Top 10 Movies of All Time

[Richard]

Rob Roy (Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange)
Singing in the Rain
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Babe
The GodFather
Search for the Holy Grail
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Mission
A Fish Called Wanda
Rio Bravo

Just to name a few.

Richard

[admin]

My top ten movies:

1. Signs
2. The Princess Bride
3. E.T.
4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
5. The God Father part 2
6. Star Wars
7. The Legend of Bagger Vance
8. Top Gun
9. Ground Hog's Day
10. The God Father

Now is that a good list or what?   :thumbup:

Lee

[admin]

I had Ground Hog Day on my other list. Jaws bumped it out. But it's right up there.

Yeah, I like Spielberg.  :thumbup: He is good.

[Son of a Preacher Man]

I want to hear your top 10!

To me, these are the top 10 films of all time.

10.  Se7en
9. The 6th Sense
8. Breakfast at Tiffany's
7. Die Hard
6. The Empire Strikes Back
5. Casablanca
4. The Godfather
3. Chinatown
2. The Godfather Part II
1. Citizen Kane

I have many personal favorites not on the list, but these reflect what I think are the greatest films of all time. (It's a clos call between the top four.) Just missing this cut are Psycho, Dances with Wolves, The Maltese Falcon and Traffic .  

Now tell me what you think are the greatest films of all time!

[James Rondon]

No one has Braveheart down?

[OldDad]

In totally random order

Shadowlands
Braveheart
The Shawshank Redemption
Raising Arizona
The Searchers
The Sting
The Natural
The Apostle
Dr. Strangelove
Casablanca
Schindler's List
It's a Wonderful Life

If you're counting, that's twelve, but I couldn't leave any out.  My criteria are simple:  Is this a movie I will always stop and watch if I find it while channel surfing.  Just missing the cut: A Christmas Story (only because I've seen it about 120 times), High Noon (ditto), Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Fargo, The Green Mile, Stand by Me, The God's Must Be Crazy, and Forrest Gump.

OD

[Roman]

1. Braveheart
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Rocky III
4. Signs
5. Princess Bride
6. Raising Arizona
7. Galaxy Quest
8. Count of Monte Cristo
9. Stalag 17
10. Lord of the Rings

Honorables-
The Mask of Zorro
The Natural
The Hunt for Red October
Tears of the Sun
Fletch

Sex scene ruined Jerry McQuire, otherwise one of my favorites.
Language too strong in LA Confidential to recommend, but a good plot and storyline.

Same for Lethal Weapon I and II.

I also would have liked the Patriot, except by the time the bad guy killed two of Mel Gibson's sons and burned the church to the ground while filled with villagers, I was left feeling more depressed than inspired. I prefer a hero who protects instead of avenges.



[!--EDIT|Roman|April 10 2003,12:27--]

[Bon Voyage]

1.  O Brother Where Art Thou?
2.  The Usual Suspects
3.  Godfather
4.  Godfather II
5.  Godfather III (even liked this one no matter what critics say)
6.  Tootsie
7.  Young Guns
8.  Back to the Future
9.  The Karate Kid
10.  The Untouchables

I am sure I could think of a lot more.

[Jim Abb]

I'm going to take this as my top ten favourites...if it were for the ten most important it would include films like D.W. Griffiths "Birth of a Nation"  and Sergei Eisenstien's "Potemkin", films that had a lot of impact, but not the ones I watch over and over. Here they are, in no particular order:

Field of Dreams
Harold and Maude
Wizard of Oz
It's A Wonderful Life
Casablanca
Star Wars...the first one made
The Big Chill
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Annie Hall
Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan

Some that just missed include
A Christmas Story (You'll shoot your eye out!)
The Dream Team
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Robin Hood (1939)
The Breakfast Club
Home Alone

[Bobby Valentine]

My taste in movies is pretty diverse.  I like a quality story and good acting -- and adventure built in there.  Well here is my Top Ten of all time:

1) Star Wars (1977)
2) Mad Max
3) The Mission
4) Glory
5) Star Trek II
6) Roots (I know it was a mini-series but . . .)
7) War of the Worlds
8) Empire Strikes Back
9) Willow
10) Big Jake

Ten was hard to pick these others could have tied for # 10:

Close Encounters
El Dorodo (John Wayne)
Forbidden Planet
Lord of the Rings
Gene Kelly movies were good
The Right Stuff was great

Movie Reviews from the Land of Beer and Cheese,
Bobby Valentine

[marc]

The top ten, for the moment:

1. Casablanca
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock (early Peter Weir)
3. The Manchurian Candidate
4. Harvey
5. Dr. Strangelove
6. Signs
7. Gallipoli (early Peter Weir and early Mel Gibson)
8. A Day at the Races (liked it even better than the more critically acclaimed Night at the Opera and Duck Soup)
9. The Maltese Falcon
10. Chinatown


Others:The Shining, The Sixth Sense, Witness, Dead Poets Society (get the idea I like Peter Weir movies?), Psycho, The Birds, North by Northwest, Close Encounters, The Mark of Zorro (Tyrone Power/Basil Rathbone), Key Largo, Sabrina, Charade, Glory, Matewan, Eight Men Out . . . . (yes, I keep coming back and editing in more movies.  I will stop now.)

