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Top 25 ThrillersThis is a list of the top 25 thrillers of all time. Included in the mix are suspense, mystery, horror, and film noir. The list was created by aggregating the resources at the bottom of this page. 1. Vertigo (1958) 2. Rear Window (1954) 3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 4. Psycho (1960) 5. North by Northwest (1959)
6. Chinatown (1974)
11. The Third Man (1949)
16. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
21. The Conversation (1974) Resources:
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 | Writers Guild of America:101 Greatest Film Screenplays of All Time |
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In 2005, the Writer’s Guild of America asked its members to submit their lists of top ten screenplays. The results were compiled into the list below. 1. Casablanca (1942) 2. The Godfather (1972) 3. Chinatown (1974) 4. Citizen Kane (1941) 5. All About Eve (1950) 6. Annie Hall (1977) 7. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 8. Network (1976) 9. Some Like It Hot (1959) 10. The Godfather Part II (1974)
11. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
21. North by Northwest (1959)
31. His Girl Friday (1940)
41. Goodfellas (1990)
51. Broadcast News (1987)
52. The Lady Eve (1941)
53. All the President’s Men (1976)
54. Manhattan (1979)
55. Apocalypse Now (1979)
61. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
71. The Lion in Winter (1968)
81. Being There (1979)
91. The Verdict (1982) Resources:
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 | Time:All-TIME 100 Movies |
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These movies were selected by Time magazine’s Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel. As the website says, “The idea was to assemble 100 estimable films since Time began, with the March 3, 1923 issue.” The two film critics each created lists of 100+ films. They had 31 movies in common (with The Godfather and The Godfather Part II considered as one entry) and then negotiated with each other to flesh out the remainder. The original Time list was presented unranked. However, this list has been ranked based on the movies’ overall status in Dave’s Movie Database with the shared films ranked and then the remaining films ranked. Maddingly, this list does NOT add up to 100 titles. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are listed as one entry, as are the two-part Olympia, the Apu Trilogy and Lord of the Rings. If these titles were broken out separately, the list would be…105 titles? Someone at Time needs to learn to count (or I’ve missed a movie somewhere, despite checking this list several times). 1. The Godfather (1972) / The Godfather Part II (1974) 2. Citizen Kane (1941) 3. Casablanca (1942) 4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 6. Taxi Driver (1976) 7. Chinatown (1974) 8. Double Indemnity (1944) 9. City Lights (1931) 10. King Kong (1933)
11. 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
21. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
31. Talk to Her (Hable Con Ella) (2002)
35. Psycho (1960) 36. Raging Bull (1980) 37. Pulp Fiction (1994) 38. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 39. Some Like It Hot (1959) 40. Goodfellas (1990)
41. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
51. Once Upon a Time in the West (C’era Una Volta Il West) (1968)
61. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
71. In a Lonely Place (1950)
81. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
91. Charade (1963) Resources:
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 | Rolling Stone:100 Years, 100 Maverick Movies |
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As the website explained, the movies on this list “had to embody that rock spirit of artful defiance. Each director had to be limited to only one movie – otherwise you could just list the collected works of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, John Ford, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsese and end it…Don’t look for the biggest cash cow (Titanic), the winner of the most Oscars (Ben-Hur) or film-school staples like Battleship Potemkin.” Here’s the list. 1. The Godfather (1972) / The Godfather Part II (1974) / The Godfather Part III (1990) 2. Vertigo (1958) 3. The Searchers (1956) 4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 5. Citizen Kane (1941) 6. Raging Bull (1980) 7. Chinatown (1974) 8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 9. Blue Velvet (1986) 10. Pulp Fiction (1994)
11. King Kong (1933)
21. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
31. Jaws (1975)
41. The Third Man (1949)
51. M – Eine Stadt Sucht Einen Mörder (1931)
61. The 400 Hundred Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups) (1959)
71. City Lights (1931)
81. The Piano (1993)
91. Lone Star (1996) Resources:
