If you have seen our list of the 25 worst movies ever then you know how laughably bad cinema can be. Due to popular request, however, we have now decided to take a look at the other side of the coin. By referencing the ratings page on IMBD (Internet Movie Database), where viewers vote on the top 250 movies of all time, we determined the 25 best movies ever made according to popular opinion.
A sleeper hit that has over time gained widespread acclaim, Silence of the Lambs is only the third film in history to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories.Giving birth to one of the most popular action heroes of all time, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark won four Academy Awards and set a new standard for special effects in action movies.Considered by many critics to be Alfred Hitchcock’s best film, Rear Window has been referenced numerous time in popular culture and has been added to the National Film Registry due to its being culturally and historically significant.An Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone, Once Upon A Time In The West followed the seemingly popular pattern of having a very negative reception at the box office only to go on and achieve legendary status among the greatest films of all time.A Wachowski brothers masterpiece, The Matrix has been widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever and besides influencing the genre heavily it set a new standard in Hollywood for action fight scenes with its now famous “bullet time” effect.With a release that was rushed to coincide with the Allied invasion of North Africa, Casablanca was not expected to be a major blockbuster. This World War II drama, however, went on to win three Academy Awards including Best Picture.This Brazilian crime drama is based on the true story of gangs and their rise to prominence in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Cidade de Deus (City of God). It was critically acclaimed for its depiction of the events and many of the actors were even from the suburb itself.Kicking off what would become one of the most influential science fiction sagas of all time, A New Hope paved the way in terms of special effects and set the precedent for the new age of big budget blockbusters that would follow.Directed by Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas is often considered to be one of the greatest mob movies ever and was the inspiration behind David Chase’s popular HBO series The Sopranos.The first of two Lord of the Rings films on this list, Fellowship of the Ring became famous among fans and critics alike for being the most faithful adaptation of Tolkien’s book.Seven Samurai chronicles the story of a village that hires seven rogue samurai to protect them from bandits. It is the highest grossing Japanese movie ever and one of only a few Japanese films to ever make it into western cinema to any significant extent.Receiving wide critical acclaim for its originality, score, and visual effects, Inception won numerous awards and has possibly the most disputed ending of all time.As one of the most controversial and talked about films of the 1990s, Fight Club had an incredible impact on popular culture and almost overnight Tyler Durden’s line, “The first rule of Fight Club is – you do not talk about Fight Club” became one of the most popular quotes of the decade.After struggling through the production phase and being released to mixed reviews, The Empire Strikes Back eventually crept its way up to become not only the most popular film in the Star Wars Saga but also one of the most highly regarded films of all time.Only the second film to win all five major Academy Awards, it wasn’t until almost twenty years later that Silence of the Lambs followed suit. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest was actually regarded as being so good that in some Swedish movie theaters it was shown for a mind blowing 11 years straight.The third film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Return of the King won a groundbreaking 11 Academy Awards tying Titanic and Ben-Hur for the title of most awards won. It’s also the first and only fantasy film to have ever won the award for Best Picture and managed to establish Lord of the Rings as the highest grossing motion picture trilogy of all time.One of the more recent additions to this list, Dark Knight was the eleventh highest grossing film of all time and received critical acclaim for both its powerful acting and haunting story line.Based on the novel Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List not only won seven Academy Awards but also went down as one of the greatest films of the century. In it Spielberg chronicles the life of Oskar Schindler, a businessman living in World War II Germany who saved the lives of thousands of Jews by offering them employment.Famous for being filmed almost entirely on one set, 12 Angry Men follows a jury as it attempts to reach a unanimous decision. It wasn’t until the film came out on television long after its initially disappointing performance at the box office that it achieved its legendary status.Starring Clint Eastwood, this Italian spaghetti western is the third film in the famous Dollars Trilogy and is well known for its cinematography and film score. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is often considered the most popular western of all time and the greatest in its genre.Known for its eclectic dialogue, non-linear story line, and numerous pop culture references, Pulp Fiction was nominated for seven Oscars and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film festival in France.Winning six Academy Awards, The Godfather: Part II has been selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry and is widely considered one of the few examples in cinematic history where the sequel was on par with the original.Although Shawshank Redemption barely covered its budget at the box office, it received very good reviews from critics and eventually became an all time favorite on cable TV and DVD.As one of the most respected films ever, The Godfather has repeatedly been recognized as one of the greatest movies ever made. Never before had any film taken the insider perspective on a crime family the way it did and besides having one of the greatest casts, screenplays, and directors of all time it had a significant impact on western culture that has come to be known as the “Godfather Effect”.Although after its initial release it faded from the spotlight, after World War II, Citizen Kane received critical acclaim abroad in countries like France. This led to the movie be “rediscovered” by American audiences and eventually achieving the legendary status it enjoys today at the top of many “best movies” lists, just like this one.
