American Film Institutes List of the 100 Greatest Films of all time--do you agree?

[book_worm]

The first column is the original 1997 list and the second is the revised 2007 list:

1. Citizen Kane (1941) ▬ Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942) ▼ 1 ▲ 1 The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather (1972) ▲ 1 ▼ 1 Casablanca (1942)
4. Gone with the Wind (1939) ▼ 2 ▲20 Raging Bull (1980)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ▼ 2 ▲5 Singin' in the Rain (1952)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939) ▼4 ▼2 Gone with the Wind (1939)
7. The Graduate (1967) ▼ 10 ▼ 2 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. On the Waterfront (1954) ▼ 11 ▲ 1 Schindler's List (1993)
9. Schindler's List (1993) ▲ 1 ▲ 52 Vertigo (1958)
10. Singin' in the Rain (1952) ▲ 5 ▼ 4 The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) ▼ 9 ▲ 65 City Lights (1931)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950) ▼ 4 ▲ 84 The Searchers (1956)
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) ▼ 23 ▲ 2 Star Wars (1977)
14. Some Like It Hot (1959) ▼ 8 ▲ 4 Psycho (1960)
15. Star Wars (1977) ▲ 2 ▲ 7 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16. All About Eve (1950) ▼ 12 ▼ 4 Sunset Boulevard (1950)
17. The African Queen (1951) ▼ 48 ▼ 10 The Graduate (1967)
18. Psycho (1960) ▲ 4 NEW The General (1927)
19. Chinatown (1974) ▼ 2 ▼ 11 On the Waterfront (1954)
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) ▼ 13 ▼ 9 It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
21. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) ▼ 2 ▼ 2 Chinatown (1974)
22. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) ▲ 7 ▼ 8 Some Like It Hot (1959)
23. The Maltese Falcon (1941) ▼ 8 ▼ 2 The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24. Raging Bull (1980) ▲ 20 ▲ 1 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
25. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) ▲ 1 ▲ 9 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
26. Dr. Strangelove (1964) ▼ 13 ▲ 3 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
27. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) ▼ 15 ▲ 6 High Noon (1952)
28. Apocalypse Now (1979) ▼ 2 ▼ 12 All About Eve (1950)
29. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) ▲ 3 ▲ 9 Double Indemnity (1944)
30. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) ▼ 8 ▼ 2 Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. Annie Hall (1977) ▼ 4 ▼ 8 The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974) ▬ The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. High Noon (1952) ▲ 6 ▼ 13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
34. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) ▲ 9 ▲ 15 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. It Happened One Night (1934) ▼ 11 ▼ 4 Annie Hall (1977)
36. Midnight Cowboy (1969) ▼7 ▼23 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) ▬ The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
38. Double Indemnity (1944) ▲ 9 ▼ 8 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Doctor Zhivago (1965) OFF ▼ 13 Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. North by Northwest (1959) ▼ 15 ▲ 15 The Sound of Music (1965)
41. West Side Story (1961) ▼ 10 ▲ 2 King Kong (1933)
42. Rear Window (1954) ▼ 6 ▼ 15 Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
43. King Kong (1933) ▲ 2 ▼ 7 Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Birth of a Nation (1915) OFF ▲ 7 The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ▼ 2 ▲ 24 Shane (1953)
46. A Clockwork Orange (1971) ▼ 24 ▼ 11 It Happened One Night (1934)
47. Taxi Driver (1976) ▼5 ▼2 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Jaws (1975) ▼8 ▼6 Rear Window (1954)
49. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) ▲ 15 NEW Intolerance (1916)
50. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) ▼ 23 NEW The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
51. The Philadelphia Story (1940) ▲ 7 ▼ 10 West Side Story (1961)
52. From Here to Eternity (1953) OFF ▼ 5 Taxi Driver (1976)
53. Amadeus (1984) OFF ▲26 The Deer Hunter (1978)
54. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) OFF ▲ 2 MASH (1970)
55. The Sound of Music (1965) ▲ 15 ▼ 15 North by Northwest (1959)
56. MASH (1970) ▲ 2 ▼ 8 Jaws (1975)
57. The Third Man (1949) OFF ▲ 21 Rocky (1976)
58. Fantasia (1940) OFF ▲ 16 The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) OFF NEW Nashville (1975)
60. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ▼6 ▲ 25 Duck Soup (1933)
61. Vertigo (1958) ▲ 52 NEW Sullivan's Travels (1941)
62. Tootsie (1982) ▼7 ▲ 15 American Graffiti (1973)
63. Stagecoach (1939) OFF NEW Cabaret (1972)
64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) OFF ▲ 2 Network (1976)
65. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ▼ 9 ▼ 48 The African Queen (1951)
66. Network (1976) ▲ 2 ▼6 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
67. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) OFF NEW Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. An American in Paris (1951) OFF ▲ 30 Unforgiven (1992)
69. Shane (1953) ▲ 24 ▼ 7 Tootsie (1982)
70. The French Connection (1971) ▼ 23 ▼ 24 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Forrest Gump (1994) ▼ 5 NEW Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72. Ben-Hur (1959) ▼ 28 NEW The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Wuthering Heights (1939) OFF ▼ 23 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
74. The Gold Rush (1925) ▲ 16 ▼ 9 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
75. Dances with Wolves (1990) OFF NEW In the Heat of the Night (1967)
76. City Lights (1931) ▲ 65 ▼ 5 Forrest Gump (1994)
77. American Graffiti (1973) ▲ 15 NEW All the President's Men (1976)
78. Rocky (1976) ▲ 21 ▲ 3 Modern Times (1936)
79. The Deer Hunter (1978) ▲ 26 ▲ 1 The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Wild Bunch (1969) ▲ 1 ▲ 13 The Apartment (1960)
81. Modern Times (1936) ▲ 3 NEW Spartacus (1960)
82. Giant (1956) OFF NEW Sunrise (1927)
83. Platoon (1986) ▼ 3 NEW Titanic (1997)
84. Fargo (1996) OFF ▲ 4 Easy Rider (1969)
85. Duck Soup (1933) ▲ 25 NEW A Night at the Opera (1935)
86. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) OFF ▼ 3 Platoon (1986)
87. Frankenstein (1931) OFF NEW 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Easy Rider (1969) ▲ 4 ▲ 9 Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. Patton (1970) OFF NEW The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. The Jazz Singer (1927) OFF NEW Swing Time (1936)
91. My Fair Lady (1964) OFF NEW Sophie's Choice (1982)
92. A Place in the Sun (1951) OFF ▲ 2 Goodfellas (1990)
93. The Apartment (1960) ▲ 13 ▼ 23 The French Connection (1971)
94. Goodfellas (1990) ▲ 2 ▲ 1 Pulp Fiction (1994)
95. Pulp Fiction (1994) ▲ 1 NEW The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. The Searchers (1956) ▲ 84 NEW Do the Right Thing (1989)
97. Bringing Up Baby (1938) ▲ 9 NEW Blade Runner (1982)
98. Unforgiven (1992) ▲ 30 ▲ 2 Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) OFF NEW Toy Story (1995)
100. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) ▲ 2 ▼ 28 Ben-Hur (1959)

