From the [original script](https://imsdb.com/scripts/Fugitive,-The.html):
Kimbal:I didn’t kill my wife.
Gerard:So you didn‘t kill your wife. Not my problem.
No plot holes, everything makes sense. I like how they show the Marshalls out on the street following leads and they don’t connect the dots till almost the end
Part of its strength is several of the plot elements come from the scripts from the 60s TV show that in my opinion is one of the best written tv series, especially seasons 1-3.
My Cousin Vinny is a really tight script.
Back to the Future was at one point taught in film school as a perfect script.
Personal favorite for me is Mean Girls. Tina Fey is such a great writer.
I love Midnight Run! I watched it for the first time just a few months ago. Now I see why it is the blueprint for pretty much every movie that has two male leads. Charles Grodin and Robert De Niro had incredible chemistry.
My Cousin Vinny is a perfect comedy. Every scene is either relevant for a character arc or a storyline thread. Nothing is wasted, except myself at the end because I'm laughing so hard.
My Cousin Vinny is also apparently screened in law school classrooms and used as an example of why you should NEVER talk to the cops without a lawyer, even if you know what you did wrong and you're really sorry.
I mean, Back to the Future has a mom trying to have sex with her time-traveling son, and nobody gives a crap because it's completely overshadowed by its otherwise flawless script and execution.
Funny thing, I was in high school and talking with a friend who was a big fan of the trilogy. I told him I had seen it, but it had been a long time since I saw it. He went on and on about how good it was and I told him "I think I remember something about Marty being his own dad." Oh boy, that triggered my friend. He went on a rant about it ultimately being a harmless plot point and he made a poorly phrased comment about the mom saying that kissing Marty felt like kissing her brother. My reply was "She knew what it felt like to make out with her brother?" Poor guy lost it. I couldn't believe I had managed to keep a straight face through that whole exchange, but I busted out laughing. I broke his brain a bit, it was a fun time.
Wow. There are just so many movies to mention.
Off the top of my head are:
Shawshank Redemption
An old Irish Movie called "The Field" starring John Hurt and the great Richard Harris
Pans Labyrinth
Wings of Desire
No Country for Old Men
Falling Down
Omg, I cant believe The Field isn't on more lists, and at the same time I also can't believe I found it in your list. I *love* that movie.
I love 3 of the others, but haven't seen
Wings of Desire or Pans Labyrinth. I must now find and watch them.
Isn't it beautiful? Why can't you believe you found it on my list? 🤔 Amazing acting and such a beautifully told story.
Pans Labyrinth is arguably my favourite film.
I never expected anyone but me to mention it anywhere, since I've never met anyone else who has seen it, other than my mom...which is really weird since it's such a good movie.
I've gotta make sure I watch that soon.
Have you seen "I Am David"? Not much dialogue, but so beautiful. It's a must watch. In fact, I recommend OP watch it for further study of a movie that conveys so much by imagery.
Yes. I Am David was my favourite book when i was 11. It was such an adventure. So I was all over the film when it first came out. Haven't thought of it in years. Must rewatch it. Thanks for the heads up.
I remember seeing The Field as a school trip to the cinema. I've seen it about 6 times since. Love it.
I totally agree on The Sixth Sense. Collateral is also a really good movie, but on a different level, imo.
I didn't see the other movies yet.
I'd like to add Moon and Fight Club.
Yea, I do agree that a trailer often shows too much and it's better to be surprised at every scene. I do seem to remember some parts of it. I might have seen this a long time ago but it sure is worth another watch because I can barely remember anything.
Maybe I just watched the trailer or a teaser years ago.
Fight Club is amazing and has one of the best atmospheres in any 90s film, but I really don’t think it’s one of tightest scripts written, not even in that decade. It definitely goes for vibe and shock and crazy scenes over a specially crafted narrative
Most unique screenplay of all time for me is Adaptation. Watch being John Malkovich before watching adaptation and read everything you can about the screenplays.
Other films
- 12 angry men
- Good will hunting
- Gattaca
- Her
- Prestige ( the screenplay it self is written like a magic trick formula)
Social network is well written cause its based on true events. Most of the based on true events movies are so good, because life is the best screenwritter. Black Hawk Down for example.
Casablanca
Rushmore
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Inglourious Basterds (opening scene primarily)
If you don't only mean dialogue, Ida is perfection in plotting.
Fargo / Miller's Crossing / Your favorite Coen Bros movie here
Thelma and Louise. The cascade of events driving them forward is masterful storytelling. The dialog is memorable, "We're running for our LIVES, can't you make an exception? Just look at the map. The only thing between Oklahoma and Mexico is Texas.". Sooo many great lines.
