100 Must See Movies: The Essential Men’s Movie Library
Created by b0nkers.
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For whatever reason (most likely the fact that viewing is easier than reading), films don’t seem to get the same kind of cultural respect as books do. Which is a shame because excellent movies can be just as entertaining, mind-expanding, and life changing as good books. Scenes, characters, and quotes from the greatest movies stay with us long after we view them. Their ability to transport you to different times and exotic locations, to completely absorb you in the story, make movies one of the closest approximations of real magic we have in this world.
And for better and for worse, film has had a huge impact on masculinity in the 20th Century. Movies have produced archetypes of manliness that many men judge themselves against today. To view how male characters of cinema have been portrayed over the decades, is to see clearly the ways in which our perception of masculinity has changed and continues to change. Thus it seemed only proper that The Art of Manliness take a stab at creating a list of essential movies every man should see.
We didn’t want to make a list of movies that consisted solely of violence and gratuitous T and A that make up most guy movie lists. Nor did we want to create a list of just independent avant-garde movies that while culturally or cinematically significant, aren’t very entertaining. We wanted to create a well rounded list of films that have something to say about manliness. Some of the movies speak poignantly about what it means to be a man. Others give examples of true manliness in action. Some are lessons in how not to be a man. And others are simply entertaining movies that are just plain manly. But the common thread that runs through all of them is that they’re great movies that have stood the test of time.
Let us know in the comments which movies you loved, which ones you hated, and the movies you think every man should see before he dies. Without further ado, we present The Art of Manliness 100 Must See Movies for Men.
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1 new
The Great Escape
1963, in 14 top lists Check -
2 new
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969, in 21 top lists Check -
3 new
Dirty Harry
1971, in 17 top lists Check -
4 new
The Endless Summer
1965, in 2 top lists Check -
5 new
Bull Durham
1988, in 8 top lists Check -
6 new
The Apartment
1960, in 28 top lists Check -
7 new
The Shootist
1976, in 6 top lists Check -
8 new
Hoosiers
1986 — a.k.a. Best Shot, in 2 top lists Check -
9 new
The Last of the Mohicans
1992, in 9 top lists Check -
10 new
Ladri di biciclette
1948 — a.k.a. Bicycle Thieves, in 36 top lists Check -
11 new
Field of Dreams
1989, in 10 top lists Check -
12 new
North by Northwest
1959, in 30 top lists Check -
13 new
The Outsiders
1983, in 2 top lists Check -
14 new
First Blood
1982, in 5 top lists Check -
15 new
The Manchurian Candidate
1962, in 15 top lists Check -
16 new
In the Heat of the Night
1967, in 17 top lists Check -
17 new
Shane
1953, in 18 top lists Check -
18 new
Double Indemnity
1944, in 37 top lists Check -
19 new
Mar adentro
2004 — a.k.a. The Sea Inside, in 5 top lists Check -
20 new
The Maltese Falcon
1941, in 27 top lists Check -
21 new
Das Boot
1981 — a.k.a. The Boat, in 15 top lists Check -
22 new
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
23 new
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1980, in 25 top lists Check -
24 new
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
1983, in 18 top lists Check -
25 new
Rudy
1993, in 2 top lists Check -
26 new
High Noon
1952, in 18 top lists Check -
27 new
Gandhi
1982, in 15 top lists Check -
28 new
Rebel Without a Cause
1955, in 16 top lists Check -
29 new
The French Connection
1971, in 23 top lists Check -
30 new
Casablanca
1942, in 39 top lists Check -
31 new
Unforgiven
1992, in 24 top lists Check -
32 new
The Iron Giant
1999, in 14 top lists Check -
33 new
Gladiator
2000, in 25 top lists Check -
34 new
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939, in 16 top lists Check -
35 new
The Hustler
1961, in 15 top lists Check -
36 new
The Untouchables
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
37 new
The Grapes of Wrath
1940, in 24 top lists Check -
38 new
Bullitt
1968, in 11 top lists Check -
39 new
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946, in 30 top lists Check -
40 new
Die Hard
1988, in 21 top lists Check -
41 new
Enter the Dragon
1973, in 14 top lists Check -
42 new
Malcolm X
1992, in 7 top lists Check -
43 new
Cinderella Man
2005, in 2 top lists Check -
44 new
The Right Stuff
1983, in 13 top lists Check -
45 new
True Grit
1969, in 2 top lists Check -
46 new
A Streetcar Named Desire
1951, in 15 top lists Check -
47 new
Vertigo
1958, in 42 top lists Check -
48 new
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930, in 19 top lists Check -
49 new
The Shawshank Redemption
1994, in 24 top lists Check -
50 new
Cool Hand Luke
1967, in 13 top lists Check
Last updated on Jan 24, 2013;