Details in a movie are often a big part of what makes them worth watching in the first place, while great acting and a plausible story can make them even better. But the more detail is present in a movie, the more realistic it feels, and as a result, people tend to lose themselves in the movie and find that they actually enjoyed the immersive experience. There’s nothing quite like walking out of a movie or watching the credits roll by and wondering ‘how did that go by so fast?’. That’s the mark of a great movie, and while a great many factors go into the process, details are what help to make a movie that much better since otherwise fans are bound to notice why certain elements have been left out and why certain settings and landscapes feel off or somehow incomplete. Trying to fool fans is a bad habit that a few directors have unfortunately committed throughout their careers, but the best are usually those that are detail-oriented and aren’t satisfied until every last component is in place and they can get the shot they want. It’s a bit tedious and a little nerve-wracking at times since some directors tend to spend hours on a single shot, while others are adamant about getting every little thing just right, but in the end, the difference is seen on film.
Here are a few movies that benefited from the director paying such close attention to detail.
5. The Usual Suspects
The dialogue given by Kevin Spacey is great since it sounds like an inane bit of rambling throughout the movie, but by the end, a lot of people were likely blown away by little details that they’d missed or never seen in the first place. But how they were placed within the dialogue was so great since it was apparent that Verbal was simply looking at various words and going off the top of his head the entire time. Even as a scripted performance this is impressive since it threw out one detail after another, giving the character an apparent depth that was likely taken as just a bunch of rambling, but was in effect a clever disguise to hide behind.
4. V for Vendetta
Nearly every detail in this movie was a key element as to V’s final plan since it all built into the chaos he was willing and ready to unleash on his enemies. There were definitely variables along the way that had to be accounted for, but all in all the main character put things together in a manner that made it clear he’d been guiding it since the beginning of his vendetta. From that point on the connections that were made from one point in the movie to another were meticulous, painstakingly thought out, and intriguing in a way that keeps people watching. It’s a neat trick really, and it usually works.
3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
This has already gone down in history as one of the best movies ever made, despite that it was heavily criticized when it first came out. But the level of detail that was placed in this movie was insane really upon looking at it since just about everything looked so real that one really had to take a second look at the movie to figure out where the practical effects took over. For a being made in the era it belonged to, ESB was a movie that had enough detail within it to hang with a lot of movies that have come out in the past two decades. Plus, the story details weren’t perfect, but they were great enough that they contributed in a big way to the final execution.
2. Titanic
James Cameron is typically known for his attention to detail and it was noted in this movie since the Titanic felt like a real ship at some points. For a maritime disaster that was turned into a love story a great deal of work went into this project, enough that it’s not hard to imagine just what kind of mental pictures Cameron took when he actually went beneath the waves to look at the ruins of the ship.
1. Blade Runner 2049
This sequel had a lot to live up to, and a lot of people would likely claim that it didn’t quite do that, but from a detail standpoint, the level of accuracy that it brought to the screen and the manner in which it kept up with the original was amazing. Obviously there was a template to follow and a model to work from, but the idea of a sequel is that it has to be near perfect to stand a chance of being spoken of in a positive manner. While the movie wasn’t perfect, the details were out of this world.
It does help to add as much detail as possible.James Cameron
Follow Us
