1. Citizen Kane (1941)
![Directed by Orson Welles One word: Rosebud. It's still the greatest movie of all time. Telling the story of a newspaper tycoon based on William](https://ew.com/thmb/7niXjXDARJyH9vtPRVZnlgWyCIc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/citizenkane-0068fcddd1d1403b94f4e94526b041b1.jpg)
Directed by Orson Welles
One word: Rosebud. It's still the greatest movie of all time. Telling the story of a newspaper tycoon based on William Randolph Hearst, the 25-year-old genius Orson Welles poured his own swaggering, larger-than-life soul into a tragic and exuberant American saga of journalism, power, celebrity, idealism, betrayal, and lost love. No matter how many times you've seen Kane, it always feels like the first time. That's because Welles' filmmaking remains spectacularly alive: The thrill of invention is there in every shot, every performance, every breathless narrative surge.
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2. The Godfather (1972)
![The Godfather: Part II | Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Coppola's tale of crime and family is the most mythic cinematic landmark of the past half century. It heightens Mafia](https://ew.com/thmb/95TKFXTzyVYcTGH5RsH0rcHU-r8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/godfather-21-204ffe9967c94c9ab60c79b6589a8e4e.jpg)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola's tale of crime and family is the most mythic cinematic landmark of the past half century. It heightens Mafia violence into a metaphor for American corporate ruthlessness, presenting Marlon Brando's Don Corleone as the grandest of movie criminals — a monster we revere for his courtly loyalty.
3. Casablanca (1942)
![Directed by Michael Curtiz WWII movie perfection. Hollywood's most celebrated love story was made as just an average studio pic but now exemplifies old-movie magic.](https://ew.com/thmb/a2vUjABRisDCu7JkXx9bLJSuzl8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/casablanca-1-8e0bf95fcc7a4ec2be2fdd46b2ace92d.jpg)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
WWII movie perfection. Hollywood's most celebrated love story was made as just an average studio pic but now exemplifies old-movie magic. Story, lighting, music, craftsmanship, and every glance between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman resonate with a magnificence that even the brashest studio mogul couldn't have predicted.
4. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
![Directed by Arthur Penn A touchstone of screen violence, the exhilarating account of '30s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker kicked open the door](https://ew.com/thmb/TvkkfcO1n9B6ARZU0ci0790-7TA=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/adventuresbonnieclyde-3c6fa96bfd49486e966e1ed471fadb10.jpg)
Directed by Arthur Penn
A touchstone of screen violence, the exhilarating account of '30s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker kicked open the door to the cinematic freedom of the post-studio-system era.
5. Psycho (1960)
![Director: Alfred Hitchcock What's left to say about Psycho ? This is the movie that invented the rules by breaking them. Janet Leigh's iconic shower](https://ew.com/thmb/Z6tTNUh3dTqraHHXhib1De9x2ak=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/psycho-showerscene_1-5befe7e2eeb143b2b8ef5fd222c34c28.jpg)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
The granddaddy of all slasher films (as well as the most profound horror movie ever made), Hitchcock's famous thriller takes the revolutionary step of killing off its heroine (Janet Leigh) halfway through, all as a way of placing the audience in the mind of a madman (Anthony Perkins).
6. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
![Directed by Frank Capra In Capra's eternal holiday classic, James Stewart gives one of the best big-screen performances as a small-town good guy who learns](https://ew.com/thmb/gs8_SAQ9e13AnzL68JiIBzS0j_A=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/itsawonderfullife-1-2b2b9f1c65a54426b4cc210c4416ddae.jpg)
Directed by Frank Capra
In Capra's eternal holiday classic, James Stewart gives one of the best big-screen performances as a small-town good guy who learns what life would have been like without him. The movie is really about how hard it is for us to see the magic of life as we're living it.
7. Mean Streets (1973)
![Directed by Martin Scorsese Scorsese's film about low-level New York Mob hoods is still the director's greatest exploration of crime, rock & roll, Italian-American manhood,](https://ew.com/thmb/hM8oA8dq2atOs74em-glbkJj3ZM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/meanstreets-deniro-1-da63915f1e3f42078b11436ee2a1dfe0.jpg)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Scorsese's film about low-level New York Mob hoods is still the director's greatest exploration of crime, rock & roll, Italian-American manhood, and the wages of sin. The ''Be My Baby'' opening credits may be the single most electrifying use of pop music in Hollywood history.
8. The Gold Rush (1925)
![Directed by Charles Chaplin Divine slapstick and social commentary from a silent-film genius, as Chaplin's Little Tramp prospects for gold in the Yukon. It's the](https://ew.com/thmb/YlsXpBHyX9TE7zCmp9yKFyxyZ7s=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/gold-rush-chaplin-aadd4d8698ae4fbc8758383678766aa1.jpg)
Directed by Charles Chaplin
Divine slapstick and social commentary from a silent-film genius, as Chaplin's Little Tramp prospects for gold in the Yukon. It's the most iconic performance by Hollywood's most indelible movie star.
