What makes a good movie?

[Pak-Man]

I've been meaning to open up this can of worms since I first saw Ghost Rider.

Here's the thing. I went to Ghost Rider, and they did everything wrong. The special effects were cheesy, the dialogue was corny, the acting OF the dialogue was soap-opera at best. It should have been a bad movie. But I enjoyed it. I didn't regret one penny I'd spent getting in to see it. But everything else points to it being a bad movie. How can I watch it and see it as good, even knowing that the bad parts are there?

This has led me to wonder what makes a movie good.

The easiest way to judge a movie is to base it on technical merit. If it isn't filmed well, acted well, written well, doesn't have good special effects, then that should disqualify it as being a good movie. Except that it doesn't. (Or does it?) This is definitely the most objective way to judge the movie, but there's still something else to making a movie good. There are people who said that Troll 2 was framed very well, but that obviously didn't launch it into the good movie category. It could be argued that Firewall had all these things going for it, but there's still something that makes it fall flat. Conversely, we have my Ghost Rider example that failed in all that, but I'd watch it over a lot of technically well-done movies any day.

So maybe a movie should be deemed good or bad based on how the people react to it. Box Office reaction is a pretty good indicator of how many people enjoyed a movie, but then you have to accept the likes of Along Came Polly, or Epic Movie as being good movies. It can certainly be argued that, since it reached the most people, it achieved its goal of being a good movie to the people it reached, even though I might watch it and think it's garbage. Popular opinion says I'm wrong, and from a philisophical standpoint, there's something to that.

Others see a good movie as being one with a lot of artistic merit. This makes sense since Film-Making is an art, of sorts. These tend to be the movies smiled on by the acadamy awards, and I will grant that Million Dollar Baby (For instance) probably has more artistic merit than Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but I'd still rather watch the latter any day.

So is it entertainment? Is the ability to sit and enjoy a movie what makes the movie good? Also an intriguing notion. If we like it, it's good, right? But then you have to look at the movies that aren't trying to be entertaining because they have something to say. Your Schindler's Lists, or Passion of the Christs. Both have something to say, and say it well, but neither could be deemed an ENJOYABLE film.

Maybe it's just a movie that achieves what it sets out to do. Maybe the artistic movies that have artistic merit are just as good, in their way, as the entertaining movies that are successfully entertaining. Maybe Star Wars, in its way, is just as good as Schindler's List. Maybe American Pie, which so enraptured the nation just like it wanted to, is as good as either of the other two? That's hard to swallow as well...

So that's my quandery. What do you all think makes a movie great?

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

The definitions of what make a movie good are even more varied than opinions on what make it bad.

Personally, I submit the following list:
1. Likeable characters
2. Cool, creative monsters
3. Glowy things
4. Humor used appropriately, not too little, not too much, and times right so it doesn't take away from the drama or get annoying
5. Short action sequences, unless said sequences involve monsters.

Odds are, if it meets these prequisites, I'll love it.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

me in the starring role opposite (and on top of) lucy lu. 

[mrbasehart]

You raise some interesting points.  Nice post, Pak.  For me, what makes a good movie is that after the film ends, I feel good about spending time in it's company.  That's really my only criteria, as attempting to watch every movie ever made gives one a wide perspective on what can be deemed "good".   

[ScottotD]

No morals or 'life lessons'
zombies.
lack of Tom Hanks.

[Johnny_Short_Torso]

1. Characters that feel like they could be family
2. Plausible, believable tension
3. Musical scoring
4. Climax and resolution
5. Fun factor
6. Emotional effectiveness
7. All scenes/lines of dialogue are relevant to the center of the story and characters

[ChrisHanel]

Trying to quantify what makes a movie good outside of "The script is good, the acting is nice" and similar technical merits is nigh impossible. If you take a step back, it comes down to "What makes something art? What makes a piece of art good or bad?" And at that point it comes down to the perspective of the observer.

Lock two movie critics in a room and let them debate their ten favorite films of all time. If locked in the room long enough, eventually one of the critics will kill the other.

-Chris

[Tyrant]

  I have to agree with you, Chris. Everyone has their own idea of what's good and what's bad. Two people could sit in front of a Monet and one will hate it (or worse yet, say it's 'okay' or 'interesting' which is the worst thing a person can say to an artist), and one will adore it. Everyone has their own expectations and their own individual experiences to base those expectations on.

  This aside, I think that regardless of everything else, the movie you wind up enjoying is, despite anything to the contrary, a good movie. Movies are meant for entertainment/educational/emotional value and if you obtain any one of these things, the movie has done what it's supposed to do.

  And zombies. ScottH is right. A good movie has zombies in it.

   

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

No morals or 'life lessons'
zombies.
lack of Tom Hanks.

By this definition, MST3K's "Zombie Nightmare" would be a good movie, as would "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies".

[Tyrant]

No morals or 'life lessons'
zombies.
lack of Tom Hanks.

By this definition, MST3K's "Zombie Nightmare" would be a good movie, as would "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies".

   If you enjoy either of those movies, then sure. Even if all the enjoyment stems from lots of material to riff.

   And zombies make any movie better. Imagine zombies in Titanic, for instance....Instant classic!

[gammer]

As long as the movie has a good beat, and its easy to dance to...then its probably gonna be good

[Phantom of Krankor]

Basically, a good movie needs all of the essentials:

Good acting, good story, good screen play, good costumes, good sets, good effects, good editing, good cinematography, and good music.

Some of these qualities can vary from time to time. But if a movie is missing about four of these, then its bound to be a bad movie. To acheive worst movie ever made status, it would have to have little to none of those qualities. Take Battlefield Earth for example, it doesn't have a single good quality mentioned above. Same with Manos and Plan 9. To achieve best movie ever made status, it would have to have all of these qualities with a touch of originality to them.

[MarkAndrew]

I'd change the question a bit.  What makes a good movie can be, I think, held to some objective standards.  What you're asking, I think, is what makes an enjoyable movie.

And that I think is all about the story and it's execution.  If the story grabs you, encourages you to suspend disbelief, holds your attention...then it's enjoyable, even if the acting, effects, plot, and camera work, etc... isn't well done.

An enjoyable movie puts YOU into it, it makes you want to be somebody in the story.

And Chris, as long as I keep walking out of that room alive, I'm going to letting them lock me in. :-)

[darkeststar]

Interesting characters, it doesn't matter if they are good or bad. A powerful message, negative or positive. Unique twists or plots. Odd ball and unconventional. Interesting camera angles or editing.

Examples:

Fight Club,
American History X,
Bang Bang You're Dead,
Everything is Illuminated,
Little Miss Sunshine,
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,
The Royal Tenenbaums,
Brokeback Mountain,
Crash,
My First Mister,
Donnie Darko,
Eternal Sunshine,

Just to list a few of my all time favorite films.

[Johnny Unusual]

At the same time, too many people try interesting editing and a lot of them turn out really awful.

I think some (though not all) aspects of a movie are personal taste.  After all, there are some good movies without likeable characters but they have to make up for that somehow.  After all, is anyone in Dr. Stranglove  "likeable".  I don't think so.  But they're interesting and entertaining.

It's a difficult question, but I think originality and/or being compelling.  Make the viewer desire to watch more.  There are lots of depressing movie that are great but I never want to watch them.  I watch them because I feel I should.  I'm sometimes rewarded (In the Bedroom) and sometimes not (Welcome to Sarajevo) but if you can execute a good idea correctly, you have a good movie (keeping in mind people have different opinions of good).