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?
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
KlythsbyTheJediMar 22, 2026
+23
With Fury Road specifically they didn’t even write a traditional script, it was all storyboards
23
Freakjob_003Mar 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
GodverdomseJonagoldsMar 22, 2026
+17
The Revenant
17
ell_houMar 22, 2026
+12
Conan the Barbarian barely has any dialogue to start with. Just keep the score.
12
free_billstickersMar 22, 2026
+10
Watching an audio movie in silence on a plane sounds like some kind of art film
10
Aromatic_Meringue835Mar 22, 2026
+8
In the mood for love
8
braveulyseesMar 22, 2026
+1
The Eiger Sanction
1
OHotDawnThisIsMyJawnMar 22, 2026
+1
My first thought as well. There’s hardly any dialog as it is.
1
Posavec235Mar 22, 2026
+8
George Lucas mentioned that the Darth Maul fight was directed like it was being made for a silent film.
8
xotoramesMar 23, 2026
I wish the entire prequel trilogy was silent films, I'm sure it would improve them a lot.
0
JibajabbMar 22, 2026
+8
have you seen soderbergh's black+white, silent cut of Indiana Jones? Wow, way to make a point..
8
SammlerWorksArtMar 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
toucanlostMar 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
Someone393Mar 22, 2026
+17
Locke. Wait no
17
arealhumannotabotMar 22, 2026
+6
Phone Booth
It’s just Colin Farrell staring at a phone in various states of shock
6
TichrimoMar 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
SoKrat3sMar 22, 2026
+4
Either of the first two Predators also.
4
fist003Mar 22, 2026
+5
How about Logan..?
5
Careless_Wash9126Mar 22, 2026
+4
I once accidentally watched Alien 1979 in "score only" mode, and it remained surprisingly frightening without dialogue and SFX.
4
tugarthemanMar 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_10Mar 22, 2026
+10
The Artist feels like cheating, but it proves the point—visual storytelling can carry an entire movie.
10
JohnRCCMar 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
ZorroMeansFoxMar 22, 2026
+5
I'll say one would be Malick's **Badlands**.
5
QuirderphMar 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
arealhumannotabotMar 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-3877Mar 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
HiFiGuy197Mar 22, 2026
+2
[Star Wars](https://youtu.be/JkuS-JkHd8s)
Probably many [Spielberg films](https://youtu.be/ItbCLh4Auoo) would work.
2
LilJourneyMar 22, 2026
+2
I think Die Hard would work pretty well. Straight forward plot/action movie.
2
alien_pirateMar 22, 2026
+2
Edward Scissorhands. It's a very visual rich film.
2
HAL9100Mar 22, 2026
+2
I’ve watched Cache like this and it lands pretty well
2
Decent_Management449Mar 22, 2026
+3
Some movies are better without the sound. For example, Passengers.
Lol
3
truckturner5164Mar 22, 2026
+3
Hugo (2011)
3
readzalot1Mar 22, 2026
+2
Home Alone
2
YabanjinMar 22, 2026
+1
Onibaba. It’s a visual masterpiece but you could figure out the entire story simply through its images. Fantastic movie!
1
randallaMar 22, 2026
+1
Leon The Professional - The DVD had a music score audio track which I loved and would play on occasion.
1
MahaliAudranMar 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
cometlinMar 22, 2026
+1
Wall E
1
hgaben90Mar 22, 2026
+1
If by silent film, you mean text cards are not cheating, then The Lighthouse.
1
SonofBeckettMar 22, 2026
+1
Jeremiah Johnson is a perfect example of this.
1
MillenniumFranklinMar 22, 2026
+1
Star Wars. The first one. A New Hope.
Take out all the dialog but leave the music. It’s perfect.
1
Krg60Mar 22, 2026
+1
Blade Runner 2049
Annihilation
1
Sylpheed_GammaMar 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
OreoSpeedwaggonMar 22, 2026
+1
"Three Amigos"
1
colinisthereasonMar 22, 2026
+1
Old Boy
1
I_Weep_for_WillowMar 22, 2026
+1
Predator.
1
DomrebootMar 23, 2026
+1
Solaris by Steven Soderbergh
And the original The Crow from the 90s could qualify as almost silent films
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