.m.m.


Changes from the previous list

[Political Heretic]

1. I think its near impossible to make a decent list that doesn't do it by time periods

Category one: 1959 and earlier
Category two: 1960-1989
Category three: 1990 - Today and beyond (i.e. contemporary)

I know that maybe movies from this decade are too soon to determine their "classic" status, but I really think that the movie "Crash" ought to be on an all-time list.

The Last Temptation of Christ ought to be on there too.

[Stuart G]

25. Very good idea, but I would change Category one.

Category one.
...............a. 1928 and earlier
...............b. l929 to 1945
...............c. l946 to 1959

[Political Heretic]

26. Very good. As you can tell I'm not a fan of old cinema

I'm sure those breakdowns make good sense to people in the know!

[zonmoy]

61. Figure it should be done by the decade though.

the 100 best movies of each decade. perhaps have a ten best movies of each year too.

[dubeskin]

2. Pretty nice

But once again, it kind of boils down to what is considered a "good" film. I mean, there are some great ones, in my opinion, that would never make the list. They were entertaining, but I guess not perfect-cinema quality. I'd like to see the criteria for determining rank, because I have to disagree with some of them like Amadeus, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Jazz Singer, for example.

[Itchinjim]

3. Where the hell is "Cabin Boy"?!

Elitist snobs.

[Eric Condon]

7. Man oh man, does AFI hate them fancy lads. nt

[magellan]

4. Is this by public opinion or a special panel?

Some I agree with, some I don't. Raging Bull moving up 20 positions to 4th, for instance. :wtf:

But then there's heartening stuff, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moving up 3 spots to 26th.

