The films that make this list are revered for an array of reasons, but from a visual standpoint, they’re extraordinary. Spanning all genres, from sci-fi to fantasy, the shots in these movies live rent-free in our minds. Some have even been turned into posters or inspired other artistic media. For this list, we are avoiding animated features, as they would be a part of a different celebration. When the film hall of fame calls for visual masterpieces, these titles will proudly hang on the wall.
1
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (2014)
This entire list could be a Wes Anderson tribute piece. As a lover of his distinct style, drawn to symmetry and color, I have a deep appreciation for the visuals in his films. The director’s vision has inspired social media, as it’s well-suited to photography. While all of his films utilize the Anderson effect, his most beautiful film is The Grand Budapest Hotel. A fast-paced, stylized caper, the story follows Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famed European hotel between the wars, and his loyal lobby boy protégé, Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori). The unlikely duo becomes embroiled in a battle for a massive family fortune, the theft of a priceless painting, and a murder mystery. A vibrant romp with a star-studded ensemble, The Grand Budapest Hotel may be Anderson’s greatest artistic achievement.
Harkening back to a 1930s aesthetic, Anderson meticulously chooses colors to reflect the period. Utilizing richly thematic colors, including beautifully muted pinks against the deeply bold reds, the color palette sets it apart from anything he’s done before. In a memory play, when the story hops back to 1968 as a young writer visits the dilapidated hotel, the colors are in sharp contrast to display the loss of a once-vibrant Europe. Visually, it’s as if Anderson tells his layered story within a dream-like dollhouse. Even with an aura of whimsy, the painstakingly pristine, symmetrical compositions are glorious. Whether straight-on or angled, Anderson blocks his performers so precisely that they become part of the set. Using adorable miniatures and switches in aspect ratio, The Grand Budapest Hotel is truly one of the most beautiful movies Anderson has ever made.
2
‘Amelie’ (2001)
When you craft a whimsically innovative film, chances are it’s going to turn out like a work of art. Such was the case for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie. The French-language romantic comedy tells the story of a shy, imaginative waitress named Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) living in Paris. After finding a hidden box of childhood treasures, she decides to anonymously improve the lives of the eccentric people around her, ultimately finding the courage to pursue her own love and happiness. A romanticized, colorful version of Paris, the backdrop becomes a character in its own right. The bricolage version of Amelie’s Paris allows for the film to stand on its own.
With a delightful performance from Tautou, it pairs perfectly with the charming color palette, and the optimistic mission of the story shines through. The warm, saturated color story evokes a dreamlike sense of nostalgia. From there, the cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel, when focusing on close-ups of small pleasures like cracking crème brûlée, becomes its own important cinematic moment. With surrealistic elements woven in, Amelie’s imagery is synonymous with the film, and there’s yet to be a film to match its splendor.
3
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)
Perhaps the most important film ever made is Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The breathtaking epic covers humanity’s evolution from prehistoric times to the future with mysterious alien monoliths. With an imposing black structure serving as a link between the past and the future, Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and his team of astronauts are sent on a mysterious voyage. Their ship’s sentient computer system, HAL 9000, begins to exhibit increasingly strange behavior, leading to a tense battle between man and machine that culminates in a mind-bending trek through space and time. An enigmatic film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, took audiences places they’d never seen before. And let’s just say, Kubrick’s brilliant vision is why.
Through single-point cinematography, Kubrick’s composition drew the eye to the center of the screen, creating a breathtaking photographic aura. You can even call it a moving painting. Using showing-not-telling visual storytelling, Kubrick allowed for long, mesmerizing takes to bring the audience along for the ride. A film made pre-CGI, everything is practical, using physical models. When you watch Bowman, dressed in a rich burnt red, walk inside the stark white Discovery, you understand why it’s the most popular shot in the film. Then, as he’s drawn into Star Gate, you’re taken by a vortex of colored light, bizarre landscapes, and inexplicable cosmic events. It’s a beautifully shot ending to a groundbreaking film.
4
‘8 1/2’ (1963)
Image via Colombia Pictures
Of course, a film about a filmmaker is going to be a good-looking piece, especially when it serves as your autobiography. Such was the case for Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. The film follows a famous Italian director, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), suffering from intense creative blockage. As he tries to produce a science-fiction film, he struggles with his professional pressures, personal relationships, memories, and fantastical dreams. Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy and the pain and pressure of the creation process, Fellini masters the beautiful confusion of a director’s mind through extraordinary imagery.
