IELTS Cue Card 10: Your Favourite Movie
IELTS Speaking Cue Card with Sample Answer. Cue Card AYour Favourite Movie. IELTS Speaking Part 2 With Model Answer.
Describe Your Favourite Movie
You should say:
- What is the name of the movie/ film?
- What is the theme of the movie/ film?
- Why do you like it?
- and describe the story of the movie in brief.
Follow-up Questions:
• Describe a war movie you like.
• What’s the difference between the movies or your country and Hollywood movies?
• What do you think of the violent films?
• Why movies need computer techniques? Any example of movies using computer techniques?
• Which parts of a movie are the most important and how to improve it?
Follow-up Questions:
• Is friendship important in your culture? How many close friends can you have?
• Are friends more important than family?
• What are the important things among good friends?
• Do you have any friends from a foreign country?
• What are the differences between real life friends and pen friends?
Tips for answering this cue card topic:
Notes
As part of your preparation for this cue card chose a movie that was based on real war and has historic value and was adopted from a book. Doing so you would be able to answer the following cue cards as well:
- 1. Describe a movie that was made based on a real event.
2. Describe a movie that created based on a historic event.
3. Describe a war movie you have watched.
4. Talk about a film which was adapted from a book.
5. Talk about a critically acclaimed film you that you watched.
6. Describe the best film you saw this year.Following are some of such Hollywood movies/ films that you can describe. To pick such movie names and their details those were made in your own country, Google it.
Movies based on real events:
Empire State
Act of Valor
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Devil’s Double
The Social Network
Fair Game
Public Enemies
The Killing of John Lennon
A Beautiful MindMovies based on real event and War
Emperor
Everyman’s War
Valkyrie
Hurt Locker
The Pianist
Behind Enemy LinesMovies based on Books
The Motorcycle Diaries
Twilight
Stardust
Pride and prejudice
The Godfather
Schindler’s List
The bridge on the river Kwai
Scarface
Basic Tips and Tricks:
1. Talk about a movie that you have watched as this would help you describing the story of the movie.
2. You should know the names of the main actor, actress, genre, producer and director of the movie.
3. Describe the story in brief. Do not start describing the details of the story from the beginning as you will run out of time before finishing the whole story.
4. Mention some of the following reasons for the question ‘Why you liked it”
- This is a critically acclaimed movie.
- The story line is touchy and has good morality.
- The movie was based on a real story.
- The story depicts a historic events/ national events/ real life issue.
- I enjoyed the acting and story of the movie.
- The outstanding performance by an actor/ actress.
- The movie has lots of special effect/ actions that you enjoyed.
- It is one of the best movies based on some reliable ratings.
- It was recommended by a friend/ family member/ teacher
- The story reveals a fact that touched you.
Note that a movie and a film indicate the same thing. ‘Film‘ is used in British English whereas both words are used in American English. So do not get confused if the cue card asks you to talk about a film while you consider it as ‘Movie‘.
Model Answer 1:
I have seen many movies but the movie I like the most is Baghban.
IT is directed by Ravi Chopra.
The lead roles are played by Amitabh Bachan and Hema Malini.
The movie shows the selfish attitude of today children and how they take their
parents for granted.
After Amitabh Bachan retires his four sons are very reluctant to look after them.
Amitabh and Hema are supported by an adopted son who really loves and
respects them.
Fortunately Amitabh‟s book Baghban turns out to be a bestseller and he
becomes rich overnight.
Now his selfish children again swarm around him like bees around honey .
This movie gives the message that when parents look after their children, they
should save money for their rainy days that is their old age.
After seeing this movie my respect for my parents grew and I began to look at
things from a different perspective.
Model Answer 2:
The name of my favourite movie is ‘Casablanca’ which was directed by Michael Curtiz. It was released in 1943 and the story was adopted from a stage-play named ‘Everybody comes to Ricks’. The movie starred Humphery Bogart & Ingrid Bergman and was made in the USA. It was a romantic drama film and the storyline was set during the World War II.
