One Film to be Preserved...

Let's say that today, every movie in the world, regardless of format, vanished off of the face of the earth. No more Blu-Rays, film negatives, or digital copies. Hell, no more Beta-max versions. They are all gone. Well, all but one.

So, if you had to choose which movie survived, which one would you choose?

Guidelines:

1) Choose a movie that you want the future filmmakers to use as an inspiration.

2) You can't choose an entire series of movies (i.e. Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) Pick ONE movie from that series.

Does this include short films?

Blackenstein.

DuracellEnergizer said:

Does this include short films?

Shoah (1985).

The Ridiculous Menace (2011).

timdiggerm said:

"The Muppet Movie"

Diddo.

timdiggerm said:

twister111 said:

 

chinakat said:

2) You can't choose an entire series of movies (i.e. Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) Pick ONE movie from that series. (exception: The Lord of the Rings)

Under what criteria does LOTR get exemption?

 

It was filmed as a single film. By that logic, the Matrix sequels are one film.

That's a silly exemption.

The Rankin-Bass version of Frosty the Snowman.  (While I jest, I have to be honest, I do really like the R-B Christmas specials and own every single one).

Batman Begins.  Yes, the first one, more than the second.

According to Wikipedia, all of these fit that description:

The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), shot as one film as far as the actors knew

Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980)

Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold(1986)

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) and III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)

Jean de Florette (1986) and Manon Des Sources (1986)

Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990)

Critters 3 (1991) and 4 (1991)

The Three Colours Trilogy: Blue (1993), White (1994) and Red (1994)

Blue in the Face (1995) was conceived and filmed completely ad libbed immediately following production of Smoke (1995)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003)

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003) and Volume 2 (2004), which were originally shot as one film and later edited into two

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004), the second being a DTV effort assembled from deleted scenes and outtakes of the first

Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (2004) and Ginger Snaps Back (2005)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007)

Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

Che: The Argentine and Che: Guerrilla (2008)

Arthur et la vengeance de Maltazard (2009) and Arthur 3 : La Guerre des deux mondes (2010), which were edited into Arthur and the Great Adventure (2010) for release in the United Kingdom

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I (2011) and Part II (2012)

Skyline "Skyline 2" (2013) and "Skyline 3" (2014)

Though not shot entirely back-to-back, the final scene of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was shot in Tunisia during the production of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in order to avoid another trip to Tunisia for a single scene.

So maybe I can change my vote so we can preserve Star Wars episodes II and III!!!  I know you all agree with me here!

You guys have made good points. The reasons why I originally exempted LOTR was because, yes, it was filmed as one film, and also because there is very little difference in quality between the three films. Yes, we all have our favorite, but in actuality, it feels like one movie. By contrast, the last two matrix movies, when watched back to back, feel disjointed to me. They feel different. Most of the movies on that wikipedia list are like that. Stupid reason, I know, because you can't measure how a movie feels. So, I'll change the criteria.

http://www.rihl.org/d_us.php?o=456&f=27

Birdemic.  No question.

msycamore said:

Either A Clockwork Orange or Apocalypse Now, I can't decide.

Excellent choices, those are two of my favorite movies. Between those two, I would choose Apocalypse Now. It's just such an incredible cinematic experience. But the film I would choose to be preserved would have to be "2001: A Space Odyssey".