so many repeat viewings. This one does.

10) Equilibrium. Saw this by accident and fell in love with it. The action sequences are marvellous without relying on CGI, the plot has the kind of "you should probably see it twice to fully appreciate it" quality that The Matrix was supposed to have, and Christian Bale is compelling as John Preston. Each and every critic who called this a Matrix rip off deserves fiery death.

11) Manhunter. The best adaptation of a Lector book with the best Lector we've seen onscreen.

12) Wrath of Khan. William Shatner can act when he doesn't try too hard. I don't think any Star Trek film before or since has been as good. Might I change my mind after watching the reboot? Maybe. But I'm not counting on it.

13) The Maltese Falcon. Torn between this and The Big Sleep, but The Big Sleep ended up being compelling but confusing. Maltese Falcon is the definitive film noir, a perfect adaptation of the book that started the trend to more real detectives over little old women in quaint English villages or Belgian weirdos with no visible means of support.

14) Tombstone. Tie for my favorite western. Ok, so maybe it's not totally historically accurate, but it's a cracking tale of revenge and friendship. Val Kilmer was robbed of the Oscar for best supporting actor.

15) Magnificent Seven. My other favorite western. So much of what became standard in film started here (ok, the Seven Samurai started it, but Magnificent Seven is what people know). The cast is wonderful, with just the right hint of weird. First time I saw this, I thought it was horrible generic, like an episode of The A-Team. Then I realised this is where that plot came from and appreciated this perfectly crafted film. And that theme tune... perfect.

16) The Transformers: The Movie. I tried not to put this on my list. I thought of all the arguments against. Hell, I think the film goes badly downhill about the time Starscream's crown hits the floor. But goddamnit, this film IS my childhood, and that soundtrack still kicks ass. Of course, I have to watch Return of Optimus Prime Part 2 immediately afterwards.

17) True Lies. Probably Schwarzenegger's last great film. More comedic elements than normal, and the one time an Arnie film found the balance between action and comedy. Even Tom Arnold is good in this. Fucking hell.

18) Die Hard. Almost a sequel to Commando, and as important to the action genre as that film was. Die Hard saw the beginning of a more human hero. McClane spends roughly the first third of the film simply trying to call the cops rather than laying plans to go up against a horde of well-armed "terrorists." This film also gets right possibly the most important aspect of an action film: the baddie. Alan Rickman is superb in this film, explaining why we want him to be the baddie whenever he's onscreen. "I wanted this to be professional, efficient, adult, cooperative. Not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way... so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life."

19) L.A. Confidential. Simply wonderful period crime drama, and one of the few instances I can think of where the film is better than the book. As with Heat, this isn't a film to throw on in the background, this is one to be watched carefully and savoured as one might a fine alcoholic beverage.

20) Predator/Predator 2. Before they got ruined with those fucking Aliens (seriously, those films are overrated), these films were a great blend of action, sci-fi and horror. The first film sets up it's characters well, gives us great action, then kicks into the suspense as the alien killer picks the team off one at a time. The sequel is more action oriented, having realised that you can't repeat the same trick from the first film and expect it to work (yeah, I'm looking at you, Alien 3), but still great fun. Danny Glover is surprisingly good as an action lead.

 

After browsing my DVD collection online and seeing what I rated them, I was a tad surprised to get this list as my top 20.
I originally had over 50 I rated 4/5 and over, but have narrowed it down to the top 20 I most frequently enjoy to watch.
Too hard to not put in most of the 007s. I had so many Arnold films but I just love Conan's epic arena and the reinstated scene of him telling Subito about his wasted childhood is performed so well and Predator, well, its a classic in a lot of ways.

Predator: People have already mentioned this film's greatness previously, but its hard bioled action with a great creature and tight action.

Conan The Barbarian: A grand film. The look, style and cinematography is beautiful. The scale is huge and the action is superb. One of Arnold's triumphs let down by a cartoony sequel. Its a terrific epic fantasy that still blows away many more modern effects laden fables.

Batman (1989): In my mind, this is BATMAN. I never read a book and only ever saw the West TV series before it, so my admiration comes from a different place.
The gothic style and feel reminds me of greats like 'Nosferatu' and the performances are superb too. Jack will always be THE Joker.

A Hard Day's Night: The best film ever spawned from a musical act by far. Its a great comedy and is so clever. As they have said themselves on recollection 'that was the Beatles' - it was also nominated for a best picture Oscar.

Labyrinth: A genius blend of fantasy, music and themes of adulthood. One of my feel good favourites.

Brotherhood Of The Wolf: Its a monster movie with flair. Extremely well acted and written so well. A marvel of European filmmaking.

A Fistful Of Dollars: The greatest Clint in my opinion. Subtle, understated and clever as well as unflinching.

A Fish Called Wanda: Cracks me up every time. One of the greatest comedy films of all time.