It focuses on a man torn between love & virtue. In 1941 American expatriate Rick who professed to be neutral by all means met his former lover Ilsa in his nightclub & gambling den. She was accompanied by her husband, Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance Leader. They needed a letter to escape to America, where he can continue his work against Nazis. German Major came to Casablanca to see that Laszlo does not succeed. One night Ilsa confronted Rich in the deserted cafe and asked for the letter. She threatened him with a gun for the letter and later on confessed that she still loves him. Rick’s bitterness dissolved learning that IIsa was married to Laszlo before even their relationship began. When Rick and IIsa planned to fly together, she could not do so because all of a sudden she found that her husband was still alive and needed her badly to recover. Hearing the story Rick calmed down and agreed to give the letter to Laszlo so that he can fly to America safely. They would take a different path to fly away together. But finally, Rick let IIsa and Laszlo fly to America which surprised IIsa very much.
In 1989, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry a being deemed ‘Culturally’, ‘Historically’ and ‘Aesthetically’ significant. It is the 2nd best movie of all time based on AFI’s 100 best movies of all time.
I’ve seen the movie more than 2-3 times. The story is excellent, the casting, plot, acting, dialogues and all other aspects of the movie are superb. The movie deeply touched me and became the most favourite movie I have ever seen.
Model Answer 3:
The Gods Must be Crazy is the best movie I have ever seen and I like it most for many reasons. I have watched the movie for many times and each of the time the pleasure was different to me. It never becomes old with me. The natural reactions against the modernization of the protagonist – Xi makes me amused. His reactions against the modern civilisations are quite natural and funny as well. But the other installments (part two and three) of the same movie appear as those are not up to the mark. Many of the events have been exaggerated which has damaged the real beauty of the movie. So, considering all the aspects, the first part of the series is my favourite movie and I think many of the audiences will agree with my opinion.
I watched the movie first when I was a teen and it might be the 1990s when I watched that. My father brought the movie that was played on a VCR connected to our television. At that time, watching movies had two ways only. The first one is to go to the cinemas while the second one was to bring the video cassettes at home. My father also loved watching movies and he brought the video tape of the movie. But since I was a kid, I could not derive much pleasure in the beginning. When I grew up, I started understanding the inner meaning of the movie. Sometimes I have watched the movie alone and in some cases, I played the movie at home when someone came to visit us. In my 30s today, still I am fond of the movie as I was in my teenage.
The movie is the best movie to me for some specific reason. It was made in the 1980s and the plot concept is clear. It wants to give a message to the modern people that everything they are doing is not fair. This is a comedy movie but the message it provides in guise of comedy is strong. The movie shows that Xi is praying before killing an animal while the modern people do not perform so. Moreover, every blessing of the modern world was unfamiliar to him and he could not cope up with the complexities of life in the city. He knew how to survive in the desert and jungle but survival in the city becomes difficult for him. In fact, modernization has made life more complex than the uncivilised life. Besides, political turmoil (depicted in the movie) also shows the unstable situations of the modern era. Xi, now wants to go back in his tribe but due to the complicated system, he cannot get back easily. The movie actually shows the simplicity of life. So, like the movie best.
Model Answer 4:
Today I’d like to talk about Armageddon, which is one of my favorite movies of all times.
This is an American disaster film released in 1998 and it starred famous Hollywood actors Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Even though this movie had mixed reviews from critics, I really liked its story line and it became, in fact, the highest-grossing film of that year. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_(1998_film))
Armageddon tells the story of a possible scenario in the future, which is the approach of a large asteroid to Earth and that could end all living organisms in the planet, including human beings. In the movie, NASA discovers such asteroid and sends a group of oil drillers to the asteroid with the intention of destroying it by setting a nuclear bomb in the heart of the asteroid. This was evidently a mission to save mankind, and they ended up having success after many struggles and sacrifices.
I first saw this film with my friends at the movie theater right after it was released. I really lost count of how many times I’ve watched it afterwards, but the truth is that I’ve memorized almost the entire script! I like this movie very much because it has a combination of reality, humor, romance, and suspense. Every time when I watch it, I feel that the world is so wonderful that we should all enjoy it as much as we can, or as long as we are allowed to.
All in all, although this is an old movie, it was a great success in the film industry and I would recommend it to all of my friends.
Model Answer 5:
I happened to meet this person who later became my friend in a yoga and meditation class which I joined quite lately. It was quite a chance that this person who goes by the name, Gajender, sat beside me during the class.
