Special Report

The Best Classic Movie Released Every Year Since 1950

What is the best classic movie over the last 70 years? Using the audience and critics’ aggregate scores from the film and television review/aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of the best classic films released each year since 1950.

Thirty-seven films received the 100% imprimatur from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while 70 motion pictures got a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of at least 90%.

The best movie each year since 1950 can be a gangster flick (“The Godfather,” “Goodfellas” and “The Sting”); westerns (“Once Upon a Time in the West,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”); documentaries (“Shoah” and “The Last Waltz”); and science fiction/fantasy (“Aliens,” “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” and “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”). Many of these films are now considered classics. These are the 50 greatest films of all time.

The great directors are represented by Billy Wilder (“Witness for the Prosecution”), Akira Kuroswawa (“Seven Samurai”), Alfred Hitchcock (“Vertigo”), Francis Ford Copppola (“Apocalypse Now”) and Steven Spielberg (“Schindler’s List”).

While American-made classics such as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Shawshank Redemption” made the list, foreign films are well represented by such cinematic gems as the French/Italian movie “The Wages of Fear,” “Das Boot” from Germany and the Japanese drama “Early Summer.”

Click here for the best classic movies released every year since 1950

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1950: Sunset Blvd.
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (212,730)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

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Courtesy of New Yorker Films

1951: Early Summer
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (8,150)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Setsuko Hara, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

1952: Singin’ in the Rain
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (230,407)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen

Courtesy of Distributors Corporation of America

1953: The Wages of Fear
> Average IMDb rating: 8.1 (58,646)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli

Courtesy of Kingsley-International Pictures

1954: Seven Samurai
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (331,314)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki

Courtesy of Edward Harrison

1955: Pather Panchali
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (29,303)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Banerjee, Chunibala Devi

Courtesy of Continental Distributing

1956: A Man Escaped
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (20,864)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod

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Courtesy of United Artists

1957: Witness for the Prosecution
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (117,674)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1958: Vertigo
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (385,249)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore

Courtesy of Edward Harrison

1959: The World of Apu
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (13,739)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 96%
> Starring: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakravarty, Swapan Mukherjee

Courtesy of Azteca Films Inc.

1960: Macario
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (3,190)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Ignacio López Tarso, Pina Pellicer, Enrique Lucero, Mario Alberto Rodriguez

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Courtesy of Janus Films

1961: Yojimbo
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (118,112)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96%
> Tomatometer: 95%
> Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa

Courtesy of Shochiku Films of America

1962: Hara-Kiri
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (50,245)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba

Courtesy of East West Classics

1963: High and Low
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (40,375)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 95%
> Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Yutaka Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyôko Kagawa

Courtesy of Toho Company

1964: Woman in the Dunes
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (18,976)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Eiji Okada, Kyôko Kishida, Hiroko Itô, Kôji Mitsui

Courtesy of International Film Exchange

1965: The Shop on Main Street
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (8,520)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Ida Kaminska, Jozef Kroner, Frantisek Zvarík, Hana Slivková

Courtesy of United Artists

1966: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
> Average IMDb rating: 8.8 (723,316)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè

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Courtesy of Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

1967: Cool Hand Luke
> Average IMDb rating: 8.1 (171,103)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1968: Once Upon a Time in the West
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (316,462)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 95%
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards

Courtesy of Cinema 5 Distributing

1969: The Sorrow and the Pity
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (3,759)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Helmut Tausend, Marcel Verdier, Alexis Grave, Louis Grave

Courtesy of Pathé Contemporary Films

1970: Days and Nights in the Forest
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (2,601)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal, Soumitra Chatterjee

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

1971: The Last Picture Show
> Average IMDb rating: 8.0 (45,384)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1972: The Godfather
> Average IMDb rating: 9.2 (1,719,194)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

1973: The Sting
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (252,069)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1974: The Godfather: Part II
> Average IMDb rating: 9.0 (1,193,615)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 96%
> Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton

Courtesy of United Artists

1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (960,565)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco

Courtesy of Cinema 5 Distributing

1976: Harlan County U.S.A.
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (5,562)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

1977: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (1,286,266)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96%
> Tomatometer: 92%
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

Courtesy of United Artists

1978: The Last Waltz
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (17,204)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Robbie Robertson, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Van Morrison

Courtesy of United Artists

1979: Apocalypse Now
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (634,944)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

1980: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (1,214,511)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams

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Courtesy of Triumph Films

1981: Das Boot
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (242,119)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch

Courtesy of Embassy Pictures

1982: Fanny and Alexander
> Average IMDb rating: 8.1 (61,374)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson, Börje Ahlstedt

 

Courtesy of Kino International

1983: The Ballad of Narayama
> Average IMDb rating: 7.9 (7,930)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Tonpei Hidari, Aki Takejô

