Best low budget movies.

[Doodski]

I'm going with Clerks from 1994. The film had a cost of $27,575 and in 2019, Clerks was among 25 films chosen to be added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

Clerks (film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Clerks (1994) ⭐ 7.7 | Comedy

1h 32m | R

www.imdb.com

 

[GD Fan]

Considering its lasting cultural impact, The Big Lebowski at $15mm deserves at least a mention. Or, well, you know, maybe that's just like my opinion, man.

 

[Doodski]

Considering its lasting cultural impact, The Big Lebowski at $15mm deserves at least a mention. Or, well, you know, maybe that's just like my opinion, man.

Wowow.
The Big Lebowski received its world premiere at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 1998, at the 1,300-capacity Eccles Theater. It was also screened at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival[34][35] before opening in North America on March 6, 1998, in 1,207 theaters. It grossed $5.5 million on its opening weekend, finishing up with a gross of $18 million in the United States, just above its US$15 million budget. The film's worldwide gross outside of the US was $28.7 million, bringing its worldwide gross to $46.7 million.
In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

 

[JSmith]

JSmith

 

[olbobcat]

It is free to watch on youtube. A true low buget movie

 

[TheWalkman]

Hands down winner…

 

[KR500]

Napoleon Dynamite
Jon Heder was paid $1000 for his role
He was properly compensated later when it became a sleeper hit

 

[DMill]

The original Rocky was pretty awesome. Total budget was less than $1million.

 

[Mart68]

'Dark Star' - expanded from a film school project, still one of the best things ever done by anyone, ever.

 

[atcman]

+1 for Dark star Fantastic Movie

 

[3125b]

Blair Witch project way overshot its budget, ending up costing 200,000-750,000$ (not sure what they spend that much on), however it grossed 250 million.
I wouldn't say it's a particularly good movie, but it was a huge hit.

 

[jsilvela]

Hal Hartley's movies.
The first had an estimated 75k budget.

The Unbelievable Truth (1989) ⭐ 7.2 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

1h 30m | R

www.imdb.com

Simple Men, also great, more expensive but not high budget by any means

Simple Men (1992) ⭐ 7.1 | Crime, Drama, Romance

1h 45m | R

www.imdb.com

 

[DTTOM37]

I'd like to add Jim Jarmush first three oeuvres, Permanent Vacation (12k), Stranger Than Paradise (100k) and Down by Law (453,6k).
Mad Max, Eraserhad and Slacker may be part of the list as well, due to their limited budget. As a wild card I'd like to add Repo Man.

 

[BeeKay]

Mad Max

 

[Mart68]

I'd like to add Jim Jarmush first three oeuvres, Permanent Vacation (12k), Stranger Than Paradise (100k) and Down by Law (453,6k).
Mad Max, Eraserhad and Slacker may be part of the list as well, due to their limited budget. As a wild card I'd like to add Repo Man.

Yes to 'Repo Man'

'Easy Rider' was a low budget film, made Hollywood realise they didn't need to spend a fortune making a picture in order to have a huge hit. They seem to have forgotten that again now though.

 

[FlyingFreak]

'Man bites dog'. Budget $33000.
Belgian movie that became an instant cult in the French world. Also belonging to the expanding from a film school project list.

 

[olbobcat]

'Man bites dog'. Budget $33000.
Belgian movie that became an instant cult in the French world. Also belonging to the expanding from a film school project list.

I have that one in my collection, forever. In the same era is Christopher Nolan"s Following which was $6000usd. AMC+ and Tubi.

 

[SMc]

Robert Rodriguez' El Mariachi was done for $7,000. The English-language version did benefit from a bunch of post-production spending.

El Mariachi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DTTOM37]

In the light of Hanif Kureishi's horrible twist of fate this year, I'd like to propose his collaboration with director Steaphen Frears "My beautiful laundrette", which was "originally shot in 16mm for Channel 4 on a low budget" (650k) before it was made available to cinemas after receiving succes at film festivals.
My Beautiful Laundrette

 

[olbobcat]

In the light of Hanif Kureishi's horrible twist of fate this year, I'd like to propose his collaboration with director Steaphen Frears "My beautiful laundrette", which was "originally shot in 16mm for Channel 4 on a low budget" (650k) before it was made available to cinemas after receiving succes at film festivals.
My Beautiful Laundrette

You look at all the great movies that Channel 4 has had, it is just crazy.