MSN.com's 100 Best Movies of All Time
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Whether we watch them at drive-in theatres (yes, they do still exist) or multiplexes, or on our TV sets, laptops, or smartphones, movies are a part of our life. They divert and entertain us, make us laugh or cry (or both), get us thinking, inspire us, and sometimes are so powerful that they leave us simply drained.
What makes a good movie? It’s largely a matter of personal taste, of course. The history of cinema is full of examples of critically acclaimed films that do little at the box office (“Brazil,” “The King of Comedy”) and, conversely, smash hits that the critics mostly disliked (“The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “The Da Vinci Code”).
Movies that score well with both audiences and reviewers — and there are many — tend to have a few basic characteristics in common: a strong, coherent storyline; richly drawn -- and well-acted -- characters; well-done cinematography and (if applicable) special effects; and a satisfying ending.
The movies on this list share those virtues to a greater or lesser extent. They cover a wide range, spanning cinema history from 1921 to 2018. They include silent films and technologically dazzling blockbusters. Many feature famous performers of the past and present, as well as some of the film world’s most acclaimed directors — Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Sam Peckinpah, and Francis Ford Coppola.
Some of these movies will be familiar to almost anyone — “Citizen Kane,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Star Wars” (now retitled “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”). Others are more obscure, but well worth discovering.
Taken as a whole, this list provides a vivid illustration of why movies are so important to us.
List added January 2019
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55 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 45 top lists Check -
2 new
The Godfather
1972, in 42 top lists Check -
56 new
Vertigo
1958, in 42 top lists Check -
25 new
Lawrence of Arabia
1962, in 40 top lists Check -
67 new
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
7 new
Casablanca
1942, in 39 top lists Check -
6 new
Citizen Kane
1941, in 39 top lists Check -
26 new
Psycho
1960, in 39 top lists Check -
41 new
Apocalypse Now
1979, in 38 top lists Check -
9 new
Pulp Fiction
1994, in 38 top lists Check -
32 new
Double Indemnity
1944, in 37 top lists Check -
20 new
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop...
1964, in 37 top lists Check -
40 new
Singin' in the Rain
1952, in 37 top lists Check -
14 new
The Third Man
1949, in 37 top lists Check -
66 new
The Silence of the Lambs
1991, in 36 top lists Check -
42 new
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 — a.k.a. Sunrise, in 36 top lists Check -
13 new
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975, in 35 top lists Check -
5 new
Schindler's List
1993, in 35 top lists Check -
49 new
Some Like It Hot
1959, in 35 top lists Check -
8 new
Sunset Blvd.
1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check -
10 new
City Lights
1931, in 34 top lists Check -
47 new
The Night of the Hunter
1955, in 34 top lists Check -
53 new
Raging Bull
1980, in 34 top lists Check -
31 new
Taxi Driver
1976, in 34 top lists Check -
36 new
The General
1926, in 33 top lists Check -
44 new
It's a Wonderful Life
1946, in 33 top lists Check -
23 new
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957, in 32 top lists Check -
1 new
The Godfather Part II
1974, in 32 top lists Check -
24 new
On the Waterfront
1954, in 32 top lists Check -
18 new
Chinatown
1974, in 31 top lists Check -
12 new
Goodfellas
1990, in 31 top lists Check -
28 new
Rear Window
1954, in 31 top lists Check -
4 new
12 Angry Men
1957, in 30 top lists Check -
57 new
Alien
1979, in 30 top lists Check -
17 new
Modern Times
1936, in 30 top lists Check -
33 new
North by Northwest
1959, in 30 top lists Check -
74 new
Touch of Evil
1958, in 30 top lists Check -
21 new
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
1966 — a.k.a. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in 29 top lists Check -
51 new
The Gold Rush
1925, in 29 top lists Check -
52 new
It Happened One Night
1934, in 29 top lists Check -
27 new
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981 — a.k.a. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, in 29 top lists Check -
54 new
Le salaire de la peur
1953 — a.k.a. The Wages of Fear, in 29 top lists Check -
91 new
The Apartment
1960, in 28 top lists Check -
19 new
The Dark Knight
2008, in 27 top lists Check -
82 new
L.A. Confidential
1997, in 27 top lists Check -
37 new
The Red Shoes
1948, in 27 top lists Check -
90 new
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002, in 26 top lists Check -
46 new
The Maltese Falcon
1941, in 26 top lists Check -
30 new
Paths of Glory
1957, in 26 top lists Check -
71 new
Reservoir Dogs
1992, in 26 top lists Check
Last updated on Mar 24, 2019; source