# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/61 "2005-08-10T07:09:20Z")
I’ve seen eighty. The highest rated movie that I haven’t seen is: **3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King** ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/62 "2005-08-10T12:23:41Z")
47 of 250. About twenty percent. Not bad when you consider how few horror films made the list. (House on Haunted Hill?) Schindler’s List Casablanca (What a great movie, but you can’t be Rick, I’m Rick.) Star Wars Empire Strikes Back The Two Towers Raiders of the Lost Ark It’s a Wonderful Life Some Like it Hot (the woman is naked in that dress!) Sunset Blvd (Chimp? Whacked out star? The Michael Jackson Story!) Apocalypse Now Maltese Falcon The Bridge on the River Kwai Saving Private Ryan Alien Mr. Smith Goes to Washington The Incredibles (It made the list already?) The Great Escape Wizard of Oz Metropolis The Great Dictator (Hitler watched it privately, twice) Fargo Gump (Was that really a GREAT movie?) The General Bladerunner The Best Years of Our Lives Duck Soup Jedi Patton Elephant Man Back to the Future (I thought I was the only one who thought it was great) Glory (overblown soundtrack) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Toy Story 2 Arsenic and Old Lace Life of Brian The African Queen Gone with the Wind Gladiator (not great, overblown) Young Frankenstein Ed Wood Ghandi Groundhog Day Toy Story Pirates of the C Rainman Being There Thin Man ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/63 "2005-08-10T12:57:29Z")
I copied the entire 250 list into a Notepad file and began deleting the ones I had seen, with the intention of posting the ones I had _not_ seen, but the list got too big for that. I suspect my count was in the range (I didn’t count them) of 30-50 I haven’t seen. I didn’t go back to translate foreign titles to see if I saw them under an Americanized one, so maybe the count would drop by maybe 5-10 that way. Altogether the 150+ that I have seen exclude the really old ones (pre-1935) and the foreign ones. Also, there are at least 20 that have come out in recent times, mostly the cartoon and superhero type things, that I will never see. There are something on the order of 20 that I haven’t seen that I’m wanting to see, but they’re the sort of things I don’t think about when browsing Netflix or the cable offerings. Basically, I just don’t go hunting for them, even if they are of the “must see” sort. What’s as meaningful to me is that I would delete at least 30 of IMDB’s Top 250 and replace them with movies that would make **my** Top 250, so the fact that I’m missing some is of no major consequence to me. I lose zero sleep over it. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/64 "2005-08-10T13:47:34Z")
Originally posted in wrong thread. I’ve seen 128. When I say “seen” I mean I was present in the room from beginning to end, but if it was on TV I might not have been giving the movie my full attention. I have 32 on DVD. I’ve also seen 70 in a theater setting (My college film society showed films every day, with classics at the beginning of the week and recent and cult films on weekends) ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/65 "2005-08-10T14:10:33Z")
73, though there may be a few more since I may not recognize the english title for some. Out of those I have not seen but recognize the title, there are just a handful that I have on my “Will watch at some point in time” list. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/66 "2005-08-10T14:22:27Z")
Wow. I’ve seen 191 of them. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/67 "2005-08-10T15:37:37Z")
125 ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/68 "2005-08-10T15:47:18Z")
147 for me, I think. Not bad, but I know there are several glaring omissions on my part. Most foreign movies, but some of the entries were recent American movies I just haven’t gotten around to yet (like \*Sideways \* and _Lost in Translation_). ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/69 "2005-08-10T17:16:34Z")
Only 81. Mostly because I haven’t seen that many of the classics or movies made before about 1990. I was born in 1979, so I didn’t really go to theatres for non-kiddie movies until about 1995. So any movies older than that have only been those I happened to catch on TV at one time or another. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/70 "2005-08-10T18:56:30Z")
I’ve seen 71 en toto, and bits and pieces of maybe 20. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/71 "2005-08-10T21:26:16Z")
94, which is more than I thought. I have some serious reservations about many of the movies on that list, but that’s neither here nor there. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/72 "2005-08-10T21:42:05Z")
83 that I can remember…about 15 more that I know I’ve seen parts of, but not the whole thing, and probably some more that I’ve seen, but don’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/73 "2005-08-10T23:06:26Z")
Sixty-four. There’s a fair number I’ve never gotten around to seeing… :o ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/74 "2005-08-10T23:35:41Z")
1. I have very little patience for most movies. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/75 "2005-08-10T23:49:15Z")
36, which is more than I expected to have seen, since I don’t watch that many movies. There are lots on the list that really don’t appeal to me, so I’m guessing I’ll never even come close… GT ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/76 "2005-08-11T02:57:36Z")
I’ve seen seventeen. Not a big number, but at least it’s almost an order of magnitude higher than the number of movies I’ve seen on the list of the bottom 100. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/77 "2005-08-11T07:26:20Z")
121, which is more than I thought (I’ve missed most foreign classics and many American ones). But one can’t really put a lot of validity in this list, right? I mean **Donnie Darko** in the top 100? Big Fish? Before Sunset? And this is to say nothing of the LoTR & SW overdone fanatacism that pumps up those entries. I bet I could name 50 movies off the top of my head that belong but aren’t listed. But it sure does provide some ideas next time shopping at the video store. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185/78 "2005-08-11T18:50:44Z")
I’ve seen 83, if I haven’t miscounted. There are many on the list I’d like to see. There are also several I never want to see. Toy Story 2, for example. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-imdb-top-250-have-you-seen/316185.md?page=3)