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News & Current Events Mar 22, 2026 at 4:50 AM

Movies with dialogue that would work as silent films

Posted by Virot2


Some years ago, I was on a plane where the in-flight movie was Passengers, the one with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt on a spaceship. I couldn't be bothered to get a headset to watch it, but ended up watching it anyways without sound. I was surprised to find that it was effective as a silent film: I could tell exactly what was happening for the entire movie and got all the plot points and emotional beats (spoilers ahead): - Chris Pratt wakes up and is alone. - The loneliness gets to him and he wakes up Jennifer Lawrence. - They start to fall in love. - At some point the robot bartender lets the truth slip, and Jennifer Lawrence is rightfully pissed off. - Laurence Fishburne wakes up and tells them something is wrong with the ship, then drops dead. - Chris Pratt sacrifices himself to save the day but survives. - The two of them decide to live the rest of their lives together. None of the above required verbal exposition or context conveyed in dialogue. I know Passengers is not a great movie, but it was really interesting to experience it as a silent film, and possibly better, because I doubt the actual dialogue improved it at all. I think most movies wouldn't work like this, because the next movie shown on the flight was Pirates of the Caribbean, which I've seen before, and I had no idea what was going on. Any movies you can think of that would work well without sound?

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Low-Persimmon5613 Mar 22, 2026 +117
Mad Max Fury Road is basically a feature length car chase with grunting and explosions. George Miller knew exactly what he was doing - that movie tells its whole story through action and visual storytelling Wall-E works too since the first half is literally designed as a silent film, and even when the humans show up you can follow everything just from the robots expressions and movement
117
KlythsbyTheJedi Mar 22, 2026 +23
With Fury Road specifically they didn’t even write a traditional script, it was all storyboards
23
Freakjob_003 Mar 22, 2026 +7
Miller initially wanted to make a version that was in black and white that cut the dialogue but left the music. He had to compromise with the Black and Chrome version.
7
GodverdomseJonagolds Mar 22, 2026 +17
The Revenant
17
ell_hou Mar 22, 2026 +12
Conan the Barbarian barely has any dialogue to start with. Just keep the score.
12
free_billstickers Mar 22, 2026 +10
Watching an audio movie in silence on a plane sounds like some kind of art film
10
Aromatic_Meringue835 Mar 22, 2026 +8
In the mood for love
8
braveulysees Mar 22, 2026 +1
The Eiger Sanction
1
OHotDawnThisIsMyJawn Mar 22, 2026 +1
My first thought as well. There’s hardly any dialog as it is.  
1
Posavec235 Mar 22, 2026 +8
George Lucas mentioned that the Darth Maul fight was directed like it was being made for a silent film.
8
xotorames Mar 23, 2026
I wish the entire prequel trilogy was silent films, I'm sure it would improve them a lot.
0
Jibajabb Mar 22, 2026 +8
have you seen soderbergh's black+white, silent cut of Indiana Jones? Wow, way to make a point..
8
SammlerWorksArt Mar 22, 2026 +6
Oblivion, Blu-ray has a no dialogue/music only option.  Great soundtrack, so i popped it on while cleaning and both my wife and i ended up watching the whole thing. Seen it twice that way and love it. 
6
toucanlost Mar 22, 2026 +7
It’s probably not the best idea, but for what it’s worth I did that with Avatar the Way of Water (the plane also had 4K screens in economy), which I enjoyed. I vaguely recalled before the movie came out, some criticisms of Sigourney Weaver and other actors of dead characters coming back, however, since I forgot the exact details, that didn’t factor into my opinion of Kiri.
7
Someone393 Mar 22, 2026 +17
Locke. Wait no
17
arealhumannotabot Mar 22, 2026 +6
Phone Booth It’s just Colin Farrell staring at a phone in various states of shock
6
Tichrimo Mar 22, 2026 +12
First one that springs to mind is *Aliens*. The action sequences speak for themselves, and the action informs the plot so well that that's all the "dialogue" needed.
12
