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At the turn of the century, I was enamored with all the best-of lists floating around. Being particularly interested in music, I created a database to accumulate as many music-focused lists as I could find. I ended up aggregating hundreds of lists to make “definitive” lists of the best songs, albums, and acts of all time – and more. I created a website – DavesMusicDatabase.com – to gather and publish those lists.
This endeavor is based on the same concept. Gather and aggregate multiple lists focused on the best movies of all time. The anchor list is this one – The Top 100 Movies of All Time. It was created by aggregating more than 50 lists (see those lists here) along with box office figures (sources here), ratings (sources here), and awards (sources here).
Note to Members of the Film Fanatics Movie Club: Titles which we have discussed in our group or are scheduled to discuss as of 4/24/2024 have been highlighted.
Here’s the list:
1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Gone with the Wind (1939)
3. Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
4. Citizen Kane (1941)
5. Schindler’s List (1993)
6. Casablanca (1942)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
8. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
9. Jaws (1975)
10. Apocalypse Now (1979)
11. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
12. Psycho (1960)
13. Vertigo (1958)
14. The Godfather Part II (1974)
15. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
16. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
17. Pulp Fiction (1994)
18. Titanic (1997)
19. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
20. Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
21. Raging Bull (1980)
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
23. Taxi Driver (1976)
24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
25. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
26. Goodfellas (1990)
27. Some Like It Hot (1959)
28. Chinatown (1974)
29. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
30. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
31. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
32. Rear Window (1954)
33. Annie Hall (1977)
34. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
35. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954)
36. North by Northwest (1959)
37. Forrest Gump (1994)
38. The Searchers (1956)
39. All About Eve (1950)
40. The Sound of Music (1965)
41. The Graduate (1967)
42. On the Waterfront (1954)
43. The Dark Knight (2008)
44. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
45. The Third Man (1949)
46. Double Indemnity (1944)
47. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
48. Ben-Hur (1959)
49. Alien (1979)
50. Avatar (2009)
51. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
52. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
53. Blade Runner (1982)
54. Jurassic Park (1993)
55. The Apartment (1960)
56. City Lights (1931)
57. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
58. West Side Story (1961)
59. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
60. Toy Story (1995)
61. Back to the Future (1985)
62. Gladiator (2000)
63. Modern Times (1936)
64. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
65. Fargo (1996)
66. The Lion King (1994)
67. King Kong (1933)
68. Rocky (1976)
69. Metropolis (1927)
70. The Exorcist (1973)
71. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
72. 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
73. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
74. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
75. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
76. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
77. Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) (1948)
78. Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari) (1953)
79. American Beauty (1999)
80. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
81. The Deer Hunter (1978)
82. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
83. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
84. The Matrix (1999)
85. 12 Angry Men (1957)
86. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001)
87. Touch of Evil (1958)
88. L.A. Confidential (1997)
89. It Happened One Night (1934)
90. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
91. Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
92. The Wild Bunch (1969)
93. Unforgiven (1992)
94. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
95. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
96. Mary Poppins (1964)
97. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
98. The Avengers (2012)
99. The General (1927)
100. My Fair Lady (1964)
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Originally posted 7/18/2019; last updated 4/24/2024. | 