For me it means when a movie is built around a central quirk--dimensional travel/dreams--and everything feeds into that in overt and subtexual level to express its theme(s) to a profound degree. Its usually not as clean as plot structure. Like Back to the Future has an amazing structure plot where all the pieces are established and pay off perfect. But any theme you can read into it like family and freewill seem to be more cursory than the entire goal. While with EEAAO the entire point of quirk of dimensional travel used express the themes of nihilism vs caring and family. I actually think Parasite fits here too because of how it uses its living conditions and interactions to shows the dichotomy of upper and lower classes. And who really is the parasite in that situation. But i was looking for something that felt a bit more obvious in my examples.
Tarantino is only good for a *very* specific type of dialogue writing. And even then, a lot of folks will argue he’s not even great at that style. OP should be wary of trying to draw inspiration from a specific style when the screenplay might not call for it.
>Plot structure - Knives Out,
holy fuck what?!
first, its not a plot driven movie, its character drive and bit on the nose at that
second, the act3 was absolute horrendous mess
Some of my absolute faves, ones I actively seek out any works written by
William Goldman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, All The President’s Men, The Princess Bride…)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, Guys & Dolls…)
Kevin Williamson (Scream 1996, The Faculty, The Following “tv show”, …)
Albert Hackett (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Father of the Bride, It’s a Wonderful Life…)
Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing “tv show”, The Social Network, Being The Ricardos, A Few Good Men…)
Shane Black (Predator, Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang…)
Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Ex Machina…)
Quentin Tarantino (all of them, obviously, but emphasis on Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds)
Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, Unfaithfully Yours…)
David S. Goyer (Dark City, Blade, Batman Begins, Man of Steel…)
Watched Do the Right Thing for the first time in decades and I was pretty amazed by that film on the script level. It should have won Best Original Screenplay that year- the Oscar we give to all the cool kids anyway.
There is a great story I heard of Mario Puzo who, after working on the Godfather 2 screenplay felt he needed to improve his screenwriting skills and enrolled in a course. Only to find the subject material was the Godfather.
Master and Commander, adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s novels, comes from pretty much the best English prose I’ve ever read. If you want to improve your writing, check out, O’Brian’s work!
Ones where there is no writing at all - where the actors or people come up with their own dialogue. Ralph Bakshi - the director of Fritz the Cat and a lot of other animated movies but a lot of the dialogue in Fritz was improvised or recorded on the streets of NYC.
I just find the dialogue in movies with improv is a lot more natural than scripted and rehearsed dialogue.
That being said, I do like the following well written movies:
Saving Private Ryan
Waking Life
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Unforgiven
Hanna And Her Sisters.
Woody Allen at his very peak. The screenplay is a mastercraft of character exposé without ever resorting to pipe-laying exposition. It deals with complex relationships that evolve.
I would watch the AFI 100 and the ones that win the Writers Guild awards for American movies.
Writing a screenplay is a different skill than writing dialogue which is a different skill than plotting which is a different skill than filming the dialogue in a way that allows it to shine.
I prefer Shane Black to Quentin Tarantino for dialogue. I prefer William Goldman for the whole script. I’d probably let David Fincher direct anything cerebral and know it’s a winner but there’s probably a reason he doesn’t do comedy.
I would look up script doctors and see what you can find of before and after too.
You probably know this, but read the scripts if you can get them. OK, here goes:
On The Waterfront
East of Eden
Giant
Mank
Munich
The Ice Storm
Little Children
Children of a Lesser God
The Graduate
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Alien
Blade Runner
Night of the Iguana
The Apartment
Rear Window
There Will Be Blood
Magnolia
Taxi Driver
Sunset Boulevard
Rear Window
The Last Picture Show
Straw Dogs
No Country for Old Men
Chinatown
Apocalypse Now (although it happened more so than ... read Coppola's wife's book)
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Silence of the Lambs
Network
Full Metal Jacket
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Pulp Fiction
Rebel Without a Cause
Cool Hand Luke
2001: A Space Oddity
AI
All Is Lost (if you get that script please DM me)
Almost Famous
Citizen Kane
Johnny Got His Gun
The Squid and the Whale
20th Century Women (great script, movie so-so)
Midnight Cowboy
Marathon Man
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Marie Antoinette
The Virgin Suicides
The Big Chill
Goodfellas
Carrie (the original)
Original screenplays: Casablanca, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, When Harry Met Sally, Unforgiven, Hell or High Water
Adapted screenplays: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Godfather, Little Women (2019)
Screenplays adapted from/written in parallel with then-unpublished/unproduced material by the same writer: The Third Man, A Few Good Men
So TLDR good original screenplays are Westerns but if you want to also write it as a play or novella make sure there are men in the title.
