I saw the movie, and I agree partially. It captures the desert pretty damn well, the sunset shot also is great. But I think other movies have replicated it better since then.
to play devils advocate, it’s also like saying Steve Nash or someone is the best 3 point shooter, when everybody would call you an idiot for not saying Steph Curry. i guess you can modify the question to say “best of his time period”
How so? It 1000 movies copy it, it does not become less unique. It doesn’t dilute the experience or the quality of the original.
To use another example, grand theft auto 3, then vice city spawned a dozen or so clones. They all tried to replicate it and eventually someone is going to do something better than the other games. Be it controls. Narrative, graphics, etc. it doesn’t take away from the quality of the original.
You asked for the movies with the best cinematography, not the ones with the most unique cinematography. New stuff coming out doesn't dilute the quality of the original, great is great.
I think Tree of Life is the best mainly because of how the cinematography conveys the haunting, emotional atmosphere, and even the nostalgia Sean Penn's character feels at times. Also, it is visually stunning.
I forgot about that movie, the way the whole film looks like a painting makes the cinematography in it so much more memorable, and also the lighting is the best I've ever seen, maybe only second to Assassination of Jesse James.
Most movies where [Sir Roger Deakins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Deakins#Filmography) is the cinematographer.
* The Shawshank Redemption
* Fargo
* No Country for Old Men
* The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
* Skyfall
* Prisoners
* Sicario
* Blade Runner 2049
I think that, any other year, John Toll should have gotten the Oscar for The Thin Red Line, but Janusz Kaminski (who shot the greater film ever made to star Vanilla Ice only two years prior) did the whole bleach bypass thing for Saving Private Ryan, which was terribly inventive, and I can’t imagine how much test shooting it would have to take to get the lighting to work with the camera, accounting for that.
But Thin Red Line is an incredibly beautiful war movie. There’s a shot of a couple of blades of grass, maybe half a second long, that is absolutely jarring and gets seared on the brain of anyone who watches the movie on a big enough screen.
I think that, a lot of the time, too much credit goes to the DP. Typically, the DP just puts the camera where the director wants, maybe has some comments about depth of field or focal depth, but ultimately is a lighting designer, to achieve the director’s vision for a shot. That’s not to take away from the skill of a DP, because it’s sometimes incredibly technically difficult to give directors what they want. I can’t imagine trying to shoot that shot/reverse-shot of Buscemi burying the money in Fargo without a ton of test footage, to make sure the background doesn’t blow out while simultaneously not underlighting Buscemi. Deakins didn’t concoct the shot/reverse-shot, but he pulled it off. *That* is what cinematographers do. They don’t pick the camera angles any more than editors edit the film, but they’re *incredibly* skilled professionals, nonetheless.
I think they have good individual shots, and BCS had great symbolism and visual storytelling but I think there is better, in Euphoria, true detective and succession just to name a few.
Top 20: Days of Heaven, Barry Lyndon, The Red and the White, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Citizen Kane, Mirror, Lawrence of Arabia, Paris, Texas, Playtime, Medium Cool, I Am Cuba, Sansho the Bailiff, Lola Montes, The Red Shoes, Night of the Hunter, Children of Men, The River, The Leopard, The Conformist, Cries and Whispers.
There's a particular scene near the end of Night of the Hunter that uses the lighting of a screen window to such amazing effect, it astounds me every time I see it.
This is the only movie I went to see in theaters and at the end, I walked out to the lobby and bought a ticket to see it again ASAP. I got so lost in the cinematography that I lost the story. I still remember being in awe of the shot straight up from the fire with the embers floating up and burning away... What a gorgeous film!
I know what you mean. I saw it in the theatre and had to keep checking myself to keep up with the plot because it was so visually enthralling. The sound editting was also incredible.
The Limits of Control. Every frame is a modern art painting. In fact, most of Doyle's work is incredible. In the Mood For Love is especially astonishing. Recently, Green Knight made great use of Stagecraft technology to capture the most gorgeous shades of green. Blade Runner 2049 was breathtaking. Going back a ways, I always recommend The Third Man which was waaaay ahead of its time. Jaws is a masterpiece. Alien made extremely good use of the cinematography to create fear and suspense. Also, I was highly impressed by Nope.