WHERES HARRY POTTER?!!
my list:
POKEMON
POKEMON
POKEMON
and pokemon till da end + harry potter
ps imma kid
Well it’s just hard to name only 25. For me, some of the best movies had the perfect storm of great directing, great script, great acting, or just pure artistry and/or brilliance. So here goes in no particular order:
Mystic River
The Green Mile
The Lovely Bones
The Sound of Music
Young Frankenstein
The Birds
Das Boot
2001: A Space Odyssey
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Braveheart
Good Will Hunting
Spirited Away
Murder in the First
Chaplin
Shawshank Redemption
When Harry Met Sally
ok, it’s actually too hard to name the greats….but it was fun trying!
The Piano
Unforgiven
Dead Calm
Apocolypse Now
Platoon
Forest Gump
Singing in the Rain
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Sand Pebbles
Marathon Man
Papillon
War of the Worlds
Psycho
The Exorcist
Crash
Monsters Ball
Precious
Three Witches of Eastwick
Ben Hur
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Spiderman
Brubaker
Dead Man Walking
I am Sam
Basic Instinct
Is there some kind of unwritten rule that if you do a “greatest movies” list, you’re obliged to put Citizen Kane at the top? How boring.
I guess u missed Se7en ,Titanic and Psycho.
Where Is saving private Ryan?? Greatest war movie ever! And Forrest Gump!
good collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but what about titanic>>>>>
back to the future………. you missed it
Where the hell is Amadeus, Jaws, Toy Story 3, and the last Harry Potter????
Harry Porter…? goes to show you how humanity has adapted the bubble gum culture. Harry Porter should not even be in the top 100 list.!!
Empire Strikes Back deserves to be there. Pulp Fiction definitely not. At best it should have occupied a spot been between 25 and 20. It’s good but completely over-rated.
WTF! i dont know about other but IMO Godfather shoul be the 1
cool hand luke? and what about gangs of new york?
2001: a space odyssey should be #1 on this list
where is LEGEND OF THE FALL;>??
No list is complete without Waterworld.
Remove on of those overrated George Lucas films and add Pan’s Labyrinth.
no titanic?
Titanic isn’t considered as the best movie by many critics. If you look at Internet movie database, its score is low (a 7.4) something out of 10. Titanic is good, but it is not the best.
Where’s the hunger games
The Hunger Games? Really? That’s an okay movie, but these are the BEST movies.
You guys are smoking crack. Silence of the lambs? Dark knight?
1. Lawrence of Arabia.
2. Citizen Kane
– Sound of Music
– Great Escape
– Mary Poppins
– Dr. Zhivago
– Jaws
Godfather II???
Inception???
Empire Strikes back???
Who paid you guys off? Hope you got a lot because this list stinks.
An the green mile
OH stfu The Dark Knight is legendary a pure classic,Heath Ledger incredible!….it should be number 1!
You’re brain dead
WHERE’S HARRY POTTER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Really? Where’s Harry Potter?
where is harry potter ? !
close encounters of the third kind? jaws? leon? true romance? la haine? the green mile? to suggest just a few more?
Remarkably lacking of legendary film classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music, etc. Inception does not belong anywhere near this list.
think shawshank shoulda been first but not a bad list. inception though? not sure about that. sure ill be back on this one though.