# the best movies you have ever seen ? (max 40 titles) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049 "2006-05-24T17:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Minotaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/1 "2006-05-24T17:09:19Z")
name your favourive movies. Maximum 40 titles Here are mine (in random order): Jaws (1975) Highlander (1986) Star Wars: the empire strikes back (1980) Heat (1995) with Robert De Niro Breakdown (1997) with Kurt Russel The Exorcist (1973) Raiders of the lost Ark (1981) James Bond: For your eyes only (1981) The Texas chainsaw massacre (1974) Bruce Lee: Fist of Fury (1972) The Pit (aka Teddy) (1981) _(I saw this one when i was a child, never since)_ The Thing (1982) The Fog (1980) First Blood (1982) with Stallone Class of 1984 Shock Waves (1976) The Exterminator (1980) Mad Max 2 (the road warrior) (1981) with Mel Gibson Dead and Buried (1981) Magic (1978) with Anthony Hopkins Westworld (1973) Terminator (1984) Rocky 3 (1983) Die Hard (1988) Predator (1987) Stakeou (1987) with Emilio Estevez The Dirty Dozen (1968) Cocktail (1988) with Tom Cruise Basic Instict (1992) Extreme Measures (1996) with Hugh Grant The Edge (1997) with Anthony Hopkins Nattevagten (1994) danish thriller ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/2 "2006-05-24T21:15:47Z")
I just have to chuck in my two cents on this one… OK, first of all, a limit of 40 titles is a bit restrictive. I would prefer to be able to name about 100 titles. A limit of 40 means that the list will be a bit arbitrary, and several worthy candidates won’t make it. That said, here goes, I guess, in a pretty much random order: Fellini - 8 1/2 Fellini - La Dolce Vita Bergman - Scenes From a Marriage Bergman - Summer With Monika Bergman - The Seventh Seal Antonioni - Blow-Up Kieslowski - The Three Colors trilogy Kieslowski - La Double Vie De Véronique Chaplin - Modern Times Chaplin - City Lights Chaplin - The Great Dictator Chaplin - The Kid Godard - A Bout de Souffle Godard - Vivre sa Vie Woody Allen - Annie Hall Hitchcock - Psycho Hitchcock - Vertigo Hitchcock - Rear Window Marx Brothers - Duck Soup Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard Kubrick - Dr. Strangelove Wong Kar-Wai - Chungking Express Wong Kar-Wai - In the Mood for Love Kurosawa - Throne of Blood Buster Keaton - The General Tykwer - Der Krieger und die Kaiserin Kaurismäki - Drifting Clouds Fritz Lang - M Fritz Lang - Metropolis Tarkovskij - Stalker Truffaut - Les Quatre-Cents Coups Resnais - L’Année dernière à Marienbad Howard Hawks - The Big Sleep Tsai Ming-Liang - What Time Is It There? Casablanca Eisenstein - Battleship Potemkin Siegel - Invasion of the Body Snatchers Wilcox - Forbidden Planet Singin’ In The Rain Wim Wenders - Paris, Texas Caveats: Tykwer’s “Der Krieger und die Kaiserin” might seem like an odd choice, but I just saw it recently and I liked it a lot, so it’s in. Next week it might not be. Also, I’m not sure about a couple of the others, especially “Paris, Texas”… but I’m putting it in anyway, because… well, just because I feel like it. Also, I’ve cheated: I’m counting Kieslowski’s “Three Colors” trilogy as one entry instead of three. That way I’m able to sneak a couple more entries onto the list. So, hey, sue me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/3 "2006-05-24T21:59:07Z")
Here’s my Top 40, in alphabetical order: A Christmas Story (1983) Aliens (1986) All About Eve (1950) Amadeus (1984) Best in Show (2000) Boogie Nights (1997) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Dances with Wolves (1990) Donnie Brasco (1997) Fargo (1996) Gangs of New York (2002) Gone with the Wind (1939) Goodfellas (1990) It Happened One Night (1934) Jaws (1975) Local Hero (1983) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Moulin Rouge! (2001) Pulp Fiction (1994) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Raising Arizona (1987) Rebecca (1940) Snatch (2000) Star Wars (1977) The Big Lebowski (1998) The Birds (1963) The Color of Money (1986) The Empire Strikes Back (1980) The Flamingo Kid (1984) The Godfather, Part II (1974) The Haunting (1963) The Mummy (1999) The Princess Bride (1987) The Straight Story (1999) The Thin Man (1934) The Usual Suspects (1995) This is Spinal Tap (1984) Unforgiven (1992) Untitled (Almost Famous, Bootleg Cut) (2000) Wall Street (1987) ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/4 "2006-05-24T22:18:20Z")
Band of Outsiders Night of the Shooting Stars In a Lonely Place Bicycle Thief Treasure of Sierra Madre Diabolique (original, natch) Rififi Wicker Man Garden of the Finzi-Continis Elevator to the Gallows City of God Bloody Sunday (the Irish one) 10 Rillington Place Day of the Jackal Going Places Black Sunday (Mario Bava) Play it as it Lays Ali: Feat Eats the Soul Le Voyou Battle of Algiers Bob Le Flambuer Casque D’or Dance with a Stranger Scarface (1932) This Sporting Life Princess & the Warrior A Taste of Honey 3 Women The Seven-Ups The Sicilian Clan Lord Love a Duck Pretty Poison (1968) This is Spinal Tap The Hudsucker Proxy Last Picture Show Petulia Croupier Frenzy He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/5 "2006-05-25T02:00:39Z")