Revolutionizing the way surrealism, dreams, and memory are integrated into the creative process, Fellini’s marvel brings meta-cinema to pioneering heights. Shot by Gianni Di Venanzo, 8 1/2 utilizes high-contrast black-and-white shots as an homage to films of the past. Then, the manner in which the camera moves is like a choreographed ballet, providing sharp shots that convey the narrative as characters move in and out of the foreground and background, building a new portrait within the mindscape. The spherical cinematographic process proved to be the magic touch. With every shot resembling a beautiful photography exhibit, 8 1/2 is all about pushing the bounds of what art can be. There’s a reason why 8 1/2 transformed seamlessly into a stunning musical.
5
‘North by Northwest’ (1959)
The crop duster in the cornfield scene. We could leave it just there, but we won’t, as there is so much to discuss. Directed by the legend himself, Alfred Hitchcock, North by Northwest is a finely tuned spy thriller. Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is a New York advertising executive mistaken for a government agent named George Kaplan by foreign spies. Pursued across the U.S., he tries to clear his name while caught in a deadly web of espionage, romance, and iconic action sequences. A man on the run story, Hitchcock takes viewers on a tour of America, from New York to the Midwest, with a conclusion at Mount Rushmore. With stylish suspense, Hitchcock’s visually driven action sequences have provided iconic shots that have gone down in history.
A top-tier Hitchcock film, it stands out from many others for the way he composes large-scale scenes with such profound mastery. Many films on this list are revered for their intimacy; North by Northwest bravely zooms out for grandeur. Now, one may think that the climactic finale was filmed on location, but it was not. Instead, Hitchcock and his team replicated the infamous landmark, thereby achieving a major technical feat. The specificity of the art direction imbues this film with a timelessness that continually marks it as one of the greatest cinematic feats.
6
‘Speed Racer’ (2008)
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
There have been countless films that have tried to adapt cartoons into live action, abandoning their cartoon imagery. It’s a fine choice, but the allure and charm don’t always hold. But then, in 2008, the Wachowskis took a beloved cartoon and figured out just how to make the two-dimensional world shine in a three-dimensional world. Speed Racer, one of the most underrated films of all time, lifts Tatsuo Yoshida‘s manga series and drops it into a high-speed visual acid trip that maintains the integrity of its source material. The film follows a young, talented driver named Speed (Emile Hirsch), who navigates a corrupt, corporate-dominated racing world to save his family’s independent business. After rejecting a deal with the villainous Royalton Industries, Speed uncovers fixed races and teams up with his family, girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) to win the dangerous championship. Highly stylized, visually vibrant, and CGI-heavy, Speed Racer is a masterclass in filmmaking.
The Wachowskis have great reverence for the source material, yet avoid the potential corniness to build a neon-soaked universe that became the epitome of being “posterized.” Through pop art, cubism, and technical CGI enhancements, Speed Racer is a welcome sensory assault in which physical laws are pushed aside for maximum visual pleasure, going to the max with color saturation to craft a surreal universe that’s in perpetual motion. As someone who attended a midnight viewing on opening night, Speed Racer is a moving art installation straight from your wildest imagination.
7
‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
Classic Hollywood’s journey from black and white to Technicolor was a glorious transition. Perhaps the film that defined that shift was the timeless classic, The Wizard of Oz. The film tells the story of Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a young farm girl from Kansas, who is swept away via a tornado to the magical Land of Oz, where she embarks on a quest along the Yellow Brick Road to find the powerful Wizard (Frank Morgan) in the Emerald City to help her get home. On her journey, she meets three new friends, each of whom is seeking something of their own from the Wizard (Frank Morgan) — the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), who needs a brain; the Tin Man (Jack Haley), who needs a heart; and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who needs courage. From a sepia reality turned colorful dream world, The Wizard of Oz’s iconography has already found itself in museums, because each shot is spectacular.
Directed by Victor Fleming, The Wizard of Oz was a technological innovation using tremendous production design that magically came to life. Every single set piece was meticulously crafted, reminding viewers that colors aren’t just a simple shade. With brilliant detail, the yellow-coated bricks pop. The perfect shade of green allowed the Emerald City to dazzle. Then, without that precise red, those famous ruby slippers wouldn’t be nearly as memorable. Bring all the colors together, and The Wizard of Oz transports you into this immersive world over the rainbow. The Wizard of Oz is the definition of why color is so integral. When we head back to Kansas and Dorothy awakes in bed to her friends by her side, returning to the sepia world serves as a reminder of how important our imagination is to us. Even that shot with the trio flanking Dorothy while in bed left a lasting impact. There’s not a single shot in The Wizard of Oz that hasn’t impacted pop culture and cinema since.
