S E E D E D C O N T E N T
These are the 100 greatest American movies of all time, as decided by the American Film Institute in 2007.
My question to you is, which do you think are rated too high and which do you think are rated too low.
If any.
1. CITIZEN KANE (1941)
5. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
6. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
7. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
8. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
10. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
15. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
19. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
20. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
22. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
23. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
24. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
25. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
26. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
29. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
30. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
31. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
34. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
36. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
39. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
40. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
42. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
43. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
44. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
46. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
47. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
50. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)
51. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
53. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
55. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
61. SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)
62. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
65. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
66. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
67. WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
70. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
71. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
72. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
73. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
74. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
75. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
77. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
79. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
85. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935)
88. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
89. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
91. SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982)
93. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
95. THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971)
96. DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
98. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
In my opinion, movies in the bottom half that should be in the first half.
Personally, I think Patton, The Battle of Britain, Kelley's Heros, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly should have been on the list. Not necessarily towards the top, but still should have made the list.
I agree about Patton and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Far better films that many who made the list.
Maybe not Kelley's Heroes. That just happens to be one of my favorite war movies for the comedy value. Always loved The Mike Curb Congregations theme song for the movie. Somehow it was a perfect fit. The Battle of Britain just had incredible aerial combat sequences for it's day.
Rated too high, IMO
(I have three responses, so I will separate them)
This is maybe a little tangential, but one of the problems with these lists is establishing what we mean by "greatest." I agree that most or all of these movies (the ones I have seen) are brilliantly crafted. Intelligent stories, great acting, beautiful cinematography. These all make a great movie, of course.
But another feature can be rewatchability. Almost none of these movies is one I would watch over and over again. Partly because they are something I like to savor, so I watch them only occasionally to keep them fresh.
But I'm thinking of movies that if they appear on TV, I throw away the remote. A couple are here - Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. But there are several others that I can watch over and over and quote endlessly that aren't here. Die Hard, Avengers, Captain America, The Big Lebowski, The Blues Brothers, Airplane, The Princess Bride, Caddyshack, and there are more, of course.
There is an article in the archives of the Movie group about movies that we like to watch many times over, and the reasons for it.
I always seem to watch "Field of dreams" and "The Natural" whenever I am channel-surfing.
My two favorite movies are not on the list at all - The Ten Commandments and Patton. I think both are brilliant.
The Ten Commandments was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and it's got everything a great movie should have. The hero struggles with fear and doubt, overcoming incredible odds, doing the right thing even when it's hard. The villains (Yul Bryner, Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price) are delightfully evil and yet have a sympathetic point of view. The women are beautiful. The costumes are stunning. The special effects (for the time) are sensational. The score is soaring. And the sets and the extras - well, it's DeMille, after all.
Patton (which won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 1970) is an amazing achievement and even more so when you consider the time in which it was made. Vietnam was raging and antiwar and antimilitary sentiment were strong. Against this backdrop, the portrayal of Patton is incredibly balanced, with the viewer allowed to make their own interpretation. It's also a pretty good historical movie, with almost all of Patton's dialogue taken from records of his actual words. And of course, George C. Scott is perfect.
Patton was on the original list which came out in the mid 1990's. They re-did it a couple times and I guess Patton was dropped for a newer film. I agree it is a great movie , I have watched Patton in whole or in part at least a half dozen times.
The Ten Commandments is good too. It's a little campy, such as the casting of Edward G Robinson as Dathan, but it is definitely a fun movie.
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No more campy than Gone with the Wind, and that makes the top of the list.
I don't think they could have found a better actor to play Dathan.
Leslie Howard is a fine actor, but I do believe he played Ashly Wilkes a little over the top
It's like if they would have put Robert DeNiro as Dathan. Doesnt fit. Some actors dont belong in ancient milieus.
But delightfully so. I had the opportunity a few years back (ok maybe 20 years ago) to see it in the theater. It was at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, which is a great venue. The theater was filled was fans, so every time Robinson or Price came on the screen, people would boo and hiss. It was a great time.
These are the ones that should go:
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
FORREST GUMP (1994)
TITANIC (1997)
PULP FICTION (1994)
YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
There are so many better films than those. Thank god Thelma and Louise didn't make the list or I would have vomited.
I like your thinking on 4 of them .
I would put Titanic in the top 100 just for the spectacle. It was way too long though.
What have you got against Thelma and Louse? Hmmmm?
Citizen Kane is good, but I think it's very overrated. Both Godfather movies (and others) are superior, IMO.
It's in the top 20, but even so, I think On The Waterfront is under rated just because it's hardly ever in a conversation about this kind of thing.
Not on the list at all, but should be: Alien, The Empire Strikes Back, Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Airplane, The Princess Bride. Obviously there are others.
