What makes a good movie? In simple terms, a good movie keeps the audience?s attention from beginning till end by various means, including the actor?s performing value, action scenes, special effects, story lines, screenplay, setting, iconography, and so on.

At the outset, it should be said that an important factor in making a ?good? movie is the subjective choice of the audience itself. Films are invariably tailored for what makes potential audiences ?tick?, and the latter are carefully selected by their demographics, psychographics and ranking in the hierarchy of needs. That is why different movies appeal to different audiences.

Another factor, which contributes to the making of a successful movie, is cinematography. But what is cinematography? Cinematography is anything to do with the codes and conventions of a film. Codes and conventions are essentially the underlying, often involuntary, cultural and value structures that govern different societies. Needless to say, filmic codes and conventions would vary according to context, country and culture. For example, the filmic codes of Bollywood movies differ from those of Hollywood movies.

While dance, tradition and community living are emphasized in the former, individuality, heroism and personal achievement are valued in the latter. So, codes and conventions involve factors such as values conveyed, movie format, screenplay, editing techniques, setting, as well as film content.

It is important to remember that films always contain the ideological baggage of the filmmaker and background setting. For example, film producers play on established societal stereotypes to evoke an element of familiarity in the audience, such that in an action-adventure movie genre, the typical male-macho hero will more often than not save the female heroine.

In the same respect, why might some of us not enjoy, say, Chinese movies? Again this has to do with the cinematography of the Chinese movie genre. Many of us are not acquainted with the Chinese way of life and societal codes, therefore it becomes difficult for us to comprehend the inherent cinematic codes of the Chinese genre as their filmic conventions reflect many cultural aspects from which the movie is born, aspects not familiar to us. It should be pointed out, however, that ?art? films can transcend these considerations and have a universal appeal. Such films entail a different dynamics.

Other significant factors that contribute to a popular movie include the reputation of the producers, production companies and heroes, all of which work as points of reference for audiences. People are more likely to find a film good if the producer is well-known and are less likely to question to validity of their judgment based on the same premise. A film by Steven Spielberg cannot possibly be bad!

Above all, a good movie is one that has a transcending truth to it. The themes that a film makes use of are very important as, the more relevant they are to real life, the more appealing they are to the audience. The Matrix, for instance, uses futuristic technologies and plays around with the dialectic themes of technophiles v/s technophobes.