February 10, 2004

The Greatest Movies of All Time

In 2003, my good friend and co-worker, a brilliant scholar, expert socialite, and killer foosball player, (good enough for ya T$?) suggested that we that gather information from everyone who woud give us an answer about the greatest movies of all time. There were no constraints, no rules, and no list of films folks had to choose from. If you liked a film, you added it to your list. American films. Foreign Films. Big budget. Indy. Every film had a chance and all things being equal, a lot of films came to the surface. Basically, people could add whatever films they wanted.

We had hoped to turn this into a Final Four-like competition, where people would vote and give us the "people's answer" on what is the greatest movie of all time. We still might do that.

Based on the frequency of "entries" the list below was generated. "Vote" if you wish by responding with comments, and add your commentary if you wish, or just add a few of these films to your Netflix queue! (I will also add links to IMDB.com write-ups of these films as time permits.)

  1. The Godfather

  2. Schindler's List

  3. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

  4. Gone with the Wind

  5. The Silence of the Lambs

  6. Casablanca

  7. The Wizard of Oz

  8. Saving Private Ryan

  9. Apocalypse Now

  10. The Sound of Music

  11. Jaws

  12. Raiders of the Lost Ark

  13. Psycho

  14. Forrest Gump

  15. Gladiator

  16. Rocky

  17. The Matrix

  18. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

  19. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

  20. Jurassic Park

  21. 2001: A Space Odyssey

  22. The Graduate

  23. Dances with Wolves

  24. Rain Man

  25. North By Northwest

  26. Titanic

  27. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

  28. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

  29. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

  30. Pulp Fiction

  31. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  32. A Few Good Men

  33. Apollo 13

  34. Good Will Hunting

  35. Ben Hur

  36. Back to the Future

  37. Shakespeare in Love

  38. The Maltese Falcon

  39. Princess Bride

  40. Top Gun

  41. The Hunt for Red October

  42. Doctor Zhivago

  43. Blazing Saddles

  44. Lawrence of Arabia

  45. The Lion King

  46. West Side Story

  47. Good Morning, Vietnam

  48. To Kill a Mockingbird

  49. Goodfellas

  50. Braveheart

  51. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

  52. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

  53. The Sixth Sense

  54. The Shining

  55. Pretty Woman

  56. Superman

  57. An Officer and a Gentleman

  58. The Sting

  59. JFK

  60. Platoon

  61. The Exorcist

  62. Heat

  63. Dr. Strangelove

  64. Grease

  65. Kramer vs. Kramer

  66. The Untouchables

  67. Planet of the Apes (old version)

  68. The Godfather Part II

  69. A Clockwork Orange

  70. The Schawshank Redemption

  71. Alien

  72. Beverly Hills Cop

  73. Terminator

  74. 12 Angry Men

  75. Citizen Kane

  76. Traffic

  77. Ordinary People

  78. Independence Day

  79. Streetcar Named Desire

  80. Jerry Maguire

  81. Mission: Impossible

  82. Air Force One

  83. Singing in the Rain

  84. Office Space

  85. The Towering Inferno

  86. Contact

  87. Easy Rider

  88. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

  89. Lethal Weapon

  90. Vertigo

  91. It's a Wonderful Life

  92. Tootsie

  93. Raging Bull

  94. Erin Brockovich

  95. The Fugitive

  96. Fatal Attraction

  97. In The Bedroom

  98. The Right Stuff

  99. A Beautiful Mind

  100. Momento

  101. Any Given Sunday

  102. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

  103. The Patriot

  104. Legends of The Fall

  105. Ocean's Eleven

  106. On the Waterfront

  107. 13th Warrior

  108. The Game

  109. The Birds

  110. The Breakfast Club

  111. Chariots of Fire

  112. Last of the Mohicans

  113. Glory

  114. The Apartment

  115. Major League

  116. Taxi Driver

  117. A Hard Day's Night

  118. The Last Temptation of Christ

  119. Run Lola Run

  120. The French Connection

  121. Seven

  122. Driving Miss Daisy

  123. Fight Club

  124. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

  125. The Lion in Winter

  126. A River Runs Through It

  127. Batman

  128. Meet The Parents

  129. Stalag 13

  130. Beverly Hills Cop II

  131. Ghandi

  132. On the Town

  133. Ten Commandments

  134. A Time to Kill

  135. Crimson Tide

  136. Tommy Boy

  137. My Life

  138. Shrek

  139. Bridge On The River Kwai

  140. American Beauty

  141. Casino

  142. Terms of Endearment

  143. Spaceballs

  144. The Great Escape

  145. Some Like it Hot

  146. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

  147. Romancing the Stone

  148. The Pink Panther Strikes Again

  149. The Posiden Adventure

  150. Signs

  151. Awakenings

  152. King Kong

  153. Sunset Boulevard

  154. Austin Powers

  155. Flying Deuces

  156. Predator

  157. Return To Me

  158. Young Frankenstein

  159. Rebel Without A Cause

  160. Unforgiven

  161. White Christmas

  162. Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade

  163. The Firm

  164. Mission Impossible 2

  165. Amadeus

  166. Monty Python Life of Brian

  167. When Harry Met Sally

  168. Witness

  169. Strange Brew

  170. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

  171. The Grapes Of Wrath

  172. Slap Shot

  173. Aliens

  174. Midnight Cowboy

  175. Usual Suspects

  176. Enter the Dragon

  177. Blade Runner

  178. Halloween

  179. Parent Trap

  180. Maverick

  181. Ranson

  182. Sleepless in Seattle

  183. The Green Mile

  184. As Good As It Gets

  185. Goldfinger

  186. Billy Madison

  187. Caddyshack

  188. Dirty Dozen

  189. The Day The Earth Stood Still

  190. Cocktail

If you wish to see the "bracketed" list of movies, let me know and I will post the spreadsheet.

Posted by MEK at February 10, 2004 09:09 AM