Stuff that's there that you could easily take off the list: King Kong is historically important, but it's not that great a movie. Easy Rider bored me. Tootsie was funny at the time, but I don't think it has aged well - certainly not "Top 100."
KIng Kong's special effects were out of this world at the time, I would leave it in the top 100.
I agree. And I will even sit down and watch King Kong. Heck, I enjoy monster movies, in general. I just look at the story and the acting and I think "this is ok, but it's not 'great'." Historical? For sure. Great? Meh. Maybe it's me.
The acting style in 1933 was far different from what we have today.
The list will probably be different for each age group.
For "us", leaving out military classics like 'Midway' and 'Tora, Tora, Tora', 'Gettysburg', 'Gods and Generals', Casablanca,
Black Hawk Down, We were soldiers, Empire of the Sun, From here to eternity, The thin red line,
The longest Day, and Schindler's List, to name a few,
speaks volumes about our very short memories as a society that values entertainment over the sacrifices that were made
to enable our current English speaking cell phone and social media centered lifestyles...
Good topic John.
I think 'The Graduate' was over rated.
I would have added the original Frankenstein.
How about 'Young Frankenstein'? I laughed so hard I needed a seda-give...
That one too. Haha Classic.
A classic. I haven't seen Bride of Frankenstein, but I know a number of critics think that is the superior movie.
Never saw the bride one either. I remember the first scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. It was just creepy.
No Burt Reynolds movies?
No John Wayne movies?
Where is Blues Brothers? Animal House?
The Searchers is on there. That's a movie that has gone through a bit of an evolution in how critics view it. It was always a good movie, but in the last 10 years or so, it has become the consensus "Best Western Ever Made."
Lists like these are difficult as people can have such wildly different tastes.
As an example, I do not see why Star Wars is on this list at all. IMO it's not a great movie, the acting was just ok, nothing stands out about the story. It was just a space opera in the same vein as Flash Gordon and the hype was always much larger than it delivered. I always thought Alien was a much better movie.
And lists like this people will read and tend to use the numbers as a rating system. I agree with an above comment, Citizen Kane was not that great of a movie and I have a hard time seeing it on any list of the best 100.
I think a better list might be the top rewatchable movies, ones that if you're flipping around the channels and you see it on you almost have to stop and watch, at least for a few minutes. Here's some of my list:
That would likely be my top 25, not in order, just in the order they came to mind.
It's a different category. People may not want to watch Schindler's List or Lawrence Of Arabia or even Citizen Kane every time they are on tv, but that doesnt mean they cant be great films.
I do think though that many films on the 100 list are watched over and over by people. The Godfather for sure. Casablanca for sure. Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, Star Wars, etc.
I would have liked to have seen Groundhog Day on the 100 list. I think it deserves it, and it is one of my favorite movies.
It's the difference between "critical acclaim" or perhaps even great acting vs what makes one feel good.
LOL, that took me back to my youth. At 16 I was in the hospital for appendicitis. Spent a week in there after surgery, that should tell you how long ago this was. But I was in heaven, the hospital had cable TV. I had seven channels to choose from. And out of those seven channels, I got to watch Patton three nights in a row.
John I mean this in the most respectful way
but I think that's ironic
as that movie pretty much describes our mutual experiences in some places every day
The thing that made Star Wars was not the story, it was the never before seen special effects. 2001 A Space Odyssey had pioneered the use of models to depict space travel in an awe inspiring way, but Star Wars expanded on that and used the effects in service of a fun story.
Going by some of the exotic costuming youve posted on this forum I would think you are the one attending conventions.
Don't forget the music.
I think Citizen Kane always finds itself at or near the top of lists is because its style was groundbreaking.
Buzz, I think you finally cashed a winner with this one!
LOL Vic. It's not my article nor is it from Everyone Loves Movies group. It's an example of why groups are a waste of time and effort.
Buzz,
John wanted to post it in there, but you know why he can't.
Nope and that is all I am going to say on this matter.
He knows why as well - he cannot slander me and expect that I want him as a friend or on my groups. No matter. the Movies group is not going to be around soon anyway.
No he didn't. He didn't want anything to do with the Movies group.
IMO, the Deer Hunter should be rated higher than 53.
Strange that the Cain Mutiny isn't on the list. One of the all-time great movies.
I'm surprised more women haven't chosen "Dirty Dancing", that colossal pile of poop that so many women seem to like.
In my opinion "12 Angry Men" is ranked too low, should be somewhere in the top 40 at the very least. Also I see Eastwood, Wayne, and Brando represented but nothing with McQueen? "Papillon", "The Sand Pebbles", "Bullitt", etc.….?