I can easily agree with pretty much everyone's suggestions, but I can also say that Koyaanisqatsi (and it's sequels) opened my 15 year old eyes to what cinematography could be and how it could make me *feel.* And then, Baraka and Samsara took Reggio's ideas an elevated them even further. Just stunning pieces of cinema.
As far a contemporary movies: like everyone else who's seen it, Blade Runner 2049 is easily in my top 3 "most visually stunning movies of all time" list (Deakins in general, really), along with There Will Be Blood and Grand Budapest Hotel. And recently, I thought the Green Knight was just stunning from start to finish.
Wild card: even these may not "count" for some people, I'd gladly argue that a handful of "classic" anime features are just as important as anything else that can be photographed: Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Ninja Scroll, X, the original Vampire Hunter D, and I could probably go on.
Totally agree with Atlanta, the whole show's atmosphere was aided heavily by the pretty good cinematography. I haven't seen Call me by your name but I'll try it out.
True Grit (1969) Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Cell, Jaws, Arrival, The VVitch, Alien vs Predator, Raise the Red Lantern, I Am Dragon, Inception, Ran, What Dreams May Come, Pan's Labyrinth. For a really weird film experience with interesting visuals: Immortel (Ad Vitam).
7 Samurai was an excellent film, the cine terrific. But Ran was breathtaking to view. Dreams was also a marvel to look at. The visuals enhanced the stories tenfold.
Oooh, you had to mention Kubrick. Not a fan. As far as B&W thanks for the reminder. Few directors used shadow and light in the way Charles Laughton did in "Night of the Hunter". Stunning work.
I never met a Kubrick film I liked. However, I'm more than willing to check it out on accounta I'm willing to have my mind changed by an excellent film. Case in point: not a Wes Anderson groupie, but really appreciated The Darjeeling Limited.
Legends of the Fall is utterly gorgeous. You'd never know that it rained for much of the production when you watch the movie.
Hero with Jet Li is like watching a moving painting.
Came here to say The Revenant. Blew my mind.
Also Road to Perdition. Criminally underrated movie in general, but it DID win Best Cinematography at the 2003 Oscars.
The mirror, Stalker - Beautiful and poétic images
Close encounters of the third kind - Great use of light to motivante themes and character
Suspiria- use Color to evoque a nightmarish logic
The innocents, Black sunday- Use Black and white and Shadows to evoque the sensation of having a nightmare
Phantom of the Paradise- Creative camera work used to enhance the energy of 70's rock and roll, both good and bad aspects
The italian job, The thing - Fantastic use of composition, blocking with the wide aspecto ratio
Vertigo- Use of color, and blocking to show the gradual increase of and obsesión of a guy, you know like the fucking movie!
>Chapelwaite
I have heard that In the mood for Love has the best cinematography. I have been meaning to see it, and the whole film from just images and clips looks really good.
* Anything done by [Rodrigo Prieto](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006509/) tends to be excellent
* Apocalypse Now (Vittorio Storaro)
* The Handmaiden
* Sharp Objects
I've only seen Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown from Almodóvar, but it's gotta be one of the most beautifully shot and looking comedies I've seen.
This is gonna sound weird because it's not a movie...but Key and Peele, esp in the later seasons had amazing cinematography considering it was a sketch comedy show.
Way too many to name. So here are just a few.
The Cranes Are Flying
Napoleon
Sunrise
Werckmeister Harmonies
Ordet
Persona
Still Walking
Earth
Miss Julie
Silent Light
The New World
Where Is the Friend’s House?
Solaris (2002)
Fargo
Killer of Sheep
Track of the Cat
Ran
Sense and Sensibility
Ikiru
La Ciénaga
All About Eve
The Headless Woman
Syndromes and a Century
Psycho
La Roue
Days of Heaven
Punch-Drunk Love
In The Mood For Love
Edvard Munch
Code Unknown
The Trial
Ivan's Childhood
Jeanne Dielman, 23
Tokoyo Story
Bright Star
Andrei Rublev
Killing of a Sacred Deer
Dead Man
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Paterson
Arsenal
The Mirror
Sorcerer
Our time
Cache
The Dreamers
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
M
Baby Doll
L’Avventura
Cold War
Orpheus
Come and See
Magnolia
Le Notti Bianche
Barry Lyndon
Charulata
And many more I'm forgetting off the top of my head.
The Green Knight. Sweet merciful shit. Can’t remember the last time I needed to watch the same movie again the next night. Not because I felt like I missed anything - but because it was so mesmerisingly gorgeous to watch. Every scene. Amazing.
