A Filmmaker's Guide to the Most Visually Stunning Films

To call a film 'visually stunning' we normally mean that some of the shots look amazing. Well, that's exactly the case. Some films can look incredibly grand and have some amazing cinematography work on them - it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to show you breath-taking nature shots. It does, however, mean that the shot in some way must move you emotionally. There must be some emotion in the grandeur of the shot that makes you stop and stare at it, sometimes even just rewind the film to see it again or even take a picture of it and set it as your wallpaper.

When we talk about a 'visually stunning' film, we're also talking about the way in which the shot contributes to the story. Is it an emotional time in the film? Does this shot add anything to that current emotional state? What does the grand shot/shots do when in this particular part of the film? If they're doing something then they can seriously add to whether we think it was just a good shot or a visually stunning film.

Another thing we talk about when we say 'visually stunning' is the way in which the entire film fits together. We need to film to have great cinematography that evokes emotion. We need to have great acting that characterises this emotion/these emotions. We need to have a great soundtrack because music is one of the key mediums that evokes great amounts of emotion. Lastly, we need it all to fit into the story/plot well enough for the film to carry this emotion.

Visually stunning films are everywhere. They tried it with Avatar (2009) but I think because of the CGI, the visually stunning edge to it wasn't as great as other films from the past days of cinema. There have been very mundane visually stunning films like "Gandhi" (1982) which simply depicts the life of Gandhi, but some of the shots are incredible and the film itself is visually stunning. Films like "There Will Be Blood" (2007) are often described as visually stunning (and that's not just because of Daniel Day-Lewis being as handsome as he is!) because of their ability to depict the past in such an accurate way and with such incredible amounts of historicity to back them up. There are Sci-Fi films often described as visually stunning with the old Star Wars films with Mark Hamill coming to mind. We have film noir with "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), "The Third Man" (1949) and "Strangers on a Train" (1951) which are often described as visually stunning for their incredible hard angles and diverse cinema techniques. There are simply far too many to mention in this list.

So, in this list we will investigate what I believe the ten most visually stunning films of all time are and we will investigate why I've put them on the list in their position. Let's take a good look then, shall we?

Top Ten Visually Stunning Movies

10. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now (1979) is a visually stunning film which ever way you think about it. It is Francis Ford Coppola's classic movie about the war and how PTSD can get the better of every single person. Complete with violence and bloody gore, Coppola attempts hyper-realism with the best intentions and results. If you would like to know what I think about this film, then please proceed to my review here: https://vocal.media/serve/a-filmmaker-s-review-apocalypse-now-1979

9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

As the first instalment to an incredible fantasy trilogy, this film had some high expectations to tend to. It did exactly that and what we got were some incredible natural landscapes shot in wide angles and cranes - it was beautiful. These are the kinds of films you watch in the cinema because nature on that scale, at that size just takes your breath away. I mean check out that zoom on the ring in the shot above, then you've got the wide angle on to the landscape at the same time. It's a brilliant depiction of space.

8. Spirited Away (2001)

I have watched this films more times than I want to admit. The animation of this film is visually stunning in a way hardly ever seen before on film. It creates vibrancy and emotion through the great scenes of natural landscapes and magical worlds. It is a true achievement of animation, direction, experience and especially the concepts and themes explored within the film. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius. Everything from the music to the colour schemes are simply beautiful additions to the movie.

7. Cloud Atlas (2012)

"Cloud Atlas" (2012) is one of my personal favourite movies of all time. It is a visually stunning masterpiece and has such incredible qualities for being one of the greatest sci-fi fantasy films ever made. It is an amazing achievement in ways of historical setting, futuristic setting, the present, the countryside, the far-away regions of deserts etc. and yet, there is still far more to explore in the film that we haven't touched on. First of all, I'm going to try and keep this short - but we've got that Cloud Atlas theme song (I think on the soundtrack it's called the 'end title') which is a constant reminder of the endearing nature of the film. Then we've got some incredible shots from many different times and places which are all connected by the lives of singular people and its possibly one of the greatest films- I'll stop now, it's getting too long. Just let me say that one of my favourite scenes in the film is the China Dream (above shot).

6. The Third Man (1949)

There are many reasons why this would be considered one of the most visually stunning films ever made and those reasons are as follows. The first being the settings. The locations are either high society, law enforcement, or seedy underground locations and literal underground locations - which means the film is trying to link all these together. We have the harsh angles of film noir from the cinematography and those incredible shots of the sewers from the inside, making you believe how truly massive this underground hiding spot really is. Check out my review here: https://vocal.media/geeks/a-filmmaker-s-review-the-third-man-1949

5. Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo (1958) is my favourite Alfred Hitchcock film of all time because of the fact it is so visually stunning. It has a great amount of shots to depict the feeling of vertigo including the famed 'dolly zoom' shot which has also been named the 'vertigo shot' because of its use in the film to depict the phobia. It is brilliant in its design, its story, its acting, its music and most importantly, its creation of suspense through cinematography. No matter how many times you watch the film, you will still find it visually stunning. And that is the most important reason it is on the list.

4. There Will Be Blood (2007)

As I said before, this isn't only visually stunning in the sense that it stars the incredibly handsome Daniel Day-Lewis, we all know he's visually stunning. The movie itself depicts a landscape from the early 20th century and makes the hyper-realism increase when depicting aspects of violence, mortality and methods in which oil was extracted. In order to really appreciate this film, I think, you have to watch it quite a few times because there are so many things you'd want to see that you may have accidentally missed. Often called the greatest film of the 21st century, and in my opinion one of the greatest films ever made - it is an experience of modern cinema that we have never seen before and will possibly never see again. As you can tell, I was dying to put this at number one, but I didn't want to make the classic cinema fans angry, you know how they get...

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

If anyone argues that this isn't a visually stunning film then please proceed to slap them with the DVD case. I have heard many people mention that this isn't a visually stunning film because it is 'just another space movie'. How dare they. This film is the epitome of the great space age movie. Inspired by the space race and possibly by the rising culture of dependency on consumerism, this film takes everything to a whole new level when depicting what life can be like and how it could all go wrong up in space. With some incredible wide shots and amazing scenes of hyper-realistic space travel, this film is too much competition for your average space movie.

2. Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993) was something of legend. It was one of the most incredible fantasy films ever made and yet, it felt so damn real. As a child, if you watch that movie - you really do feel the dinosaurs live and breathe on the film that's how realistic it is. It has a very certain quality of moving you not only through the dinosaurs coming to life, but also through that incredible soundtrack which is absolutely unforgettable. Often cited as the greatest film soundtrack ever written, the soundtrack to Jurassic Park (1993) is one of the most moving piece of music you'll ever hear with the composition slowly building like the release of the dinosaurs into the film's entirely amazing premise.

More Mentions!

Here are films that just fell out of the top ten:

- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

- Barry Lyndon (1975)

- Bright Star (2009)

- Hugo (2011)

- Brokeback Mountain (2005)

- Melancholia (2011)

- Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

- Pocahontas (1995)

- Blade Runner (1982)

- Inception (2010)

Number 1

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

There is no doubt about the epic scale on which Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was filmed. There is no doubt about the fact the film is possibly one of the greatest cinematic experiences in all of human history. There is no doubt about the fact that a s*** load of thought went into each and every scene of this masterpiece. I love this film for many reasons but its ability to remain so visually stunning in a world now so obsessed with CGI is an incredible talent. It is raw, unrivalled and completely incredible, especially that musical score. The score to this film only adds to the amazingness of the experience. It's really to be seen to be believed.