# How many of the IMDB Top 250 have you seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185 "2005-08-08T21:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/21 "2005-08-08T23:24:18Z")
169 that I can remember sitting all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/22 "2005-08-08T23:34:29Z")
83 and my tastes must differ with the voters, I found most of the ones I watched on the bottom half… ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/23 "2005-08-08T23:35:20Z")
140 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/24 "2005-08-08T23:39:32Z")
74, I think. Ones in red I own on DVD: 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 2. Casablanca (1942) 3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 6. Citizen Kane (1941) 7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 9. Memento (2000) 10. Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) 11. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 13. American Beauty (1999) 14. The Matrix (1999) 15. Apocalypse Now (1979) (saw a substantial part of it, if not all) 16. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 17. M (1931) 18. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 19. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 20. Alien (1979) 21. A Clockwork Orange (1971) 22. The Sting (1973) 23. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 24. Amadeus (1984) 25. The Shining (1980) 26. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) 27. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 28. Aliens (1986) 29. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 30. Donnie Darko (2001) 31. Annie Hall (1977) 32. Fargo (1996) 33. Blade Runner (1982) 34. The Princess Bride (1987) 35. The Sixth Sense (1999) 36. Smultronstället (1957) 37. Duck Soup (1933) 38. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 39. The Graduate (1967) 40. Patton (1970) 41. Cool Hand Luke (1967) 42. Lola rennt (1998) 43. Manhattan (1979) 44. A Christmas Story (1983) 45. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 46. Life of Brian (1979) 47. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 48. The African Queen (1951) 49. Big Fish (2003) 50. Gone with the Wind (1939) 51. Shrek (2001) 52. Young Frankenstein (1974) 53. Charade (1963) 54. Ed Wood (1994) 55. A Night at the Opera (1935) 56. Groundhog Day (1993) 57. Brazil (1985) 58. Gandhi (1982) 59. Spartacus (1960) 60. Twelve Monkeys (1995) 61. All the President’s Men (1976) 62. Lost in Translation (2003) 63. Almost Famous (2000) 64. Toy Story (1995) 65. The Big Lebowski (1998) 66. Mulholland Dr. (2001) 67. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 68. The Exorcist (1973) 69. Being There (1979) 70. Dogville (2003) - This piece of shit? I wish I _hadn’t_ seen it. 71. Miller’s Crossing (1990) 72. Barry Lyndon (1975) 73. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) 74. Being John Malkovich (1999) ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/25 "2005-08-08T23:39:53Z")
Exactly 200 of them. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/26 "2005-08-08T23:42:26Z")
119, which is rather surprising, since I’ve seen about 2 movies a year for the last 6 years or so. I was aided by the fact that there are so many old movies on the list. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/27 "2005-08-09T00:28:12Z")
159 for me. I could raise that a bit by addressing the sad lack of Sergio Leone in my movie diet. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/28 "2005-08-09T00:38:18Z")
204, and I own at least half of those on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/29 "2005-08-09T00:38:55Z")
128 for me. At least 20 of them are on my Netflix queue. I’ll guess and say another 10 or 20 are on my husband’s queue ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/30 "2005-08-09T02:01:37Z")
In their entirety, less than 30. ---
**Author:** ![lhovis73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@lhovis73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lhovis73)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/31 "2005-08-09T02:17:11Z")
I’ve seen 203 of these films, give or take a few (should I be proud or embarrassed of this?). I only counted films that I know I’ve seen from beginning to end (so I didn’t count Fanny and Alexander, which I rented and think I watched years ago, but can’t remember at all…and I know I’ve seen a bunch of Chaplin films, but I can’t remember the titles…). ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/32 "2005-08-09T02:22:52Z")
1. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/33 "2005-08-09T02:28:36Z")
about a year ago I made it a personal goal to see everything on the top 100. I succeeded (Eternal Sunshine was the last one I had to see, since it was in limbo between theaters and DVD…it’s now in my top 10 fav movies ever!) and have been pretty good at keeping up with newer editions, even tracking down an import copy of Oldboy last month. In my opinion, most of the titles on the top 100 well deserve to be. The only stinkers were Sunset Blvd and LA Confidential, although I realize there are plenty who’d beg to differ. Upon looking at the list, I realize that I now have Downfall and Crash to see! ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/34 "2005-08-09T02:28:44Z")
222 for the current list. But I have to say I am a little shocked at some of the movies that made the cut. But the Korean films seem fascinating. Got to go track those down. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/35 "2005-08-09T02:33:35Z")
195 for me. For the six months or so, I’ve been salting my Netflix queue with them – not solidly, but dispered throughout. I started at the bottom since that’s where movies get squeezed off and lost. Where’d those two Korean films come from? They weren’t there last time I looked. DD ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/36 "2005-08-09T02:41:35Z")
178, I am glad to see many people higher than my count. I was beginning to wonder if I was strange. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/37 "2005-08-09T02:44:12Z")
1. Scary how many I know about but haven’t actually seen. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/38 "2005-08-09T02:53:08Z")
197 and there are 5 others that I expect I will see on DVD shortly. Some of the others don’t interest me at all and I wouldn’t know where to look for many of the foreign films. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/39 "2005-08-09T02:53:48Z")
I was surprised at all the high numbers in this thread, but I was even more surprised when I counted my own and came up with 168. I guess being a big fan of Kurasawa, Bergman and Leone has paid off. **fusoya** , I just rented _Downfall_ last week after seeing in this list. It’s very good. As a general “good movies” list, this is good. Some of the rankings are a bit perplexing though. For instance, I like _The Shawshank Redemption_, but I certainly don’t think it’s the second best movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/40 "2005-08-09T02:57:09Z")
> [@Arhat](#): > > I was surprised at all the high numbers in this thread, but I was even more surprised when I counted my own and came up with 168. I guess being a big fan of Kurasawa, Bergman and Leone has paid off. > > **fusoya** , I just rented _Downfall_ last week after seeing in this list. It’s very good. > > As a general “good movies” list, this is good. Some of the rankings are a bit perplexing though. For instance, I like _The Shawshank Redemption_, but I certainly don’t think it’s the second best movie ever made. The list shows general wide appeal not critical rating. Shawshank was great to most people. Manhattan is a 10 to some and a 4 to me as an example of narrow appeal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185.md?page=3)