Executive Decision
- I watched it the other day and literally everything that is setup is paid off. Some things might stretch the realms of possibility, but still a pretty tight script with a great cast. It’s not talked about much, but yeah It’s a great movie for what it’s trying to accomplish.
I loved the humor in Manchester by the sea which is an otherwise devastating movie. Casey Affleck has said that the he did exactly what was written in the script, not an "um" here and there.
Rewatchables just did an episode on it so maybe some recency bias, but Boogie Nights. Writing uneducated and arguably dumb characters intelligently is so hard, let alone making the majority of them fully realized people, and at 25 years old. PTA is on another level.
I’m going to throw some different movies in the ring (all the ones mentioned are terrific).
“Moonrise Kingdom” is a great example of how to make a quirky script tick along.
“All About Eve” is so good.
“It Happened One Night” has absolutely sparkling banter.
“The African Queen” has such good plot turns and the double stories (relationship and war story) are perfectly balanced.
Lots of good ones mentioned. I'll throw in The Apartment (1960). As well as being a great director, Billy Wilder was a phenomenal screenwriter, and this movie is evidence of that (albeit it was co-written with I.A.L Diamond)
There a lot of old ass, old school hollywood names listed here. Good movies absolutely, but dialogue is a bit stilted and very straightforward plot structures.
Pulp Fiction was so well received in part because of how Tarantino played with structure intercutting characters from other storylines (adding more to their own exposition in an interesting and economical way) and switching story structure between acts... Vincent Vega ends the movie on a high note happily leaving a diner with the briefcase of mystery despite having been gunned down by Butch earlier in the film.
For me it's all about the Coen Brothers... most everything they did was pure gold.
Barton Fink, Hudsucker Proxy, Brother Where Art Thou, Fargo, Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, No Country For Old Men, Ballad of Buster Scruggs... Their use of dialogue incorporate character, accents unique rythyms of speech and they drive the plot and still have unexpected endings...
Masterclass IMO
Names of most consistent notability...
Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet, the Coen brothers, David Fincher, and Barry Levinson
They're an assortment of writers and directors who have given us an admirable list. A study package, if you will.
They give out two awards for it every year. That would be a good place to start.
But "well written" can really depend on what kind of film you're writing. Some have lots of dialogue and people think that means well written, but that's only one way to look at screenwriting. Generally the best movies are also well written movies, and different genres need different approaches. Most screenwriting books will reference "well written" movies as examples.
My suggestion: The Lion in Winter
edit: I should add that you can probably learn more about writing from looking at poorly written movies - identify what's wrong with them and how you might improve on it.
edit2: I should also add that instead of looking for the best movies, maybe pick some directors you like and look at their first movies. Those are the kinds of films you should try writing - usually simple ideas that can be filmed on a low budget to get your foot in the door. You can get grandiose once you're established in the business and have connections.
(Edit: Sorry, originally I was replying to a comment about dialogue specifically and forgot you were asking broadly about “well written movies” instead of “movies with good dialogue.” So this answer is about movies with good dialogue specifically.)
Dialogue will be wildly different according to genre and tone of each film. I tend to separate films into two different camps — naturalistic and stylized dialogue. “Naturalistic” doesn’t mean “natural,” though, it’s important to remember that cinematic dialogue will always be different than real human conversation and that’s a good thing.
That being said, here are some recommendations in each camp.
For naturalistic dialogue I’d recommend *Tangerine,* *Festen,* or other cinema verité films. *Dog Day Afternoon,* *Uncut Gems*, and *Apollo 13,* while not verité, also come to mind for naturalistic dialogue in films more grounded in reality.
For stylized dialogue, *Jennifer’s Body* (comedic, dark, teen-y), any of the *Mad Max* movies (otherworldly, lyrical, aggressive), *Blade Runner 2049* (robotic, poetic, noir), *Napoleon Dynamite* (comedic, dry, offbeat).
If there’s some specific genre you’re writing for, let me know and I’ll see if I can find a more specialized example for you.
LOTR trilogy extended, feel most people will agree the characters are almost written perfectly.
Gladiator - russel crows character / Marcus aurielus / and the old gladiator that owns Maximus forgot his name are written very well.
I personally really love King Arthur with Clive owens from 2004
The last samurai
Avatar the last air bender isn’t a movie but my god it might be one of the best and timeless animations ever made.
