Luc Besson names a list of his all-time favourite movies
Action cinema has changed considerably over the years, with the genre first kicking off with the stunt work of Buster Keaton back in the 1920s. Later, James Bond took to the fold, first appearing on the silver screen in 1962, before the following decades would blow up with action icons, from The Terminator to Rambo, with such filmmakers as James Cameron, John Carpenter, and Luc Besson thriving.
Whilst Besson is better known for his later action-packed affairs, he kicked off his career in the 1980s with a few eclectic flicks. First came The Last Battle in 1983, a sci-fi flick that largely featured silent characters, before the French filmmaker followed things up with the thriller Subway and the adventure movie The Big Blue, which got a whole generation of young people into diving.
Indeed, it was in the 1990s that Besson would grab by the scruff of the neck, making such celebrated action hits as Nikita, Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, which would each be adored for years to come. Far greater and more technical than movie fans give him credit for being, Besson built his career on earlier inspirations from some of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
Such is clear when one reflects on Besson’s favourite movies of all time, choosing films that can be seen reflected later in his career.
For example, Besson is often adored for his 1997 sci-fi The Fifth Element, starring Bruce Willis, a bombastic action flick that embraces camp. The serious and melodramatic elements of the film can be seen in two of Besson’s favourite movies, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and George Lucas’ Star Wars. Besson used the former to inspire his genuinely inventive vision, whilst the latter contained all the comedy and homemade joy that the French filmmaker would later use.
Elsewhere, Besson names the iconic drama Taxi Driver by American director Martin Scorsese. Speaking about the movie, he stated: “I was very young when I saw Taxi Driver and Mean Streets, and I am a huge fan of the master”. Whilst not entirely similar, there are most certainly shades of Travis Bickle in the character of the cold assassin Leon in 1994’s Léon: The Professional.
Take a look at the full list of Besson’s favourite movies below.
Luc Besson’s favourite movies:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Miloš Forman, 1975)
- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
- Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
- Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