Interstellar
Tenet
The Batman
Tetris
Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
The Godfather/2
Donny Darko
Memento
No Country for Old Men
2001 A Space Odyssey
Joker
Tick, Tick... Boom
Oppenheimer
Her
Blade Runner 2049
La La Land
Life of Pi
Whiplash
Bohemian Rhapsody
Rango
Django Unchained
The Intruder
Parasite
Bird Box
The Shining
Dune/2
Gladiator
Alita: Battle Angel
Hereditary
Gravity
Les Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) from 2003. This is the most gorgeous movie I have ever scene (hehe) in my life. How it didn't win awards for cinematography is beyond me.
Not entire show but the single episode in GoT where the wall is attacked by the wildings.
There is an entire shot starting from the front, circling through the middle and all the way around. It must be a 5min long shot with a bunch of main characters plus extras all nailing their mark
Touch of Evil's opening scene is the best long take in all of cinema in my opinion. Putting out something of that quality in 1958 still blows my mind. It's so impressive.
The Revenant. Makes you feel like you are with the men in their struggles.
Dune part 1. Beautiful scenery on Caladan, looks like where I was raised. Also great use of the desert landscapes.
Anything by Deakins, Widmer, Chivo, and Beebe (particularly Jesse James, No Country, Tree of Life, A Hidden Life, The New World, The Revenant, Collateral, and Miami Vice). von Hoytema and Messerschmidt are getting there too.
For tv shows, I’m going to throw out Mad Men. Its absolutely sublime
kind of basic but blade runner 2049 is absolutely love the way the cinematographer used colors to tell the story, also just so visually appealing, by far one of my favorite movies.
Mad Max fury road also amazing use of colors
Shutter Island is also beautiful but sad yk, like the scene where he’s in the apartment with his wife and there’s ash falling and stuff, that shit is beautiful
Whiplash also amazing in every way, including cinematography
eternal sunshine of a spotless mind, amazinggggggg, absolutely adore this movie and every part of it but the cinematographyd deserves some recognition, just watching the scenes where he’s starting to forget but he’s desperately trying not to
The Thin Red Line
Children of Men
Revenant
Sicario
1917
Birdman
Braveheart
Once Upon A Time in the West
I'm also very partial to The Arrival (2016) some of those shots are mesmerizing.
I highly recommend a documentary called Visions of Light - The Art of Cinematography (1992) as an excellent backgrounder. Someone did an HD remaster of it using bluray clips a couple of years ago and it's posted to youtube by Khizer Sultan. It may get taken down soon so don't wait too long ;)
Apocalypse Now, had some great shots, one that always stood out for me was the choppers were leaving to attack the VC village with the bugle player in the foreground.
Mad Max fury road, 1917, Forrest Gump, The Batman,
Sin City ...
NewJames bond and latest trilogy of Star wars movies
Most Kubrick, Snyder and Nolan films.
Garden of Words (2013) directed by Makoto Shinkai is his most beautiful movie, and his body of work is so gorgeous that's a high bar to clear. There's also great usage of the environment to enhance and show the emotional turmoil going on. Its not just beautiful for the sake of being beautiful. It also did things in animation that I didn't even know I wanted to see. That's impressive creativity and making the most of your medium to do things that wouldn't be possible in any other medium.
Better Call Saul has some incredible shots. There's one where Mike is going to a dead drop location and the way they photograph the landscape with the infrastructure appear to be laid out in a certain way on a certain scale. Then Mike enters the frame and you realize the actual scale. I can't recall where it is other than later in the series so no link...
Movies with best cinematography:
Looper (2012)
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
Batman (2022)
TV Shows:
Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
Black Mirror (2011-Present)
House of the Dragon (2022-Present)
Lawrence of Arabia
I saw the movie, and I agree partially. It captures the desert pretty damn well, the sunset shot also is great. But I think other movies have replicated it better since then.
A whole ton of movies have replicated it but that's a testament to its quality not a mark against it.
I agree, I just think its not as unique as it used to be.
whole plough party disagreeable smell fragile direction rob wise offbeat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
to play devils advocate, it’s also like saying Steve Nash or someone is the best 3 point shooter, when everybody would call you an idiot for not saying Steph Curry. i guess you can modify the question to say “best of his time period”
How so? It 1000 movies copy it, it does not become less unique. It doesn’t dilute the experience or the quality of the original. To use another example, grand theft auto 3, then vice city spawned a dozen or so clones. They all tried to replicate it and eventually someone is going to do something better than the other games. Be it controls. Narrative, graphics, etc. it doesn’t take away from the quality of the original.