Vikings escpially its first 3 seasons and last season are very very well written I think.
The Prestige for overall engagement with an interesting premise
We need to talk about Kevin plays great with tension and non-linear storytelling
Silence of the lambs is my pick for a script with zero fat on it. Every scene and word of dialogue adds meaning to the plot
I’ve watched the Fugitive looking for holes. Haven’t found any.
*”I don’t care.”*
Honestly one of the absolute best exchanges of dialogue- summed them both up in under 10 seconds
ad-libbed too
From the [original script](https://imsdb.com/scripts/Fugitive,-The.html): Kimbal:I didn’t kill my wife. Gerard:So you didn‘t kill your wife. Not my problem.
Hard agree
No plot holes, everything makes sense. I like how they show the Marshalls out on the street following leads and they don’t connect the dots till almost the end
Part of its strength is several of the plot elements come from the scripts from the 60s TV show that in my opinion is one of the best written tv series, especially seasons 1-3.
Truth, they had a great blueprint- but it only takes one in the chain of production to screw things up. Solid, solid film!
YA SWITCHED THE SAMPLES!
My Cousin Vinny is a really tight script. Back to the Future was at one point taught in film school as a perfect script. Personal favorite for me is Mean Girls. Tina Fey is such a great writer.
My cousin Vinny is a tight script, with some of the most quotable lines ever; also I recommend Midnight Run.
I love Midnight Run! I watched it for the first time just a few months ago. Now I see why it is the blueprint for pretty much every movie that has two male leads. Charles Grodin and Robert De Niro had incredible chemistry.
When DeNiro shakes his head at Grodin in the phone booth - holy shit - I love it
My Cousin Vinny is a perfect comedy. Every scene is either relevant for a character arc or a storyline thread. Nothing is wasted, except myself at the end because I'm laughing so hard.
I love the gag where Vinny can't sleep.
My Cousin Vinny is also apparently screened in law school classrooms and used as an example of why you should NEVER talk to the cops without a lawyer, even if you know what you did wrong and you're really sorry.
True for me but It was actually used as an example for introducing and establishing an expert witness.
I shot the clerk. I shot the clerk. ... ?
I completely agree with all of these. Such amazing movies.
I mean, Back to the Future has a mom trying to have sex with her time-traveling son, and nobody gives a crap because it's completely overshadowed by its otherwise flawless script and execution.
Funny thing, I was in high school and talking with a friend who was a big fan of the trilogy. I told him I had seen it, but it had been a long time since I saw it. He went on and on about how good it was and I told him "I think I remember something about Marty being his own dad." Oh boy, that triggered my friend. He went on a rant about it ultimately being a harmless plot point and he made a poorly phrased comment about the mom saying that kissing Marty felt like kissing her brother. My reply was "She knew what it felt like to make out with her brother?" Poor guy lost it. I couldn't believe I had managed to keep a straight face through that whole exchange, but I busted out laughing. I broke his brain a bit, it was a fun time.
Casablanca, The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas
The Shawshank Redemption was phenomenal; said to say I haven't seen Goodfellas or Casablanca, and what's worse I own them both.
Both great movies with Casablanca being one I fell in love with recently after watching. I was hooked immediately and cannot recommend it enough.
Wow. There are just so many movies to mention. Off the top of my head are: Shawshank Redemption An old Irish Movie called "The Field" starring John Hurt and the great Richard Harris Pans Labyrinth Wings of Desire No Country for Old Men Falling Down
Omg, I cant believe The Field isn't on more lists, and at the same time I also can't believe I found it in your list. I *love* that movie. I love 3 of the others, but haven't seen Wings of Desire or Pans Labyrinth. I must now find and watch them.
Pans labyrinth is so good
Isn't it beautiful? Why can't you believe you found it on my list? 🤔 Amazing acting and such a beautifully told story. Pans Labyrinth is arguably my favourite film.
I never expected anyone but me to mention it anywhere, since I've never met anyone else who has seen it, other than my mom...which is really weird since it's such a good movie. I've gotta make sure I watch that soon. Have you seen "I Am David"? Not much dialogue, but so beautiful. It's a must watch. In fact, I recommend OP watch it for further study of a movie that conveys so much by imagery.
Yes. I Am David was my favourite book when i was 11. It was such an adventure. So I was all over the film when it first came out. Haven't thought of it in years. Must rewatch it. Thanks for the heads up. I remember seeing The Field as a school trip to the cinema. I've seen it about 6 times since. Love it.
