Approved Movies

This is a list of /tg/ approved movies, organized into loose genres, alphabetically.

Add important details in brackets.

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Science Fiction

• 5th Element, The
• The Abyss
• Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
• Animatrix - short Program [animated] (how to pull certain /tg/ cliche right)
• Appleseed
• Appleseed: Deus Ex Machina
• Avalon [Japanese, with original, Polish voices - this is very important]
• Babylon A.D.
• Blade Runner [final cut]
• Brazil
• Children of Men
• Chronicle [2012]
• Cyborg [1989]
• Dark City
• Dark Star
• District 9
• Donnie Darko
• Doomsday
• Dredd [2012]
• Edge of Tommorow
• Enemy Mine
• Equilibrium
• Event Horizon
• eXistenZ
• Fortress [1992]
• Galaxy Quest
• Gattaca
• Ghosts of Mars
• Hell [German]
• Immortal [French]
• Inception
• The Iron Giant [animated]
• The Island
• Johnny Mnemonic
• K-Pax
• Logan's Run
• Looper
• The Lord Inquisitor [animated]
• The Matrix
• Men in Black [only the first one]
• Metropolis [1927]
• Metropolis [animated]
• Moon
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind [animated]
• O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization [Polish] (best unofficial Paranoia movie)
• Outlander
• Pacific Rim
• The Prestige
• Primer
• Red Planet
• Robocop [1987]
• Robocop 2
• Robot Jox
• Rock & Rule [animated] (preferably with Canadian dubbing, as American one simply sucks)
• Snowpiercer
• Solaris [1972, 2002]
• Source Code
• The Sphere
• Stalker [Russian]
• Star Wars [original trilogy]
• Star Trek (The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country, First Contact and Beyond for sure)
• Stargate [1994]
• Starship Troopers
• Strange days
• Sunshine
• Terminator
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• The Thirteenth Floor
• Time Cop
• Titan, AE [Animated]
• Total recall [1990]
• Transformers: The Movie [Animated, 1987 version only]
• Treasure Planet [Animated]
• Twelve Monkeys
• Ultramarines:The Movie [Animated]
• WALL-E [animated]

Horror

• 28 Days Later
• 30 days of night
• 9th Gate
• Alien
• Aliens
• Alien 3 [director's cut]
• Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre [French] - preferably helped with the original mini-series from the 60s.
• Brotherhood of the Wolf [French]
• Cabin In The Woods
• Carrie [1976] - any sequel or remake is disapproved
• Dagon [Spanish]
• The Descent
• Dog Soldiers
• Eraserhead
• Evil Dead [trilogy]
• Event Horizon
• The Exorcist
• From Dusk Till Dawn [more of a parody than straight out horror; sequel is also worth it]
• From Hell
• The Gift [2000]
• Ginger Snaps (sequels are optional)
• Hellraiser
• The Hunger [1983]
• In the Mouth of Madness
• Interview with the Vampire (and gender-flipper Byzantium)
• The Masque of the Red Death
• Mulholland Drive
• Nattevagten [Danish]
• Pandorum
• Pitch Black
• The Shining
• Silent Hill [2006]
• The Thing [1982]
• Virus [1999]
• Witchfinder General
• The VVitch [2015]

Fantasy

The essential fantasy trilogy (not on the list because it's so obvious that this is a /tg/ approved movie).

• The 13th Warrior
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
• The Beastmaster
• Beowulf [animated, 2007]
• Big Trouble in Little China: Mind you, it's Urban Fantasy. Also, very 80s.
• Blade 1 & 2
• The Brothers Grimm
• Camelot [1988]
• Conan the Barbarian [1982]
• Conan the Destroyer
• Constantine
• Dragonheart
• Erik the Viking
• Excalibur
• Fire and Ice [animated]
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
• Hellboy (only the first one)
• Highlander (only the first movie; "Highlander II: The Quickening" is /tg/ unapproved, but worth a watch if you just want to see an insanely bad movie and a solid lesson in how *not* to extend a setting)
• The Hobbit [animated]
• How to Train Your Dragon [animated]
• Howl's Moving Castle [animated]
• Immortal [French]
• Ink [2009]
• Innocent Blood [1992]
• Jabberwocky [1977]
• Jumanji (and if you have spare time - the animated TV show too)
• Krull
• Kull the Conqueror
• Labyrnth
• Ladyhawke
• The Last Unicorn [animated]
• The Last Witch Hunter
• The Legend
• Lord of the Rings [animated]
• Masters of the Universe [1987]
• Neverending Story
• Night Watch [Russian]:Hello again, Urban Fantasy.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas [animated]
• Ondine
• Pan's Labyrinth
• Princess Mononoke [animated]
• The Princess Bride
• Red Sonja
• The Return of the King [animated]
• Ronal The Barbarian [animated]
• SAGA - Curse of the Shadow
• The Secret of NIMH [animated]
• Snow White and the Huntsman (the visuals are definitely worth enduring it)
• Solomon Kane
• Song of the Sea [animated]
• Secret of Kells [animated]
• Stardust
• The Thief and the Cobbler [animated, The Recobbled Cut]
• The Thief of Baghdad [1924/1940]
• Time Bandits
• Trollhunter [Norwegian]
• Underworld (first movie, rest of the franchise is purely optional)
• Vidocq [French]
• Voyage of the Unicorn [TV movie]
• Willow
• Wolfhound of the Grey Hound Clan [Russian]

