# What are the ten best movies of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315 "2000-05-02T00:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/41 "2000-05-02T22:39:11Z")
Iswote, I have to agree with you exactly on Groundhog’s Day. On the surface, it just appears to be one of a thousand comedy/dramas you see all the time. But I too just love it, and can’t ever turn it off when I come across it. I think, as you get below the surface, it has a great deal of depth as this man keeps getting another chance at this day, and then another chance, and then finally gets it right. It has a kind of zen, enjoy the moment/be here now type-o-thing going on. Anyway, I apologize for not keeping to the subject (10 best movies). I had intended to but went off on my tangent and it is now time for me to retire for the day. Perhaps tomorrow, because “tomorrow is another day”. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/42 "2000-05-03T00:31:21Z")
“Best” is extremely hard to qualify…for example, even though I love _Blade Runner_, it contains one or two editing gaffes that irk me and force me to keep it off my list. Here goes, in no particular order: 1. _Citizen Kane_. The storyline, the dialogue, the camera work, all superb. The movie is nigh-flawless. 2. _Schindler’s List_. No movie has emotionally affected me so strongly. 3. _Seven Samurai_. Again, nearly flawless, in every setting, performance, edit, and angle. 4. _Alien_. Ridley Scott’s finest. Introduced a new era of sci-fi, where the future wasn’t necessarily a pretty, sterile, wonderland. Also, a fine example of horror rule #1: If you want to scare people, don’t show them something that should scare them. Show people who are themselves scared. 5. _The Usual Suspects_. Crime drama and mystery at its finest, with excellent performances by all. And most amazing, it’s a complicated story that’s completely followable. The best screenplay ever, in my book. 6. _Some Like It Hot_. Narrowly edges out Chaplin and the Marx Brothers as the best comedy ever. 7. _Psycho_. Top marks to both Hitchcock and Perkins. Perkins’s final look at the camera is absolutely chilling. 8. _Star Wars_. I once read that the definition of ‘sci-fi’ is any film that, without the science, would have no story. By that measure, _Star Wars_ is not sci-fi; it’s a very primal story of the young hero, the old master, the evil ruler, the comical sidekick, and rescuing the girl and saving the kingdom, all wrapped in outer-space trappings. It’s the one film I never get tired of, no matter how often I see it. 9. _Fiddler On The Roof_. The list deserves a musical, and _Fiddler_, in my book, edges out the rest. And yes, I include _The Wizard Of Oz_ in that statement. “If I were a rich man…” 10. _Unforgiven_. The list deserves a Western, and Clint’s masterpiece is the best of 'em. I love that there are no genuinely “good” characters; it’s an ugly story about ugly topics, and probably the most realistic Western ever made. Honorable mentions: The _Godfather_ films, obviously. I know they really belong up there, but with only 10 spots, there just ain’t room. _Run Lola Run_ is the most amazing foreign film I’ve seen in a good long while. Y’all go see it. Just about everything Chaplin and the Marx Brothers ever created would fill out a Top 20 list, but they’d overcrowd a Top 10 that has _Some Like It Hot_ on it. As noted above, _The Wizard Of Oz_ would have a spot but for the requirements of a short list. I wish I could convince y’all that _LA Story_ belongs on the list, but you’d never buy it. Still, it has beautiful music, amazing humor, a great love story, Shakespeare, and a road-conditions sign that’s a reincarnated set of bagpipes. And, of course, hundreds more that can’t be named… ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/43 "2000-05-03T01:08:10Z")
I’ll let you know my top ten as soon as they finish making Rocky’s\* VI through X. ## Peace. _What, no one likes musicals? Sound of Music? American in Paris? West Side Story? Cop Rock?_ ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/44 "2000-05-03T02:55:35Z")
