Best Films For Each Year 1888-2011
by metters | created - 14 Feb 2012 | updated - 15 Feb 2012 | PublicI've tried to pick the best film for each year since the birth of cinema. The choice of films has been based importance, influence, quality and sometimes just personal preference. A couple of years around the early 1900s I've missed out, because if I haven't seen or heard of any film from that year I'd prefer to skip the year than pick a film I've not heard of at random. Some years had an obvious choice, other years needed a more difficult decision, with 2, 3 or even more films for some years. There are bound to be some disagreements, but hey-ho this is just my opinion.
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1. Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
In the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | Stars: Annie Hartley, Adolphe Le Prince, Joseph Whitley, Sarah Whitley
Votes: 6,794
These 2 seconds of celluloid film represent the first time moving images were captured on film, creating an industry that would take over the culture of hundreds of millions of people. From this to The A-Team in just 122 years!
2. Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses (1889)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Alleged silent black-and-white short film shot at Apsley Gate, Hyde Park, London.
Director: William Friese-Greene
Votes: 484
3. Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
One of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Star: Giuseppe Sacco Albanese
Votes: 1,646
Notable for being the first film from the Edison company, which would go on to pioneer cinema techniques in the early years.
4. Dickson Greeting (1891)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short
The very first American film shown to public audiences and the press. It depicts William K.L. Dickson taking off his hat and greeting the audience.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: William K.L. Dickson
Votes: 1,567
I always imagine him as saying "Welcome to the movies"
5. Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
TV-PG | 5 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
One night, Arlequin come to see his lover Colombine. But then Pierrot knocks at the door and Colombine and Arlequin hide. Pierrot starts singing but Arlequin scares him and the poor man goes away.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 2,007
6. Blacksmith Scene (1893)
Unrated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Charles Kayser, John Ott
Votes: 2,769
7. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Fred Ott
Votes: 2,192
8. Leaving the Factory (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Workers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 7,547
The first short from the Lumiere Brothers, who would bring movies to the masses in France and lead to the Europeans domination of films for the next 2 decades.
9. The Arrival of a Train (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
A train arrives at La Ciotat station.
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière | Stars: Madeleine Koehler, Marcel Koehler, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière
Votes: 12,863
10. The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (1897)
100 min | Documentary, News, Sport
Documentary film depicting the 1897 boxing match between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons in Carson City, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day. Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it is the world's first feature film.
Director: Enoch J. Rector | Stars: James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Billy Madden, George Siler
Votes: 512
As the description states, notable as being the first feature length film, running at a mammoth 90 minutes, when nearly all other films of the day were little over 1 minute.
11. American Flag (II) (1898)
Short
"This picture shows our national flag waving in the breeze. Coloring adds greatly to the effectiveness of this film."
Director: William Heise
Votes: 33
12. A Kiss in the Tunnel (I) (1899)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A humorous subject intended to be run as a part of a railroad scene during the period in which the train is passing through a tunnel.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,694
13. The Enchanted Drawing (1900)
2 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A cartoonist defies reality when he draws objects that become three-dimensional after he lifts them off his sketch pad.
Director: J. Stuart Blackton | Star: J. Stuart Blackton
Votes: 1,413
One of the earliest and most influential examples of animation, although it would be another 14 years until Gertie The Dinosaur that the animations featured a recognisable personality.
14. Fun in a Butcher Shop (1901)
Short, Comedy, Fantasy
Two enterprising Dutchmen are at work at their sausage mill. A constant stream of boys and men are coming into the sausage factory and depositing with the butchers, dogs, cats and various ... See full summary »
Votes: 43
15. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,731
The entire sci-fi genre began with this film.
16. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
TV-G | 11 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, A.C. Abadie, George Barnes, Justus D. Barnes
Votes: 20,985
17. The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog (1905)
Not Rated | 5 min | Short, Comedy, Family
The Whole Dam Family and The Dam Dog is a popular fad which has been widely advertised by lithographs and souvenir mailing cards, and has recently been made the subject of a sketch in a New... See full summary »
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Stars: William Courtenay, Frank Daniels, May Irwin, Charlotte Walker
Votes: 749
18. San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake (1906)
1 min | Documentary, Short, History
Footage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out... See full summary »
Director: Robert K. Bonine
Votes: 595
19. The Dog and His Various Merits (1908)
Not Rated | 2 min | Short, Documentary
We see a working dog, a beggar's dog, a shepherd's dog, and a milkman's dog. The working dog is locked inside a large wire wheel; the dog runs inside the wheel, turning it to run a machine.... See full summary »
Votes: 462
20. The Sealed Room (1909)
Not Rated | 11 min | Short, Drama, History
A king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall, Linda Arvidson
Votes: 960
21. Frankenstein (1910)
Unrated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
The first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
Director: J. Searle Dawley | Stars: Mary Fuller, Charles Ogle, Augustus Phillips
Votes: 4,733
The first time this legendary creature appeared on the screen.