9. Nashville (1975)
![Nashville | Directed by Robert Altman Altman's organically structured masterpiece turns the stories of 24 linked characters in the country & western music capital into a crazy](https://ew.com/thmb/6JwbS1hKODHzpcOvGC6PpNIQaxI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/nashville-tomlin-acb33715d0c043e4be8bf22b3392a1ce.jpg)
Directed by Robert Altman
Altman's organically structured masterpiece turns the stories of 24 linked characters in the country & western music capital into a crazy quilt of politics, celebrity, and American life in the '70s.
10. Gone with the Wind (1939)
![Directed by Victor Fleming The sweeping tale of the Civil War, a plantation named Tara, and a girl named Scarlett O'Hara was long thought of](https://ew.com/thmb/Q1Boh6OJpO754bt_MMgGan92kss=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/gonewiththewind-612939860e83448c8706fff8db7de238.jpg)
Directed by Victor Fleming
The sweeping tale of the Civil War, a plantation named Tara, and a girl named Scarlett O'Hara was long thought of as the ultimate ''women's picture.'' But it's really Hollywood's most tragic romance.
11. King Kong (1933)
![Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack The stop-motion effects retain every bit of their magic as Kong the giant gorilla awes, terrifies,](https://ew.com/thmb/tBv5OF-8eGaWyvRG20FNqz6Qk-E=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/kingkong-1-2fbaa0f9c4044a36b0b340f0f0619434.jpg)
Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
The stop-motion effects retain every bit of their magic as Kong the giant gorilla awes, terrifies, and breaks your heart.
NOT RATED
12. The Searchers (1956)
![Directed by John Ford Ford's darkest Western stars John Wayne as a Civil War veteran who becomes obsessed with finding his niece, who's been captured](https://ew.com/thmb/0eLueyFaBtjibvhU4Yu6uvwTtIM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/searchers-johnwayne-wood-1-14335add965a49a78b15fabc3cf5363c.jpg)
Directed by John Ford
Ford's darkest Western stars John Wayne as a Civil War veteran who becomes obsessed with finding his niece, who's been captured by Indians. This one has a closing shot for the ages.
NOT RATED
13. Annie Hall (1977)
![Directed by Woody Allen Allen's matchless autobiographical ode to New York City, neurosis, and former sweetheart Diane Keaton has some of the most quoted dialogue](https://ew.com/thmb/GYt_2iuSLFX4d4n2X874evjyRmM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/anniehall-woodyallen-1-f0b5ce51773c4f25b200f66a94e6b571.jpg)
Directed by Woody Allen
Allen's matchless autobiographical ode to New York City, neurosis, and former sweetheart Diane Keaton has some of the most quoted dialogue in movie history. The template for the perfect smart romantic comedy.
PG
14. Bambi (1942)
![Directed by David Hand It's gorgeous and touching. When hunters kill Bambi's mother, it's a sentimental shock that sends the young deer on a primal](https://ew.com/thmb/5lrbqkn4jH224O94gWbWzmnrkmo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bambi-3-515ff0835241440781c271890a5abafb.jpg)
Directed by David Hand
It's gorgeous and touching. When hunters kill Bambi's mother, it's a sentimental shock that sends the young deer on a primal journey.
Download it:
Amazon
G
15. Blue Velvet (1986)
![Directed by David Lynch Lynch's masterpiece of erotic obsession is a hallucinatory thriller that turns into a surrealist nightmare. Dennis Hopper plays the most outrageous](https://ew.com/thmb/fe-q-dhjAT28YsyTTrC90NqPvjk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bluevelvet-1-d1b7407f0a9c4bbb9e87d75bdec28c38.jpg)
Directed by David Lynch
Lynch's masterpiece of erotic obsession is a hallucinatory thriller that turns into a surrealist nightmare. Dennis Hopper plays the most outrageous psycho villain ever.
R
16. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
![Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen The greatest of all movie musicals is a glittering MGM gem set in the days when Hollywood was](https://ew.com/thmb/2ePrfDjHfm-g18DF9K6Hs8eJvuc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/singinintherain-1-216f64a953384e1b981496b2338e4537.jpg)
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
The greatest of all movie musicals is a glittering MGM gem set in the days when Hollywood was transitioning from silents to talkies. It boasts sublime singin' (and dancin') in glorious Technicolor.
