# Most influential films of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793 "2015-06-06T15:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/1 "2015-06-06T15:33:00Z")
I would say Akira, and by extension, Bonney and Clyde. Akira was a major influence for later anime and sci-fi (including The Matrix), and is credited with making anime popular outside of Japan. It was inspired heavily by Bonney and Clyde What would you say the most influential movies of all time are? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/2 "2015-06-06T15:35:44Z")
Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/3 "2015-06-06T16:09:31Z")
Fritz Lang’s M ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/4 "2015-06-06T16:18:01Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to the most influential Cafe Society of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/5 "2015-06-06T17:00:56Z")
[The Birth of a Nation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation). From Wikipedia, “Released in 1915, The Birth of a Nation has been credited as groundbreaking among its contemporaries for its innovative application of the medium of film. According to the film historian Kevin Brownlow, the film was ‘astounding in its time’ and initiated ‘so many advances in film-making technique that it was rendered obsolete within a few years.’” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/6 "2015-06-06T17:19:21Z")
FYI, [here](http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/10-most-influential-films-of-the-century)’s a piece by Roger Ebert, written in December 1999, on the ten most influential movies of the twentieth century. The list includes: Kid Auto Races at Venice (1913, Charlie Chaplin) The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith) The Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei Eisenstein) The Jazz Singer (1927, Al Jolson) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, Walt Disney) Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles) Shadows (1959, John Cassavetes) Star Wars (1977, George Lucas) Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter) The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/7 "2015-06-06T17:47:17Z")
_A Trip to the Moon_ by Georges Melies would have to qualify, because it was made so early in film history. According to Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Its unusual length, lavish production values, innovative special effects, and emphasis on storytelling were markedly influential on other film-makers and ultimately on the development of narrative film as a whole. Scholars have commented upon the film’s extensive use of pataphysical and anti-imperialist satire, as well as on its wide influence on later film-makers and its artistic significance within the French theatrical féerie tradition. > **[A Trip to the Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Trip_to_the_Moon)** > > A Trip to the Moon (French: Le voyage dans la lune)\[a\] is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film written, directed and produced by Georges Méliès. Inspired by Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and its 1870 sequel Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive Selenite. Méli... It was also ranked 84th out of the top 100 greatest films of the 20th century by Village Voice, if that’s any indication. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/8 "2015-06-06T18:04:28Z")
To Ebert’s list I would add: Jaws (first summer blockbuster) Raiders of the Lost Ark (spawned a lot of imitation over the years) Bonnie and Clyde The Godfather ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/9 "2015-06-06T18:06:51Z")
Oh, and for better or worse, I guess you could add: _Halloween_. Not the first slasher movie, but it ushered in slasher films as a genre, and established a lot of the tropes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/10 "2015-06-06T18:29:44Z")
2001 - A Space Odyssey. Pretty amazing effects for 1968, and asked the audience to think. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/11 "2015-06-06T18:34:55Z")
Taxi Driver - 1976. Crossed lines that people are still uncomfortable talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/12 "2015-06-06T18:39:50Z")
> [@Shearer](#): > > Fritz Lang’s M This so much. The first time I saw this I was struck by how many cinematic cliches it had, except at the time they weren’t cliches at all. Real genius. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/13 "2015-06-06T18:40:58Z")
There would have to be a David Lean in there somewhere wouldn’t there? There are nods to his ideas all through modern cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/14 "2015-06-06T18:44:47Z")
I think The Wizard of Oz needs consideration here. The switch to colour in Oz was a jaw-dropping effect at the time: not to mention the costumes, makeup, sets and other special effects. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/15 "2015-06-06T18:50:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [The Birth of a Nation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation). That would have been my vote but more for the cultural influence (which was largely negative.) _The Road Warrior_ should get a mention just for the major influence it had on early 80’s pop culture. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/16 "2015-06-06T21:21:10Z")
_Deep Throat._ C’mon, you know I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/17 "2015-06-06T21:30:07Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Deep Throat._ C’mon, you know I’m right. Actually, yes. I completely agree. It moved porn out of the 10 - 20 minute clip market into full movie status with a plot and story line and everything. Bow-chicka-bow-bow. Of course now with the internet I think we’ve come full circle. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/18 "2015-06-06T22:26:17Z")
Ghost in the Shell was a bigger influence on The Matrix than Akira. Or to go back further, basically they’re all ripping off Blade Runner. Speaking of The Matrix, there was a solid 5-8 year period where it seemed like every other action movie was aping its wire fu and slow motion effects, or its clothing. Not a good kind of influential. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/19 "2015-06-06T22:58:36Z")
This is Spinal Tap. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793/20 "2015-06-07T00:24:07Z")
**Psycho**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-films-of-all-time/721793.md?page=2)