Movies in the present world have become an essential part of our lives. We can’t imagine kicking the butt of our boredom without the movies. There are various reasons about why we should watch movies, and I hope the reasons are enough that you should let yourself and your kids watch every type of movies.
There are about hundreds of thousands of movies out there, and these are of various languages, genres, companies and countries. And you can’t watch all of them in your lifetime. Reports say that about three thousand to five thousand movies are released everyday all around the world. How many can you watch? To help you, here are 15 essential movies that you must watch at least once before dying –
1. The Departed (2006)
This one is Leonardo DiCaprio’s one of the first films, and being a cult classic, it is a must watch.
The story tells about young police officers who just graduate from the academy, and both are advised to follow the two different sides of law. One of them is appointed as an undercover agent to work with a deadly mobster and gather evidences for his arrest. And his true identity is known to only two of his senior officers. On the other hand, the protégé of the mobster gets appointed in the police academy and works as his informer. It will be fun for you to find out who catches whom first, the mobster or the police!
2. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
This is one of the earliest films that added limelight to Brad Pitt’s carrier. Director Steven Soderbergh did a great job in making the film a true cult classic.
The story is about a Thief Danny Ocean who has just been released from the prison and he seeks his old mate Rusty for a job. The job is to rob a vault which houses the cash of three casinos of Las Vegas, owned by the ruthless Terry Benedict. And it should in the night when the vault will have $150 million but only for some moments. So they make a team of people with various abilities and name it Ocean’s Eleven. Everything is going as per plan when Rusty finds out that Ocean’s ex-wife is Terry’s right hand. SO will Ocean be able to rob the money or will he get carried away by emotions?
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The film stars our beloved Ironman Robert Downey Jr and believe me you will not be able to recognize him unless you are a true fan.
The story is about a small thief who tries to escape from the police after an unsuccessful robbery, and accidentally gets submitted in an audition for the lead of a film as a detective. When he is invited to a party, he becomes friends with a private detective who invites him to join him for an investigation for developing his film character. Soon he meets an actress, the girl he had crush on during his childhood. But both the friends get involved in a false murder case. Will they be able to prove themselves innocent with the help of that girl?
4. Avatar (2009)
This is a sci-fi film which you will never regret watching. The winner of many awards and one of the biggest grosser in the whole world, this film promises to take you into a breathtaking journey.
The lush alien world of Pandora is inhibited by a humanoid race names Na’vi, also called Avatars, who seem like primitives but are highly evolved. But as their planet’s environment slowly becomes poisonous, they need to link with the humans in order to survive. Jake Sully, a former Marine who’s paralyzed, becomes mobile again with the help of one Avatar and suddenly falls in love with one of the Na’vi women. As their bond grows, he is drawn into a battle with his own race for the survival of the Na’vis. Will their love win?
5. Titanic (1997)
This film has set many records, has created history and is considered as the biggest and most successful film in the history of cinemas. It was the first film of Leonardo DiCaprio and this changed his life.
84 years after the accident, a 100 year old woman tells her granddaughter and her friends about an incident which changed her life. It was on 10th April 1912 when she boarded a luxury ship named Titanic with her mother and her fiancé, and falls in love with an artist during the journey. When everything is going good, the Titanic enters the Antarctic and during the journey hits a humongous iceberg. The rest is about how the accident made it the first and last journey of the Titanic.
6. The Life of Pi (2012)
After Avatar, this was the movie which set many records on fire and created another history. And this was a Hollywood movie with most of the cast being Indians!
The story is about a family of three who decide to sell their zoo in India and decide to move to Canada. With the rest of the animals, they set out in ship, which alter meets with an accident and leaves the young son as the only human survivor. However he is not the sole survivor as a ferocious Bengal tiger also takes shelter in the life boat of the boy. As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the boy has to feed the tiger so as not to become the food of the tiger. Will both of them survive?
7. Troy (2004)
The movie stars Brad Pitt and is a mythological film based on ancient history.
