Thread: Top 20 Movies for Philosophy Students

I like it when movies give me an inspirational moment instead of carrying some general message across. It's so hard to find good movies.

Definitely a good list, there's a couple I haven't seen that I'll have to check out.

I'm a little ambivalent regarding the label of a philosophical film. What does that mean? A film which raises more questions than answers? I mean considering Inception is on that list the label is obviously being used rather flexibly. It's also missing some films that are practically purely philosophical discussions such as Ghost in the Shell, Instinct and Sunset Limited.

Frankly based on the parameters the list set, a film would be required to be philosophical for me to even call it a good movie. I mean sure Avengers was entertaining but it's not making my top 10. Luckily lot's and lot's of films meet the criteria. Think about the theme of wilderness vs civilization present is so many of Miyazaki's masterpieces or power and corruption in the Godfather. The Fountain and Never Let Me Go both take the audience on a journey which reveal the very heart of existentialism, not as some philosophical explanation but by reminding us what's really valuable in the world.

So while the list provides a couple good movie recommendations I find the whole concept behind it pretty silly.

some philosophers have said that all life is philosophy. Every decision in some way relates to philosophy. There are also specific terms used to describe certain systems within the academic field of philosophy. For instance, Inception and The Matrix are movies that question the foundations of reality. There are fundamental philosophical questions being asked in these movies posed by intellects thousands of years ago and quite a bit of modern stuff too.
You could also say the only philosophical movie is a documentary educating the viewer on the topic. But I don't think documentaries are considered movies....

To be honest I would side with the former, that all life is philosophy. Granted that statement doesn't serve a whole lot of purpose.

But honestly Inception, and along with it the film Repo Men, do a better job than the matrix to handle the question of reality from an epistemological level. The Matrix doesn't make you wonder if the matrix is really reality at the end. And that's what I like about Inception (and Repo Men). You aren't left with any clear answers. Compared to them, the Matrix is a pretty shallow action flick. Granted Inception is also a pretty shallow action flick compared to philosophical behemoths such as Open Your Eyes.

To me, there's nothing more important in a movie (or any form of media) than the feeling or emotion it leaves you with afterwards. While a movie like Avatar had a cool environmentalist message to get across, I felt nothing at the end other than a vague "huh, I guess that was pretty neat," while Inception and The Seventh Seal both left me with a sense of profound "emptiness", in a way. That feeling is what separates a good movie from a great movie, in my opinion.