My personal favorites, by (quasi) genre: Epic - GWTW honorable mentions to Braveheart and Dances with Wolves Original Drama - Rain Man Historical Drama - Elizabeth honorable mention to Becket Comedy - Breakfast Club Musical - 7 Brides for 7 Brothers honorable mention to Grease WW2 Drama - Bridge Over River Kwai Dark Comedy - American Beauty Suspense - Wait Until Dark honorable mention to 6th Sense,Psycho and Silence of Lambs Romantic Comedy - When Harry Met Sally honorable mention to Pretty Woman (sorry!) Sci Fi - Star Wars honorable mention to Terminator Chick Flick - Fried Green Tomatoes Classic - African Queen Adaptation - Pride & Prejudice (BBC vers. w/ Colin Firth) Tear Jerker - Terms of Endearment honorable mention to Bambi ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/45 "2000-05-03T03:00:18Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. _Alien_. Ridley Scott’s finest. Introduced a new era of sci-fi, where the future wasn’t necessarily a pretty, sterile, wonderland. The dystopian future was common in sci-fi movies long before Alien, which was released in 1979. By 1898, Melies’ _A Trip to the Moon_ was showing us the possible consequensces of technologies to come. Metropolis (1927) was your first popular full-length future dystopia. The following is a list of some of the dystopian future movies that were released in the decade or so before Alien came out (between 1966 and 1976): Fahrenheit 451 2001: A Space Odyssey A Clockwork Orange Planet of the Apes Soylent Green Rollerball Death Race 2000 A Boy and his Dog Z.P.G. Westworld Logan’s Run THX 1138 Of course, the device of the dystopian future had long been established in written science fiction. On a different note, you can count me firmly in the Fargo-loving crowd. I even named my kayak “Margie.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/46 "2000-05-03T03:34:00Z")
You heathens, how can anyone not have an Ed Wood movie on their ten best of all time list? 🙂 Best Overall: The Seven Samuri, Only movie I have ever seen with great story, action, and characterization, I quess being 6 hours long might explain how Kurasawa was able to fit all that in. Best epic: Braveheart, Kind of predictable, but one of the few movies that made me emotionally feel for the characters. I was ready to grab a claymore and fight for freedom. Best Character study: Citizen Kane, after watching this movie everyone should be immediatly required to watch RKO 281 a cable movie out a few months ago that explains and complements greatly. Best Thiller: Sixth Sence, only movie to ever shock me that much with a surprise ending. Best Sports movie: Slapshot, One of the funniest movies still keeping a true sence of the sport. Best Action movie/chase sequences: Ronin, the one with DeNiro that came out a few years ago, Good story, suspense and finally a car chase better than Bullit. Best Spoof: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Best Romantic Comedy: Ummm does a Fish called Wanda count? that’s the only movie I can think of close to that category that I didn’t hate. Best War movie: Apocolypse Now, The Directors cut without credits. truly immerses you in a Fu…ed up world as your sanity leaks away. Best Sci/fi:Close call but I have to give it to Blade Runner. Runner uses the Sci-fi elements to add to an interesting story about realty, rather than ohh-ahh special effects to numb you. Thats my ten, although Plan 9 from Outer Space is cleary the most important movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/47 "2000-05-03T03:47:57Z")
You heathens, how can anyone not have an Ed Wood movie on their ten best of all time list? 🙂 Best Overall: The Seven Samuri, Only movie I have ever seen with great story, action, and characterization, I quess being 6 hours long might explain how Kurasawa was able to fit all that in. Best epic: Braveheart, Kind of predictable, but one of the few movies that made me emotionally feel for the characters. I was ready to grab a claymore and fight for freedom. Best Character study: Citizen Kane, after watching this movie everyone should be immediatly required to watch RKO 281 a cable movie out a few months ago that explains and complements greatly. Best Thiller: Sixth Sence, only movie to ever shock me that much with a surprise ending. Best Sports movie: Slapshot, One of the funniest movies still keeping a true sence of the sport. Best Action movie/chase sequences: Ronin, the one with DeNiro that came out a few years ago, Good story, suspense and finally a car chase better than Bullit. Best Spoof: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Best Romantic Comedy: Ummm does a Fish called Wanda count? that’s the only movie I can think of close to that category that I didn’t hate. Best War movie: Apocolypse Now, The Directors cut without credits. truly immerses you in a Fu…ed up world as your sanity leaks away. Best Sci/fi:Close call but I have to give it to Blade Runner. Runner uses the Sci-fi elements to add to an interesting story about realty, rather than ohh-ahh special effects to numb you. Thats my ten, although Plan 9 from Outer Space is cleary the most important movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/48 "2000-05-03T05:41:47Z")