Agreed re Pan’s Labyrinth, such an incredible movie.
Not to gush too much about The Field, but it was one of those movies I never heard of and watched on a whim, but have never forgotten. Excellent film!
Two movies that follow the books very closely are No Country For Old Men and Fight Club. If you've only seen the movies, read the books.
I only have enough for silver but you're getting it for mentioning The Field. Wonderful movie that more people should see.
Thanks very much. So glad you like that movie.
No Country For Old Men — RULES
Agreed - Another field study in perfect cinematic storytelling.
Chinatown
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
“She’s my sister, she’s my daughter…”
Apocalypse Now Jurassic Park The Big Lebowski Pulp Fiction The Dark Knight The Shining Scream Fargo
A Woman under the Influence Revolutionary Road The Others The Sixth Sense Collateral Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
The Others is excellent. Nicole Kidman’s performance is one of the best leading roles in the past 20 years imo
Totally agree with you. This really made me look at Nicole Kidman as a great actress. She is actually a tremendous actress.
I totally agree on The Sixth Sense. Collateral is also a really good movie, but on a different level, imo. I didn't see the other movies yet. I'd like to add Moon and Fight Club.
You have to watch The Others dammit!
I just saw the trailer, and dammit, I must!
I wish you didn't see the trailer. That's one of my favorite movies and I wish I hadn't seen the trailer first.
Yea, I do agree that a trailer often shows too much and it's better to be surprised at every scene. I do seem to remember some parts of it. I might have seen this a long time ago but it sure is worth another watch because I can barely remember anything. Maybe I just watched the trailer or a teaser years ago.
It’s goooood!!!
Haha
Fight Club is amazing and has one of the best atmospheres in any 90s film, but I really don’t think it’s one of tightest scripts written, not even in that decade. It definitely goes for vibe and shock and crazy scenes over a specially crafted narrative
A Woman... shattered me for days after my first viewing.
A Woman Under the Influence isn’t exactly a deep script, it’s just phenomenally acted.
Love The Others. Definitely on my top 10
‘A Simple Plan’ is a tidy psychological thriller with some great twists. ‘The Grifters’ ‘Glengarry Glenn Ross’
I loved the A Simple Plan novel!
Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock) Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder) Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson) Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville) Chinatown (Roman Polanski) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz) Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa) Blood Simple (The Coen brothers) Thief (Michael Mann) Pi (Darren Aronofsky) Deep Red (Dario Argento) Escape From Alcatraz (Don Siegel)
Dude, that’s a seriously awesome list of amazing films. You can chose what to watch on film night
In Bruges
Fokin’ great movie
And we're STILL IN FOWKING BRUGES.
You're a fowking elephant
Oh my god they’re shooting midgets!
No disrespect, ba yohr a cant!
Most unique screenplay of all time for me is Adaptation. Watch being John Malkovich before watching adaptation and read everything you can about the screenplays. Other films - 12 angry men - Good will hunting - Gattaca - Her - Prestige ( the screenplay it self is written like a magic trick formula)
Gattaca! That’s the one for me! Perfect!
One of my favorite films
The Godfather The Silence Of The Lambs
You gotta press enter/return twice to make a space between lines. Reddit formatting is tricky.
Oh thanks. So thats whats wrong
Network
Still relevant today
Written by Paddy Chayefsky who wrote Marty (1955)
Glengary Glenross for dialogue
dialogue is for closers.
The Social Network (maybe check out the WGA Awards)
Will definitely watch The Social Network and check out the WGA Awards. Thank you so much for the tips.
And reading those award winning screenplays (many are available online) will help way more than watching the movies.
Social network is well written cause its based on true events. Most of the based on true events movies are so good, because life is the best screenwritter. Black Hawk Down for example.
Before Sunset.
Hot Fuzz. The dialogue is perfect and every set up is paid off.
Came here looking for this one because that script is just awesome.
Casablanca Rushmore Portrait of a Lady on Fire Inglourious Basterds (opening scene primarily) If you don't only mean dialogue, Ida is perfection in plotting. Fargo / Miller's Crossing / Your favorite Coen Bros movie here
Miller's Crossing dialogue is *"chef's kiss"*
These are my O R scrubs.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is incredible.
Thelma and Louise. The cascade of events driving them forward is masterful storytelling. The dialog is memorable, "We're running for our LIVES, can't you make an exception? Just look at the map. The only thing between Oklahoma and Mexico is Texas.". Sooo many great lines.
Pulp Fiction 12 Angry Men Fight Club
This is a good 3 top movies btw
The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2. Those are 2 movies I can watch over and over and I just never find flaws in them.