The film shows the year 1250 B.C. where two emerging nations begin to clash as the king of one nation kidnaps the queen of the other. The king orders his powerful brother to help him bring back his wife and they set out to defeat the kingdom which had never been defeated before. And the rest is on you to watch!
8. Enter the Dragon (1973)
Do not go on the year when it was released, because the movie has lot to offer. The lead of the film is Bruce Lee, so I do not think you need a bigger reason to watch it.
The film is all about three main characters – Lee who plays a man recruited by a police agency to investigate a tournament organized by Han, all because they believe that there is opium smuggling going on behind the curtains. The other two characters are two former army buddies who have entered the tournament due their personal reasons. But little do they know that the tournament is deadly and now it is the job of Lee to take them out alive.
9. The Terminator (1984)
It is basically a sci-fi movie which involves only robots and robots and yeah, Arnold Schw-arzenegger.
The story is in the year 2019 when a computer named Skynet which is fighting against a small human race, after wiping out about every living human. After some research, it sends one of its deadly war machines aka Terminator back in time in 1984 to finish a lady Sarah Connor, who was about to give birth to her son John, who would lead the war against the Skynet in the future. To stop this, the Terminator has to kill Sarah before she gives birth to John. And the humans send Kyle Reese, their soldier after him. Will Sarah die or survive?
10. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
If you are living in this world and do not know what Star Wars is or are not a fan of it, then you are not a human. If you have not watched the Stars Wars movies yet, I will advise you to start with this one.
The story starts when the evil Imperial Forces kidnap the princess of the Rebel Alliance under the orders of the cruel Darth Vader who seeks the control of the whole galaxy. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, the captain of a ship named Millennium Falcon join forces with the droid duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the princess and help the Rebel Alliances in restoring the peace in the galaxy.
11. Iron Man (2008)
The name is enough to tell you why you should watch the film. Robert Downey Jr stars in the film and now Ironman is not a superhero, he is a feeling.
In the film, Downey plays a rich businessman who is kidnapped by a powerful terrorist organization. But he narrowly escapes with the help of a technical iron suit which he made out of scrap metal and spare parts. After returning home, he realizes the strength of the suit and devotes all of his time in improving it. And hence our Iron man is born!
12. Blade Runner (1982)
You can switch on to some action sci-fi movies if you want to take a break from cult classics, and Blade Runner will help you.
In the story, in the future the human race has developed the technology to create their clones – short spanned human androids, which are illegal on the earth but can be used in outer space. In the year 2019, we see a Blade Runner-a cop who specializes in destroying illegal humanoids – come out of retirement to destroy four humanoids who have escaped from the outer worlds and come to earth.
13. Moneyball (2011)
And here comes another flick of Brad Pitt on the list.
The film is all about baseball. A team named Oakland A’s, managed by Billy, lose the semis of 2001 series to a team and hence the status of the team comes in danger. And the problem is that the salary of the players is less than third of that of other players. Billy hires an agent who studies players using statistical approach. Finally Billy makes a team of new underdog players and plays with them. Will he be able to defy the odds and make a successful team?
14. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Set in the year of 1936, an archaeologist named Indiana Jones sets on a quest to find a golden artifact, and mistakenly ventures off into a jungle with a deadly trap. However, he escapes narrowly, but ends up knowing about the Ark of Covenant which has the power to wipe out an entire army in one flick. But his sworn enemy and the Nazis are also in the quest of it. Who will get his hands on the ark first?
15. Inception (2010)
Let me another touch of sci-fi and Brad Pitt and Tom “Venom” Hardy here!
The story is about a thief named Dom Cobb who possesses a rare and special ability of entering into peoples’ dreams and stealing their secrets during their sub consciousness. This ability of his makes him a hot sensation, but soon takes everything he had away from him. But, he is offered a very dangerous task of planting an evil idea into the mind of a company’s CEO, and this sounds as a perfect crime. Will he be able to it when his every move is being tracked by a mysterious opponent?