The reason why I like spending time with him is the positive vibes that I feel out of him. He is one of the persons, rather the first person in my life whom I have met having a very positive attitude towards the life.
I always found him in a jubilant mood in spite of the fact that he had a very troublesome incident in his life. He lost his only son and that too at a young age of 25. I must say, he is one of the persons who has really made a positive impression on my mind and has contributed a lot in the way I have started looking at life.
After these classes, it has been quite a regular feature that I spend my time in his company, almost every weekend. Yet another reason why I like spending time with Gajender is the humorous character that he possesses.
Part 3: Details Discussion:
Q. Describe a war movie you like.
Answer: I’m going to tell you about ‘Braveheart’, a war movie directed by Mel Gibson, who was also the leading character. The movie was released in 1995 and it was written by Randall Wallace. In the 14th century, William Wallace, a Scottish warrior, leads his people in a rebellion against the tyranny of the English King, who has given English nobility the ‘Prima Nocta’ – a right to take all new brides for the first night. The Scots are none too pleased with the brutal English invaders, but they lack the leadership to fight back. Wallace creates a legend of himself, with his courageous defence of his people and attacks on the English. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Editing.
Other war movies you can say about: The Pianist, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Apocalypse Now, Good Morning Vietnam, War Horse, Downfall, Lincoln, and Imitation Game.
Q. What’s the difference between the movies of your country and Hollywood movies?
Answer: I believe that the movies in my country aren’t that good as Hollywood movies are. First of all, the budget is really low for the local movies and that is why there are very limited opportunities. Not all scenes are impressive and there are no special effects, something that dominates in Hollywood. Furthermore, the actors in local movies aren’t so famous and talented, on the contrary in Hollywood they are of worldwide fame. There are a large variety on the topic and theme of Hollywood movies. However, our local movies do not deal with a wide range of themes. Finally, Hollywood movies are released and enjoyed worldwide while our local movies are mostly made for us except some very few movies that get international attention.
Q. What do you think of the violent films?
Answer: I would say that it depends on the type of violence. To be more precise, I like movies with violent scenes because they’re interesting and include more actions. In those movies, the good wins over bad. It’s a kind of vindication and the message that good prevails over bad. I don’t like movies that involve rapes. In particular, I hate these movies. I would not say that it’s something that isn’t happening, but I think that promoting women’s humiliation and debasement is not a good thing. So, I would come to the conclusion that I partly like violent movies and specifically, it depends on the story. However, the unnecessary violence is not liked by all and I am no exception.
Q. What do you think of the violent films?
Answer: Well, computer techniques should be used to add some characteristics to movies so that they can be more impressive and believable. Especially nowadays this opportunity is much more in use than the past. Many things that were unfeasible are attainable now with the computer technology in movie industries. A remarkable example could be ‘Avatar’, a movie that was critically acclaimed and had a million views worldwide. The groundbreaking visual effects used to make humans look like extraterrestrial beings were amazing and that was the primary reason that the film broke several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time in England, Canada and the USA.
Q. Which parts of a movie are the most important and how to improve it?
Answer: It is an undeniable fact that all the parts of a movie are extremely important, but it seems to me that more attention should be given to the finishing of a movie. There are many examples of movies that were very interesting but the end was extremely boring and disappointing. In this case, I totally believe that the end negates all the good things that happened in the rest of the movie and leaves a bad impression on the viewers. So, my opinion is that the last part/ finishing part of a film should be of paramount importance and it can be achieved by providing a distinct and not vague message to the viewers and making things clear in their mind.
Tip: You can say about other things such as the beginning, the plot, dialogues, directing, special effects or even the acting. It’s up to you and your personal opinion.
Similar IELTS Cue Card Topics
If you can talk about the cue card topic “Describe your favourite movie” you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue card topics as well:
- Describe a movie you have recently watched.
- Describe your favourite movie.
- Describe a foreign movie you have enjoyed.
- Describe a movie you would like to watch again.
- Describe a movie you watched with your friends.
- Describe a movie that was made based on a real event.
- Describe a movie that created based on a historic event.
- Describe a war movie you have watched.
- Talk about a film which was adapted from a book.
- Talk about a critically acclaimed film you that you watched.
- Describe the best film you saw this year.