As a visual medium, one of the greatest pleasures cinema affords us is the presentation of gorgeous and aesthetic frames, often reflecting the themes and the emotional contexts for the scenes set in them. The DOP for any feature film has one of the most impactful roles in the entire filmmaking process, as cinematography often subliminally dictates viewers’ mental states.
Watching amazing movies with beautiful cinematography feels like strolling through a narrativized art exhibition, where visuals complement the storytelling and invite you to get mentally lost in the gorgeous world that forces you to reconsider how you view the real world. The power of good visual design lies in its ability to evoke emotions without any verbal or aural stimulus.
From horror movies that rely more on visual beauty than scares, to aesthetically pleasing and unique animated movies, gorgeous cinema will always enthrall viewers, especially those who understand how camera angles and sH๏τ blocking are used to convey aspects of the film that the dialogue cannot. Over the past 50 years, many visually stunning movies have won over our hearts.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)
Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s eponymous books have set the golden standard for fantasy filmmaking today, not different from the source materials’ impact on fantasy literature. The involved worldbuilding, political narratives, an innovative system of magic, brilliant action choreography, heartwarming dialogue, sprawling settings, unforgettable performances, emotionally rich character arcs, and inspiring storytelling make it the best fantasy franchise ever.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Editing, and Best Visual Effects.
While everyone has their own favorite of the three The Lord of the Rings movies that changed the fantasy genre forever, the sheer size of the final film in the trilogy makes it the perfect conclusion to an epic saga. Gritty visuals of war and the simultaneous harrowing journey to Mordor hook us emotionally due to the gorgeous cinematography.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Regardless of your opinion of the genre, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts movie everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime. It is one of the finest examples of wuxia filmmaking, which is a subgenre of martial arts cinema characterized by more focus on worldbuilding while still heavily featuring the signature intense fight sequences.
Wuxia is also known for its gorgeous cinematography, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is perhaps only rivaled by 2002’s Hero when it comes to visual appeal in the mainstream martial arts landscape. The fantastic action setpieces, which heavily feature wire fu, look like paintings due to the expansive framing techniques used to highlight the vibrance and scale of the settings.
The Dark Crystal (1982)
One of the major inflection points in the history of cinema is the day Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s seminal work, The Dark Crystal, was released theatrically. It was the first major live-action movie to not feature human actors, instead using intricately designed animatronics that were voiced by famous Muppet actors and moved around by an incredible team of puppeteers.
This groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking is also accompanied by stunning dark fantasy worldbuilding, characterized by impressive visuals that make the terrifying world inviting. This scary fantasy movie is known for its uniquely crafted characters and the gorgeous design of its decidedly political and endlessly fascinating world. Its visuals were so ahead of their time that they still hold up today.
The Fountain (2006)
Few directors have contributed more to the visual beauty of cinema in the 21st Century than Darren Aronofsky, who is known for his depiction of the extremes of humanity, accompanied by stunning cinematography that pulls you in, thus making the extremity on display more personable and effective. His characters undergo intense transformations, which are often presented in incredibly gorgeous frames.
Among the best Darren Aronofsky movies is The Fountain, which is a large-scale epic romantic drama that spans multiple generations. Its legacy is complicated by the difficulties the crew faced during production, but the complicated plot is elevated by the stunning and immersive cinematography that gives the film a trippy vibe, like a fever dream about the intricacies of romance.
Interstellar (2014)
While its reputation precedes it today as one of the most prestigious and confusing sci-fi movies you need to be a genius to understand, Interstellar‘s biggest strength arguably still lies in its expansive worldbuilding and visuals. The film features compelling arcs for each of its characters, which makes Interstellar a fascinating blend of heartwrenching character-driven drama and exciting sci-fi adventure.
From recreating the proposed interior look of a black hole to creating entirely new planets with unexpected flora and fauna, the crew behind Interstellar created an impressively large-scale world. The scenes in outer space and on Miller’s Planet must be seen to be believed. Visuals of such scale and quality were unprecedented at the time and looked perfect in IMAX.
Inception (2010)
Before adopting his current selling point of never using any CGI, Christopher Nolan was given to using special effects to create innovative scenes of unprecedented magnitude. With an incredible ensemble cast, this sci-fi movie remains one of the director’s best and most ambitious works, thus earning every bit of the hype that surrounds it even today, over a decade later.
While the director has denied any direct connection between Inception and Paprika, the latter features scenes, apart from character designs, that look exactly the same, and some of the visual creativity should be credited to Satoshi Kon.
From buildings folding in on each other to the world literally exploding in bursts of color, the dream sequences in Inception are among the greatest instances of visually stunning cinematography in sci-fi cinema. The innovative use of technology to bring this world to life is commendable, but what’s even more impressive is how aesthetically it’s been presented for the audience.
Mirror (1975)
The memes about falling asleep are inevitable because of the deliberately paced and meditative nature of his filmography, but director Andrei Tarkovsky’s reputation as a filmmaker, among those who have given him a fair chance, is of the highest order because of his grasp of the medium as a means of storytelling and his imaginative use of the cinematic resources.
Without films like Stalker and Mirror, some techniques of cinematography might never have seen the light of day. The uniquely contemplative pace of storytelling in Mirror, which clocks in at less than 2 hours, is rendered even more effective by the gorgeous visuals that you feel like pausing on and staring at. The painting-like quality deserves such a meandering presentation.
Life Of Pi (2012)
Following an Indian boy through a harrowing and fascinating journey across the ocean on a boat whose other major inhabitant was a tiger, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi took the world by storm with its stunning visual effects, which included an entirely digitally rendered tiger who somehow shares a genuinely emotionally rich bond with actor Suraj Sharma, who plays Pi.
Based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name, Life of Pi features incredible visuals of the ocean and its gorgeous fauna. The tragic splendor of being stranded in such a visually stunning world with a tiger isn’t lost on audiences, as they’re constantly mesmerized and shocked by the incredible standards of videography on display.
Star Wars (1977)
Nearly five decades ago, George Lucas directed the perfect non-animated action movie for kids to watch, and created one of the most iconic sci-fi worlds that has won the hearts of fans across multiple generations and is still going strong. Star Wars, now тιтled Star Wars: A New Hope, shocked moviegoers in 1977 with its epic magnitude and stunning visuals.
The sH๏τ of Mark Hamill as young Luke Skywalker looking into the sky with the two suns setting as the last light of day slowly disappears is still one of the most hopeful sH๏τs in cinematic history, elevated by both John Williams’ iconic score and DOP Gilbert Taylor’s blocking of the sH๏τ that somehow visually reflects Luke’s journey’s emotional stakes.
Avatar (2009)
Cinema hasn’t been the same since James Cameron directed Avatar and made a bigger splash than he did with The Terminator, Aliens, or even тιтanic. It revolutionized 3D cinema and set a new standard for visual quality in the industry, and surprisingly repeated the feat with the sequel, thus making fans eager for the third part, releasing later this year.
While one of the major harsh realities of rewatching James Cameron’s Avatar movies is the realization that they adopt a style-over-substance approach, the style and the visual grandeur might justify sitting through another film in the franchise. The incredible cinematography and visual effects could make you want to live on Pandora and explore the planet with the’ main characters.
