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Makes me hungry and happy every time!

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Oh, one more must see Insprational film, and probably my all time favorate movie.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The original one. :)

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Gene Wilder has been in several potentially inspirational films.
Remember "Frisco Kid" or "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" ?

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See No evil Hear no Evil was very funny! Never saw Frisco Kid.

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Frisco Kid was fantastic, but Stir Crazy was better.

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TV Shows:

Babylon 5 (THE best Sci-fi show ever)

Star Trek

Stargate... you get the point (scifi theme mainly)

Family Guy (it's so stupid, that it's hilarious, really, there are only very little shows that are stupider... I watch series like this to keep up with English slang, "social dilemas" and "fun")

...

Movies:

Impostor

Equillibrium

The time machine (top 10)

maybe also something with Brucie boy, like for example The 5th element

Matrix was fine (1st movie)

...

Most of the movies I like are, well, distinctive, mostly unknown.
Like

Spartacus

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Matrix was fine, by Equilibrium! That's the better film by far.

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I usually need to feel a really strong idea behind the movie. All of these were such films.
Btw, did you know, that the art of avoiding bullets and positioning yourself in such a way, that the enemy can't hit you/doesn't want to shoot from that angle was developed and trained as shooting and fighting practice of Russian martial art called The System (Система)? The only force in the world, that truly masteres this fighting style is Russian elite force Spetznas (спецназ - Войска специального назначения), also called the army of special assignments in translation.

If you have an option, try to get somewhere your hands on The time machine, sort of philospohical and also adventurous movie. A guy builds a time machine to save his beloved girl, whom he wants to marry, from death, that he witnessed in a park. But each time he goes to the past...

And there was one sentence in the movie, that explained it all. Actually, that explains a lot, when you watch the behaviour of many people. And he had to travel so long and so far, just to hear it (I wouldn't have thought that the point of the film would be so deeply phylosophical).
PM me, when you've seen the movie, we can discuss.

OK, I said too much. :D Watch the movie, you will be gald that you did. I promise. ;) Beth you seem a lot more philosophical than I anticipated. Also, you seem to like dreaming. Nice. That's one of the basic Slavic traits (and thus mine too). :D Really.

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What color were the "oompa loompa's"?

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Oh gawd, bright industrial-carpet orange. With green hair.

And I completely forgot, but nothing rivals the original BBC1 production of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for sheer wierdness and excellence.

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Emphatic WRONG!!!!!.........my normally unstumpabble pal from the warmer regions.........try again...........this should be a clue.:ha:

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WTF?!? They were totally orange with green hair. And horrible chocolatey suits.

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Nope. this is the first time I get to tell you you're wrong...... I'm not gloating.....much.:ha::ha:

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What about Impostor Beth? Have you seen that movie?

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What are you two going on about? The color of the Oompa Loompas or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which btw was most excellent.

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Mitchel, we're on about the colour of the Oompa-loompas in the original 1971 film with Gene Wilder. I've since reviewed my copy and we're both right. There are scenes where the Oompa-loompas are industrial-carpet orange with green hair, and others where their skin and hair colour changes. It depends on what's happening.

Jack - You're talking about the one with Gary Sinise, yes? The one based on the Philip K Dick short story? It's fantastic and I wish that the film reviewers would stop giving it such a bad rap. It's a very thinking-intensive story, and IMHO, one of only two good PK Dick adaptations for screen (the other being A Scanner Darkly.)

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Yep, the best and only. :D
Such a deep idea. Yet maybe soon more and more real. Perfect movie, perfect story, but I read the story after I'd seen the movie.

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And I approached it in the other direction - I'd read the story years before the movie came out, then went to the movie to see if somebody had finally gotten it right. For the same reason, I was horribly disappointed by Blade Runner.

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Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep was a good book. That is the basis for Blade Runner. I liked Blade Runner more than the Book. In the book the Replicants seemed to be fixated on cruelty, in the movie they used whatever means neccessary to survive and attempt to increase longivity. :2239:

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Well, you do have to have a particularly dystopian mindset going into Dick novels, or they just don't work properly....

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My Father was the Literature Ph. D. Not me. So what is dystopian? :2239:

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Dystopia - n - an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. The term itself was coined by Utopian philosopher JS Mill in 1868, and became popular in the 1950s, with Philip K Dick being a prime example of Dystopian literature. Other authors who wrote novels about Dystopian futures include George Orwell (1984), Harlan Ellison (A Boy and his Dog), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and to a lesser extent even the sci-fi greats like Asimov and Heinlein, although Heinlein was quite a bit more idealistic and held up the dystopia as a warning rather than revelling in it the way Dick or Ellison did. Dystopias tend to be the purvey of Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction authors, although it's no stretch of the imagination to see Dystopia in daily life, especially in the United States and Britain with the restrictive or surveillance societies that have become the norm.