Comedy

• 48 hours
• Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 (and let's pretend 3 doesn't exist)
• Big Lebowski
• Blues Brothers
• Buffalo Soldiers
• Cocoon (1985)
• Coming to America
• The Cuckoo [Russian]
• A Fish Called Wanda
• Fletch
• Forrest Gump
• Fright Night [1985 & 2011]
• Futurama Bender's Game - A Futurama movie created in honor of Gary Gygax's death. Basically a parody to Dungeon and Dragons and Lord of the Ring. It also counts as a science fiction film because well, is Futurama.
• The Gamers trilogy (preferably with dice subtitles)
• Gentlemen Broncos
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Grosse Pointe Blank & War, Inc.
• Groundhog Day
• In Bruges
• Kindergarten Cop
• Kung Fu Hustle
• Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
• The Mask
• The Men Who Stare at Goats
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Monty Python's Life of Brian
• Nothing to Lose
• Secondhand Lions
• Shaun Of The Dead [Actually, the whole Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End]
• The Sister Act
• Snatch
• Space Balls
• Spies like us
• The Sting
• Taxi [French]
• Trading Places
• Tremors
• Vabank [Polish]
• We're No Angels (both the 1955 and 1989 versions)
• What We Do In The Shadows
• Your Highness
• Zombieland

Western

• 3:10 to Yuma [1957]
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Dances with Wolves (preferably extended edition; warning - it runs for almost 4 hours, but is well worth it)
• The Dark Valley [Austrian]
• Django [1966]
• Django Unchained [unrelated with the above]
• Dollars Trilogy [A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - preferably extended cuts]
• The Good, The Bad, The Weird [Korean] (Korean cut, not the international!)
• The Hateful 8
• High Noon
• High Plain Drifter
• Jeremiah Johnson
• The Magificent Seven [1960]
• My Name Is Nobody
• Once Upon a Time in the West
• Open Range
• Outland
• Pale Rider
• Quigley down under
• Rio Bravo
• Showdown at The O.K. Corral
• Silverado
• They call me Trinity
• Tombstone
• Treasure of the Silver Lake (along with other Winnetou films) - a warning of what happens if you have no clue how to run a western setting.
• True Grit (1969 and 2010 versions)
• Two Mules for Sister Sara
• Unforgiven
• The Wild Bunch
• White Sun of the Desert (Soviet "eastern")

Action

• Blood Diamond
• Blue Thunder
• Centurion
• The Chronicles of Riddick
• Collateral
• Commando
• The Dark Knight
• The Departed [and original Infernal Affairs]
• Die Hard 1 & 3 (and only those two)
• Elite Squad 1 & 2 [Brazilian]
• Escape from New York
• Hanna
• Hard Boiled [1992]
• Haywire
• John Wick
• Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2
• Knight and Day
• Last Action Hero
• Lethal Weapon 1 & 2 [or entire quadrilogy]
• Mad Max [original trilogy only]
• Mission Impossible 3 & 4 (and only those two)
• Predator & Predators
• Ronin [1998]
• The Running Man
• Running Scared [2006]
• Steel Dawn
• Streets of Fire
• The Transporter (only the first one)
• True Lies
• The Untouchables
• Waterworld

War

• The 9th Company [Russian] (watch original version - English dubb is just awful)
• Alexander [Final Cut version, avoid like fire theatrical cut]
• Apocalypse Now
• A Bridge Too Far
• Colonel Wolodyjowski [Polish]
• Das Boot [extended, serialised version - takes 7 hours, worth every minute]
• The Deluge [Polish]
• Dirty Dozen
• The Dogs Of War
• Fury
• Gallipoli
• Guns of Navarone
• Hell in the Pacific
• Kelly's Heroes [and it's remake/update Three Kings]
• Kingdom of Heaven [extended director's cut]
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Legionnaire
• Lone Survivor [2013] (as a case study of how and why high-level characters aren't invulnerable)
• Lord of War
• Manhunt [2012, Polish]
• Mulan [Chinese from 2009 and animated from 1998]
• Platoon
• Red Cliff [Chinese full cut]
• Sahara [1943/95, *not* the adventure flick from 2005]
• Sharpe series [TV movies starring Sean Bean]
• Soldier [1998]
• Soldier of Orange [Dutch]
• Thin Red Line
• War [2002, Russian]
• Windtalkers
• Where Eagles Dare
• Zwartboek [Dutch, only after watching Soldier of Orange]

