Dave’s Movie Database: Movie of the Year

Dave’s Movie Database: Movie of the Year, 1919-2024

These are the top movies for each year from 1915 to 2024 based on their overall standing in Dave’s Movie Database. You can also click on a year to see the top ten movies for that year. 2024: Anora 2023: Oppenheimer 2022: Avatar: The Way of Water 2021: Spider-Man: No Way Home 2020: Nomadland 2019: Avengers: Endgame 2018: Black Panther 2017: Get Out 2016: Moonlight 2015: Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens 2014: Boyhood 2013: 12 Years a Slave 2012: The Avengers 2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 2010: Inception 2009: Avatar 2008: The Dark Knight 2007: No Country for Old Men 2006: Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) 2005: Brokeback Mountain 2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2000: Gladiator 1999: The Matrix 1998: Saving Private Ryan 1997: Titanic 1996: Fargo 1995: Toy Story 1994: Pulp Fiction 1993: Schindler’s List 1992: Unforgiven 1991: The Silence of the Lambs 1990: Goodfellas 1989: Do the Right Thing 1988: Die Hard 1987: The Princess Bride 1986: Blue Velvet 1985: Back to the Future 1984: Amadeus 1983: Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1980: Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 1979: Apocalypse Now 1978: The Deer Hunter 1977: Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope 1976: Taxi Driver 1975: Jaws 1974: The Godfather Part II 1973: The Exorcist 1972: The Godfather 1971: A Clockwork Orange 1970: Patton 1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey 1967: The Graduate 1966: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 1965: The Sound of Music 1964: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1963: 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) 1962: Lawrence of Arabia 1961: West Side Story 1960: Psycho 1959: Some Like It Hot 1958: Vertigo 1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai 1956: The Searchers 1955: The Night of the Hunter 1954: Rear Window 1953: Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari) 1952: Singin’ in the Rain 1951: A Streetcar Named Desire 1950: All About Eve 1949: The Third Man 1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1947: Out of the Past 1946: It’s a Wonderful Life 1945: Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) 1944: Double Indemnity 1943: Shadow of a Doubt 1942: Casablanca 1941: Citizen Kane 1940: The Philadelphia Story 1939: Gone with the Wind 1938: The Adventures of Robin Hood 1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936: Modern Times 1935: Bride of Frankenstein 1934: It Happened One Night 1933: King Kong 1932: Trouble in Paradise 1931: City Lights 1930: All Quiet on the Western Front 1929: Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s Kinoapparatom) 1928: The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc) 1927: Metropolis 1926: The General 1925: Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) 1924: Greed 1923: Safety Last! 1922: Nosferatu, a Symphony of Terror (aka "Nosferatu, the Vampire") (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) 1921: The Kid 1920: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari) 1919: Broken Blossoms 1918: The Blue Bird 1917: The Poor Little Rich Girl 1916: Intolerance 1915: The Birth of a Nation Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Movie Lists Originally posted 7/26/2019; last updated 3/2/2025.

Super Hero Movies: Top 25

image from The Dark Knight

Top 25 Super Hero Movies This list of the top 25 super hero movies of all time was created by aggregating the resources at the bottom of this page along with box office, movie ratings, and overall ranking in Dave’s Movie Database. 1. The Dark Knight (2008) 2. Logan (2017) 3. Iron Man (2008) 4. Wonder Woman (2017) 5. The Avengers (2012) 6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) 7. Superman: The Movie (1978) 8. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 9. Spider-Man 2 (2004) 10. The Incredibles (2004) 11. Captain America: Civil War (2016) 12. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 13. Black Panther (2018) 14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) 15. Batman Begins (2005) 16. Deadpool (2016) 17. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) 18. Thor: Ragnorak (2017) 19. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) 20. X2: X-Men United (2003) 21. Batman (1989) 22. Unbreakable (2000) 23. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 24. Spider-Man (2002) 25. Avengers: Endgame (2019) Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Genre Lists 247wallst.com (7/1/2019). “Best Superhero Movies of All Time” BSM Knight/Errant (5/22/2019). “BSM students pick their top 5 superhero movies” BusinessInsider.com (3/15/2019). “The 50 best superhero movies of all time, ranked” CinemaBlend.com (2019). “30 Best Superhero Movies, Ranked” CommonSenseMedia.org (2019). “Best Superhero Movies for Kids” GamesRadar.com (6/18/2019). “Become a true believer with the best superhero movies of all time (so far)” IGN.com (8/17/2018). “The 25 Best Superhero Movies” Insider.com (4/25/2019). “20 superhero movies you need to watch in your lifetime” Newsweek.com (12/31/2018). “Ranked: The 20 Best Superhero Movies of All Time” Paste Magazine (3/10/2019). “The 100 Best Superhero Movies of All Time” Ranker.com “The Best Superhero Movies Ever Made” TheRinger.com (2018). “The 50 Best Superhero Movies of All Time” RottenTomatoes.com (2019). “72 Best Superhero Movies of All Time” ScreenCrush.com (4/12/2019). “The Best Superhero Movies of All Time” Vulture.com (4/26/2019). “The 30 Best Superhero Movies Since Blade” Originally posted 8/31/2019; last updated 5/25/2023.