G
17. Seven Samurai (1954)
![Directed by Akira Kurosawa Unemployed samurai defend a village against bandits in Kurosawa's thrilling Japanese period Western, which towers over all action films. Download it:](https://ew.com/thmb/1meetq_nj0fpyIMe689w4LRwmQY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/seventhsamurai-1-04a2a33554c943fcbce4135db1f3a80d.jpg)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Unemployed samurai defend a village against bandits in Kurosawa's thrilling Japanese period Western, which towers over all action films.
NOT RATED
18. Jaws (1975)
![Directed by Steven Spielberg It's what we don't see that makes us scream in Spielberg's terrifying tale of what happens When Sharks Attack. Hollywood's blockbuster](https://ew.com/thmb/2I_551uEMZoJ2PYTeoRv_itSP1I=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/jaws-1-4a61498408fd4f32aae1512a4d7064e3.jpg)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
It's what we don't see that makes us scream in Spielberg's terrifying tale of what happens When Sharks Attack. Hollywood's blockbuster era began here.
PG
19. Pulp Fiction (1994)
![PulpFiction Travolta](https://ew.com/thmb/MomWgOb3TzEn0ITRtJk5xDWJsz0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/pulpfiction-travolta-d3c16831141d4d96b216ad269bb8f5c8.jpg)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino seemed to be reinventing the pleasures of movies with this ingeniously time-bent yarn of bad behavior, surf rock, and outlaws who talk like pop culture junkies.
R
20. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
![Directed by Marcel Ophüls In documenting the history of the Nazi occupation of France with exhaustive patience, Ophüls' film plumbs vital questions of truth and](https://ew.com/thmb/BWKoaFbfOpDh-VstD1e8erIn7sY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/sorrowandthepity-1-131b261ae337429791ef82dfa4facc24.jpg)
Directed by Marcel Ophüls
In documenting the history of the Nazi occupation of France with exhaustive patience, Ophüls' film plumbs vital questions of truth and memory.
Download it:
Amazon
PG
21. Some Like It Hot (1959)
![Directed by Billy Wilder One of the most perfect of all farcical comedies, about two musicians who dress in drag to join an all-girl band](https://ew.com/thmb/c0-hqiMBsgaZfHPPh3LjztBm2r8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/somelikeithot-marilyn-1-a68e0fc08f374a8ca3a5ab4cb5e683ed.jpg)
Directed by Billy Wilder
One of the most perfect of all farcical comedies, about two musicians who dress in drag to join an all-girl band because...well, nobody's perfect.
Download it:
Amazon
NOT RATED
22. Toy Story (1995)
![Directed by John Lasseter The first, and still the best, of Pixar's films, this tale of a bedroom full of quirky, quarrelsome toys is a](https://ew.com/thmb/0WCFe7mA_xuGO1N9zLVTdA9LySw=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/toystory-11-2f9dbda26c5249e0b2c946a5368bab8a.jpg)
Directed by John Lasseter
The first, and still the best, of Pixar's films, this tale of a bedroom full of quirky, quarrelsome toys is a witty miracle of plastic come to life.
G
23. Notorious (1946)
![Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock's hypnotically suspenseful saga of love and espionage, starring Cary Grant as a supersuave secret agent and Ingrid Bergman as the](https://ew.com/thmb/rf2TArF4f8t4rgRetikAnALoxDI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/notorious-1-3422d242d53e4032a16f88d404668508.jpg)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock's hypnotically suspenseful saga of love and espionage, starring Cary Grant as a supersuave secret agent and Ingrid Bergman as the woman who engages him in one of the longest kisses in screen history.
Download it:
Amazon
NOT RATED
24. The Sound of Music (1965)
![Directed by Robert Wise The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about the von Trapp family singers gets turned into a famously square movie. But it's remarkably,](https://ew.com/thmb/paXsU2rWaElOW27G2rynqVCeMs4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/soundofmusic-1-a1068b7570d14c9aa72f9ffd46fca099.jpg)
Directed by Robert Wise
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about the von Trapp family singers gets turned into a famously square movie. But it's remarkably, wholesomely impassioned, with an incandescent Julie Andrews as the would-be nun who finds herself as a choral den mother.
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
![Directed by Stanley Kubrick Kubrick's science-fiction masterpiece is a cosmic jaw-dropper of unearthly beauty, whether we're watching ships glide through space to ''The Blue Danube''](https://ew.com/thmb/J4RXRCrjTayuOC6YyQKd0sjD0ZI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/spaceodyssey-1-683dc07a99294a1389c797e7058cda76.jpg)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick's science-fiction masterpiece is a cosmic jaw-dropper of unearthly beauty, whether we're watching ships glide through space to ''The Blue Danube'' or charting the showdown between two astronauts and a computer that seems to have feelings. The ending can still blow your mind.