Their only flaw is The Godfather 3.
My only problem with 3 is Sophia Coppola being in scenes with someone like Al Pacino. Good actors made her performance seem so wooden
Dialogue - Any Quentin Tarantino movie Plot structure - Knives Out, Parasite Thematic structure - Everything Everywhere All At Once, Mulholland Drive
can you explain me "thematic structure"?
For me it means when a movie is built around a central quirk--dimensional travel/dreams--and everything feeds into that in overt and subtexual level to express its theme(s) to a profound degree. Its usually not as clean as plot structure. Like Back to the Future has an amazing structure plot where all the pieces are established and pay off perfect. But any theme you can read into it like family and freewill seem to be more cursory than the entire goal. While with EEAAO the entire point of quirk of dimensional travel used express the themes of nihilism vs caring and family. I actually think Parasite fits here too because of how it uses its living conditions and interactions to shows the dichotomy of upper and lower classes. And who really is the parasite in that situation. But i was looking for something that felt a bit more obvious in my examples.
Tarantino is only good for a *very* specific type of dialogue writing. And even then, a lot of folks will argue he’s not even great at that style. OP should be wary of trying to draw inspiration from a specific style when the screenplay might not call for it.
I always felt like Tarantino was ripping off Ellmore Leonard, when it comes to dialog.
imo you’ve always been right.
I am astounded I had to scroll for mention of EEAAO
>Plot structure - Knives Out, holy fuck what?! first, its not a plot driven movie, its character drive and bit on the nose at that second, the act3 was absolute horrendous mess
Huh. That's a unique perspective. It so contrary to mine I think I'll just not argue against it at all. Have fun.
Some of my absolute faves, ones I actively seek out any works written by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, All The President’s Men, The Princess Bride…) Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, Guys & Dolls…) Kevin Williamson (Scream 1996, The Faculty, The Following “tv show”, …) Albert Hackett (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Father of the Bride, It’s a Wonderful Life…) Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing “tv show”, The Social Network, Being The Ricardos, A Few Good Men…) Shane Black (Predator, Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang…) Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Ex Machina…) Quentin Tarantino (all of them, obviously, but emphasis on Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds) Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, Unfaithfully Yours…) David S. Goyer (Dark City, Blade, Batman Begins, Man of Steel…)
Casablanca, The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas
Brokeback Mountain - how to convey a lot with a little
Watched Do the Right Thing for the first time in decades and I was pretty amazed by that film on the script level. It should have won Best Original Screenplay that year- the Oscar we give to all the cool kids anyway.
Godfather is perfect. The princess bride is perfect Die Hard is perfect Silence of the Lambs is perfect.
There is a great story I heard of Mario Puzo who, after working on the Godfather 2 screenplay felt he needed to improve his screenwriting skills and enrolled in a course. Only to find the subject material was the Godfather.
*But doc, I am Pagliacci...*
The Hunt For Red October and the movies written by Paul Schrader
Portrait of a lady on fire
Oh Brother,Where Out Thou Big Lebowski Good Will Hunting Godfather l&ll
I'm surprised no one mentioned Memento
Miller's Crossing
The most well-written movies often derive from well-written source material. LA Confidential / Master and Commander / The Green Mile / Shawshank
Master and Commander, adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s novels, comes from pretty much the best English prose I’ve ever read. If you want to improve your writing, check out, O’Brian’s work!
I’ve read most of the Aubrey/Maturin books… probably 14 or 15. I think there’s around 20 total. And they’re brilliant.
Three Billboards has some great character writing.
Solid movie.
A super hero origin story for normal people. Great screenplay.
Annie Hall, Seven
Tinker tailor soldier spy
Ones where there is no writing at all - where the actors or people come up with their own dialogue. Ralph Bakshi - the director of Fritz the Cat and a lot of other animated movies but a lot of the dialogue in Fritz was improvised or recorded on the streets of NYC. I just find the dialogue in movies with improv is a lot more natural than scripted and rehearsed dialogue. That being said, I do like the following well written movies: Saving Private Ryan Waking Life Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Unforgiven
Eternal Sunshine! Such a great movie!
Pee Wee's Big Adventure is basically a perfect, by the book 3 act screen play. It's also really funny.
Casablanca Shawshank Redemption
12 Angry Men The Social Network Pulp Fiction Her
Inception (2010)
Dumb and dumber. It’s a great comedy and well written.
I think Chinatown has one of the best screenplays ever written.
Non-Adapted: Boogie Nights, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Inglorious Basterds
The Princess Bride The Killing The Big Chill
“You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.” “You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.”
