inri222

One of the greats. Sound off by selecting what you think is his best.

BambooLounge

This is so tough, but since he, like Elia Kazan, possessed that great directorial skill of getting the most out of his actors, I'm going to go with the film of his that I think has the greatest performances...Dog Day Afternoon.

An obvious choice, but for good reason.

Jules Winfield

Love, love, love Dog Day Afternoon. I'd have to put it in a top ten of my favorite movies ever. So, I pick that one.

riotinmyskull

this should be a poll....but my choice (and this was a VERY hard choice) is 12 ANGRY MEN

rocket1312

I just double checked Lumte's filmography. Apparently I've only seen two of his films (12 Angry Men and Serpico). Yikes. That's embarassing. I guess my choice would be 12 Angry Men.

inri222

I created a poll. So many good ones that I allowed it so that you can pick multiple choices.

brainee

The Wiz, for sure

Seriously, it's hard to pick between his masterpieces. If forced, I'll go "Network" ... astonishing how much tv crap that movie saw coming decades ahead its time.

I recently saw "The Pawnbroker" for the first time and was blown away. Incredible performance by Rod Steiger (hard to believe its even the same actor that did "In the Heat of the Night" just a couple years later). Like "Network", way ahead of its time (very much having a mid-70s vibe and explicitness).

BambooLounge

It's amazing how many times I actually do this. But, I selected one option before finding out I could select multiple choices so here are my Top 5 Lumet films:

1. Dog Day Afternoon
2. Serpico
3. Network
4. 12 Angry Men
5. Before the Devil Knows Your Dead

Ash Ketchum

SERPICO, hands down. One of the very best police dramas ever made and the only Lumet film I've seen multiple times (more than twice).

Hokeyboy

To many fantastic movies from one of the greatest directors of our time, but my alltime favorite will always be Network.

BambooLounge

As much as I love Network, I can never shake hearing Lumet refer to it as Paddy Chayefsky's movie. I was fortunate enough to attend a Lumet Q&A later in his life. He basically spoke about how Network was all Paddy and there is no getting around that script, it is amazing. I don't think another script has ever so accurately predicted where a culture was heading like Network.

Another fun fact, according to Lumet, when he met Kurosawa, all Kurosawa wanted to talk about was how Lumet got the rain to show up on film like he did during the chase scene in Prince of the City.

inri222

Don't sleep on Prince of the City.

jfoobar

Don't know which one is the best, but Running on Empty is my personal favorite.

PopcornTreeCt

I picked Serpico.

GoldenJCJ

Damn, what a list!

I voted for 12 Angry Men but you can't really argue about any of the choices.

I'm in the minority but the only film of his that I don't care for is Dog Day Afternoon. I can appreciate its merits but I just didn't care for it, personally.

dom56

I choose Fail-Safe as my favorite.

Mondo Kane

Maybe it's because I saw it fairly recently, but I voted for The Hill.

JumpCutz

Great filmmaker.

I voted for my favorites:

12 Angry Men
The Pawnbroker
Serpico
Murder on the Orient Express
Dog Day Afternoon
Network
Q & A

But there are another half dozen that could also receive my votes. What a career.

Jules Winfield

There's so many of his movies I haven't seen. Although I have seen the Vin Diesel one. And I remember I actually thought it was good.

BambooLounge

Yeah, I like Find Me Guilty. I love that he did a film each for the jury (12 Angry Men), the plaintiffs/prosecutors (The Verdict), and defense (Find Me Guilty) perspective over the course of his career.

Strevlac

Network, easy.

MrSmearkase

I'll give the personal edge to The Verdict, but it was not an easy choice. That is one hell of a run he had.

Fist of Doom

Voted Prince of the City, a terrific film.

Terminal

12 Angry Men since it's my favorite film of all time.

Hazel Motes

I tried really hard (since this thread popped up) not to vote for Network because of it being the obvious choice. But in the end, I succumbed.