129 Of The Most Beautiful Shots In Movie History

A visual essay on spectacular cinematography.

1.

Fox Searchlight

The Tree of Life (2011)

2.

The Weinstein Company

The Master (2012)

3.

Sony Pictures Classics

Moon (2009)

4.

CJ Entertainment

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

5.

Fox Searchlight

Black Swan (2010)

6.

Paramount Pictures

Psycho (1960)

7.

Disney

Mulan (1998)

8.

Paramount Pictures

Forrest Gump (1994)

9.

Warner Bros.

Casablanca (1942)

10.

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

Manhunter (1986)

11.

Miramax

Three Colours: Blue (1993)

12.

New Line

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1985)

13.

Warner Bros.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

14.

Warner Bros.

The Shining (1980)

15.

IFC Films

Boyhood (2014)

16.

United Artists

To Live and Die in LA (1985)

17.

IFC Films

Frances Ha (2013)

18.

Miramax

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

19.

Paramount Pictures

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

20.

MGM

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

21.

DreamWorks

American Beauty (1999)

22.

Miramax

Hero (2002)

23.

Fox Searchlight

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

24.

Miramax

Three Colours: Red (1994)

25.

The Weinstein Company

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

26.

Paramount Pictures

Rear Window (1954)

27.

Universal

Schindler's List (1993)

28.

Nouveaux

Suspiria (1977)

29.

Warner Bros.

Goodfellas (1990)

30.

The Weinstein Company

Django Unchained (2012)

31.

MGM

The Princess Bride (1987)

32.

MGM

Skyfall (2012)

33.

Paramount Pictures

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

34.

Columbia

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

35.

Roadside Attractions

The Fall (2006)

36.

Warner Bros.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

37.

Warner Bros.

Inception (2010)

38.

Fox Searchlight

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

39.

Momentum

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2002)

40.

Columbia

Big Fish (2003)

41.

Miramax

Chungking Express (1994)

42.

New Line

Pleasantville (1998)

43.

United Artists

Apocalypse Now (1979)

44.

Columbia

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

45.

20th Century Fox

Star Wars (1977)

46.

Paramount

Chinatown (1974)

47.

Universal Studios

Duel (1971)

48.

MGM

Thelma & Louise (1991)

49.

Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

50.

The Weinstein Company

The Road (2009)

51.

New Line

Se7en (1995)

52.

20th Century Fox

Life of Pi (2012)

53.

Paramount

Days of Heaven (1978)

54.

Paramount

Into the Wild (2007)

55.

Warner Bros.

Blade Runner (1982)

56.

20th Century Fox

Fight Club (1999)

57.

Oscilloscope Laboratories

Mother of George (2013)

58.

Paramount

There Will Be Blood (2007)

59.

Universal

Jarhead (2005)

60.

Orion

Mississippi Burning (1988)

61.

Fox Searchlight

Sunshine (2007)

62.

Buena Vista

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

63.

Warner Bros.

The Searchers (1956)

64.

Warner Bros.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

65.

Film Arts Guild

Nosferatu (1922)

66.

Universal

The Killers (1946)

67.

20th Century Fox

Alien (1979)

68.

New Line

Dark City (1998)

69.

Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

70.

Lionsgate

American Psycho (2000)

71.

Warner Bros.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

72.

Universal

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

73.

CJ Entertainment

Memories of Murder (2003)

74.

20th Century Fox

The Third Man (1949)

75.

20th Century Fox

Fight Club (1999)

76.

Focus Features

Lost in Translation (2003)

77.

Artisan Entertainment

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

78.

DreamWorks

Minority Report (2002)

79.

FilmDistrict

Drive (2011)

80.

Toho

Akira (1988)

81.

Wild Bunch

Enter the Void (2009)

82.

Miramax

Pulp Fiction (1994)

83.

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

Manhunter (1986)

84.

20th Century Fox

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

85.

United Artists

Thief (1981)

86.

Warner Bros.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

87.

DreamWorks

Road to Perdition (2002)

88.

Warner Bros.

Insomnia (2002)

89.

Warner Bros.

The Exorcist (1973)

90.

Universal

Gladiator (2000)

91.

Paramount

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

92.

Paramount Pictures

True Grit (2010)

93.

Columbia

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

94.

MGM

North by Northwest (1959)

95.

United Artists

Rocky (1976)

96.

Paramount

The Truman Show (1998)

97.

United Artists

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

98.

Warner Bros.

Mad Max (1979)

99.

Miramax

City of God (2002)

100.

Focus Features

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

101.

New Line

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (2001)

102.

Disney

Tron: Legacy (2010)

103.

Canal+

Melancholia (2011)

104.

Fox Searchlight

The Wrestler (2008)

105.

Disney

Finding Nemo (2003)

106.

Warner Bros.

Dirty Harry (1971)

107.

Columbia

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

108.

20th Century Fox

Moulin Rouge (2001)

109.

20th Century Fox

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

110.

Dimension

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

111.

Warner Bros.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

112.

Universal

The Deer Hunter (1978)

113.

Decla-Bioscop

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

114.

Toho

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

115.

Warner Bros.

The Dark Knight (2008)

116.

Warner Bros.

Barry Lyndon (1975)

117.

20th Century Fox

Miller's Crossing (1990)

118.

Columbia

Stand By Me (1986)

119.

DreamWorks

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

120.

Fox Searchlight

12 Years a Slave (2013)

121.

Canal+

Amélie (2001)

122.

Tartan

Oldboy (2005)

123.

Universal

Children of Men (2006)

124.

Paramount

Vertigo (1958)

125.

United Artists

The Graduate (1967)

126.

Universal

Jurassic Park (1993)

127.

Toho

My Neighbour Tortoro (1988)

128.

Warner Bros.

The Matrix (1999)

129.

Focus Features

Atonement (2007)

This is only a selection of some of the most beautiful shots in film; there simply isn't room to include them all! If your favourite isn't here, add it to the comments below...

H/T cinematicpaintings.com, this Reddit thread, and this other Reddit thread.