[yardwork]

57. Yeah, I noticed that too. Raging Bull is a good movie, but #4 all time great?!

I don't think so. Nothing against you, Marty, great movie and all....but not #4.

[Eric Condon]

5. These lists are getting more pointless with each passing year.

They basically seem to just take the same movies, reshuffle the order of some of them slightly, and call it a new, "definitive" list. We get it, The Godfather and Casablanca are great, yadda yadda yadda. You can only make that point so many times before one starts to wonder if these lists have much of a point anymore.

I love list-making as much as anyone, but I think AFI should start breaking its lists down into more selective (and therefore more interesting) categories, rather than the ridiculously vague and subjective "greatest of all time" list.

For my money, Annie Hall should've been WAY higher, and whoever created this list and neglected to add The Great Dictator is out of their freaking mind.

[rocktivity]

6. It's nice knowing that I'm not the cultural ignoramus I thought I was

Though I am far from a movie "buff"--I had no idea why people suddenly started addressing me as "Yo, Adrienne!"--there are fewer than ten movies on this list that I've never seen (9, 24, 49, 52, 74, 76, 83, 94). I think four of them are rated too highly (3, 25, 28, 71), but there are only two that I'd kick to the curb (15, 71) and replace with In The Heat Of the Night and Cabaret.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Adsos Letter]

8. "...The Birth of a Nation..."

:wtf: What, is the Klan weighing in on these things now?

And how come no "Bad Day at Black Rock" or "Seven Days in May?" A double :wtf:


EDIT: ...ok...so I hit the trigger a little too soon..."Birth of a Nation" is no longer on the list...this reduces my :wtf: level to 2 instead of 3...

EDIT AGAIN: ...wait, wait, wait..."Titanic" instead of "Judgement at Nuremburg," or "Failsafe." My :wtf: level is back up to...let's see (counts fingers)... 3 ...no, wait...I think that makes it 4...

:dunce:

[iwearshoesinky]

48. Importance of Controversial Films

Although the message of Birth of a Nation is reprehensible, it was a very influential film in terms of editing, length, and music usage. There are many films that are deplorable but which have to be recognized for their contributions to the art. The Triumph of the Will is a horrid propaganda piece but it nonetheless employed revolutionary filming techniques such as aerial photography. Sergei Eisenstein's films were Soviet propaganda pieces but they were the start of montage editing. In short, I suppose we have to rightfully condemn some films, but still accept that they have shaped film.

I do agree with your sentiments about Titanic though. Decent scene design but sub-par acting and an over reliance on special effects. I suppose it made it on the list for its box office success.

[shrike]

54. Spike Lee thought "Birth of a Nation" was fine to teach in film classes

as long as you discussed it in context. I usually don't have much use for Spike (don't like his movies; me and Howard Stern), but I thought his comment was right-on and sensible.

[ConsAreLiars]

9. Seems to be limited to American productions??? No "Weekend"

by Godard, no "Rashomon," by Kurasawa, and so on. Some good flix there, but hardly the best.

[Adsos Letter]

11. Yeah, and what about "The Battle of Algiers?"

[ConsAreLiars]

16. Yes. I first saw that in DC when tear gas was swirling

around the city and I and my companion decided to take a break and sit down for a short while since a downtown theater was showing it at that same time. Those were the days.

[Adsos Letter]

17. I still have a dented tear gas grenade (used) from Berkeley...

I should dig it up and post a pic of it. Those were the days, indeed.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

13. Weekend was brilliant!!! I saw that at the NY Film Festival. :) Roshomon wasn't

too shabby either.

[ConsAreLiars]

14. Mind-busting brilliant!!!

I've never seen another film that compares to it or even resembles it slightly. Both in terms of cinematography and social insight. As I watched the first time I was absolutely stunned. The highway carnage (so true) and the piano farmyard culture-to-the-masses performance. Each was taken beyond a mere mention of the obvious (at least to some) into a whole new dimension, past common realism, past the surreal, and into the fully real.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. I was 15 when I first saw it, and had never experienced a film like that before. It totally blew me

away and changed the way I looked at film as an art form.

Here's a little Sunday AM present!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC9d9rxjuhg

[ConsAreLiars]

36. Thanks! That was a treat to see again.

I noticed that in addition to the "traffic" scene the "Action Musicale" I mentioned is also up there. Not the anarcho-cannibalists, however.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

58. My pleasure!

[Aptastik]

18. Well, it is the AMERICAN Film Institute

I can think of at least 10 foreign films off the top of my head which would beat out many on that list.