Crime

• The Casino
• Chinatown
• Crimson Rivers [French] (avoid English dubbing, it's horrible)
• Dobermann [French] (chaotic evil campaign)
• Dog Day Afternoon
• The Disappearance of Alice Creed (how to conserve details)
• Entrapment [1999]
• Escape from Alcatraz
• French Connection
• Gone Girl
• The Good Thief
• The Handmaiden [Korean] (just watch it, don't read anything about it)
• Heat
• Heist [2001] (all-Rogue campaign)
• Hell or High Water
• A History of Violence
• In the Shadow [2012, Czech]
• Insomnia [2002]
• Italian Job [1969 & 2003]
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• L.A. Confidential
• Layer Cake
• Matchstick Men
• Money Train
• The Nice Guys
• No Country for Old Men
• Payback [both theatrical and director's cut - two different films]
• Plunkett & Macleane
• Pulp Fiction
• Red Rock West
• Reservoir Dogs
• The Score [2001]
• A Simple Plan
• Sneakers
• The Spanish Prisoner
• The Thieves [Korean]
• The Thomas Crown Affair [both 1968 & 1999]
• The Town [2010]
• Trance [2013]
• The Truth About Charlie
• The Witness [1985]

Adventure

• The African Queen
• Alatriste (Spanish)
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire [Animated]
• Captain Blood
• Cast Away
• The Crimson Pirate [1952]
• Cutthroat Island
• Fanfan la Tulipe [French, 1952]
• Flight of the Phoenix [1965/2004]
• The Ghost and the Darkness
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
• Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan [the only approved Tarzan production]
• Hidalgo
• Indiana Jones [trilogy only - outside the original 3 there are no others]
• Ivanhoe
• Janosik [2009, Polish-Slovakian co-production]
• King Kong [1933, 2005]
• King Solomon's Mines [1985]
• Last of the Mohicans
• Le Bossu [French, 1959/1997]
• The Librarian [TV movies franchise]
• The Man Who Would Be King
• The Mummy [1999 - and only this one]
• National Treasure
• Prince of Persia
• Queen of the Desert
• Quest for Fire [1981]
• Renegades [2017] (a perfect Merc 2000 module)
• The Road to El Dorado [Animated]
• Romancing the Stone
• The Sea Hawk
• The Snow Walker
• Stand by me (how to handle atypical quest with atypical party)
• Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
• Six Days, Seven Nights
• Tintin - both the 2011 motion capture and old feature animations from the 60s (animated TV series is meanwhile approved television)
• Tomb Raider [2001] (Just bring lots of alcohol and friends)
• The Way Back

General

• Mazes and Monsters - The so bad that is good type movie. Based on Jack Chick's story that bashes dungeon's and dragon, calling it a satanic game. Starring Toms Hank and World Trade Center Towers (it was made before their destruction)
• 7 Samurai
• 8MM
• Aguirre, the Wrath of God [German]
• The American
• As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me [German]
• Astropia
• The Blood of Heroes/Salute to the Jugger [goes under both titles] - two words, my friend: "Walk slowly"
• Baraka [obligatory HD restored version]
• A boy and his dog
• Capricorn One
• The Cell
• The City of Lost Children
• A Clockwork Orange
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• The Day After [1983]
• Dead Calm [1989]
• Death Wish [1974] (sequels are so hilariously bad they are painful to watch)
• Deliverance
• Dirty Harry (the rest of the series is optional)
• Donnie Brasco
• Dr. No
• The Dressmaker
• The Duellists
• The Fall
• Falling Down
• Fight Club DON'T TALK ABOUT THIS
• First Blood
• Fort Saganne [French]
• The Game [1997]
• Gangs of New York
• Geronimo: An American Legend
• Ghost Dog
• The Great Escape
• Heavy Metal [animated]
• Hero [Chinese]
• The Hidden Fortress [Japanese]
• House of Flying Daggers
• In The Name Of The Rose
• The Insider
• Jurassic Park
• Koyaanisqatsi (rest of the Qatsi trilogy is optional)
• The Last Valley
• Léon: the Professional
• Les Diaboliques [both French original and the remake from 1996]
• Les Samurai [French]
• The Lives of Others [German] (how to Lawful Evil)
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (how to maritime)
• Miracle Mile
• The Mission [1986] (novelisation is approved literature, greatly expanding the story into TTRPG campaign territory)
• Money Talks [1997]
• Mr Brooks
• Nick of Time
• North by North-West
• Nowhere in Africa [German]
• On the Beach [1959 & 2000]
• Once upon a time in China 1 & 2
• Papillon [1973]
• The Piano
• Ran (Japanese)
• Rashômon [1950]
• The Road
• Rob Roy
• Run Lola Run [German]
• Runaway Train
• Sanjuro [1962]
• Sense and Sensibility
• The Seventh Seal
• Shawshank Redemption
• Six-String Samurai
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Sorcerer [1977, obligatory HD restored version]
• Superman [1978] & Superman 2 [1980]
• Surviving the Game
• The Sword and the Rose
• Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
• Tai-Pan
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Throne of Blood [Japanese]
• Trash Humpers
• Training Day
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• Unbreakable
• Vatel [French]
• WarGames
• The Wild Hunt
• Yôjinbô [Japanese]
• Zatōichi [at least the 2003 film]