No industry likes to bestow its own with awards and prizes than the film industry. Each year, seemingly endless film festivals and award shows grant prizes for the “best” pictures and exemplary achievements by the people who work on the countless movies produced each year.
And while it may appear to be an impossible task to determine which movies are the best in such a vast, somewhat subjective artistic field, there are undeniably certain films that audiences connect with more than others.
In determining the 50 best movies of all time, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed movie ratings as decided by critics and general audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database. This resulting list of films therefore contains both critical darlings of the film world as well as movies that have wide audience appeal, such as the eternal fan favorite, “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.”
Click here to see the 50 best movies of all time.
Click here to see our methodology.
The greatest movies of all time list contains films released in every decade since the 1920s. The most popular decade for films on the list is the 1950s, during which 12 movies were released, including “Singin’ in the Rain,” “On the Waterfront,” and “12 Angry Men.” The second most frequent time period is the 1970s, often referred to as “New Hollywood.” This decade includes movies like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Chinatown.”
There are also eight directors who managed to have more than one of their films on this list. Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Billy Wilder each have three. Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock do even better with four each.
Some of the movies by directors with only one film on the list were actually not successful upon first release. Charles Laughton’s “The Night of the Hunter” was a critical and commercial failure when it came out in 1955. Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” – now considered a beloved classic – also lost money at the box office. Time has vindicated these once misunderstood masterpieces.
50. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
> Genre: Action, comedy, drama
> Directed by: Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton
> Starring: Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire, Ernest Torrence
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49. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
> Genre: Adventure, sci-fi
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
48. Alien (1979)
> Genre: Horror, sci-fi
> Directed by: Ridley Scott
> Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
47. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
> Genre: Biography, drama, history
> Directed by: Steve McQueen
> Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender
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46. Vertigo (1958)
> Genre: Mystery, romance, thriller
> Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
45. Raging Bull (1980)
> Genre: Biography, drama, sport
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
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44. The Gold Rush (1925)
> Genre: Adventure, comedy, drama
> Directed by: Charles Chaplin
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray
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43. It Happened One Night (1934)
> Genre: Comedy, romance
> Directed by: Frank Capra
> Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly
42. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
> Genre: Crime, drama, film-noir
> Directed by: Charles Laughton
> Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
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41. The Last Picture Show (1971)
> Genre: Drama
> Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich
> Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd
40. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
> Genre: Drama, family, fantasy
> Directed by: Frank Capra
> Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
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39. Inside Out (2015)
> Genre: Animation, adventure, comedy
> Directed by: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
> Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black
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38. Taxi Driver (1976)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd
37. Some Like It Hot (1959)
> Genre: Comedy, romance
> Directed by: Billy Wilder
> Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
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36. Sunrise (1927)
> Genre: Drama, romance
> Directed by: F.W. Murnau
> Starring: George O’Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
35. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
> Genre: Comedy, musical, romance
> Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
> Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
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34. Whiplash (2014)
> Genre: Drama, music
> Directed by: Damien Chazelle
> Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist
33. Apocalypse Now (1979)
> Genre: Drama, war
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
32. The General (1926)
> Genre: Action, adventure, comedy
> Directed by: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
> Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender
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31. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
> Genre: Action, adventure, fantasy
> Directed by: Irvin Kershner
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
30. Toy Story 3 (2010)
> Genre: Animation, adventure, comedy
> Directed by: Lee Unkrich
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack
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29. The Great Dictator (1940)
> Genre: Comedy, drama, war
> Directed by: Charles Chaplin
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
28. North by Northwest (1959)
> Genre: Adventure, mystery, thriller
> Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
27. Double Indemnity (1944)
> Genre: Crime, drama, film-noir
> Directed by: Billy Wilder
> Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
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26. Paths of Glory (1957)
> Genre: Drama, war
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
25. Rear Window (1954)
> Genre: Mystery, thriller
> Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
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24. Psycho (1960)
> Genre: Horror, mystery, thriller
> Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
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23. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
> Genre: Adventure, drama, war
> Directed by: David Lean
> Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
> Genre: Action, adventure
> Directed by: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
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21. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
> Genre: Adventure, drama, western
> Directed by: John Huston
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt
20. On the Waterfront (1954)
> Genre: Crime, drama, thriller
> Directed by: Elia Kazan
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
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19. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
> Genre: Western
> Directed by: Sergio Leone
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
18. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
> Genre: Drama
> Directed by: Frank Darabont
> Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
17. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
> Genre: Comedy
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden
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16. Chinatown (1974)
> Genre: Drama, mystery, thriller
> Directed by: Roman Polanski
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
15. The Dark Knight (2008)
> Genre: Action, crime, drama
> Directed by: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
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14. Modern Times (1936)
> Genre: Comedy, drama, family
> Directed by: Charles Chaplin
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman
13. Casablanca (1942)
> Genre: Drama, romance, war
> Directed by: Michael Curtiz
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
12. All About Eve (1950)
> Genre: Drama
> Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
> Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
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11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
> Genre: Drama
> Directed by: Milos Forman
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman
10. Goodfellas (1990)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
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9. Citizen Kane (1941)
> Genre: Drama, mystery
> Directed by: Orson Welles
> Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore
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8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
7. City Lights (1931)
> Genre: Comedy, drama, romance
> Directed by: Charles Chaplin
> Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
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6. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
> Genre: Drama, film-noir
> Directed by: Billy Wilder
> Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
5. Schindler’s List (1993)
> Genre: Biography, drama, history
> Directed by: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
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4. 12 Angry Men (1957)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Sidney Lumet
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam
3. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
> Genre: Action, comedy, romance
> Directed by: Buster Keaton
> Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton
2. The Godfather (1972)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
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1. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> Genre: Crime, drama
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall
Methodology:
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.
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