It's the polar opposite of Utopian (idealized) worldviews. You have to be either in that mood already, or have your head set for it.

I'm actually a big fan of Dystopian-type films and books - as you might be able to see from some of my film choices. I am particularly inspired by films where the main character struggles in that type of world, without losing hope, only to either be crushed or triumph in the final act. Dark City is that way, as are Equilibrium and Apocalypse Now - three very different films, but rotating on the central question of "What constitutes humanity?"

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The filmmakers often try to bring out aspects of reality, which in the case of Blade Runner, is a mixture of the two, utopia and dystopia in a future setting of what could be. That is science fiction.

Blade Runner also brings out the human condition of what are we here for? We all ask the question, in this film the point is driven home that there is no utopia, there is no dystopia, and we must strive to "burn brightly" even though it is "half as long" in a world that is as dystopic as it is utopic!

That is why the film inspires me!! :2239:

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Tog surely would not be one to complain, but it seems much of this discussion is way off topic! ;)

Maybe I'll get around to watching Bang Rajan tonight or tomorrow. Been hiking for 5 days (just 28 miles but plenty of stops for letting my son play on the beach, build castles out of rocks, check out dead crabs and jellyfish, etc.) and maybe it would be good to kick back and watch a movie since my lovely wife has been kind enough to keep everything watered! :)

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Inspirational -
"Becket" (1964) and "A Man For All Seasons" (1966)

I see the personalities of the main characters (both Thomas') in these movies in my own father, who taught me that integrity is paramount to one's vocation. Probably impossible for most politicians to accept, much less practice.

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Will have to check those out, Chong.

Our family just got around to watching Padre Pio "Miracle Man" put out by Ignatius Press tonight. We should have looked and seen that it was 214 minutes before we started it but couldn't stop once we started. It was very inspirational as Padre Pio was very devoted to Christ and His church despite being persecuted by Satan, some church authorities, and personal pains. He was very loving and forgiving to all.

One line I would like to remember is something he told his confessor (which I assume is probably historically accurate): "What? You think sin is a transgression of the law? Sin is an absence of love!" I believe there are words in this that call us all to do more for others and for God.

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Chong,

Your father and you are absolutely right!! Integrity is paramount, whosoever causes their brother to stumble has sinned (paraphrased). What Harvey said, "Sin is the absence of love", is mostly correct.

Thank you both for reinforcing that there is still light left in the world! :2239:

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Of course, without the two (Utopia as thesis, Dystopia as antithesis, and daily life as synthesis) there's no tension in the stories, and without that why bother reading? My main beef with Blade Runner is that it lost the cynicism and tone of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - it removed the programmed motivation of the cyborgs and simplified the plot. It's still a good movie, and inspirational for it, but only if you take it completely separately from the book, because in the end it's a different story that's being told.

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I just finished watching Tog's favorite, Bang Rajan from a DVD I bought on eBay.

I'll admit that there was way more blood in it that I care to watch. It was an unrated movie so I didn't know what to expect. There was also a love-making scene which I skipped through partly because my son was watching with me (no nudity) and an attempted rape scene. We don't watch violent movies like this with the Narnia movies probably being the most violent we've watched for quite some time.

Another negative is that one young lady villager who wanted to be able to fight as a soldier took a sword and whacked up many banana "trees" to show her fighting skills! :ha:

The movie is from 1765 where the Siamese villagers of Bang Rajan hold off the Burmese soldiers for five months, repelling them eight times. The courage of the villagers fighting to the end is definitely inspirational. Some of the details of the story are classified as legend, but that doesn't take away from the story.

Thanks for the recommendation, Tog! :lurk:

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FYI - Last year I had bought Ban Rachan movie recommended by Tog here. I passed it on to Howard who then sent it on to Bob. I think it may have then gone on to Andrew. Anyway, I was thinking about this movie of perseverance and wondered if any others had seen it yet. I'd enjoy it if the movie could keep getting forwarded on to others who are interested in watching it.

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I actually found it a really good view. The violence was expected based on the topic and Harvey's comments, and the sex didn't bother me (;-) ). I can definitely see why Tog thought it was so inspirational; I felt it too. Maybe other viewers can chime in?

To add another film to the list, Inglorious Basterds was great. I highly recommend it.