Mostly I’m a sucker for a good 1930s film, with 1940s a close second. But I like 1950s film noir, especially some of the French stuff such as Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954), Rififi (1955) and Bob la Flambeur (1956).
Are you serious? I defy you to watch The General (1926) and say that.
Yes, I am serious and I have watched parts of it. In fact Buster Keaton & Harold Lloyd are the 2 from the 20s I do like, I don’t even enjoy Chaplin silent films I’m afraid. Small doses is best for all of them. Going back to the teens I think the works of Winsor McCay are amazing. Also pre-20s Georges Méliès did some incredible things. Metropolis is one of the highlights of the 20s and it is pretty boring despite the awesomeness for the time.
For me it would have to be the 1960s or the 1980s.
The 1960s had some of the great Epic movies and historical films and action-adventure, and some good SF –
1960s Spartacus
Dr. Zhivago
Lawrence of Arabia
A Man for All Seasons
Becket
The Great Escape
The Guns of Navarone
The first and best James Bond films
2001: A Space Odyssey
Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth
1980s:
For Your Eyes Only (best Bond since the 1960s) The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Star Trek II, II, and IV
Bladerunner
Tron
The Thing
The Atomic Café
The Last Starfighter
Amadeus
The Bounty
Gandhi
The Hidden
Manhunter
Aliens
The Terminator
The Fly
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Field of Dreams
The Living Daylights
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Spaceballs
Glory
The Last Emperor (both versions)
I’ll even forgive them for E.T.
When I’m looking for a movie to watch, I always prefer seeing a movie from the current decade. So right now, my favorite decade is 2010 - present, but in five years that will change.
In terms of best decade for movies, in a poll I’d vote 1970s. My personal favorite from when I was experiencing the decade would probably be the 1990s.
Your tastes differ from mine. The 20s have the best of the silent films. In addition to The General and The Mark of Zorro (already named), there’s
The Thief of Baghdad
The Ten Commandments
Ben-Hur
Metropolis
The Lost World
the Phantom of the Opera
the Hunchback of Notre Dame
and a great many others.
I have all of the above on DVD. It’s only since about the rise of the DVD that these films have come back into their own, restored at long last to their original length and brilliance. I have two different restorations of Lost World, now about 95% complete. Metropolis has been restored to almost its full original length. My copy of Phantom of the Opera includes not only the existing Technicolor scenes (there’s still one that’s lost), but also restores the Handschiegl color scenes. My copy of Ben-Hur also has its color sections intact, as does my silent Ten Commandments.