8
‘The Tree of Life’ (2011)
A profound, poetic exploration of existence, the Terrence Malick-directed film The Tree of Life looks and feels like a beautiful painting. The experimental drama centers on Jack (Sean Penn), who reconciles childhood memories of his stern father (Brad Pitt) and loving mother (Jessica Chastain) with the vast, humbling scale of existence. Of course, Jack’s parents represent a way of living. Mr. O’Brien represents the way of nature — selfishness and survival — while Mrs. O’Brien represents the way of grace, selflessness, and love. Through the cosmic significance of the mundane, as filtered through the memories of a reflective man, Malick evokes a symbolic vocabulary through which he crafts the visual story.
The Tree of Life’s cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, uses the world around us to the film’s advantage. Through the mastery of natural light, Lubezki gives Jack a visceral image to remember. By staying away from artificial lighting, the shots feel believably lived-in, like a memory. Using the luscious colors of nature, The Tree of Life showcases the beauty we may take for granted. The fleeting moments, such as a hand touching a plant or the sun beaming through the trees, become a grand surrealist painting. Now, lest we forget, The Tree of Life also dives through the history of creation. In doing so, the story intertwines intimate shots of personal moments in Texas, juxtaposed with the massive shots of the universe’s creation. It helps to make those natural moments look simply majestic. Malick’s film is a reflective meditation on life, death, and divinity, heightened by the splendor of the images.
9
‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)
The horrors of war may not sound like something that would be visually stunning, but then Francis Ford Coppola made Apocalypse Now. The visceral imagery was so perfectly reflective of the Vietnam War that it changed war films forever. A surreal look at the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now tells the story of a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) during a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a renegade Special Forces officer accused of murder and presumed insane. Through the lens of war, Apocalypse Now is a psychological examination of the descent into the heart of darkness. To capture the sensational horror of war, Coppola shot the film with a meticulous, organic approach that then exploded into a surreal nightmare. As sanity is lost in the soldiers, the film opens up into a wonderland of images. Right from the start, the surreal montage of palm trees exploding into flame and bold shots of helicopters in flight set an instantly artistic tone for this war thriller.
Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro‘s use of color and light brought out a mesmerizing sense of storytelling. Specified by mastery of light and shadow, Storaro captured the characters’ inner turmoil. Just look at how Brando is framed, with only parts of his face in the light. The shafts of light that pierce through the dark, foggy jungle move the film from a simple war documentary to a phantasmagoria. One of the most famous shots in film history is of Sheen in the water. The brilliance of the warm amber light hitting his face is evocative. Through the use of color, each character had a color story to define them. Take, for instance, Robert Duvall‘s Colonel Kilgore. He’s often shown in scenes featuring vividly bright colors that match his larger-than-life demeanor and his insane reality. Apocalypse Now is a film that holds a mirror up to the feelings about the Vietnam War. With the perception being negative, Coppola crafted a living nightmare to provoke the trauma of the war.
10
‘Sin City’ (2005)
Image via Miramax Films
Sin City might be one of those films you’ve forgotten about, but the truth is, it’s a visual marvel that deserves more recognition. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, and based on Miller’s comic book series, Sin City perfectly elevates the hand-drawn masterpiece into a three-dimensional world where every single original panel becomes the storyboard for the picture. The anthology film follows multiple interconnected storylines of violence, revenge, and redemption in the corrupt, fictional Basin City, featuring characters such as a brutish vigilante, a retired cop, and a hitman grappling with sordid crimes. With an all-star cast, including Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, Josh Hartnett, Benicio del Toro, and more, the faithfully crafted monochromatic pulp noir was a feast for the eyes.
The introduction of color into black-and-white film often serves as an essential storytelling device. Look at films like Schindler’s List and Pleasantville. When the colors emerge, it’s a sign for the audience that it’s important for the story. Here, color tends to represent corruption or innocence, separating good characters from the dark, gray world they inhabit. Watching Sin City is literally like seeing a comic book in motion. The close-ups, the camera swoops, the precise angles, all come together for a fascinating composition. The dark visual mode helped establish the noir tone of classic thrillers while preserving the comic’s integrity. Allowing the film to live in a surreal world amplified each shot into a comic frame. Through digital construction and vibrant splashes of color, Sin City is an atmospheric accomplishment.