Ghost In The Shell: My favourite anime and also one of my top 5 science fiction films. A masterwork. They do say dubbing produces a very different film from the original, but its still the best example of great dubbing around.

Tommorrow Never Dies: I can watch this over and over. My favourite 007s tend to incorporate the formula of girls, gadgets, guns, cars and outrageous action. What can I say, it hits the spot.

JAWS: Still a great monster movie and the best example of 'nature gone amuck' since 'The Birds'.

Metropolis: Second only to Blade-Runner as my greatest sci-fi of all time, I marvel at it everytime. A work of sheer brilliance from its visuals to its themes.

Monty Python's Life Of Brian: The best Python of all. Hilarious, poignant, controversial and performed sparklingly and full of gusto by the troupe.

Robocop: The DC is even better. Still one of the greats in its social satire and action, not to mention gore. The DC scene of Murphy's headhot still makes me quiver.

Blade Runner (Final Cut): IMO the greatest sci-fi film ever. Clearly influenced by many classics, but melds them perfectly. Hauer steals the show and his 'death' is one of the greatest things committed to celluloid.

Starship Troopers: Just amazing. IMO its honestly just as great a war film as a sci-fi or actioner.
The themes are very prevailent as well the action being terrific. It was nominated for a best visual effects Oscar and its easy to see why.
A pity it only got poor direct to DVD follow ups.

The Hitcher (1986): Original and the best. From the sound, to the cinemtography and of course Hauer's performance, it is exceptional. Its visceral without the need for excessive blood and guts. A true classic thriller.

Spider-man 2: Strongest of the series, but also of the genre. A perfect snap shot of our favourite wall crawler. Well written, paced and acted with incredible effects topped only by SPM3's Sandman origin sequence.

The Terminator: A powerful science fiction horror piece. Everytime I watch this I ask myself what were thinking making the T-800 a goody?
The best of the Terminators. Prosthetics raneg from great to iffy, but the arm surgery always blows me away.

Transformers: The Movie (1986): This is how I remember the TFs. Tragedies aside (Prime, Starscream), its a wonderful film. Its in my top animated as well as genre sci-fi films. Scenes in this film rival or outdo the power and energy of many live actioners.

 

I'm not going to deny that RotF is a heavily flawed movie, but I also found it to be a lot of fun and enjoyable. And, ultimately, that's what I'm looking for in a film; something entertaining that goes by quickly and keeps me interested. Sometimes I find that in a film with an intricate plot, well-developed characters and stirring performances...other times, I find that in a movie with a sketchy storyline and minimal characterization but impressive action and special effects. Is RotF objectively a great film? Hell no. But subjectively, I love it and enjoyed it far more than many other movies I've seen.

 

I'm not saying it is a masterpiece of cinema or will ever appear on an AFI list of great films, I'm saying it is one of my favorite movies of all time. I can watch it again and again and get that same awe struck feeling and visual thrill each time.

If someone came to my house and took all my Blu-Rays and DVDs but said I could keep just one, it would be ROTF because I really, really, really like watching giant, realistic looking Transformers blow the bejeesus out of each other. I can always get my life lessons, deep thoughts, and philosophical meaning from my collection of books.

 

It's also a pretty decent, if overly clumsy, movie.

 

YES! I thought I was one of maybe 3 people, 2 of which being my friends...

 

Yeah, same here. I didn't care about story line honestly. I just wanted to see Prime whoop some Decepticon tail gate. And I wasn't disappointed.

 

I'm just a birdie too.

 

Kill Bill Vol. 1 - I throughly enjoyed the revenge story idea while having deeper routes than just that. The action I loved and the anime sequence in it still blows my mind.

Pulp Fiction - It needs no justification.

Dark City: Directors Cut - Totally adore the scenerio especially the atmosphere it creates and the film is perfect for it.

The Matrix - An outstanding story and raises situations you may not have thought about, giving a new twist to pretty much everything presented. Its hard not to like it and it reminds me of Akira, which is a plus.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Extended version) - A near perfect adaptation of a fantastic book. I have no problem with the liberties taken nor how its ended. It captures that pure esence of fantasy and totally suckers me in.

Blade Runner - sci-fi at is best as its down to you to come to your own conclusions and your not spoon fed everything.

Grave of the Fireflies - The saddest and most harrowing film I have ever watched. Made my bawl my eyes out and still does, just watching a little innocent girl lose her mind is just too much for my heart to take.

Aliens - Aliens, guns, suspense = great

Leon - i actually can'tr explain why I like this film, I just do. Maybe i wanna be a hitman?

Star Wars: A New Hope - needs no explanation. hits all the chords that make you happy on the inside.

Once Upon a time in High School - I can really relate to parts of this film, and its about reaching your own desires and enjoying growing up even if its painful at times.