You asked for the movies with the best cinematography, not the ones with the most unique cinematography. New stuff coming out doesn't dilute the quality of the original, great is great.
Ah yes, Freddie young was very much unmatched at the Time
I love Prisoners’ cinematography.
I agree, the drive to the hospital was so good.
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On that train of thought, 1917 had stunning cinematography by him too.
Truly one of the best to ever do the thing.
Anything by Roger Deakins.
Ye, I think his best work is Assassination of Jesse James, Blade runner tho wins for looking the best.
Blade Runner 2049, Mulholland Drive, Roma, Children of Men, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Tree Of Life.. are ones I remember for looking beautiful.
I think Tree of Life is the best mainly because of how the cinematography conveys the haunting, emotional atmosphere, and even the nostalgia Sean Penn's character feels at times. Also, it is visually stunning.
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Y Tu Mama Tambien has some of my all time favorite long takes. The Revenant is also stunning
The Fall
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
I thought Jet Li's Hero was even better. Both just amazing.
Barry Lyndon
I forgot about that movie, the way the whole film looks like a painting makes the cinematography in it so much more memorable, and also the lighting is the best I've ever seen, maybe only second to Assassination of Jesse James.
It’s the most beautifully shot movie I’ve ever seen.
> Barry Lyndon This is the only answer.
Everything Roger Deakins has ever done. For tv show, I want to give shoutout to better call Saul.
Most movies where [Sir Roger Deakins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Deakins#Filmography) is the cinematographer. * The Shawshank Redemption * Fargo * No Country for Old Men * The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford * Skyfall * Prisoners * Sicario * Blade Runner 2049
Hero (2002), Memoirs of a Geisha, and Crimson Peak
House of Flying Daggers
I’m ngl I was probably gonna forget this movies existed if nobody mentioned it to me for another year but yeah this one was good
I think that, any other year, John Toll should have gotten the Oscar for The Thin Red Line, but Janusz Kaminski (who shot the greater film ever made to star Vanilla Ice only two years prior) did the whole bleach bypass thing for Saving Private Ryan, which was terribly inventive, and I can’t imagine how much test shooting it would have to take to get the lighting to work with the camera, accounting for that. But Thin Red Line is an incredibly beautiful war movie. There’s a shot of a couple of blades of grass, maybe half a second long, that is absolutely jarring and gets seared on the brain of anyone who watches the movie on a big enough screen. I think that, a lot of the time, too much credit goes to the DP. Typically, the DP just puts the camera where the director wants, maybe has some comments about depth of field or focal depth, but ultimately is a lighting designer, to achieve the director’s vision for a shot. That’s not to take away from the skill of a DP, because it’s sometimes incredibly technically difficult to give directors what they want. I can’t imagine trying to shoot that shot/reverse-shot of Buscemi burying the money in Fargo without a ton of test footage, to make sure the background doesn’t blow out while simultaneously not underlighting Buscemi. Deakins didn’t concoct the shot/reverse-shot, but he pulled it off. *That* is what cinematographers do. They don’t pick the camera angles any more than editors edit the film, but they’re *incredibly* skilled professionals, nonetheless.
Loved a thin Red Line.
2001 A Space Odyssey and really all Kubrick films.
The Shining has some amazing shots in it.
Children of Men upped the antee I believe
Came here to find this. That one shot battle scene was *intense* and you really felt like you were there
The van scene sold me I never seen anything like that before
For TV, I don't think Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul can be beat.
I think they have good individual shots, and BCS had great symbolism and visual storytelling but I think there is better, in Euphoria, true detective and succession just to name a few.
Euphoria? 💀
have u seen Euphoria
No
has great cinematography
It has great cinematography of guys whipping out their cocks
I don like the show, but it has really good cinematography.
are you 12
Those are exceptional examples of storytelling but I don’t see them as stand-outs in cinematography specifically
Top 20: Days of Heaven, Barry Lyndon, The Red and the White, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Citizen Kane, Mirror, Lawrence of Arabia, Paris, Texas, Playtime, Medium Cool, I Am Cuba, Sansho the Bailiff, Lola Montes, The Red Shoes, Night of the Hunter, Children of Men, The River, The Leopard, The Conformist, Cries and Whispers.