Action/Adventure Movies: Top 25

image from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Top 25 Action/Adventure Movies These are the top 25 action films as determined by an aggregate of sixteen lists focused on action, adventure, spy, and swashbuckler films. See the bottom of the page for links to the individual lists. 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): 2. Die Hard (1988) 3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 4. Aliens (1986) 5. The Matrix (1999) 6. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 7. The Dark Knight (2008) 8. Gladiator (2000) 9. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) 10. Goldfinger (1964) 11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Cang Long) (2000) 12. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954) 13. First Blood (1982) 14. Predator (1987) 15. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 16. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) 17. John Wick (2014) 18. Lethal Weapon (1987) 19. Robocop (1987) 20. Enter the Dragon (1973) 21. Speed (1994) 22. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 23. Casino Royale (2006) 24. The Fugitive (1993) 25. The Wild Bunch (1969) Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Genre Lists ABC News/People Magazine (3/22/2011). “Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time” (includes top 5 action films) EmpireOnline.com (10/1/2016). “The 50 Best Action Movies” Entertainment Weekly (2013). “The 10 Greatest Action Films” Entertainment Weekly (2007). “The 25 Greatest Action Films Ever!” The Guardian (10/19/2010). “The 25 Best Action and War Films of All Time” Guinness Book of Film (1999). “The Top 100 Films by Genre Type” (includes top 5 action, spy, and swashbuckler films) HiConsumption.com (6/1/2014). “The 50 Greatest Action Movies of All Time” Looper.com (). “40 Best Action Movies” Men’s Health (2/22/2019). “These Are the 20 Best Action Movies Ever Made” Norman, Barry (1993). “100 Greatest Films of All Time” (includes top 10 adventure films) Ranker.com “The Greatest Action Movies of All Time” Rolling Stone (1/14/2015). “The 10 Best Action Movies of All Time” (readers’ poll) RottenTomatoes.com “Top 100 Action & Adventure Movies” Total Film (August 2017). “The 25 Best Action Movies” Originally posted 8/29/2019; last updated 5/25/2023.

USA Today: 100 Best Movies of All Time

USA Today: 100 Best Movies of All Time

This is an aggregate of 3 lists featured in the newspaper USA Today from 2017 to 2022. See the bottom of the page for details and links. 1. Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) 2. The Godfather (1972) 3. Psycho (1960) 4. The Dark Knight (2008) 5. Casablanca (1942) 6. Chinatown (1974) 7. Citizen Kane (1941) 8. North by Northwest (1959) 9. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 10. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 11. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 12. Pulp Fiction (1994) 13. Schindler’s List (1993) 14. 12 Angry Men (1957) 15. Goodfellas (1990) 16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 17. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 18. Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 19. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) 20. City Lights (1931) 21. Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 22. Once Upon a Time in the West (C’era Una Volta il West) (1968) 23. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 24. Toy Story 3 (2010) 25. Modern Times (1936) 26. Rear Window (1954) 27. All About Eve (1950) 28. Apocalypse Now (1979) 29. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 30. Paths of Glory (1957) 31. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 32. The Great Dictator (1940) 33. Alien (1979) 34. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 35. The Godfather Part II (1974) 36. Aliens (1986) 37. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 38. Arrival (2016) 39. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 40. Independence Day (1996) 41. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 42. Galaxy Quest (1999) 43. Star Trek (2009) 44. The Martian (2015) 45. Moon (2009) 46. Blade Runner (1982) 47. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) 48. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (aka “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”) (2001) 49. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) 50. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 51. The Matrix (1999) 52. The Never Ending Story (1984) 53. The Princess Bride (1987) 54. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 55. Back to the Future (1985) 56. Father of the Bride (1991) 57. Frozen (2013) 58. The Incredibles (2004) 59. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) 60. Mary Poppins (1964) 61. Meet the Parents (2000) 62. The Sound of Music (1965) 63. Step Brothers (2008) 64. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) 65. The Blues Brothers (1980) 66. Booksmart (2019) 67. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) 68. Ghostbusters (1984) 69. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 70. Groundhog Day (1993) 71. The Hangover (2009) 72. Inception (2010) 73. Old School (2003) 74. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 75. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 76. On the Waterfront (1954) 77. Young Frankenstein (1974) 78. Vertigo (1958) 79. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) 80. Taxi Driver (1976) 81. The Exorcist (1973) 82. Double Indemnity (1944) 83. Get Out (2017) 84. Some Like It Hot (1959) 85. It (2017) 86. Whiplash (2014) 87. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) 88. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 89. Se7en (1995) 90. Wall-E (2008) 91. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 92. Shaun of the Dead (2004) 93. The Shining (1980) 94. Raging Bull (1980) 95. The Witch (2015) 96. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) 97. Black Panther (2018) 98. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) 99. Flash Gordon (1980) 100. The Goonies (1985) Resources: USA Today (2022). “Top 35 Movies of All Time” USA Today (3/20/2020). “Need a coronavirus escape? Here are 100 movies to watch for every cinematic yearning” USA Today (12/22/2017). “Let the Debate Begin: 50 Best Movies of All Time” Originally posted 8/3/2019; last updated 5/26/2025.

