10 Movies Every Man Should Watch

10. The Karate Kid

Although this one’s about a kid, the journey of self discovery Danny LaRusso goes through is one that we can all learn from. All of us go through tough times – maybe it’s not always going to a new school, but instead finding that new job, moving to a new town, or just going through a life change. The Karate Kid shows how important learning a new skill, and finding a great mentor, is to finding self confidence and winning your own battles as they come up.

9. The Lord of the Rings

One of the greatest movies of all time, the Lord of the Rings is all about overcoming incredible odds, despair, challenges and fear in order to save what’s good in the world.

8. IP Man

The Kung Fu movie you never thought you needed to see so bad, IP man starts out in a golden age of martial arts. In fact, it seems like any other Kung Fu movie at the beginning. However, you soon realize that this movie is not like any other Kung Fu movie – it’s a movie about one man’s fight to save his family, and shepherd his entire community through the darkest of times.

7. The Passion

What will one man go through in order to achieve his goal? Religious aspects aside, The Passion can quite simply be seen as a great heroic epic – one man takes on the burdens of the world, in the face of incredible evil.

6. Unforgiven

He was young once. He did terrible things. He killed women, and children. But that’s all behind him now. Or is it? Clint Eastwood as starred in and directed some great (and terrible) movies. This one just might be his best.

5. Batman Begins

We can all relate to a billionaire’s son who gives up everything to live with thieves so he can…understand them better? Okay, so we don’t all have the budget to become Batman, but we do all have the same need to find our purpose and meaning in life. Remember, it’s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you. Good words of wisdom for any man.

4. Legends of the Fall

Okay, a bit of a chick flick, I know. Also, not the greatest movie ever made from a technical standpoint. But some great lessons to be learned here can be found in the contrasting of the two central characters. One brother lives his life free in the Montana countryside. He hunts, he loves, and he doesn’t worry much about money. And yet, he is loved by everyone. The other brother goes to the big city, finds a big fortune, and is loved by nobody. Who would you rather be?

3. Last of the Mohicans

Some people aren’t interested in the big political happenings of the world. Hawkeye is one of those people – he seems content to live his peaceful life in the wilds of the great American frontier. However, his love for a British gal keeps him from living his own peaceful life for too long, and is instead thrown into a desperate conflict of life and death. It’s a great love story. Best line: “No matter what occurs, I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you.”

2. Dances with Wolves

Unnecessary bloodshed breeds disillusionment. None perhaps are more disillusioned than John Dunbar at the beginning of the movie and sometime during the Civil War. After an attempted suicide, Dunbar is rewarded with a post of his own choosing. Dunbar of course decides to live the American dream and get as far, far away from the East Coast and all of its problems as he can. Only, unlike the typical American dream story that ends in finding a good plot of land and some wealth, Dunbar instead discovers a new way of life – one that’s more pure and honest than any struggle he’s known. He finds it with the Sioux people, Native Americans who live in peace, with many traditions and strong family values – values lacking in the “civilized” world of white people Dunbar (aka Dances with Wolves) has left behind.

1. Braveheart

The ultimate manly movie, Braveheart is the number one movie every man must watch. Braveheart may just be an average, kilt wearing Joe at the beginning of the movie, but when the love of his life is killed, he basically turns into John Wick with a bone to pick with the King of England. The quotable moments in this film are too many to be recounted here, and it’s a great study of what it means to be a man.