# How would you improve on IMDB's Top 250? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566 "2005-08-11T09:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/1 "2005-08-11T09:46:10Z")
Let’s not do the whole 250. Let’s stop at 20. Using the list at IMDB as a guide, if you need to and can’t do your own from memory, list (in descending order) your Top 20 movies of all time. Bearing in mind that (if you’ve been seeing movies much longer than 10 years) your tastes may have changed over time, try to use that awareness when grading the very recent films. If a movie you saw 10+ years ago has dropped some in its appeal to you, be prepared for similar things to happen to movies you saw last year, last month, or last night. Try to think about the “enduring” qualities of movies (if such things exist) as you list your favorites. Here are mine: 1. The Godfather (I) 2. The Godfather (II) 3. Rashomon 4. Seven Samurai 5. The Usual Suspects 6. Blade Runner 7. Schindler’s List 8. Chinatown 9. Unforgiven 10. Vertigo 11. L.A. Confidential 12. Raising Arizona 13. To Kill A Mockingbird 14. Amelie 15. Cool Hand Luke 16. Lawrence of Arabia 17. A Streetcar Named Desire 18. Pulp Fiction 19. Shane 20. The Conversation ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/2 "2005-08-11T15:00:15Z")
Six hours. Zero replies. Hot topic. ---
**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 11, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/3 "2005-08-11T15:17:46Z")
IMDB is fine the way it is except it should have some explanation of what it is. It is a people’s choice listing. Top movie means popular as much as great. Newer movies get more hits and more votes and initial reactions cause inflated ratings. These usually have dropped over time. Foreign films get low viewership and so those who like foreign film are more likely to vote for a foreign film and thus foreign films are often over rated. If you took the top 500 and had 100,000 random English speaking people view them the top 250 would change a bit, with foreign films falling out. As it is 250 deep, it is a great guide for finding films that are worth watching. My top 20: boy that’s hard, I have to think it over. It won’t necessarily be great critical movies, it would be movies I enjoy watching the most. It would start with Godfather I & II as both critical and enjoyment are max. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/4 "2005-08-11T15:21:04Z")
Not really what you’re looking for, but it _is_ a direct answer to your title: Drop any vote of “10” or “1”. I’d love to see what the the Top 250 (and Bottom 250) would be like without voters who love to over- or under-rate films. ---
**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 11, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/5 "2005-08-11T15:40:40Z")
The Godfather (1972) The Godfather: Part II (1974) 12 Angry Men (1957) A Night at the Opera (1935) Alien (1979) Aliens (1986) Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Back to the Future (1985) Blade Runner (1982) Blazing Saddles (1974) Braveheart (1995) Brazil (1985) Casablanca (1942) Citizen Kane (1941) Close Encounters of the Third Kind Duck Soup (1933) Forrest Gump (1994) Full Metal Jacket (1987) Harvey (1950) Jaws (1975) Life of Brian (1979) Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) My Favorite Year (1982) Patton (1970) Pulp Fiction (1994) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Roman Holiday (1953) Saving Private Ryan (1998) Schindler’s List (1993) Singin’ in the Rain (1952) Stand by Me (1986) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) The Exorcist (1973) The Grapes of Wrath (1940) The Great Escape (1963) The Incredibles (2004) The Princess Bride (1987) The Shawshank Redemption (1994) The Terminator (1984) The Thin Man (1934) The Wizard of Oz (1939) This Is Spinal Tap (1984) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Young Frankenstein (1974) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) example of what once was a favorite movie but now I can’t sit through it. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/6 "2005-08-11T16:08:12Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Six hours. Zero replies. Hot topic. Small wonder. No offense, but 20 is a lot. It’s not even sub-categorized. I’m not even sure why you brought IMDB’s list into it. And “favorite movies” doesn’t get any passion out of people. “Top 5 horror”, “Top 5 comedies”, “Worst 5 Costner movies”, “Best Scorcese movies” might get some blood flowing. But how many times can you really read “Godfather 1, Godfather 2, Citizen Kane, Pulp Fiction” without barfing? Who knows. . .maybe you’ll get 6 pages. I hope you do. Too much work for me, though. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/7 "2005-08-11T16:18:01Z")
It sounds like the OP might be interested in the **YMDB**. [Here](http://www.ymdb.com/archiveguy/l20150_ukuk.html)’s my listing as a sample… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/8 "2005-08-11T16:24:48Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > It sounds like the OP might be interested in the **YMDB**. [Here](http://www.ymdb.com/archiveguy/l20150_ukuk.html)’s my listing as a sample… Neat site, and first time I’ve seen it. Thanks. Our lists don’t overlap much! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-improve-on-imdbs-top-250/316566/9 "2005-08-11T16:42:39Z")
2 out of 20–that’s more than most, I suspect…