I don't think it's possible to cite a single movie as "the last classic Hollywood type movie" where its focus was entertainment and had movie magic feel to it, but I do think you could make a general list.
Some I'd throw out there for me are Mask of Zorro (1998), the Transporter (2002), the first two Harry Potter films.
What about you guy's. What's your personal list of movies that were sort of the last of that era where movies felt like movies and had something special to them?
Think the last time I thought that in a cinema and it wasn't simply nostalgia (like I had with Top Gun Maverick which was a good film but harkened to the past) was Birdman (2014) as I loved the way they made it seem one continous shot and the acting in was great.
I also enjoyed Birdman. Saw it in theaters.
I'd say Django Unchained was the last great and memorable cinema experience for me.
I saw it twice in theaters because I liked it so much.
Tarantinos best movie in my opinion.
Also saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in theaters and that was great too, but not as good as Django.
I didn't watch Django because I don't support blackwashing.
It has that, but it's also not politically correct. In the hands of any other director it would have been preachy.
But Tarantino actually goes comedic where no other directors would dare, such as the scene with Don Johnson's character whose a slave owner. That's a scene played for laughs where any other director would have used similar dialogue to show how "evil and bad you should feel".
It's more akin to pulpy grindhouse blaxploitation movie than it is to something like 12 years a slave or any of the other of the hundred white guilt movies out there.
Django Unchained is just a fun movie, that would be completely unwatchable in the hands of any other director.
I watched it on Netflix a few weeks ago while away.
The host had to leave the room because of all the n-bombs.
I thought it held up pretty well.
I absolutely loved Birdman but it's really like nothing else. With your topic it sounds like you're searching for movies that feel momentous and have some kind of universal appeal, and as much as Birdman's brilliant it's also kind of off the wall.
I'm voting Hateful Eight or Reservoir Dogs for Tarantino's best.
My friends absolutely despised The Hateful Eight.
Might have been the last film I saw in theaters.
I think it was because it was more like a play than a narrative Tarantino movie.
Kinda like Reservoir Dogs tbh.
I really dislike Hateful Eight. But I like Reservoir Dogs.