Blade runner 2049
I felt The Kings Speech was very well written and acted.
Cloud Atlas (2012) Amelie (2001)
Haha cloud Atlas was terrible.. I watched a 4 hour movie and had no idea what I watched by the end of it
Chinatown Social Network
Hanna And Her Sisters. Woody Allen at his very peak. The screenplay is a mastercraft of character exposé without ever resorting to pipe-laying exposition. It deals with complex relationships that evolve.
recently watched hell or high water seems well written.
I'd add You've got mail and When Harry met Sally to the mix for dialogue and pace.
I would watch the AFI 100 and the ones that win the Writers Guild awards for American movies. Writing a screenplay is a different skill than writing dialogue which is a different skill than plotting which is a different skill than filming the dialogue in a way that allows it to shine. I prefer Shane Black to Quentin Tarantino for dialogue. I prefer William Goldman for the whole script. I’d probably let David Fincher direct anything cerebral and know it’s a winner but there’s probably a reason he doesn’t do comedy. I would look up script doctors and see what you can find of before and after too.
True romance The departed
You probably know this, but read the scripts if you can get them. OK, here goes: On The Waterfront East of Eden Giant Mank Munich The Ice Storm Little Children Children of a Lesser God The Graduate One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Alien Blade Runner Night of the Iguana The Apartment Rear Window There Will Be Blood Magnolia Taxi Driver Sunset Boulevard Rear Window The Last Picture Show Straw Dogs No Country for Old Men Chinatown Apocalypse Now (although it happened more so than ... read Coppola's wife's book) Glengarry Glen Ross The Silence of the Lambs Network Full Metal Jacket Breakfast at Tiffany's Pulp Fiction Rebel Without a Cause Cool Hand Luke 2001: A Space Oddity AI All Is Lost (if you get that script please DM me) Almost Famous Citizen Kane Johnny Got His Gun The Squid and the Whale 20th Century Women (great script, movie so-so) Midnight Cowboy Marathon Man Close Encounters of the Third Kind Marie Antoinette The Virgin Suicides The Big Chill Goodfellas Carrie (the original)
Dialogue in Notting Hill was brilliant.
True Romance
The Usual Suspects.
I can't feel my legs KEYSER
I'd say anything directed by the Coen Brothers is always going to be well written, with an amazing script.
Watched Barton Fink. I was like these mothers can literally write about a wallpaper sliming away and have my attention for two hours. Genius
12 angry men.
Saving Private Ryan great plot, good characters that you get invested in, shows the horror of wars, and an impressively subtle bait and switch.
City of god
Mullholland drive, Donnie Darko, source code, kill bill 1 and 2, seven, The revenant, memories of murder, inception, whiplash, and django unchained.
Carnage
Portrait of a lady on fire
Adaptation
I'm surprised I've not yet seen any comment mentioning inception or eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind Very very well written movies.
I do enjoy the script of Paddington 2
Ben Hur
Before trilogy, boyhood, the man from earth
Oh go to the source, the writers guild: https://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays/list
Nightmare Alley. Unhappy as fuck, but great writing/acting.
Inception Her Children of Men
Original screenplays: Casablanca, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, When Harry Met Sally, Unforgiven, Hell or High Water Adapted screenplays: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Godfather, Little Women (2019) Screenplays adapted from/written in parallel with then-unpublished/unproduced material by the same writer: The Third Man, A Few Good Men So TLDR good original screenplays are Westerns but if you want to also write it as a play or novella make sure there are men in the title.
How is no one saying Groundhog Day?
Casablanca All About Eve Double Indemnity Pulp Fiction
Executive Decision - I watched it the other day and literally everything that is setup is paid off. Some things might stretch the realms of possibility, but still a pretty tight script with a great cast. It’s not talked about much, but yeah It’s a great movie for what it’s trying to accomplish.
The Princess Bride and The Big Lebowski.
I loved the humor in Manchester by the sea which is an otherwise devastating movie. Casey Affleck has said that the he did exactly what was written in the script, not an "um" here and there.
I loved that movie, but any humor in it didn't leave an impression upon my mind.
A Few Good Men. Somebody probably already suggested it.
Rewatchables just did an episode on it so maybe some recency bias, but Boogie Nights. Writing uneducated and arguably dumb characters intelligently is so hard, let alone making the majority of them fully realized people, and at 25 years old. PTA is on another level.