22. Dante's Inferno (1911)
71 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Loosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.
Directors: Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, Giuseppe de Liguoro | Stars: Salvatore Papa, Arturo Pirovano, Giuseppe de Liguoro, Pier Delle Vigne
Votes: 3,450
23. The Avenging Conscience: or 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' (1914)
Not Rated | 78 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Prevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Henry B. Walthall, Spottiswoode Aitken, Blanche Sweet, George Siegmann
Votes: 1,428
24. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
TV-PG | 195 min | Drama, History, War
The Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper
Votes: 26,330 | Gross: $10.00M
25. Intolerance (1916)
Passed | 163 min | Drama, History
The story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Mae Marsh, F.A. Turner
Votes: 16,717 | Gross: $2.18M
26. Cleopatra (1917)
125 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Cleopatra, the fabulous queen of Egypt, and the epic romances between her and the greatest men of Rome, Julius Caesar and Antony.
Director: J. Gordon Edwards | Stars: Theda Bara, Fritz Leiber, Thurston Hall, Alan Roscoe
Votes: 393
27. Chase Me Charlie (1918)
46 min | Comedy
Chase Me Charlie was an anthology consisting of excerpts from several of Chaplin's short films made for the Essanay Company, including The Tramp, Shanghaied, In the Park and The Bank.
Directors: Charles Chaplin, Langford Reed | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Leo White, Ben Turpin
Votes: 157
28. Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A frail waif, abused by her brutal boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Arthur Howard
Votes: 11,059
29. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
Director: Robert Wiene | Stars: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover
Votes: 70,027
30. The Kid (1921)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan, Carl Miller
Votes: 134,768 | Gross: $5.45M
31. Nosferatu (1922)
Not Rated | 94 min | Fantasy, Horror
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Votes: 105,384
The birth of horror films, and still one of the best.
32. Safety Last! (1923)
Not Rated | 74 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young
Votes: 22,897 | Gross: $1.36M
33. Greed (1924)
Not Rated | 140 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
Director: Erich von Stroheim | Stars: Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller
Votes: 10,757 | Gross: $0.16M
34. The Lost World (1925)
Passed | 110 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.
Director: Harry O. Hoyt | Stars: Wallace Beery, Bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes, Lewis Stone
Votes: 5,811 | Gross: $1.19M
A milestone in special effects, with the stop-motion animated dinosaurs being brought to life with a realism never seen before.
35. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Not Rated | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
Directors: Lotte Reiniger, Carl Koch
Votes: 6,887
36. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,443 | Gross: $1.24M
One of the greatest films ever made; will always be relevant and will always be a stunning example of the medium.
37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Passed | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz
Votes: 60,628 | Gross: $0.02M
38. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
Director: Dziga Vertov | Stars: Mikhail Kaufman, Elizaveta Svilova
Votes: 27,967
39. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Passed | 152 min | Drama, War
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy
Votes: 67,658 | Gross: $3.27M
40. City Lights (1931)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers
Votes: 195,985 | Gross: $0.02M
Although 1931 was tough, between this and Frankenstein, ultimately Chaplin's film had to take it with it's perfect balance of comedy and sentiment, a remarkably difficult balance to achieve.
41. The Mummy (1932)
Approved | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror
A resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
Director: Karl Freund | Stars: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron
Votes: 30,111
Another tough choice between The Mummy and Freaks. But in the end The Mummy wins it for Jack Pierce's revolutionary make-up techniques.
42. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 90,933 | Gross: $10.00M
43. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,222 | Gross: $4.36M
44. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,227 | Gross: $4.36M
45. Modern Times (1936)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford
Votes: 259,353 | Gross: $0.16M
46. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Approved | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
Directors: William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell
Votes: 215,328 | Gross: $184.93M
47. Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (1938)
Not Rated | 111 min | Documentary, Sport
The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.