And then, looking back at others' lists, I realize I've left off The Princess Bride, which has to be top five.  It's hopeless!

[brandt]

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Remains of the Day
Gross Anatomy
Matrix
Jurassic Park
Batman
Cider House Rules
True Romance
Superstar
Return of the Jedi

[admin]

I forgot my honorable mentions!

Rocky III
Rocky IV
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and Last Crusade
Ground Hog Day
Contact
Matrix
Roswell
Fire in the Sky
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Dead Poet's Society
Alien
Willow
Lord of the Rings
Hook
Ghost Busters
Dumb and Dumber
Ace Ventura
Ace Ventura, Back to Nature

[RMSoule]

As others have said, it's tough to pick 10, but here goes...

1. Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Dances with Wolves
3. The Right Stuff
4. The Matrix
5. Shadowlands
6. E.T.
7. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (would be higher if it weren't for that lame "Raindrops Keep Dancin' on my Head" scene!
8. Rear Window
9. Moulin Rouge (the energy of this blew me away!)
10. Groundhog Day (ironically, probably the one movie I would take to the proverbial desert island if I could only take one...)

Honorable mentions:
It's a Wonderful Life, Braveheart, Glory, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Lawrence of Arabia, The Sting, Ben-Hur

[dgdodd]

Here is my list - in no particular order  :cool:

Ben Hur
The Rookie
Dr. Zhivago
Ghandi
Sabrina (the original black and white)
Beauty and the Beast
The Sound of Music
Out of Africa
Hoosiers
Miricle on 34th Streen (again, the original black and white)

[david johnson]

unordered, because i can't. (faves, no claims for greatness)

casablanca
it's a wonderful life
alien
the 10 commandments
frankenstein
tombstone
sgt york
godzilla
maltese falcon
amadeus

dj

[Barb1957]

I tend to want to list top 10 favorites, as others have.  Top 10, as  in best movies of all time would be quite different. Some of my favorite movies to watch over and over aren't necessarily "great".
Best of all time would include films like the usual ones that end up on such a list: Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Godfather ....
But my personal top 10 (favorite) movies of all time, in no particular order (and which could change at any time) are (based on the fact that I can stand to watch them over and over):

Adventures in Babysitting
E.T. the Extra-terrestrial
Superman (and) Superman II
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
My Favorite Wife
His Girl Friday
(the 3 above are my favorite Cary Grant movies)
A Fish Called Wanda
Home Alone
It's A Wonderful Life

not far behind: Miracle on 34th Street; anything with Kevin Kline; anything with Cary Grant; Spider-Man, The Matrix, Pay It Forward (except I hate the ending), A.I., Legally Blonde, Election, Raising Arizona ... those are what comes to mind ...

[Barry]

Here goes:

1. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
2. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
3. The Apostle
4. Waterboy
5. Planet of the Apes series (I know, I'm weird)
6. Gladiator
7. Lawnmower Man
8. Stir Crazy
9. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
10. Monty Python: Holy Grail

[Talulah]

The Sound of Music
Braveheart
The Shawshank Redemption
Schindler's List
Annie
Anne of Green Gables
Chicago
Fried Green Tomatoes
Moulin Rouge
Boys on the Side

[janine]

The whole LOTR trilogy can count as one movie.  It would be on my list for sure.

I don't know about ten of 'em... thinking...

Definitely somewhere in my 10 would be "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum", starring Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, and a bunch of other excellent actors and actresses.  I could watch it weekly.  (Yes, I know it's earthy and bawdy.  Stone me.)

And I'd put in "Gideon", with Charleton Heston, Shirley Jones, Mike Connors, Shelly Winters, & more.

How about "African Queen"?

[Son of a Preacher Man]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (RMSoule @ April 08 2003,3:58)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]As others have said, it's tough to pick 10, but here goes...

1. Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Dances with Wolves
3. The Right Stuff
4. The Matrix
5. Shadowlands
6. E.T.
7. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (would be higher if it weren't for that lame "Raindrops Keep Dancin' on my Head" scene!
8. Rear Window
9. Moulin Rouge (the energy of this blew me away!)
10. Groundhog Day (ironically, probably the one movie I would take to the proverbial desert island if I could only take one...)

