# A Movie "watching order" Master list **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 29, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664 "2026-08-29T11:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/1 "2026-08-29T11:56:11Z")
I’ve been kicking around this idea in my head for a few months now. It would take forever to do obviously but everything starts with one step. I was thinking of someday creating a master list of movie watch order. I mean you already have movie watch order lists of movies in a collection like the marvel cinematic universe watch order list. Things like that. But what about a list that would encompass all movies? Or at least movies that either… A. Reference another movie… Or B. Spoil another movie… Let’s take the first example, I recently rewatched Shrek 2 and there are so many references to other movies. They do parodies of scenes, they do similar lines, … There are scenes that make fun of scenes from other movies like Lord of the Rings and Mission Impossible… So in order to fully get all of the references if you wanted to enjoy Shrek 2 to the max amount, it would help if you saw all the movies that it referenced first. That way you would get as many references as possible, understand? But a lot of movies do this obviously, tons of movies reference other movies so this list would be thousands and hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of movies along. And some movies only exist to parody other movies like The scary movie franchise. You would have to first watch at least 15 or 20 scary movies before you get all the references in the first Scary Movie. But that would be the point of the list. To list exactly what all movies you should watch before you see the first Scary Movie. And not all of the movies would be movies that you would expect either, I recently rewatched Scary Movie 4 which stars Leslie Nielsen, and there’s this point where he comes through a door… And I’m just going to spoil this because it’s an old movie now and it’s probably not that popular enough for anybody to be rushing out to go see it… But he comes to the door and knocks the bad guy out down a hole and as he’s stepping through the door he says the same line that he said in Airplane. Something like “good luck, I just want you to know that we are all counting on you…” And that is so fucking hilarious. How many people would get that reference? I mean you would have to have seen Airplane and know of that line in order to fully appreciate it when it happens in Scary Movie 4. I don’t feel like somebody who would know about it would appreciate it as fully. … So, there’s that. Movie references. That is one reason to make a list like this over time… … But there’s another reason. Movies that spoil other movies. I have seen three movies in the last week that have spoiled other movies so it’s always better to watch those movies first before they are spoiled forever. And these movies do not do anything nice like warn you that a spoiler is coming up… … For example, in Deadpool 2… They spoiled two movies. One of them was Cool Runnings. So it’s obviously smart to watch Cool Runnings first before Deadpool 2…if you mean to watch it at all that is… That way it’s not spoiled. And then I watched Ant-Man just earlier today, the marvel movie Ant-Man. And it spoils Titanic, the one with Leonardo DiCaprio. I mean it out right gives all the spoilers away. I mean I know it’s hard to spoil Titanic because everybody knows the ship is going to sink but there are specifics to the 1996 Titanic that are only found in that movie at the end and two of the biggest ones are spoiled. And then I watched Hot Fuzz the other day for the fifth time or so… Great movie, but it spoils Point Break… And I’m talking major spoilers, I mean it even shows the spoiler of Point Break on the screen, the characters are watching the ending and it shows the spoiler on the screen. So obviously you want to watch Point Break before you watch Hot Fuzz.. These three movies cannot be the only movies that spoil other movies. I’m sure there are tons of examples that I would love you to list some if you remember some. I’m sure there are movies out there that spoil movies like Star Wars (I think there’s a line in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure that might do this) or that spoils The Wizard of Oz… … Not that The wizard of Oz is ever going to be spoiled for anyone because I don’t know of a single person who has not seen it yet (I’m fairly sure somebody in this topic is going to now say they have not seen it)… But you get the point. So I’ve often thought that a fun idea would be starting a Master movies watching order list so you can fully appreciate all references in a movie or at least not get spoiled by ones that spoil others. Feel free to add anything that you want, any examples, any references, any suggestions, any thoughts, anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/2 "2026-08-29T12:43:11Z")
Wouldn’t the simplest way to do this be to just watch all movies ever in the order in which they were released? It’s tough for a movie to reference movies that came after it. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/3 "2026-08-29T13:40:19Z")
And of course the obvious answer comes from somebody named “Chronos” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/4 "2026-08-29T14:02:39Z")
Start with a list of every movie made in chronological order then (using magic?) eliminate all of the films that have never been referenced in another film nor references any another films ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/5 "2026-08-29T15:00:05Z")