I agree that these lists are pointless. Films are so subjective. It's like having the 100 greatest works of art. Who can possibly make that statement? Categories would be a good start, but the whole idea of rankings and awards never seemed to jive with the creative acts in making a film.

[speedoo]

10. Well, Nashville finally made the list. That's a plus.

But it seems to be American films only, so I prefer another source I came across recently that combines this list with several others and includes foreign films.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. They missed The Producers and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I would take Fargo and 2001

out of this list.

More additions... Rebecca, Chariots of Fire, The Sting, The Crying Game, In Cold Blood, Dog Day Afternoon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Mr. Roberts. It's late and I'm sure there are many more.

I guess it's hard to limit at least my list to 100

[Greyhound]

34. They don't seem to like the comedies very much, and blockbusters are a shoe-in n/t

[TexasObserver]

15. I heard some tings.

I always find a bunch I would demote. For example,

Overrated

Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Gone With the Wind
Some Like it Hot

[WillowTree]

19. I'd dump "Forrest Gump" off the list in a heartbeat and replace it with

Philadelphia. Infinetly better movie and even a better performance by Hanks, by far.

[Buns_of_Fire]

20. Hmmmmmph. They STILL stiffed "Debbie Does Dallas".

(So to speak.)

[ColbertWatcher]

21. Dump Titanic and Tootsie...

...replace it with:

Chicago (2002) and Young Frankenstein (1974)

[applegrove]

23. I pretty much agree though I am surprised at how many I haven't yet seen.

[The Straight Story]

24. No david lynch movies like "The Straight Story"?

bah humbug I say!

[Rex]

27. pfft...Citizen Kane.

That is sad when I can guess who is first, before looking at the list.

[iwearshoesinky]

50. Not to sound like a film nerd but...

It's a truly remarkable film in terms of innovation in camera use: the move of the camera from the snowy outdoors seamlessly through the window to display the ongoing action inside and the ceiling level placement being prime examples. If nothing else it's remarkable how a first time director received funding to make it while starring as the title character over his entire adult life. Add to this that William Randolph Hearse refused to run any advertisements or reviews of the film in his media empire.

[anitar1]

28. where is "On The Beach" ? In these days of possible

nuclear weapons being used, I think this movie should be revived. Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner were great in the starring roles. It Had quite an impact in its day. Very sad movie.

[babydollhead]

29. Clerks...The (original) Bad Seed...

[Deja Q]

30. 'star wars' is there, but 'Star Trek II' and 'Planet of the Apes' (1968) are not?!

:wow:

[shain from kane]

62. What about Plan 9 from Outer Space?

[patrick t. cakes]

31. barry lyndon is a great film.

kubrics best work. didnt see it on this list.

[iwearshoesinky]

49. Oh dear god yes!

I wrote an entire film class paper on the use of Handel's Sarabande in D minor as a motif in the film. The different instrumental arrangements of it and their role in conveying mood and plot. The best being the strings and tympani of course.

[ThomWV]

32. It would have been a better list if they had limited it to the top 50

Because about half of the movies they've listed really aren't much good at all. Consider the quality of the acting and screenplay for Ben Hur, and I don't care if it was made in 1959, they could do better even back then. Or how about The Wild Bunch, or Jaws how do movies of that quality find its way onto any meaningful list?

[Greyhound]

33. Considering how biased the AFI is toward commercially successful, American films (hint)

this is a pretty good list.

[digitalbuddha]

35. I've seen 91 of the NEW 100

and I own 31 of those. This is not a list of MY favs or YOUR favs, it is a list of what AFI feels are the best of the best.

When reading over the list, I see very little that I could argue as being up there with no merit. Some I would put higher, some lower but it's not like these are bad films.

Then I went and looked over my collection and there are a few films that I think are really outstanding that are not up there. The first is Harold and Maude. It is in no way a great film by production standards, it is the content that is so powerful. The other is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which I don't think is going to get the respect it deserves for years due to how different it is from anything that had been made before or after.

[BigDaddy44]

37. Where's "Weekend at Bernie's"?

[BlooInBloo]

38. Godfather2 > Godfather1

[Paulie]

39. Bah, Unforgivably Missing:

In no particular order:

Random Harvest (no excuse for this one being missing!)
The Goodbye Girl
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
The Producers
Blazing Saddles
Goodbye Mr. Chips
Auntie Maime
To Sir, With Love
The Prime Of Ms. Jean Brodie
Desk Set
Roman Holiday
The Farmers Daughter

And more obscure movies like:

The Corn Is Green
So Big
Lost Angel
Colossus The Forbin Project (chuckle)

[noel711]

40. But I don't like "Gone with the Wind."

[Stinky The Clown]

41. I'd put the Godfather trilogy in number one as a single movie ..... then Casablanca, then Kane

But that's just me.