Off the top of my head…I tried to order them by preference, but decided to just list them in reverse chronological order instead: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-03; basically one long-ass movie broken up into three sections) L.I.E. (2001) Fight Club (1999) The Matrix (1999) Run Lola Run (1998) The Full Monty (1997) 12 Monkeys (1995) Apollo 13 (1995) Interview with the Vampire (1994) Pulp Fiction (1994) Short Cuts (1993) Noises Off! (1992) Reservoir Dogs (1992) Defending Your Life (1991) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1990) Goodfellas (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1990) Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989) Heathers (1989) Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1988) A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Hope and Glory (1987) The Princess Bride (1987) Withnail & I (1987) Aliens (1986) After Hours (1985) The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) The Killing Fields (1984) This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Silkwood (1983) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior; 1981) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Airplane! (1980) Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) Up in Smoke (1978) Star Wars (1977; non-SE version, Greedo shoots first and all that) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (Cutting this list down to 40 was HARD!) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/6 "2006-05-25T03:22:19Z")
I actually hard a hard time thinking up a lot - only 35 here. While the ones at the top are in rank of preference, the other groups are pretty much at an equal level, in two groups. Faraway, So Close! Love Letter (1995, Japan) Blade Runner 2001: A Space Odyssey Ran (1985) Star Wars Brazil (1985) Bridge on the River Kwai Airplane! A Clockwork Orange A Midnight Clear Singin’ In the Rain Jean de Florette The Seventh Seal The Shining Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring Duck Soup Real Genius Raiders of the Lost Ark The Mission (1986) To Kill a Mockingbird The Wild Bunch The Muppet Movie Good Bye, Lenin! Three Kings (1999) The Road Warrior Grave of the Fireflies Ikiru (1952) The Princess Bride All Quiet on the Western Front Vertigo Casablanca East of Eden A Room with a View ---
**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:** [May 25, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/7 "2006-05-25T04:36:47Z")
**My Favorite Movies** , roughly in order or preference within each category. The hyperlinked titles take you to a full-length reviews that I wrote. Just click and scroll down if you are interested… **Korean** A Tale of Two Sisters The Classic [A Moment to Remember](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1887222414) [No Blood, No Tears](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1231878241) The Big Swindle Bichunmoo Volcano High [A Family](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1448119708) Il Mare **Japanese** [The Mystery of Rampo](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1493443201) Ikiru Battle Royale [Angel Dust](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1586767328) Spirited Away **Chinese/Hong Kong** Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Comrades, Almost a Love Story](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1986247077) The Bride with White Hair [A Chinese Torture Chamber Story](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1049041725) [Wing Chun](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1069659215) Naked Killer Sex & Zen II Erotic Ghost Stroy III Hard Boiled Drunken Master II Fist of Legend [Flying Dagger](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1797810494) Hard Boiled Hero House of Flying Daggers Infernal Affairs The Killer Mr. Vampire Police Story III (aka Supercop) Sex & Zen **non-Asian** The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Mullholland Dr. Goodfellas Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels Kill Bill Pulp Fiction Well, that’s 40. Wish I could list a few more… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/8 "2006-05-25T04:39:52Z")
Citizen Kane Clockwork orange Mad Max thunderdome Blazing saddles Apocalypse Now Bridge on River kwai Ran 7 wsamurai Life of Brian Kill Bill Reservoir Dogs On the waterfront Taxi Driver The Graduate Cuckoos Nest Jaws maltese falcon Platoon Godfathers O Brother where art thou Easy Rider Deerhunter Papillion Pulp Fiction Treasure Sirra Madre tHE tHING 1956 Amadeus Caddy shack Jazz singer Frankenstien Dracula 1931 Silence of the Lambs American Graffitti Star Wars Life of Brian ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/9 "2006-05-25T05:15:15Z")