Wanna talk about OLDER movies…? I don’t know many (I’m only 18), but I loved “Modern Times” and “Duck Soup” (ah, the genius of the Marx brothers… the world was a better place because of them). Also, I think I should point out Spaceballs, since that’s the epitome of classic sci-fi spoofs (did someone call me? Nevermind)… Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, which was the poster child of '80s Teenage Boy Hero movies… and Escape from L.A., which most people say sucked (and I can even see why), but for some reason, I just loved it so much. If you want to get into “other” movie mediums… has anyone seen the demo movie for Warcraft III? That’s some amazing CG there, bro… (sorry… I just had to bring up my love for computer games…) ---
**Author:** ![Steve-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Steve-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve-o)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/49 "2000-05-03T06:13:21Z")
My faves in no particular order: Braveheart When Harry Met Sally L.A. Story The Princess Bride The Hudsucker Proxy Barefoot in the Park Tombstone The Unforgiven The Matrix Pulp Fiction I know I’m leaving something out… ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/50 "2000-05-03T12:15:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Well the movie surround-sound and the big screen make it easier to forget where you are and feel you are right in that tin can with 'em. I actually thought the big screen made it feel more spacious simply because it was, well, much bigger than TV. Having been inside a U-boat (U-505 (IIRC) at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry), I know I’m not really claustrophobic anyway, so maybe I’m just not qualified enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/51 "2000-05-03T12:42:35Z")
On Golden Blonde Doing Miss Daisy E.T.–The Extra Testicle RoboBabe The Sperminator When Harry Did Sally Genital Hospital Spanked Employees (these are the best for quickly ending games of charades) Bucky ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/52 "2000-05-03T13:31:40Z")
Bucky, you left out: Hannah Does Her Sisters Mr. Holland Gropes Us Shaving Ryan’s Privates Mommie Queerest The Maddam’s Family The Beverly Thrillbillies Yank My Doodle, It’s a Dandy I Dream of Weenie ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/53 "2000-05-03T15:19:21Z")
**Green Bean** - **Alien** _did_ represent a change in the way the future was presented. For one thing, everthing wasn’t white and sterile-looking, and the characters weren’t all dressed in white clothes or in tight-fitting polyester suits. Also, for the first time, the future looked _really_ grungy. Everything on the ship looks worn or run down. Remember the water dripping all over the place? All the malfunctioning equipment? Ridley Scott figured out that maybe things wear out in the future, too. The only prior films that come to mind which had a serious grunge factor were Silent Running and, to some extent, Star Wars, with the balky Millenium Falcon (though even in those films, there were a lot of white clothes, sterile white backgrounds and/or polyester outfits). There _were_ prior films with dystopian futures, as you point out, but non quite had the run-down _look_ of **Alien** , a look which has been imitated in a number of subsequent films. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/54 "2000-05-03T17:53:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Everything on the ship looks worn or run down. You mean those computers and sleep chambers weren’t high tech stuff in 1979? But clearly the engineering spaces were inspired by NASA… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/55 "2000-05-03T19:09:07Z")
Thanks for backing me up, spoke. As you noted, by “pretty” and “sterile” I was referring to the overall look of the future: white costumes, nice furniture, and no one has to shimmy through an oily crawlspace to do any spot-welds. The gritty future reached its apparent apex in _Blade Runner_, since every pseudo-unpleasant future-based movie since then has copied the “giant industrial fan” look from it. The movies Green Bean listed (at least those I’ve seen) tend toward the sterile look. Sure, there are negative aspects of the future they depict, but the same could be said of _Star Wars_ (and I don’t want any wisearse pointing out that _Star Wars_ isn’t the future because it’s set “a long time ago”, ya literalists). There’s always gotta be something to create a conflict, or else you got yourself one boring movie. ---