Top Movies of the 2000s

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 2000s These are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by worldwide box office gross. The first number indicates dollars made in millions.

1. 2923.71: Avatar (2009) 2. 1147.63: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 3. 1066.18: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) 4. 1026.41: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (aka “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”) (2001) 5. 1006.23: The Dark Knight (2008) 6. 961.69: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) 7. 942.86: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 8. 941.64: Finding Nemo (2003) 9. 941.06 :Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 10. 938.24: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 11. 932.53: Shrek 2 (2004) 12. 898.47: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 13. 891.68: Spider-Man 3 (2007) 14. 888.17: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) 16. 882.74: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 17. 850.04: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) 18. 836.30: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 19. 825.03: Spider-Man (2002) 20. 808.49: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 21. 808.31: Shrek the Third (2007) 22. 795.11: Spider-Man 2 (2004) 23. 791.22: 2012 (2009) 24. 786.60: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) 25. 760.01: The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Critics’ Picks: Top 25 of the 2000s These are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by a combination of the movies’ ratings points and awards points.

1. No Country for Old Men (2007) 2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 3. Brokeback Mountain (2005) 4. The Hurt Locker (2009) 5. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 6. The Dark Knight (2008) 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 8. Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006) 9. Sideways (2004) 10. Gladiator (2000) 11. There Will Be Blood (2007) 12. Avatar (2009) 13. Chicago (2002) 14. A Beautiful Mind (2001) 15. The Departed (2006) 16. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 17. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) (2000) 18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 19. Wall-E (2008) 20. Juno (2007) 21. The Pianist (2002) 22. Million Dollar Baby (2004) 23. Lost in Translation (2003) 24. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001) 25. Ratatouille (2007)

Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Eras Dave’s Movie Database: Movies of the Year Dave’s Movie Database: Box Office Dave’s Movie Database: Awards Page Dave’s Movie Database: Ratings Page Originally posted 3/5/2025.

The Dark Knight released

The Dark Knight Released: July 18, 2008 Studio: Warner Bros. Genre: super hero/action Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 535.20 Worldwide: 1004.90 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 730.08 Worldwide: 1253.10

Directing: Christopher Nolan Screenwriting: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart Review: This is “considered to be one of the best films of the 2000s – and one of the finest superhero films ever. The Dark Knight took comics into the realm of the serious movie.” MSN Director Christopher Nolan “never saw it as a superhero film. It’s closer to a Michael Mann crime epic except…you get a bloke dressed as a bat and a psychotic clown in a police interrogation room.” EM’18 The film is “easily as influential on the genre as that other summer ’08 comic-book movie, Iron Man.” EM’18 It is also the runaway favorite for best superhero movie of all time, showing up on all 19 lists (and topping 12 of them) aggregated to make the Dave’s Movie Database list of top superhero movies of all time. “Superhero films don’t typically garner Oscar nominations, but this one received eight and won two of them.” MSN Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as The Joker has been hailed as one of the best ever performances in a superhero film. The story is “set within a year after the events of Batman Begins,” IMD the 2005 which kicked off Nolan’s Batman trilogy. “Lieutenant James Gordon [Oldman], and new District Attorney Harvey Dent [Eckhart] successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City, until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as ‘The Joker’ appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman’s struggle against The Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to ‘confront everything he believes’ and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne [Bale], Dent, and Rachel Dawes [Gyllenhaal].” IMD Sources: EM’18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Oscars: Wins: 2: Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger), Best Sound Editing Nominations: 8: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: First posted 9/3/2019; last updated 5/28/2023.