[JCMach1]

42. Sixth Sense????? I see Bullshit!

[JCMach1]

43. They did get it right on LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring

is the best of the 3 AS film.

[Withywindle]

44. Agreed it's the best, but it's still weird.

It's not Movie With Sequels, it's three movies that together make up ONE really long movie. FOTR isn't a complete story.

I'd count the trilogy as one single film (that's how Tolkien intended the book to be too). And I'd only use the Extended Editions - the 2nd and 3rd parts in the theater versions were pretty badly edited, IMO, especially the third. Of course, that one single film is 12 hours long, but hey, ambitious is good!

[Skittles]

45. I think Children of Men should be on the list n/t

[Withywindle]

46. Titanic? Forest Gump?

Ugh and ugher.

[ThomWV]

53. Ben Hur, The Wild Bunch, Jaws?

[Norrin Radd]

47. Rashomon

and la Belle et la Bête belong on this list.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

66. They should have stated that it's the 100 Greatest American Films

There have been many outstanding foreign films. Kurosawa's Ikiru to me is his greatest masterpiece, among his many greats. I think some of Jean Renoir's films like Rules Of The Game and especially The Grand Illusion belong on a list of greatest films. Metropolis, Nosferatu, The Seventh Seal, The 39 Steps, La Strada, Il Sorpasso, Abel Gance's Napoleon and several others would have made my all-time cut.

And the Fanny/Marius trilogy of films by Marcel Pagnol are magnificent, although largely unknown by Americans. They feature one of the greatest actors in the history of film, French film star Raimu, who Orson Welles called (direct quote) "the greatest actor who ever lived".

[Snarkturian Clone]

51. Big Trouble in Little China is a glaring omission!!! NT

[ShaneGR]

52. Only 4 films on that list made in last 20 years

So that list blows.

[Flying Dream Blues]

55. I think they should make room for Caddyshack...a true comedic classic. :) nt

[Ifonly]

56. Seven Samuri not on list. Ergo, list is joke

After I saw this movie, I thought it was the greatest movie I had ever seen: Seven Samuri directed by Akira Kurosawa. It isn't even on the list. Casablanca as #3? Casablanca is a fun & cool movie, but #3? Another of my favorite films is Orson Welles' The Trial. <- Great film! Also not on list, of course.

[dysfunctional press]

59. how does a movie made in 1931 move up 65 places, and one made in 1956 move up 84 places?

did they suddenly get that much better?
(city lights #11, the searchers #12)

[smokey nj]

60. What?! "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" didn't make the list? That is so not right!!11!!1!!!1

[NoGOPZone]

63. You're right! It's time Shabba-Doo got his due!

:rofl:

[Hidden Stillness]

64. Agree on Many, but Not on Others

Many great movies--Citizen Kane (1941) of course, The Wizard of Oz (1939), On the Waterfront (1954), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1950), All About Eve (1950), The General (1927), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), High Noon (1952), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Network (1976), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), All the President's Men (1976), Sunrise (1927), Fargo (1996), Frankenstein (1931), Bringing Up Baby (1938), A Place in the Sun (1951), (apparently some now off the list, if I read it correctly). They sure don't like silent movies, do they? Where is that masterpiece, "The Crowd," (1928, from King Vidor), also, "Alice Adams" (1935) "Long Day's Jouney Into Night" (1962) and "The Lion in Winter" (1968) with Katharine Hepburn, "The Boy With Green Hair" (1948 with Dean Stockwell), the 1924 "Thief of Bagdad" with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., "The Marrying Kind," (1952) a favorite with Judy Holliday, etc. Agree on a lot, not on others.

[Contrary1]

65. Shawshank Redemption is my favorite for personal reasons.

Sitting on the couch with a cancer diagnosis, I was feeling very sorry for myself, wondering if what I had to go through would be worth it, as I watched it for the first time.

"Get busy living, or get busy dying" was the slap upside my head when I needed it the most. It became my mantra, of sorts...and there are days I still repeat it to myself.

*** On edit: Where's "Snow White And The Three Stooges"? :-(