Courtesy of Cinecom Pictures

1984: Stop Making Sense
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (14,668)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: David Byrne, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steven Scales

Courtesy of New Yorker Films

1985: Shoah
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (9,096)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

1986: Aliens
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (683,932)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser

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1987: The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (1,727)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Kenzo Okuzaki, Riichi Aikawa, Masaichi Hamaguchi, Toshio Hara

Courtesy of GKIDS

1988: Grave of the Fireflies
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (255,791)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

1989: A City of Sadness
> Average IMDb rating: 7.9 (4,589)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Shu-Fen Hsin, Sung-Young Chen, Jack Kao

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

1990: Goodfellas
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (1,080,136)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 96%
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco

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Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

1991: A Brighter Summer Day
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (9,213)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang, Elaine Jin

Courtesy of Hemispheric Pictures

1992: Lessons of Darkness
> Average IMDb rating: 8.0 (5,768)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Werner Herzog

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

1993: Schindler’s List
> Average IMDb rating: 8.9 (1,277,071)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Corporation

1994: The Shawshank Redemption
> Average IMDb rating: 9.3 (2,492,030)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 91%
> Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler

Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures

1995: La Haine
> Average IMDb rating: 8.1 (161,933)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Abdel Ahmed Ghili

Courtesy of Creative Thinking International Ltd.

1996: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (16,262)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Tony Brooks, Diana Davis, Terry Wood (archive footage)

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Courtesy of Miramax

1997: Good Will Hunting
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (908,863)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård

Courtesy of DreamWorks

1998: Saving Private Ryan
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (1,303,887)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 93%
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

1999: All About My Mother
> Average IMDb rating: 7.9 (93,489)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan

Courtesy of Newmarket Films

2000: Memento
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (1,177,493)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 93%
> Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior

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Courtesy of Fathom Events

2001: Spirited Away
> Average IMDb rating: 8.6 (701,993)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi

Courtesy of New Line Cinema

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (1,558,357)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 95%
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom

Courtesy of Miramax

2003: The Best of Youth
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (21,495)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Jasmine Trinca, Adriana Asti

2004: Edward Said: The Last Interview
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (43)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 100%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Edward Said, Charles Glass

Courtesy of Bir Film

2005: C.R.A.Z.Y.
> Average IMDb rating: 7.9 (32,120)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Michel Côté, Marc-André Grondin, Danielle Proulx, Émile Vallée

2006: A Lion in the House
> Average IMDb rating: 8.8 (292)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Justin Ashcraft, Adam Ashcraft, Dale Ashcraft, Debbie Ashcraft

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2007: White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (1,914)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Harold Agnew, Shuntaro Hida, Kiyoko Imori, Morris Jeppson

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

2008: The Dark Knight
> Average IMDb rating: 9.0 (2,443,911)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 94%
> Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

2009: 3 Idiots
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (371,415)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Mona Singh, Sharman Joshi

Sion Touhig / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

2010: Have You Heard from Johannesburg
> Average IMDb rating: 8.7 (13)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Alfre Woodard

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Courtesy of 3DX Media

2011: TT3D: Closer to the Edge
> Average IMDb rating: 8.0 (6,389)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Guy Martin, Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop

Courtesy of Cinemad Presents

2012: It’s Such a Beautiful Day
> Average IMDb rating: 8.3 (12,718)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring:

Courtesy of Phase 4 Films

2013: The Crash Reel
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (4,799)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 96%
> Starring: Kevin Pearce, Shaun White, Mason Aguirre, Daniel Amen

Courtesy of Netflix

2014: Virunga
> Average IMDb rating: 8.2 (11,035)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: André Bauma, Emmanuel de Merode, Mélanie Gouby, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo

Courtesy of Open Road Films

2015: Spotlight
> Average IMDb rating: 8.1 (446,426)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber

Courtesy of ESPN Films

2016: O.J.: Made in America
> Average IMDb rating: 8.9 (18,885)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Mike Albanese

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Courtesy of Moxie Pictures

2017: AlphaGo
> Average IMDb rating: 7.9 (5,769)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 100%
> Starring: Ioannis Antonoglou, Lucas Baker, Nick Bostrom, Yoo Changhyuk

Courtesy of Focus Features

2018: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (24,695)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Joanne Rogers, John Rogers, Jim Rogers

Courtesy of PBS

2019: For Sama
> Average IMDb rating: 8.5 (10,783)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92%
> Tomatometer: 98%
> Starring: Waad Al-Kateab, Hamza Al-Khateab, Sama Al-Khateab

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2020: Hamilton
> Average IMDb rating: 8.4 (76,604)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90%
> Tomatometer: 97%
> Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry

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Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2021: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
> Average IMDb rating: 7.6 (193,755)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98%
> Tomatometer: 92%
> Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Ben Kingsley

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