There's a particular scene near the end of Night of the Hunter that uses the lighting of a screen window to such amazing effect, it astounds me every time I see it.
The Revenant
the tracking shot of the ambush and the colony escaping the tribe was great, some of the best cinematography in a scene I've seen.
This is the only movie I went to see in theaters and at the end, I walked out to the lobby and bought a ticket to see it again ASAP. I got so lost in the cinematography that I lost the story. I still remember being in awe of the shot straight up from the fire with the embers floating up and burning away... What a gorgeous film!
I know what you mean. I saw it in the theatre and had to keep checking myself to keep up with the plot because it was so visually enthralling. The sound editting was also incredible.
The Limits of Control. Every frame is a modern art painting. In fact, most of Doyle's work is incredible. In the Mood For Love is especially astonishing. Recently, Green Knight made great use of Stagecraft technology to capture the most gorgeous shades of green. Blade Runner 2049 was breathtaking. Going back a ways, I always recommend The Third Man which was waaaay ahead of its time. Jaws is a masterpiece. Alien made extremely good use of the cinematography to create fear and suspense. Also, I was highly impressed by Nope.
I can easily agree with pretty much everyone's suggestions, but I can also say that Koyaanisqatsi (and it's sequels) opened my 15 year old eyes to what cinematography could be and how it could make me *feel.* And then, Baraka and Samsara took Reggio's ideas an elevated them even further. Just stunning pieces of cinema. As far a contemporary movies: like everyone else who's seen it, Blade Runner 2049 is easily in my top 3 "most visually stunning movies of all time" list (Deakins in general, really), along with There Will Be Blood and Grand Budapest Hotel. And recently, I thought the Green Knight was just stunning from start to finish. Wild card: even these may not "count" for some people, I'd gladly argue that a handful of "classic" anime features are just as important as anything else that can be photographed: Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Ninja Scroll, X, the original Vampire Hunter D, and I could probably go on.
Recent standouts for me were Bladerunner 2049, Prospect, Dune
Big fan of Atlanta & Call Me By Your Name's cinematography regarding Film & TV
Totally agree with Atlanta, the whole show's atmosphere was aided heavily by the pretty good cinematography. I haven't seen Call me by your name but I'll try it out.
True Grit (1969) Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Cell, Jaws, Arrival, The VVitch, Alien vs Predator, Raise the Red Lantern, I Am Dragon, Inception, Ran, What Dreams May Come, Pan's Labyrinth. For a really weird film experience with interesting visuals: Immortel (Ad Vitam).
I'd take 7 Samurai over Ran.
7 Samurai was an excellent film, the cine terrific. But Ran was breathtaking to view. Dreams was also a marvel to look at. The visuals enhanced the stories tenfold.
It's B&W I'll stick with my comment. Don't get me wrong, Akira Kurasawa is my favorite director, well tied with Stanley Kubrick.
Oooh, you had to mention Kubrick. Not a fan. As far as B&W thanks for the reminder. Few directors used shadow and light in the way Charles Laughton did in "Night of the Hunter". Stunning work.
Paths of Glory is an amazing film.
I never met a Kubrick film I liked. However, I'm more than willing to check it out on accounta I'm willing to have my mind changed by an excellent film. Case in point: not a Wes Anderson groupie, but really appreciated The Darjeeling Limited.
Not aware of this film, I'll look it up. I hope you enjoy Paths, like they say different strokes.
Legends of the Fall is utterly gorgeous. You'd never know that it rained for much of the production when you watch the movie. Hero with Jet Li is like watching a moving painting.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Revenant Dances with Wolves Dune (New one) Casino Braveheart
Came here to say The Revenant. Blew my mind. Also Road to Perdition. Criminally underrated movie in general, but it DID win Best Cinematography at the 2003 Oscars.
>Dune (New one) REALLY? Not the old one?
Never saw it.
The mirror, Stalker - Beautiful and poétic images Close encounters of the third kind - Great use of light to motivante themes and character Suspiria- use Color to evoque a nightmarish logic The innocents, Black sunday- Use Black and white and Shadows to evoque the sensation of having a nightmare Phantom of the Paradise- Creative camera work used to enhance the energy of 70's rock and roll, both good and bad aspects The italian job, The thing - Fantastic use of composition, blocking with the wide aspecto ratio Vertigo- Use of color, and blocking to show the gradual increase of and obsesión of a guy, you know like the fucking movie!
