Photo: Universal Pictures
A post-apocalyptic world with no hope isn’t something your mind goes to when you think about visually satisfying images on the screen, but Alfonso Cuarón manages to make one of the most visually gripping movies ever in this setting. He had huge help from the cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki who was in charge of the long, continuous, flowing shots that this movie was known for. It’s impressive how Children of Men manages to be so visually expressive and satisfying while using a very slim color pallete. One of the best movies of the century overall, not just in the looks department.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
Once again work by the master of cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki, with the direction of Alejandro González Iñárritu. The Revenant is much more subtle in its delivery of visual gems, and while the movie itself isn’t one of the best movies of the century, the visual aspect of the story is nothing short of magnificent. The attention to detail and light is unprecedented, the angles are unique, and since it is a period piece, the make-up, sets, and locations add to the strenght of The Revenant’s presentation.
Photo: New Line Productions
A cheat inclusion in a way since it’s a trilogy, but not so much as each of the movies could find its place on the list of best movies visually on their own. Or overall for that matter. The common saying is that LOTR serves as the best and longest tourism advertisment for a country is not far fetched, and it is known how much it has influenced the economy of New Zealand. Almost every frame can be captured and hanged on a wall without any shame, both the intimate, conversation ones, and the epic, battle ones. The contrast between good and evil, or light and dark really seems natural, unimposing, and so do the switches between vastly different locations.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Science fiction movies are a real fertile ground for breathtaking images, and none stays more visually realistic while being bold story-wise than Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. The voyage towards other star systems and planets manages to be belivable while testing our comprehension of science mostly due to amazing cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema. He makes wildly alien planets look like places you might visit on a sligthly more adventurous holiday. The depiction of other deep space phenomenons are so amazingly done, that we would pay a ticket to see them by themselves. It’s the most realistic depiction of things that may yet come.
Honerable mentions go to Avatar (2009) (which is a bit overhyped), The Fountain (2006), The Fall (2006), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Nightcrawler (2014), Apocalypto (2006), Sicario (2015).
Share what you think are the best movies visually that came out since 2001.
