For the sake of being fair to each of these movies, they are arranged in alphabetical order.
1. Equilibrium – Because it came out after the Matrix, it didn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserved. Christian Bale plays the lead in a society that lives without emotion or sense. As an enforcer of the laws against sense, he must choose between what he sees in those he is commissioned to kill and the way of life he has always known. The action in the movie is Matrix-esque and will keep you wondering if it is actually possible. Taye Diggs and Sean Bean bring this movie’s cast to a whole new level.
2. eXistenZ – I will be honest, the acting in this movie isn’t the greatest, but the concept will keep you guessing. Jude Law stars in this virtual reality based movie. Once again, The Matrix stole another movie’s thunder, though with eXistenZ’s mediocre writing, it is not surprising. If you ever wondered about virtual reality games, or just wanted to escape from reality for a little while, I would definitely recommend this movie. Ian Holm and Willem DeFoe also make an appearance.
3. Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut – I had heard about this movie, but it is almost impossible to tell someone what this movie is about without sounding crazy, so I wrote it off. I eventually sat down and watched it and was entranced. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a high school boy with issues that may not be so average. Like a train wreck, I felt compelled to watch, not because the movie was bad (on the contrary, the cinematography was fantastic and the writing was engaging) but because things just never seem to work out how you think they will for Donnie. If this list had been arranged by order of importance, this movie would have been near the top… maybe even first.
4. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome – I’m not usually a fan of sequels, but this one was significantly better than Mad Max was. I don’t think I have made it through the first one awake… ever. Beyond Thunderdome was guaranteed to be a hit. Who can resist Mel Gibson in the beginning of his career? And, as if you needed further incentive, Tina Turner is definitely in this movie. In a world where gasoline is the most precious commodity and cities are completely
5. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 – If you have ever heckled a movie or made side comments during a particularly atrocious scene, then this is definitely for you. MST3K is a television series and a movie. The series consists of a man and his two robot friends silhouetted against a movie screen. They make the side comments everyone else is afraid to say. The cut scenes before and after commercials are cheesy and ridiculous, but they add to the overall tone of the series. With titles like “Robot Holocaust” and “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” how could you resist?
6. Reign of Fire – Another Christian Bale movie makes the list. He seems to have a lot of movies that weren’t appreciated when they first came out. Dragons reclaim the earth and humankind struggles to survive. Gerard Butler, before he was well known, was an important part of this movie. Matthew McConaughey plays the independent, devil-may-care American. In the end he really isn’t an important character at all. The action of the movie is intense, and it makes you proud to be a human.
7. Serenity – One of my personal favorites, this movie supersedes genre. It’s like a scifi, western, action, comedy, drama… thing. Filled with one-liners that will make you laugh, and action that will make you bite your fingernails, this movie is a must-see. It was based off of Joss Whedon’s Firefly series, but you don’t have to know the series to understand the movie. Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau star.
8. Time Bandits – A young boy gets caught up with time traveling dwarves in search of treasure… a recipe for fun! Surprisingly, Monty Python had a hand in this, though it is not officially MP. The movie is directed and co-written by Terry Gilliam. John Cleese and Michael Palin have small roles. Despite the MP influence, this is not exactly a comedy. There are funny moments, but this is more of a coming-of-age/action movie. Sean Connery and Ian Holm also make appearances. I would put this movie in the Labyrinth/Dark Crystal pile.
9. Unbreakable – M. Night Shyamalan’s most underrated movie. What if the stories in comic books were actually based in truth? Bruce Willis plays a man who is ‘unbreakable’, he survives when other people would die, and he never gets sick. He can sense intentions… or something like that. As in all comic books, there has to be an equal and opposite force for conflict. This is played by Samuel L. Jackson, Mr. Glass. If you liked Signs and the Village, I would recommend Unbreakable.
10. Virtuosity – I will be completely honest, this movie was pretty bad… EXCEPT for Russell Crowe. Denzel Washington plays the lead, a cop called in to find a computer program that escaped. Russell Crowe plays a computer compilation of several thousand of the worst criminals ever. This was the first Russell Crowe movie I ever watched, and I will never be able to look at him the same way again. This movie is definitely worth watching because of Russell Crowe’s acting. Unfortunately, This movie, fittingly, is at the end of the list.