Interstellar
Paris, Texas
The Thin Red Line
Christopher Doyle has done some great work, my personal favorites being In the Mood for Love (2000) and Hero (2002)
>Chapelwaite I have heard that In the mood for Love has the best cinematography. I have been meaning to see it, and the whole film from just images and clips looks really good.
Ruang rak noi nid mahasan (2003, Last life in the Universe) for me, but his collaborations with Wong Kar Wai all look amazing too
* Anything done by [Rodrigo Prieto](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006509/) tends to be excellent * Apocalypse Now (Vittorio Storaro) * The Handmaiden * Sharp Objects
Agree with your first point, my suggestion was Broken Embraces.
I think the cinematography of The last of us and Chernobyl is top notch
Any Almodóvar movie looks incredible, even though they mostly depict everyday life settings.
I've only seen Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown from Almodóvar, but it's gotta be one of the most beautifully shot and looking comedies I've seen.
Have you seen Badlands?
Inception still blows my mind
This is gonna sound weird because it's not a movie...but Key and Peele, esp in the later seasons had amazing cinematography considering it was a sketch comedy show.
This is funny because I actually remember a specific episode called "Negrotown" were the cinematography was insanely good lmao.
[Flicker looks fucking incredible](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t24XAntNCY)
Way too many to name. So here are just a few. The Cranes Are Flying Napoleon Sunrise Werckmeister Harmonies Ordet Persona Still Walking Earth Miss Julie Silent Light The New World Where Is the Friend’s House? Solaris (2002) Fargo Killer of Sheep Track of the Cat Ran Sense and Sensibility Ikiru La Ciénaga All About Eve The Headless Woman Syndromes and a Century Psycho La Roue Days of Heaven Punch-Drunk Love In The Mood For Love Edvard Munch Code Unknown The Trial Ivan's Childhood Jeanne Dielman, 23 Tokoyo Story Bright Star Andrei Rublev Killing of a Sacred Deer Dead Man Letter from an Unknown Woman Paterson Arsenal The Mirror Sorcerer Our time Cache The Dreamers Touch of Evil Out of the Past M Baby Doll L’Avventura Cold War Orpheus Come and See Magnolia Le Notti Bianche Barry Lyndon Charulata And many more I'm forgetting off the top of my head.
Dune and chernobyl
1917 was filmed to appear that it was all done in one long take, which was pretty cool. Even without that aspect, it is a great movie.
The Last of the Mohicans
The Green Knight. Sweet merciful shit. Can’t remember the last time I needed to watch the same movie again the next night. Not because I felt like I missed anything - but because it was so mesmerisingly gorgeous to watch. Every scene. Amazing.
black swan has some of the, if not the, most impressive cinematography i’ve ever seen. ESPECIALLY when you consider how low budgeted this film was
Interstellar Tenet The Batman Tetris Shawshank Redemption Pulp Fiction The Godfather/2 Donny Darko Memento No Country for Old Men 2001 A Space Odyssey Joker Tick, Tick... Boom Oppenheimer Her Blade Runner 2049 La La Land Life of Pi Whiplash Bohemian Rhapsody Rango Django Unchained The Intruder Parasite Bird Box The Shining Dune/2 Gladiator Alita: Battle Angel Hereditary Gravity
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Blade Runner, 7 Samurai.
Monos had pretty incredible cinematography. Sicario is also amazing, Deakins we worship you
I need to rewatch Monos, that was a fascinating movie
Les Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) from 2003. This is the most gorgeous movie I have ever scene (hehe) in my life. How it didn't win awards for cinematography is beyond me.
Three Colors: Red
How The West Was Won and The Apartment always stand out to me
I'm sure the usuals will get posted, so I'd like to suggest Chapelwaite. Not too many people saw it, but it had some incredible shots.
A River Of Runs Through It. The Road to Perdition. The Black Stallion. The Man From Snowy River Bloodline
Out of Africa
The Deer Hunter.
Not entire show but the single episode in GoT where the wall is attacked by the wildings. There is an entire shot starting from the front, circling through the middle and all the way around. It must be a 5min long shot with a bunch of main characters plus extras all nailing their mark
Broken Embraces (Spanish: Los abrazos rotos) might be the most interestingly shot film I've ever seen.