SoKrat3s Mar 22, 2026 +4
Either of the first two Predators also.
4
fist003 Mar 22, 2026 +5
How about Logan..?
5
Careless_Wash9126 Mar 22, 2026 +4
I once accidentally watched Alien 1979 in "score only" mode, and it remained surprisingly frightening without dialogue and SFX.
4
tugartheman Mar 22, 2026 +8
I think a fair few “revenge films” could easily fall into this category (or be watched in another language) because the concept is universal. John Wick(s), Nobody, Sisu 1 & 2 (basically are silent), You Were Never Really Here, Only God Forgives (also, practically dialogue-less), Kill Bill(s), etc. And “village/town/community hires mercenaries to fend off baddies” films - whether westerns, ninjas/martial artists, knights, space-settlers/aliens, etc.
8
pastel_stardrift_10 Mar 22, 2026 +10
The Artist feels like cheating, but it proves the point—visual storytelling can carry an entire movie.
10
JohnRCC Mar 22, 2026 +2
It's disingenuous to suggest silent films like The Artist are solely visual storytelling however. These films *do* have dialogue -- it's just text-based.
2
ZorroMeansFox Mar 22, 2026 +5
I'll say one would be Malick's **Badlands**.
5
Quirderph Mar 22, 2026 +3
Star Wars, specifically A New Hope. The other films depend too much on plot twists, but the first film has a very straightforward story.
3
arealhumannotabot Mar 22, 2026 +3
Work better? Can’t say. It fundamentally changes aspects such that whatever you’re envisioning is probably not what you’d get But there are definitely films with less dialog and it’s interesting to imagine them reworking it with none And I assume op means no dialog? A silent film can have dialog on cards
3
Level-Tangerine-3877 Mar 23, 2026 +3
you actually got lucky you didn't listen to J.Lawrence going into a full freak-out mode in the middle of that movie - for the lack of headphones
3
HiFiGuy197 Mar 22, 2026 +2
[Star Wars](https://youtu.be/JkuS-JkHd8s) Probably many [Spielberg films](https://youtu.be/ItbCLh4Auoo) would work.
2
LilJourney Mar 22, 2026 +2
I think Die Hard would work pretty well. Straight forward plot/action movie.
2
alien_pirate Mar 22, 2026 +2
Edward Scissorhands. It's a very visual rich film.
2
HAL9100 Mar 22, 2026 +2
I’ve watched Cache like this and it lands pretty well
2
Decent_Management449 Mar 22, 2026 +3
Some movies are better without the sound. For example, Passengers. Lol
3
truckturner5164 Mar 22, 2026 +3
Hugo (2011)
3
readzalot1 Mar 22, 2026 +2
Home Alone
2
Yabanjin Mar 22, 2026 +1
Onibaba. It’s a visual masterpiece but you could figure out the entire story simply through its images. Fantastic movie!
1
randalla Mar 22, 2026 +1
Leon The Professional - The DVD had a music score audio track which I loved and would play on occasion.
1
MahaliAudran Mar 22, 2026 +1
Conan the Barbarian hardly had any dialogue anyway. It's have and story progression after self-explanatory. Easy enough to do without any of the dialogue.
1
cometlin Mar 22, 2026 +1
Wall E
1
hgaben90 Mar 22, 2026 +1
If by silent film, you mean text cards are not cheating, then The Lighthouse.
1
SonofBeckett Mar 22, 2026 +1
Jeremiah Johnson is a perfect example of this. 
1
MillenniumFranklin Mar 22, 2026 +1
Star Wars. The first one. A New Hope. Take out all the dialog but leave the music. It’s perfect.
1
Krg60 Mar 22, 2026 +1
Blade Runner 2049 Annihilation
1
Sylpheed_Gamma Mar 22, 2026 +2
The film Escaflowne in 2000 came with an audio track which removed all sound but the orchestra backing it and was fantastic for it.
2
OreoSpeedwaggon Mar 22, 2026 +1
"Three Amigos"
1
colinisthereason Mar 22, 2026 +1
Old Boy
1
I_Weep_for_Willow Mar 22, 2026 +1
Predator. 
1
Domreboot Mar 23, 2026 +1
Solaris by Steven Soderbergh And the original The Crow from the 90s could qualify as almost silent films
1
Level-Tangerine-3877 Mar 23, 2026 +1
Sisterhood Of Traveling Pants
1
Prestigious_Duck6964 Mar 23, 2026 +1
1917
1
TheUnspeakableh Mar 23, 2026 +1
Any View-Askew-verse movie.
1
GiordanoBruno23 Mar 22, 2026 -1
Big Lebowski
-1
Colonel_Cumpants Mar 22, 2026
Any Tarantino-film.
0
TheWhiteManticore Mar 22, 2026 -1
Project Hail Mary
-1
SquidgyTheWhale Mar 22, 2026 -1
My Dinner With Andre.
-1
alien_pirate Mar 22, 2026 +2
I had to downvote, but you made me laugh.
2
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