Secret of Nihm - Watched it a lot growing up and never really understood what i was watching. I just new it felt dark and gritty, and kept me interested. Later on I realised how deep the story was and totally loved the animation style.

Back to the Future: Part 2 - Hover boards. 'nuff said.

Terminator 2 - Robots, end of the world, kid who steals money = epic

Clerks 2 - The dialogue and the way its presented is fucking fantastic and one of the few films to make me laugh my ass off regardless of how many times I watch it.

Saving Private Ryan - That opening beach scene is just fucked up. I think when I first saw it, it brought home some realities of war as a youngster I never really thought about. Like how war = uber, uber bad.

The Goonies - Its a film I watched a shit load as a kid and is still a great adventure movie. I love the characters as in each one you have something you can relate to, and who doesn't want to find treasure  

Apollo 13 - There is just something very captivating about it, it soothes me when i'm all stressed out. I think its a space thing  

Transformers: The Movie (1986) - I have watched this at least a 100 times. It was my most watched VHS as a kid and is watched so often as an adult. It hits all the right spots and makes me feel like a kid all over again ever time I watch it. I so wanted to be Daniel as a kid and get to ride inside Hot Rod....that sounded wrong  

Hot Fuzz - Makes me laugh a lot, therefore = win!

 

I have to echo this sentiment too - it was a surprisingly hilarious movie, especially after the wife and I and our friends had downed a few beverages.  

"weeeee-oo weee-oo weeeee-oo..."

"That's a lotta nuts!"

 

Goodfellas - what more needs to be said? Epic story telling, action, murder, the mob, great cast, memorable quotes, and it's all based on reality.

Sideways - at first viewing I wasn't impressed with it, but the more I saw it the more I caught on to the subtle humor of it. Paul Giomani is brilliant and the comedy is priceless.

The Dark Crystal - Beautiful scenery, master puppeteering, great story. Doesn't need any more justification.

Pulp Fiction - short stories that tie to each other in the end - brilliance. Subtle humor, action, and excellent performanced by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.

300 - the style of film making, the story, and great battles make this movie. The acting is a bit cheesy at times but it fits with the comic book tones.

Return Of The Jedi - Vader becomes a good guy, Luke becomes a badass, The Emperor dies, little cute furballs help save the galaxy. Good stuff.

Nightbreed - as cheesy as it is, only Clive Barker could take the perverbial "monster movie" and make it interesting. The originality of the characters, the special effects, the action - it all works together.

The Godfather I and II - technically two movies, but they are one story. I don't think any reasoning is needed, these movies are epic in their story telling, acting, and mob mentality.

Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life - Hilarious songs, wafer thin mints, machines that go "BING", and over the top comedy (even for Monty Python) - a highlight of British humor, even if some of the sketches were rehashed from the televsion series (which I own all of anyway, so I have no problem with that).

The Shining - Kubrick's style of film making combined with Jack Nicholson and some creepy ass twins make this a great horror flick, even by today's standards. Proof that truly scary movies don't need a ton of blood and gore.

The Dark Knight - took comic book movies to a new level by avoiding the hokey, over-the-top style Tim Burton gave the story. Batman's equipment was over the top but not so much that it was campy and unbelievable. Plus Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker - genius.

Animal House - one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. The original "gross out" humor movie. I still laugh at the Belushi ladder scene when he looks at the camera.

The 40 Year-Old Virgin - took gross out sex humor to new levels while injecting some nerd humor and a love story.

Clerks - I love all of the Kevin Smith movies (yes, even Jersey Girl) but this was the original - the one that started it all. The dialogue, the ramblings, the images were all original and you felt like you actually knew the characters by the end. Comedy gold!

The Breakfast Club - only John Hughes could make Saturday school so fun.

Weird Science - yep, two John Hughes movies in a row. Who couldn't like this movie? Everyone identifies with it and cheers for the good guys. Three of us, on the way to Kuwait, actually managed to quote this entire movie from start to finish on the plane - entirely from memory. We received coins from our Commander.

The Count Of Monte Christo - the most recent remake (2002). Best telling of the story that I've seen. Action, treasure, true love - great movie.

The Emperor's New Groove - David Spade as a llama with great one-liners. One of the funniest Disney movies I've seen. Yes, Aladdin was great too but I don't laugh as much when I watch that movie now. I still laugh at Emperor's.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - comedic genius in Will Ferrell sometimes, this was his best. Add Steve Carrell and it's almost too much to handle.

The Lost Boys - modern day version of a classic vampire, love story. Forget all that Twilight crap - this was a teenage vampire movie.

 

"What do you get when you cross and owl with a bungee cord?..."

 

"My ass..." Brilliant! "And all this time I thought you were a complete sadistic psycho bitch!" (sorry, I haven't watched it in a couple years now, I can't recall if that is the exact quote)