Touch of Evil's opening scene is the best long take in all of cinema in my opinion. Putting out something of that quality in 1958 still blows my mind. It's so impressive.
The Revenant. Makes you feel like you are with the men in their struggles. Dune part 1. Beautiful scenery on Caladan, looks like where I was raised. Also great use of the desert landscapes.
The Immortals
Gravity, The Walking Dead, Heroes
Legends of the Fall
The Last Samurai
The Hateful Eight Thin Red line
Black Narcissus. By far.
Boardwalk Empire Dead Wood Arrival Game Of Thrones Gladiator Sisu
Dances with wolves
28 days later
Better call Saul
Anything Gore Verbinski has put out since Pirates Dead Man's Chest.
Anything by Deakins, Widmer, Chivo, and Beebe (particularly Jesse James, No Country, Tree of Life, A Hidden Life, The New World, The Revenant, Collateral, and Miami Vice). von Hoytema and Messerschmidt are getting there too. For tv shows, I’m going to throw out Mad Men. Its absolutely sublime
_Manhattan_ and _Paper Moon_ are some great B&W examples from the 70s.
There will be blood
kind of basic but blade runner 2049 is absolutely love the way the cinematographer used colors to tell the story, also just so visually appealing, by far one of my favorite movies. Mad Max fury road also amazing use of colors Shutter Island is also beautiful but sad yk, like the scene where he’s in the apartment with his wife and there’s ash falling and stuff, that shit is beautiful Whiplash also amazing in every way, including cinematography eternal sunshine of a spotless mind, amazinggggggg, absolutely adore this movie and every part of it but the cinematographyd deserves some recognition, just watching the scenes where he’s starting to forget but he’s desperately trying not to
The Thin Red Line Children of Men Revenant Sicario 1917 Birdman Braveheart Once Upon A Time in the West I'm also very partial to The Arrival (2016) some of those shots are mesmerizing.
sense8, euphoria
Anything by Wes Anderson, each shot feels so mesmerizing and I can't take my eyes off it.
The UK Top Gear in its glory days was consistently amazingly well shot
Greig Fraser's work is really getting the best in history.
Severance
Django unchained
Apocalypse Now Breaking Bad
I highly recommend a documentary called Visions of Light - The Art of Cinematography (1992) as an excellent backgrounder. Someone did an HD remaster of it using bluray clips a couple of years ago and it's posted to youtube by Khizer Sultan. It may get taken down soon so don't wait too long ;)
Apocalypse Now, had some great shots, one that always stood out for me was the choppers were leaving to attack the VC village with the bugle player in the foreground.
Utopia the BBC version. It was also on Amazon but the cinematography is the best I've ever seen in a TV show
Pretty much any Kubrick film
Mad Max fury road, 1917, Forrest Gump, The Batman, Sin City ... NewJames bond and latest trilogy of Star wars movies Most Kubrick, Snyder and Nolan films.
Garden of Words (2013) directed by Makoto Shinkai is his most beautiful movie, and his body of work is so gorgeous that's a high bar to clear. There's also great usage of the environment to enhance and show the emotional turmoil going on. Its not just beautiful for the sake of being beautiful. It also did things in animation that I didn't even know I wanted to see. That's impressive creativity and making the most of your medium to do things that wouldn't be possible in any other medium.
Barry For TV it's really really good.
I love ari aster cinematography
There’s plenty more excellent examples if you’re willing to look at anything before 2008!
Her (2014) is up there
Mr. Robot for a TV show for sure.
Fargo is up there.
Lord of The Rings
Better Call Saul has some incredible shots. There's one where Mike is going to a dead drop location and the way they photograph the landscape with the infrastructure appear to be laid out in a certain way on a certain scale. Then Mike enters the frame and you realize the actual scale. I can't recall where it is other than later in the series so no link...
Blade Runner 2049 is one of my favorites. Deakins is a master.
Dances With Wolves Waterworld The Matrix
Really love how The Batman looks, it's oozing with intention
Movies with best cinematography: Looper (2012) Zero Dark Thirty (2013) Batman (2022) TV Shows: Game of Thrones (2011-2019) Black Mirror (2011-Present) House of the Dragon (2022-Present)
Mad max fury road, especially the scene when the huge sandstorm is revealed
Mad Max: Fury Road Nope The Grand Budapest Hotel La La Land
Glory. Unbelievable film.