What’s the greatest movie of all time? This is likely one debate that will rage on forever. This is due in part to evolving tastes, technology, and trends in cinema. While some cinephiles consider classics such as “City Lights” (1931) or “Casablanca” (1942) as the height of the medium, many fans are more appreciative of newer Hollywood productions.
Attempting to answer this question and find the 50 best films of all time, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed movie ratings as decided by critics and general audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database. Because moviegoers have diverse tastes, the best movies of all time are just as diverse. There is at least one title in the top 25 to represent each decade since the 1920s. Nearly every existing genre is included. The list also includes relatively small indie pictures, such as “Whiplash” (2014), as well as major studio films, like 2002’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”
In letting the general online public decide the best movies, films heavily promoted in the United States have a better chance in the ranking and some great films will undoubtedly be passed over for works with wider appeal. For instance, the list does not include a single international production. Yet it includes two films from the wildly popular Star Wars franchise.
Click here to see the 50 best movies of all time.
Click here to see the 50 worst movies of all time.
To determine the best movies of all time, 24/7 Wall St. created an index based on each film’s Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes average audience rating, and Internet Movie Database average user rating. To be considered, each film needed to have at least 5,000 Rotten Tomatoes user ratings, 10 approved tomatometer critic reviews, and 10,000 IMDb user ratings.
We averaged the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb and weighted by the number of votes for each. The combined user rating was then averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critic rating. Movies released in 2017 were excluded.
Items included on this list were selected based exclusively on this methodology. This article includes affiliate links, and 24/7 Wall St. may get a share of the revenue from sales.
50. Raging Bull
> Released: 1980
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
> Awards won: 24
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49. Aliens
> Released: 1986
> Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn
> Awards won: 20
48. Reservoir Dogs
> Released: 1992
> Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen
> Awards won: 9
47. WALL·E
> Released: 2008
> Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin
> Awards won: 90
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46. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
> Released: 1948
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt
> Awards won: 15
45. Whiplash
> Released: 2014
> Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist
> Awards won: 91
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44. Some Like It Hot
> Released: 1959
> Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
> Awards won: 10
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43. Double Indemnity
> Released: 1944
> Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
> Awards won: 2
42. Taxi Driver
> Released: 1976
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd
> Awards won: 21
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41. Vertigo
> Released: 1958
> Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
> Awards won: 8
40. On the Waterfront
> Released: 1954
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
> Awards won: 29
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39. Saving Private Ryan
> Released: 1998
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore
> Awards won: 79
38. Inception
> Released: 2010
> Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page
> Awards won: 156
37. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Released: 2001
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
> Awards won: 117
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36. The Silence of the Lambs
> Released: 1991
> Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney
> Awards won: 54
35. Chinatown
> Released: 1974
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
> Awards won: 21
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34. Lawrence of Arabia
> Released: 1962
> Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
> Awards won: 30
33. Alien
> Released: 1979
> Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
> Awards won: 17
32. The Great Dictator
> Released: 1940
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
> Awards won: 6
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31. North by Northwest
> Released: 1959
> Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
> Awards won: 8
30. Singin’ in the Rain
> Released: 1952
> Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
> Awards won: 5
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29. Paths of Glory
> Released: 1957
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
> Awards won: 4
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28. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
> Released: 2002
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen
> Awards won: 119
27. Apocalypse Now
> Released: 1979
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
> Awards won: 20
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26. All About Eve
> Released: 1950
> Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
> Awards won: 23
25. It’s a Wonderful Life
> Released: 1946
> Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
> Awards won: 6
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24. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Released: 1977
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
> Awards won: 56
23. Psycho
> Released: 1960
> Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
> Awards won: 4
22. Rear Window
> Released: 1954
> Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
> Awards won: 6
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21. Modern Times
> Released: 1936
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman
> Awards won: 4
20. Toy Story 3
> Released: 2010
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack
> Awards won: 60
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19. Citizen Kane
> Released: 1941
> Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore
> Awards won: 10
18. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
> Released: 1964
> Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden
> Awards won: 13
17. Once Upon a Time in the West
> Released: 1968
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale
> Awards won: 4
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16. Raiders of the Lost Ark
> Released: 1981
> Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
> Awards won: 34
15. Sherlock Jr.
> Released: 1924
> Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton
> Awards won: 1
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14. City Lights
> Released: 1931
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
> Awards won: 3
13. Casablanca
> Released: 1942
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
> Awards won: 8
12. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
> Released: 1966
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
> Awards won: 1
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11. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
> Released: 1980
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
> Awards won: 22
10. Sunset Blvd.
> Released: 1950
> Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
> Awards won: 18
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9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
> Released: 1975
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman
> Awards won: 35
8. Goodfellas
> Released: 1990
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
> Awards won: 38
7. 12 Angry Men
> Released: 1957
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam
> Awards won: 16
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6. The Dark Knight
> Released: 2008
> Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
> Awards won: 153
5. Schindler’s List
> Released: 1993
> Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
> Awards won: 79
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4. Pulp Fiction
> Released: 1994
> Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
> Awards won: 61
3. The Shawshank Redemption
> Released: 1994
> Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
> Awards won: 19
2. The Godfather: Part II
> Released: 1974
> Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall
> Awards won: 16
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1. The Godfather
> Released: 1972
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
> Awards won: 26
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