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 | TV Guide:50 Greatest Movies |
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The August 8-14, 1998 issue of TV Guide included a list of their picks for the top 50 movies that hold up on the small screen and to repeated viewings. Here’s the list. 1. The Godfather Part II (1974) 2. Casablanca (1942) 3. Citizen Kane (1941) 4. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 5. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 6. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 7. The Godfather (1972) 8. Psycho (1960) 9. Chinatown (1974) 10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
11. Vertigo (1958)
21. Annie Hall (1977)
31. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
41. Saturday Night Fever (1977) Resources:
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This page offers lists of the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by two different metrics. The first list is based on box office and the second is based on critics’ picks. |
 | Box Office:Top 25 of the 1970sThese are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by worldwide box office gross. The first number indicates dollars made in millions. See sources for box office figures here. |
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1) 3753.70: Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) 2) 2712.00: Jaws (1975) 3) 2680.60: The Exorcist (1973) 4) 1938.60: Grease (1978) 5) 1851.00: The Sting (1973)
6) 1820.00: Enter the Dragon (1973)
11) 1132.89: Airport (1970)
16) 937.10: Rocky II (1979)
21) 519.93: Smokey and the Bandit (1977) |
 | Critics’ Picks:Top 25 of the 1970sThese are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by a combination of the movies’ ratings points and awards points. |
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1) The Godfather (1972) 2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 3) The Godfather Part II (1974) 4) Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) 5) Apocalypse Now (1979)
6) The Deer Hunter (1978)
11) Rocky (1976)
16) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
21) American Graffiti (1973) |
Resources:
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| ChinatownReleased: June 21, 1974 Studio: Paramount Genre: drama/mystery/thriller Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 29.20 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 139.40 Worldwide: ? |
Directing: Roman Polanski Screenwriting: Robert Towne Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston Review:“Undoubtedly one of the great films of the ‘70s.” T95 “Director Roman Polanski, at the peak of his considerable powers, dipped from the well of classic film noir to create a film that was at once an homage to and an improvement over its forebears.” TV The movie offers an “atmospheric, subtly-paced, superbly-made neo-noir mystery about a hard-nosed detective uncovering urban corruption in late 1930’s Los Angeles.” FS Screenwriter Robert “Towne based his wonderfully intricate tale…on historical fact;” TV it also served as the “definitive allegory of the Watergate era.” RS He took $25,000 to write it after turning down “$125,000 to pen the script for The Great Gatsby…[because] he felt he couldn’t do the novel justice.” MSN The result was a script “heralded as one of the finest ever written.” MSN “Jack Nicholson became a superstar, Faye Dunaway continued the winning streak she began with Bonnie and Clyde, and John Huston virtually personified political and personal rot.” TV “Polanski has an effective cameo as the sadistic hoodlum who gives Nicholson the most famous nose job in Hollywood film history.” TV “Nicholson inhabits the skin” T98 of Jake Gittes, a “world-weary gumshoe” FS who specializes in infidelity. He’s hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) “to investigate the infidelities of her alleged husband, the water commissioner for the drought-stricken city.” FS He “gets in way over his head in a case involving” FS “deception, greed, and murder” VD involving “water rights, land deals and corruption.” A07 “After original, complex plot twists, the film ends in an unsettling” FS but “thrilling shootout in Chinatown.” VD The movie also boasts one of cinema’s greatest reveals when we find out “sinister millionaire Noah Cross (Huston)” FS and his “prominent family’s scandalous, long-hidden dark secret.” FS “The last scene and the last line (‘Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown’) give off an indelible chill.” RS Sources:
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Awards/Honors/Lists:
Dave’s Movie Database Lists:
Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:
Awards:
Oscars:Wins: 1: Best Original Screenplay Nominations: 11 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Dunaway), Best Cinematography Other Lists/Honors:
Critics’ Picks: |