Ok lets fight. Speed It did not pretend to be art or a message movie. It had Sandra Bullock good in her role .Dennis Hopper.Perfect. ok Keneau Reeves not so good. But every second was useful. it built all the way.It was an exciting and didnt waste a second. So I liked it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/10 "2006-05-25T08:58:16Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Ok lets fight. Speed > It did not pretend to be art or a message movie. It had Sandra Bullock good in her role .Dennis Hopper.Perfect. ok Keneau Reeves not so good. But every second was useful. it built all the way.It was an exciting and didnt waste a second. So I liked it a lot. What’s to fight about? Fer cryin’ out loud, I’ve got _Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death_ on my list. 😃 Yes, it’s a bad movie. But the actors _know_ it’s a bad movie, and act accordingly. It’s the ultimate B-Movie satire. Plus, it’s got Bill Maher (before he became politically incorrect) and…PLAYMATES!!! (However, I will never forgive _Speed_ for claiming to drive down the I-10 freeway, when it was _clearly_ the under-construction I-105 freeway. Never mind that they eventually got to the real 105…that just made it worse!!!) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/11 "2006-05-25T12:35:18Z")
Best? or Favorite? There’s a difference – I can recognize that a movie has outstanding features, yet hate it. And some of my faves are guilty pleasures. For what it’s worth, these are my favorites, without guilty pleasures like ] **Plan Nine** : **A Man for All Seasons The Seven Samurai Spartacus Forbidden Planet Lawrence of Arabia Charade The Guns of Navarone Casablanca A Night at the Opera A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Arsenic and Old Lace 2001: A Space Odyssey Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi The Maltese Falcon Fantasia Fantasia 2000 Kagemusha Silverado Doctor Zhivago Young Frankenstein The Day of the Jackal The Flight of the Phoenix Star Trek II Star Trek IV The Lord of the Rings Trilogy King Kong (1933) The Day the Earth Stood Still Creator Metropolis (1927) The Lost World (1925) The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The Terminator Terminator II Five Million Years to Earth/Quatermass and the Pit Enemy From Space/Quatermass II What’s Up, Doc? North by Northwest On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Thunderball For Your Eyes Only King Kong (2005) The General Rear Window Psycho Dr. Strangelove Paths of Glory Breaker Morant 1776 Fiddler on the Roof West Side Story** ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/12 "2006-05-25T14:45:23Z")
I have many more, but these 40 I’d recommend to all my friends and family: [ol] [li]2001: A Space Odyssey[/li][li]Akira[/li][li]Amadeus[/li][li]Apocalypse Now[/li][li]Apollo 13[/li][li]Bad ma ra khahad bord (The Wind Will Carry Us, Iranian)[/li][li]Badkonake sefid _(The White Balloon, Iranian. I have a special reverence towards these types of Iranian movies that focus on daily life, I spent my early years in Isfahan and watching hem brings back distant, dusty memories!)_[/li][li]Baran[/li][li]Barry Lyndon[/li][li]Bend It Like Beckham[/li][li]Das Boot[/li][li]Car Wash[/li][li]Chunhyang[/li][li]Close Encounters of the Third Kind[/li][li]Cooley High[/li][li]Die xue shuang xiong (The Killer)[/li][li]Dolemite[/li][li]East Is East [/li][li]The Exorcist[/li][li]Fail-Safe[/li][li]Faster[/li][li]The French Connection[/li][li]Frenzy[/li][li]Friday [/li][li]Full Metal Jacket[/li][li]Genghis Blues [/li][li]Glory[/li][li]The Godfather Pts I & II (I’ll treat these as one)[/li][li]The Goonies [/li][li]Heat [/li][li]Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters)[/li][li]The Last Dragon[/li][li]Malcolm X[/li][li]Monsoon Wedding[/li][li]My Dog Skip (one of the VERY few movies that made me cry. I’m a sucker for boy-and-his-dog movies.)[/li][li]On Any Sunday (If you want to understand my #1 passion watch this movie, along with Faster)[/li][li]Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)[/li][li]Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai)[/li][li]Tampopo[/li][li]The Tuskegee Airmen[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/13 "2006-05-25T15:21:04Z")
Let’s see, favourites: Fear Eats The Soul Even Dwarfs Started Small Aguirre, Wrath of God Metropolis Wings of Desire Funny Games Weekend Jules & Jim Amelie Big Blue 5th Element Leon, the Professional La Femme Nikita The Double Life of Veronique Three Colours Red:White:Blue A Room With A View Maurice Withnail & I Monty Python’s The Holy Grail Monty Python’s The Life of Brian Much Ado About Nothing Lord of the Rings trilogy Blade Runner Highlander Ladyhawke Willow Princess Bride Ghostbusters Groundhog Day Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Spirited Away Kiki’s Delivery Service Les Maîtres du Temps ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movies-you-have-ever-seen-max-40-titles/358049/14 "2006-05-25T16:59:12Z")
Hmmmm… Okay… I’ll do it. 1. Night of the Living Dead 2. Dawn of the Dead 3. Empire Strikes Back 4. Life is Beautiful 5. Unbreakable 6. Leap of Faith 7. Once Upon a Time in the West 8. Saving Private Ryan 9. Enemy Mine 10. Altman’s Popeye (Shut up! It’s wonderful!) 11. Reservoir Dogs 12. Wizard of Oz 13. Leon The Professional 14. Unforgiven 15. Star Wars 16. Return of the Jedi 17. Shaft 18. Kelly’s Heroes 19. The Specials 20. Rushmore 21. Royal Tenenbaums 22. Napoleon Dynamite 23. Seven Samurai 24. Adapatation 25. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 26. The Poseidon Adventure 27. Planet of the Apes (original) 28. Quick Change 29. MP and the Holy Grail 30. Kids in the Hall Brain Candy 31. Me and You and Everyone We Know 32. Jesus’ Son 33. Swimming to Cambodia 34. Monster in the Box 35. Romeo is Bleeding 36. Gross Point Blanke 37. Better Off Dead 38. The Sunshine Boys 39. Some Like it Hot 40. Nosferatu