MSN.com's 100 Best Movies of All Time
Created by Panunzio.
Favorited 2 times, disliked 0 times, added to 2 watchlists.
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
Pssst, want to check out the MSN.com's 100 Best Movies of All Time list in our new look?
Filter
-
81 new
The Kid
1921, in 17 top lists Check -
3 new
Sherlock Jr.
1924, in 24 top lists Check -
51 new
The Gold Rush
1925, in 30 top lists Check -
36 new
The General
1926, in 33 top lists Check -
42 new
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 — a.k.a. Sunrise, in 36 top lists Check -
60 new
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928, in 13 top lists Check -
76 new
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930, in 19 top lists Check -
10 new
City Lights
1931, in 34 top lists Check -
63 new
Duck Soup
1933, in 24 top lists Check -
52 new
It Happened One Night
1934, in 29 top lists Check -
17 new
Modern Times
1936, in 30 top lists Check -
77 new
Holiday
1938, in 8 top lists Check -
61 new
Stagecoach
1939, in 21 top lists Check -
73 new
The Grapes of Wrath
1940, in 24 top lists Check -
34 new
The Great Dictator
1940, in 25 top lists Check -
80 new
His Girl Friday
1940, in 22 top lists Check -
85 new
The Philadelphia Story
1940, in 22 top lists Check -
83 new
Rebecca
1940, in 23 top lists Check -
6 new
Citizen Kane
1941, in 39 top lists Check -
46 new
The Maltese Falcon
1941, in 27 top lists Check -
7 new
Casablanca
1942, in 39 top lists Check -
65 new
To Be or Not to Be
1942, in 24 top lists Check -
87 new
Shadow of a Doubt
1943, in 15 top lists Check -
32 new
Double Indemnity
1944, in 37 top lists Check -
92 new
Laura
1944, in 21 top lists Check -
44 new
It's a Wonderful Life
1946, in 33 top lists Check -
59 new
A Matter of Life and Death
1946, in 22 top lists Check -
98 new
Notorious
1946, in 24 top lists Check -
97 new
Black Narcissus
1947, in 15 top lists Check -
64 new
Out of the Past
1947, in 16 top lists Check -
37 new
The Red Shoes
1948, in 27 top lists Check -
29 new
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948, in 25 top lists Check -
35 new
Kind Hearts and Coronets
1949, in 21 top lists Check -
14 new
The Third Man
1949, in 37 top lists Check -
16 new
All About Eve
1950, in 25 top lists Check -
93 new
In a Lonely Place
1950, in 19 top lists Check -
8 new
Sunset Blvd.
1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check -
95 new
Strangers on a Train
1951, in 17 top lists Check -
40 new
Singin' in the Rain
1952, in 37 top lists Check -
54 new
Le salaire de la peur
1953 — a.k.a. The Wages of Fear, in 29 top lists Check -
24 new
On the Waterfront
1954, in 32 top lists Check -
28 new
Rear Window
1954, in 31 top lists Check -
47 new
The Night of the Hunter
1955, in 34 top lists Check -
99 new
The Searchers
1956, in 26 top lists Check -
4 new
12 Angry Men
1957, in 30 top lists Check -
23 new
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957, in 32 top lists Check -
30 new
Paths of Glory
1957, in 26 top lists Check -
72 new
Sweet Smell of Success
1957, in 20 top lists Check -
69 new
Witness for the Prosecution
1957, in 12 top lists Check -
74 new
Touch of Evil
1958, in 31 top lists Check
Last updated on Mar 24, 2019; source