**Author:** ![right\_said\_fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@right\_said\_fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/right_said_fred)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/56 "2000-05-03T21:04:39Z")
I’m not even going to try to come up with only ten movies. I argue with myself enough as it is. I thought I would mention the shootout scene in “True Romance.” What a vision. It was so surreal and beautiful; brought a tear to my eye. * * * Welcomed to the board by Satan. I think I need to have a word with Uncle Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/57 "2000-05-04T00:34:52Z")
Ummm…you guys need to see a few more future movies. You said “a pretty sterile wonderland.” The world “wonderland” implies a utopia, not a dystopia. Even if we remove the word “wonderland,” most of the movies that I listed showed futures that were hardly pretty and sterile. _Alien_ was definitely innovative in that the spaceship was the equivalent of a jalopy, and it was certainly one of the best movies of all time, but it’s portrayal of an unpleasant and scary future was not at all innovative. n.b. Silent Running and 2001 did show _defective_ spacecraft, but they were very different than the one in Alien. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2000, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/58 "2000-05-05T04:29:35Z")
Some movies that aren’t top 10, but might remind people of better choices… decent choices for a “backup” rental. Comedies: The Inlaws (Falk and Arkin) - I thought it was brilliant because you didn’t know until the last minutes if Peter Falk was insane or a hero. Actually, no – to be honest, most people were quite sure he was insane [quoting, without preamble, the part about the giant mosquitos flapping gracefully into the distance clutching stolen native babies is the single quickest way to convince a new acquaintance that _you_ are nuts) That incorrrect (?) presumption somehow made its comedy transcendant The Last Action Hero (Schwarzenegger) I saw it grudgingly because it was the least objectionable movie my friend brought over one day [Possibly the best way to see a movie – no expectations] I suspect the comedy was too fast paced for the audience. It’s like Airplane, but not nearly as silly. A satisfying lampoon of adventure films. FRENCH (since someone mentioned Besson) [N.B. I am no francophile, in fact, it is second only to Italy on my “loathe” list. I only learned the language because I tend to absorb such things by osmosis.] French comedy Le Retour de Grand Blond Homme (The Return of the Tall Bonde Man) was brilliant, and absolutely accessible to American audiences. It’s the sequel to "Le Grand Blond Homme French ‘action drama’ I’ll admit Le Femme Nikita is a bit obvious, but every later remake only made me appreciate Besson more (and my opinion _started_ at WOW) I’ll yield up some great German and Japanese films if someone will name ONE really good Russian film. Preferably a comedy. I’ve seen too many tortuous Russian dramas. (I keep hearing great things about Beloye Solntse Pustyni [White Sun of the Desert) but I’ll believe it when I see it) ---
**Author:** ![TN\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TN\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TN_hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/59 "2000-05-05T05:07:35Z")
**Homer & zuma** come closest to my personal faves. My top 10, in no particular order: Dr. Strangelove One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest The Color Purple Sophie’s Choice After Hours Saving Private Ryan Full Metal Jacket Forest Gump American Beauty Walk on the Moon (not to be confused with _A Man on the Moon_, which was also pretty damn good) ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2000, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315/60 "2000-05-05T08:12:25Z")
These are simply my favorite movies, which means I could literally watch them all day without getting bored. In no particular order, 1. The Shawshank Redemption 2. Tombstone 3. Three Kings 4. The Matrix 5. Sleepers (Can’t believe no one named this one!) 6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 7. The Endless Summer (Another suprise!) 8. Saving Private Ryan 9. Clerks 10. Dogma [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-best-movies-of-all-time/18315.md?page=4)