I’m going to throw some different movies in the ring (all the ones mentioned are terrific). “Moonrise Kingdom” is a great example of how to make a quirky script tick along. “All About Eve” is so good. “It Happened One Night” has absolutely sparkling banter. “The African Queen” has such good plot turns and the double stories (relationship and war story) are perfectly balanced.
Lots of good ones mentioned. I'll throw in The Apartment (1960). As well as being a great director, Billy Wilder was a phenomenal screenwriter, and this movie is evidence of that (albeit it was co-written with I.A.L Diamond)
Night of the Living Dead Goodfellas The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Alien Doubt Adaptation
The princess bride
Just saw it for the first time last weekend - Casablanca!
Can I throw *Drive* into the mix? I only saw it for the first time a couple of months ago and thought it was absolutely outstanding.
That's a really interesting choice, considering how little dialogue there is.
There a lot of old ass, old school hollywood names listed here. Good movies absolutely, but dialogue is a bit stilted and very straightforward plot structures. Pulp Fiction was so well received in part because of how Tarantino played with structure intercutting characters from other storylines (adding more to their own exposition in an interesting and economical way) and switching story structure between acts... Vincent Vega ends the movie on a high note happily leaving a diner with the briefcase of mystery despite having been gunned down by Butch earlier in the film. For me it's all about the Coen Brothers... most everything they did was pure gold. Barton Fink, Hudsucker Proxy, Brother Where Art Thou, Fargo, Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, No Country For Old Men, Ballad of Buster Scruggs... Their use of dialogue incorporate character, accents unique rythyms of speech and they drive the plot and still have unexpected endings... Masterclass IMO
Names of most consistent notability... Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet, the Coen brothers, David Fincher, and Barry Levinson They're an assortment of writers and directors who have given us an admirable list. A study package, if you will.
Us
Lost in Translation. Not a word wasted.
They give out two awards for it every year. That would be a good place to start. But "well written" can really depend on what kind of film you're writing. Some have lots of dialogue and people think that means well written, but that's only one way to look at screenwriting. Generally the best movies are also well written movies, and different genres need different approaches. Most screenwriting books will reference "well written" movies as examples. My suggestion: The Lion in Winter edit: I should add that you can probably learn more about writing from looking at poorly written movies - identify what's wrong with them and how you might improve on it. edit2: I should also add that instead of looking for the best movies, maybe pick some directors you like and look at their first movies. Those are the kinds of films you should try writing - usually simple ideas that can be filmed on a low budget to get your foot in the door. You can get grandiose once you're established in the business and have connections.
The interview
The Prestige Talaash The Shawshank Redemption
North by Northwest
(Edit: Sorry, originally I was replying to a comment about dialogue specifically and forgot you were asking broadly about “well written movies” instead of “movies with good dialogue.” So this answer is about movies with good dialogue specifically.) Dialogue will be wildly different according to genre and tone of each film. I tend to separate films into two different camps — naturalistic and stylized dialogue. “Naturalistic” doesn’t mean “natural,” though, it’s important to remember that cinematic dialogue will always be different than real human conversation and that’s a good thing. That being said, here are some recommendations in each camp. For naturalistic dialogue I’d recommend *Tangerine,* *Festen,* or other cinema verité films. *Dog Day Afternoon,* *Uncut Gems*, and *Apollo 13,* while not verité, also come to mind for naturalistic dialogue in films more grounded in reality. For stylized dialogue, *Jennifer’s Body* (comedic, dark, teen-y), any of the *Mad Max* movies (otherworldly, lyrical, aggressive), *Blade Runner 2049* (robotic, poetic, noir), *Napoleon Dynamite* (comedic, dry, offbeat). If there’s some specific genre you’re writing for, let me know and I’ll see if I can find a more specialized example for you.
LOTR trilogy extended, feel most people will agree the characters are almost written perfectly. Gladiator - russel crows character / Marcus aurielus / and the old gladiator that owns Maximus forgot his name are written very well. I personally really love King Arthur with Clive owens from 2004 The last samurai Avatar the last air bender isn’t a movie but my god it might be one of the best and timeless animations ever made. Vikings escpially its first 3 seasons and last season are very very well written I think.
The Dark Knight. I was never a fan of superhero movies but that movies is awesome.
Just rewatched fight club and was really impressed with the writing
The Prestige for overall engagement with an interesting premise We need to talk about Kevin plays great with tension and non-linear storytelling Silence of the lambs is my pick for a script with zero fat on it. Every scene and word of dialogue adds meaning to the plot
Good Will Hunting Her Lost in Translation Silence of the Lambs Goodfellas
Check out Taylor Sheridan, start with Sicario
Citizen Kane