Director: Leni Riefenstahl | Stars: David Albritton, Arvo Askola, Jack Beresford, Erwin Blask
Votes: 5,239
This, along with Part 2 (Festival Of Beauty), marked the birth of modern documentary film-making techniques, many of which are still used today. This is a purely visual feast that presents the sports in a more intimate was than anyone had managed previous.
48. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,353 | Gross: $9.60M
49. The Great Dictator (1940)
G | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 237,271 | Gross: $0.29M
50. Dumbo (1941)
G | 64 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.
Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, John Elliotte | Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, Billy Bletcher
Votes: 142,011 | Gross: $1.60M
Some people may disagree, and put Citizen Kane at the top of the list for 1941, Dumbo wins it for me. Cinema is essentially for entertainment, and there's nothing more entertaining than the little elephant who learnt to fly.
51. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,757 | Gross: $1.02M
The most beautiful and mesmerising romances to be captured on screen. Highly regarded as one of the best, and rightly so.
52. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Passed | 108 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 70,476
53. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 51,392 | Gross: $4.36M
54. Brief Encounter (1945)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Romance
Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey
Votes: 44,210
55. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,962
56. Black Narcissus (1947)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama
A group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird
Votes: 27,645
57. Rope (1948)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan
Votes: 153,556
58. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,780 | Gross: $0.45M
59. Harvey (1950)
Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Due to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn, Victoria Horne
Votes: 58,223
60. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 85,737
61. Umberto D. (1952)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
Votes: 28,164 | Gross: $0.07M
62. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 39,592 | Gross: $2.42M
In a year also featuring Rear Window, Dial M For Murder and On The Waterfront, 1954 presented a difficult choice. But as a horror/sci-fi fan I cannot ignore the achievements of this film, and the influence it has spawned throughout the world.
63. Diabolique (1955)
Not Rated | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel
Votes: 69,365 | Gross: $1.09M
64. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan
Votes: 54,722
65. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
Votes: 864,446 | Gross: $4.36M
66. Horror of Dracula (1958)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama, Horror
When Jonathan Harker rouses the ire of Count Dracula for accepting a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, his friend Dr. Van Helsing pursues the predatory villain.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling
Votes: 27,960
This narrowly edges out Vertigo, because as the first major Hammer film it represents a resurgence in British film making and in horror films, that would lead to Night Of The Living Dead 10 years later and the rise of the horror genre in the 70s.
67. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 345,992 | Gross: $13.28M
68. Peeping Tom (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Maxine Audley
Votes: 39,226 | Gross: $0.08M
Although Psycho may (with good reason) be regarded as one of the best films of all time, let alone 1960, Peeping Tom knocks it off the list with its voyeurism - seeing the murders through the eyes of the killer is more unsettling than anything in Psycho. A film so far ahead of it's time director Michael Powell's career never recovered, because people just didn't get it.
69. The Hustler (1961)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama, Sport
An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Votes: 86,769 | Gross: $8.28M
70. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 332,746
71. The Birds (1963)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Votes: 204,418 | Gross: $11.40M
Special mention should be given to The Haunting, as a perfect example of how to give an audience scares without having the need to show a monster on screen.
72. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Musical
Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 48,064 | Gross: $13.78M
A burst of pure joy and energy onto the cinema screens, and the perfect embodiment of what Beatlemania was. And anyone who's seen Albert & David Maysles' documentary The Beatles First US Visit will recognise that this film is perhaps more realistic than you may first think|
73. The War Game (1966)
48 min | Drama, War
A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Michael Aspel, Peter Graham, Dave Baldwin, Kathy Staff
Votes: 7,299
74. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 810,812 | Gross: $6.10M
75. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
R | 111 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman
Votes: 120,571
Opened up a whole new grim world of realistic crime violence.
76. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 719,131 | Gross: $56.95M
Despite the undoubted quality of Rosemary's Baby and the game-changing Night Of The Living Dead, 1968 is trumped by 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don't think it needs any further explanation.
77. Kes (1969)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Family
A working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: David Bradley, Brian Glover, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie
Votes: 22,924
78. M*A*S*H (1970)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman
Votes: 76,897 | Gross: $81.60M
79. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,602 | Gross: $15.63M
A tough call between this and A Clockwork Orange. As good as A Clockwork Orange is, it is too mired by the hype and controversy around it. The French Connection, however, represents a new manner of film making that is more rough, documentary-like, putting the audience at the centre of the action in a way that would inspire such shaky-cam films as Blair Witch, Cloverfield and Trollhunter.
80. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,011,214 | Gross: $134.97M
81. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,210 | Gross: $0.06M
A very tough choice for 1973, from three of the best and most influential horror films ever made; films that were not simply examples of the genre, but which represented horror crossing over into the mainstream. My ultimate choice of The Wicker Man, over The Exorcist and Don't Look Now, is essentially just down to personal preference. I just like it better.
82. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Not Rated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young man named Kaspar Hauser suddenly appears in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to talk or walk, and bearing a strange note.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira, Willy Semmelrogge
Votes: 18,895
Some people think The Godfather Part II should be here for 1974. But as my favourite director, Werner Herzog has to be in this list somewhere. Again, this is just personal preference.
83. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 659,150 | Gross: $260.00M
84. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West
Votes: 55,571
Narrowly beats out Taxi Driver, but John Carpenter's incredibly tense story represents 'thriller' with effectiveness not seen since Hitchcock, and from this you can see the elements that would appear to even greater success in his horror films.
85. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,011 | Gross: $322.74M
A toss up between two of the classic sci-fi films, Star Wars or Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. At the end of the day nobody can deny the cultural influence this film has had.
86. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,525 | Gross: $5.10M
87. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 709,774 | Gross: $83.47M
A year of many great films, with Life Of Brian, Alien and Scum all being personal favourites. But Coppola's nightmare of war is dizzying, nauseating and completely mesmerising.
88. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 260,941 | Gross: $83.40M
Another difficult year to choose from, with The Empire Strikes Back, The Elephant Man and The Blues Brothers all being worthy contenders. But Airplane wins out, with it's rapid-fire gags that maintain a constant good standard marking it a cut above the average comedy. Watch it, and be surprised about how many jokes have permeated into the popular subconscious.
89. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,036,541 | Gross: $248.16M
At the last minute thought this should go on the list instead of Das Boot. Whereas Das Boot is a very good film - an intense experience of life aboard a German U-Boat - Raiders gets this year for the same reason as Dumbo in 1941: Pure entertainment factor. It is a film that never grows old, unlike Indi himself (unfortunately).
90. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 466,348 | Gross: $13.78M
As a Star Trek fan it's hard for me not to put The Wrath Of Khan here. But Trek didn't quite have the widespread impact that The Thing did, with it's innovations in special effects and showcasing how to make a tense, paranoid film.
91. Scarface (1983)
R | 170 min | Crime, Drama
In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Votes: 915,976 | Gross: $45.60M
92. Ghostbusters (1984)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Votes: 449,708 | Gross: $238.63M
I found this quite a difficult year to choose from. The Terminator, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Gremlins and Blood Simple are all superior examples of their respective genres. But ultimately Ghostbusters has the charm, humour and memorable gags that stand it apart from the others.
93. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,306,047 | Gross: $210.61M
94. The Fly (1986)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Votes: 201,781 | Gross: $40.46M
Alien missed the list for 1979 to Apocalypse Now. And here too must Aliens miss a place, because I feel that for it's impact on cinema alone - it it's ground breaking make up effects and barely-veiled analogies to real life (i.e. the virus which slowly destroys the body) The Fly deservedly takes the pedestal for 1986.
95. Withnail & I (1987)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown
Votes: 47,878 | Gross: $1.54M
96. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 945,194 | Gross: $83.01M
The modern action film, in all it's explosive glory, was born with Bruce Willis In A Vest Part 1, aka Die Hard.
97. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music
Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri
Votes: 141,609 | Gross: $40.49M
Concluding a decade of all-time great comedies that began with Airplane!, ends with Bill & Ted as they go on their most excellent historic adventure. The silliness is never too silly, and the laughs just keep coming. Touch of class added courtesy of George Carlin.
98. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,256,677 | Gross: $46.84M
99. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,173,460 | Gross: $204.84M
100. Braindead (1992)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin
Votes: 103,256 | Gross: $0.24M
Reservoir Dogs may have wowed the world with its release in 1992, but Braindead makes the list for it's sheer absurdity. Never before had comedy and horror been used together to such effectiveness, with a level of gore so repulsive and ridiculous, that you're laughing before you even notice the horror.
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