Honorable mentions:
It's a Wonderful Life, Braveheart, Glory, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Lawrence of Arabia, The Sting, Ben-Hur[/quote]
I like the way you think!  Welcome to the board.  You have some excellent choices there.

Hey Lee!  You seem to have a Spielberg motif goin' on there.  Lucas/Spielberg/Shaylaman/Copola seem to be your bag.

[spurly]

Here's my list without thinking to hard:

1.  E.T.
2.  Matrix
3.  Star Wars Trilogy
4.  First Knight
5.  Gladiator
6.  The Rookie
7.  Tombstone
8.  Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn
9.  It's a Wonderful Life
10.  Hoosiers

Honorable Mention:  Top Gun, Pearl Harbour, Saving Private Ryan, Beauty and the Beast, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, Raiders of the Lost Ark

[marc]

Harvey was my favorite movie when I was very small.  Not too many years ago I watched it again for the first time in decades.  I expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't.  Not only did it hold up, but I liked it even better than I had before.  Since then I have watched it several times.

[Seeker]

Hard to do, but here is a shot that I will probably want to revise as soon as I post and think more - foreign language movies are omitted

1. Intolerance (silent film directed by DW Griffith)
2. Birth of a Nation (ditto)
3. Gone With the Wind
4. Citizen Kane
5. The Godfather
6. How Green Was My Valley
7. It's a Wonderful Life
8. Braveheart
9. Rob Roy
10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

[duckman]

My Top 10 Favorite Movies (in no particular order):

1.  It's A Wonderful Life
2.  A River Runs Through It
3.  Chariots of Fire
4.  Remains of the Day
5.  Star Wars (the first one)
6.  Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein
7.  Matrix
8.  12 Angry Men
9.  Godfather (I)
10.  Monty Phyton's The Holy Grail

Duckman

[Jim Abb]

marc...I had forgotten "Harvey" which has one of what I think is the best lines of all time. I'm doing this from memory, but it's close, I think:
"There's two ways you can go through life. You can be oh so smart or oh so kind. I tried the smart. I recommend the kind."

"Harvey" and "Field of Dreams" would be a great double feature, as would "Casablanca" and "Play It Again Sam".

[admin]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (admin @ Feb. 08 2003,11:27)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]My top ten movies:

1. Signs
2. The Princess Bride
3. E.T.
4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
5. The God Father part 2
6. Star Wars
7. The Legend of Bagger Vance
8. Top Gun
9. Ground Hog's Day
10. The God Father

Now is that a good list or what?   :thumbup:

Lee[/quote]
My top ten list has one obvious flaw. I forgot about the movie "Jaws." What was I thinking?  :doh:

So my real top ten would be:

1. Signs
2. The Princess Bride
3. E.T.
4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
5. The God Father part 2
6. Star Wars
7. The Legend of Bagger Vance
8. Top Gun
9. Jaws
10. The God Father

Comments? Observations?

[marc]

A new top ten:

1. Casablanca
Still the best ever. Every line, every scene seems perfect, memorable.

2. The Third Man
I wrote about this elsewhere.  I saw it for the first time not long ago and it made the list immediately. The ferris whell scene sums up a certain philosophy of how we view humanity.  Great, philosophical film noir.

With zither music.

3. Harvey
Jimmy Stewart and a pooka.  A big, white pooka.

4. Dr. Strangelove
This one takes repeated viewings.  Every time I watch it, however, something new jumps out at me.

5. The Manchurian Candidate
This one feels as if it's slipping down, but it's still on my list.  Still compelling.

6. Picnic at Hanging Rock
This one's slipped down as well.  Probably because I haven't seen it in a while.  Moody, surreal. Early Peter Weir.

7. Dark City
I didn't mention this one before.  The Matrix before the Matrix.  Modern film noir with a creepy supporting turn by Keifer Sutherland.  Weird, weird movie.

8. The Godfather.
Probably should be higher, but I've seen it way too many times.

9. Bram Stoker's Dracula.
I appreciate this one more as time goes by.  Operatic.  Imaginative cinematography.

10. The Princess Bride.
Needs to be higher, but I keep forgetting to add it in. 

[Brian Kelley]

I'll put my preliminary list up here.  All information is subject to change.

10.  The Godfather (1972, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino).  Arguably the best overall film of all time from a pre-production standpoint.  The writing, casting, and directing were all better than superb.  I don't know any fan of film who dislikes this one.

9.  Dark City (1998, starring Rufus Sewell and Kiefer Sutherland).  The film, which uses the imagery of spirals throughout, is one giant spiral getting you to the middle of the greatest sci-fi mystery to ever be filmed.  Roger Ebert's favorite movie, so I've heard.

