125 Essential Movies, According to Martin Scorsese

To be as accomplished and prolific a filmmaker as Martin Scorsese, you’d have to be as accomplished and prolific a filmgoer as Martin Scorsese. The Oscar-winning director would be the first to tell you that he is as much a student of movies as he is a creator, and he regularly shares his ever-growing list of essential films that he believes any true movie fan should see.

In 2012, Fast Company published an extensive interview with Scorsese in which he talked about his 85 movies “you need to see to know anything about film.” Meanwhile, in 2006, a young filmmaker named Colin Levy wrote to the filmmaker, asking for recommendations on where to start an education on foreign films. Scorsese responded with a list of almost 40 suggestions. And, of course, Scorsese shared even more of his favorite films with Sight & Sound magazine.

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Sicilian Scene – True Romance

The standout scene from the screenplay features Dennis Hopper as Clarence’s (Christian Slater) estranged father, Clifford. Clarence and his new wife, Alabama (Patricia Arquette), surprised Clarence’s father with a visit before they escaped Detroit for Los Angeles. Clarence wanted his father, a former cop, to see if he could look into the crime they committed — killing Alabama’s violent pimp and mistakenly taking a suitcase full of cocaine.

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‘Top Gun: Maverick’ reversed a controversial change that critics say was made to appease China

A lot has changed in the years since Top Gun: Maverick first previewed in 2019—including, some early viewers noticed, the controversial patches sewn onto the jacket of Tom Cruise’s title character.

Top Gun 1986

In the original Top Gun film, which premiered in 1986, Cruise’s navy pilot character, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, wears a bomber jacket that belonged to the fighter’s father. The back of the jacket is emblazoned with patches commemorating tours Maverick’s father served in the U.S. Navy, including one joint operation with Taiwan.

2019 Top Gun Maverick Trailer

When trailers for Top Gun: Maverick aired in 2019, scenes showing the back of the now iconic jacket revealed the Taiwan flag, and the Japan flag next to it, had been replaced with made-up emblems that matched the color schemes of the originals.

Top Gun: Maverick 2022 US Theater Release

Skydance Media, the film’s producer, has not previously commented on why the emblems were changed. But observers speculate the move was made to appease censors in mainland China, where Beijing does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state.