The OP posits a sort of child / ancestors relationship where for any film we could identify all the earlier films that it refers to in dialog or “skit” for lack of a better word. But why stop there? A true cinema fan would know all about the ways the photography style used in film X is mimicking earlier film J. Or lighting style. Or story-telling style. Or sound style. Or type of special effects. Or how every film by director Q has stylistic similarities to their earlier works. In short, every film builds on every film ever made before it. Sometimes the connections are super obvious, other times they’re very subtle. Folks like me would recognize nearly none of those connections. Real movie cognoscenti would recognize them all. Where’s the line? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/6 "2026-08-30T22:51:33Z")
Adding another question: when did it become routine to reference other movies? Thinking about 1963’s _It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World_, which certainly threw in everything including the kitchen sink in an effort to get laughs—I don’t think there were any references to other movies in it. Referencing other movies simply wasn’t part of the ‘comic film’ business in 1963. When did that change? ---
**Author:** ![Awb78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Awb78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awb78)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/7 "2026-08-30T23:04:18Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Shrek 2 IMBD already kinda does this. Here are the references for Shreck 2: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298148/movieconnections/?ref\_=tttrv\_sa\_5#references](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298148/movieconnections/?ref_=tttrv_sa_5#references) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/8 "2026-08-30T23:08:29Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Thinking about 1963’s _It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World_, which certainly threw in everything including the kitchen sink in an effort to get laughs—I don’t think there were any references to other movies in it. The three weird firemen at the airport make no sense unless one is familiar with the works of Howard and Co. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/9 "2026-08-31T00:39:57Z")
Movies were referencing other movies in the silent days. IMDb’s trivia section already has a zillion references, homages, and connections. Start there. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/10 "2026-08-31T14:00:04Z")
Don’t see **Honey, I Blew Up the Kid** until you’ve seen **Citizen Kane**. And **Raiders of the Lost Ark** , for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/11 "2026-08-31T19:03:37Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Adding another question: when did it become routine to reference other movies? _Animal Crackers_ from 1930 referenced _Strange Interlude_, a play. For the OP, and interesting idea, not just for the reasons given but because I hear people who have seen an old classic movie for the first time say they didn’t like it because it was derivative of movies that came after. Kind of like pooh-poohing Shakespeare because the plays are full of well know quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/12 "2026-08-31T22:09:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > _Animal Crackers_ from 1930 referenced _Strange Interlude_, a play. That’s a great catch (which I should have thought of as I’ve seen AC only about 127 times). > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The three weird firemen at the airport make no sense unless one is familiar with the works of Howard and Co. It’s not really a reference to a movie, though–it’s a reference to performers who were well-known in the past to use “Three Blind Mice” as their signature theme song. Still, it does allude to those particular three guys as having been _in movies_, even if not a reference to a **particular** movie. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/13 "2026-09-01T00:26:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Where’s the line? There’s no line. Just a new tab in the spreadsheet. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/14 "2026-09-01T10:54:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > _Animal Crackers_ from 1930 referenced _Strange Interlude_, a play. And _A Night at the Opera_ referenced _Grand Hotel_ five years later (Groucho: “I vant to be alone”). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/15 "2026-09-01T12:01:53Z")
I guess you would have to go back, at least, as far as Cecil B. DeMille’s _Carmen_ (1915) which Charlie Chaplin parodied the same year in _A Burlesque on Carmen_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/16 "2026-09-01T12:15:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s tough for a movie to reference movies that came after it. _Zootopia_ referenced _Frozen 2_… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/17 "2026-09-01T16:04:45Z")
Back to the Future 2 referenced Jaws 19.. … Which will be significant once there is a Jaws 19. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/18 "2026-09-01T16:22:56Z")
Don’t forget the very prescient reference to _Spaceballs 2_ in _Spaceballs_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/19 "2026-09-01T16:49:41Z")
That’s nothing! There’s a **Rocky XXXVII** poster in **Airplane II** , and a reference to **Rocky 5…Thousand** in **Spaceballs**. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664/20 "2026-09-01T16:59:00Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > And _A Night at the Opera_ referenced _Grand Hotel_ five years later (Groucho: “I vant to be alone”). I’ve always associated that line more with Greta Garbo than with the movie, especially since she became more or less a recluse. But they had a whole (bad) movie _A Night in Casablanca_ which should count also. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-movie-watching-order-master-list/1032664.md?page=2)