8.  The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, starring John Wayne and James Stewart).  The best western, in my mind, and a great insight into media, heroism, and history.  John Ford, arguably history's best director, captained this piece.

7.  Frankenstein (1994, starring Kenneth Branagh and Robert De Niro).  The best adaptation of this story, hands down.  De Niro is the monster, and Branagh plays Victor while he directs.  Very theater-like, and the quality of the acting really affects your emotions.

6.  Star Wars: A New Hope (1977, starring Mark Hammill and Harrison Ford).  The supreme sci-fi film, taking writing and acting cues from all of film history.  This story dwarfs all of its followers.  Just outstanding.

5.  The 13th Warrior (1999, starring Antonio Banderas and Vladmir Kulich).  Film of Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead", which is itself an adaptation of the original epic, 'Beowulf'.  The best adaptation of the epic.  Very culturally exposing film.

4.  Ghost Busters (1984, starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd).  Probably the best thing to come out of Saturday Night Live.  Great comedy for everyone.  I don't think I will ever get tired of this film.

3.  Lord of the Rings (2001-2003, starring Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen).  Truly one story by Tolkien, so I consider it one giant film.  I love all the parts, and cannot really separate them.  You can see the work that went into these films, and it's unbelievable what it produced.

2.  Sleuth (1972, starring Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier).  Outstanding film with tons of mystery and suspense.  It is, without a doubt, the best acted film I have ever seen in my life.  There's a remake coming up that I hope can even get close to the magnificence of the original.

1.  The Exorcist (1973, starring Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn).  To me, no film is better adapted from novel, better directed, more effective, and more memorable than this.  It strengthened my faith and blew my mind at the same time.  I couldn't have asked for better performances from any of the actors, and it's still an icon of film.  I've seen this film over 200 times, and it never gets old.

Well, there's my list.

Honorable mention to...

300 (2006, starring Gerard Butler).  Great adaptation of a comic book, and gives a bit of character to an historically based tale.
Apocalypto (2006, starring Raoul Trujillo).  Mel Gibson directed an excellent view of Mayan civilization, with lots of action.
Apt Pupil (1998, starring Sir Ian McKellen).  Steven King story put on screen.  Good thriller with psychological implications.
The Boondock Saints (1999, starring Sean Patrick Flannery).  Vigilante film.  Great acting and interesting characters.
Forrest Gump (1994, starring Tom Hanks).  A tour through history through they eyes of a simpleton.  Great everything.
It's A Wonderful Life (1946, starring James Stewart).  Heartfelt Christmas movie.  Best of its kind.  Good monologues.
A Knight's Tale (2001, starring Heath Ledger).  Hilarious look at medieval life.  Good story, actors, and writing.
The Naked Prey (1966, starring Cornel Wilde).  One big epic foot chase scene.  Lovely African landscape and evasion.
Papillon (1973, starring Steve McQueen).  Exposes the harshness of the French Guiana Prison.  Good humanity story.
The Princess Bride (1987, starring Cary Elwes).  Unique fantasy story with witty writing and Andre the Giant!
The Quest (1996, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme).  Best of all Van Damme's films.  Good fighting, and a better story.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994, starring Tim Robbins).  Another Steven King story.  Good prison story.

[Big Mike Lewis]

These are my top 10 favorite movies although I love movies, so I am kind of easy to please.

10. The Passion of the Christ

9. Gladiator

8. Forrest Gump

7. Lord Of The Rings

6. The Great Escape

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

3. Goonies

2. Braveheart

1. Star Wars

[Bon Voyage]

My vote for top comedy that was not meant to be that funny:

What's eating Gilbert Grape?

[marc]

Brian, interesting that you would mention Branagh's Frankenstein--I watched it in its entirety for the first time a month ago, and was surprised at how good it was.  iirc, when it came out it was absolutely savaged by critics.  I thought it was very well done.

[Brian Kelley]

Aye, I saw it in theaters with my dad when it came out.  I was in school, and my dad told me if I read the book, he would take me to see the film.  I did, and he did.  It was the most accurate and well directed version I could have asked for.  My dad did make me cover my eyes during one particular scene, though.  lol

Interestingly, Branagh directed the remake of Sleuth.  I'm curious to see if he will do it justice, but I'm encouraged because all that he has done from a directing standpoint has been superb.

[marc]

I didn't realize he was directing the Sleuth remake.  Considering "Dead Again", it should be fine.

Then again, I've only watched Sleuth once--I've kind of thought that a second viewing wouldn't be the same.

[Brian Kelley]

Subsequent viewings were fun for me.  As a student of film and a writer, I love the dialog and acting.  They're even more fun when you're watching the film with someone who has yet to see it!