Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie. I guess you’ll miss the best bit in it though, where the only person who speaks is the mime Marcel Marceau.
Not the same thing, but the first time I saw District 9 there were no subtitles for the prawns. I didn’t even know there was supposed to be any. I think I liked that version better.
Wtf, the prawns have actual dialog?
I was so focused on trying to understand the South African accent, that not a single brain cell was available for additional processing.
Metropolis - 1927
Not the best, but Koyaanisqatsi is pretty trippy. The music adds a lot to it, but it would still be visually interesting without it.
Star Wars has a silent version released in the 70’s, with descriptive captions and all
https://youtu.be/_zj3ayw-ZtI?si=avF5RxcnMrxdFPdW
This is of Ep. 3 I think but you can find them for all the episodes
That’s pretty neat actually.
Any of the original Indiana Jones films.
They were storyboarded almost like a comic book. I once heard a University professor online talking about how you can watch any of the three original movies in black and white with no sound and still have a perfect understanding of the story; that’s how strong they are . If you ever want an entertaining evening, invite some friends over and do just that.
The Artist (2011)
The Wizard of Oz while listening to Dark Side of the Moon.
Hush
This is a good recommendation. I went into the movie thinking it would be silent. Was kind of disappointed that it wasn’t, tbh.
Porno
I was trying to watch the original Nosferatu but the version I was watching had dogshit Casio keyboard accompaniment. I muted it and had Spotify put on a playlist based on “Danse Macabre.” Much better. That said, a proper silent movie with live accompaniment is fucking fantastic. I saw Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall that way and loved it.
Koyaanisqatsi
Can’t say it’s the best but a really good one is Sir Arne’s Treasure. Its a silent film (which is a misnomer because they were always accompanied by live music back in the day). But it’s beautifully shot.
There is some very incredible work in films leading up until the introduction of recorded audio which basically threw cinematography back a good 40 years in development due to the noise they created and how actors had to be blocked to just record their dialog.
Not exactly the same thing, but my wife and I saw Logan at a drive in theater when it came out
Towards the end when he’s all fucked up and near death, the audio started doing all kinds of weird shit, cutting in and out, getting fuzzy and distorted, etc.
We thought it was a pretty cool effect to show the sort of state he was in and we were all about it.
Then we heard some crystal clear audio coming from the cars next to us, turns out it was just my car’s battery dying from running the radio.
Still think it was a cool effect, would watch it again that way if it were an option.
I’ve since picked up a battery powered radio for future drive-ins (we try to go at least once a year)
The Last Battle (1983)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Dernier_Combat
“A scraggly, anonymous man (Pierre Jolivet) looks for love among a desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland where almost no one speaks and roaming bands of marauders prey on the weak and unprotected. Assisted by a mad scientist (Jean Bouise), the man attempts to rebuild a broken-down airplane to expand his lonely, seemingly pointless search. At every turn the man is thwarted by well-armed, merciless thugs; however, hope rears its head he discovers one last surviving woman imprisoned by the toughs.”