G
26. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
![Directed by Vittorio De Sica A workingman and his son look for the father's stolen bicycle in De Sica's gloriously simple story, the essential specimen](https://ew.com/thmb/GxxWEiTRPZ_Fdz8V7uhM1P0MWE8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bicyclethieves-1-1db6b8ed0cd445679a49246d42877de4.jpg)
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
A workingman and his son look for the father's stolen bicycle in De Sica's gloriously simple story, the essential specimen of Italian neorealist style.
NOT RATED
27. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
![Source: The Maltese Falcon (1930) The movie that ignited the film noir genre, defined the career of Humphrey Bogart, and introduced the world to stage](https://ew.com/thmb/8Z7AdYgMUahjx_3odT0hIVqJwT0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/maltesesfalcon-bogart-1-07c365289167416c80fef7cabe162336.jpg)
Directed by John Huston
Film-noir perfection and the stuff that dreams are made of: Humphrey Bogart is Sam Spade, a detective entangled with a valuable carved bird, unsavory types who covet it, and a divinely shady dame. It was the amazing directorial debut of Huston, who went on to form a beautiful professional friendship with Bogart.
NOT RATED
28. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
![Directed by Victor Fleming The most powerfully odd and enchanting fairy tale to come out of Hollywood, the adventure of Dorothy in Oz has the](https://ew.com/thmb/TMytmlyzFT0Nagfjj3DlqXh-WMw=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/wizardofoz-1-36e9d79f83a443ada2b2de94d88b41b8.jpg)
Directed by Victor Fleming
The most powerfully odd and enchanting fairy tale to come out of Hollywood, the adventure of Dorothy in Oz has the enduring magic of a backlot daydream, with a shivery touch of nightmare in Margaret Hamilton's performance as the Wicked Witch of the West.
G
29. North by Northwest (1959)
![Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock's globe-trotting suspense classic, starring Cary Grant as an innocent man mistaken for a spy. It's the first true contemporary thriller,](https://ew.com/thmb/0LWNQBLjQmskaxqlrhNCttVUXEE=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/northbynorthwest-1-1ecf13d8f6c14aecb8df1d461d337c91.jpg)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock's globe-trotting suspense classic, starring Cary Grant as an innocent man mistaken for a spy. It's the first true contemporary thriller, with an out-of-the-frying-pan existential wildness typified by the famous crop-dusting sequence.
NOT RATED
30. Sunrise (1927)
![Directed by F.W. Murnau The most heart-wrenching and lyrical of all silent films, Murnau's rapturous tale uses breathtakingly advanced cinematographic techniques to tell the story](https://ew.com/thmb/TQ8EfE54z6pbp7KjwIrKfoK-ZOM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/sunrise-movie-obrien-1-0c79260ddd684ef781987c07386d3a07.jpg)
Directed by F.W. Murnau
The most heart-wrenching and lyrical of all silent films, Murnau's rapturous tale uses breathtakingly advanced cinematographic techniques to tell the story of a couple who must fall apart in order to come together.
Download it:
Amazon
NOT RATED
31. Chinatown (1974)
![Directed by Roman Polanski Polanski's moody, labyrinthine thriller about the dark side of 1930s Los Angeles is the richest of all of Hollywood's political-corruption mazes.](https://ew.com/thmb/I7Uboszom5vyvv0SCRJ38W7s9Fc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/chinatown-nicholson-1-420d0e216af04b91ba36c2022ea66791.jpg)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Polanski's moody, labyrinthine thriller about the dark side of 1930s Los Angeles is the richest of all of Hollywood's political-corruption mazes.
R
32. Duck Soup (1933)
![Directed by Leo McCarey The Marx Brothers hit their uproarious, looney-tunes peak in this madcap vision of a political empire gone gleefully berserk. Download it:](https://ew.com/thmb/V_-aAVr0RCTGBEhHCsuGhr7fR4o=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/ducksoup-marx-1-d01eb096152548279991482c74aaf65c.jpg)
Directed by Leo McCarey
The Marx Brothers hit their uproarious, looney-tunes peak in this madcap vision of a political empire gone gleefully berserk.
NOT RATED
33. The Graduate (1967)
![''I just want to say one word to you. One Word?Plastics.'' Ostensibly a film about an aimless young man (Dustin Hoffman) spiritually adrift and ensnared](https://ew.com/thmb/oBKwBdXjgkIB5a3CkryudDi3eWk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/graduate-hoffman-1-fcacfbeef5af46ea853a482a01ccf719.jpg)
Directed by Mike Nichols
The story of a boy, a girl, and a Mrs. Robinson is one of the most revolutionary movies of the '60s. As Benjamin Braddock, a lad torn between respectability and dropping out (and as confused about it as Hamlet), Dustin Hoffman redefined movie stardom.
PG
34. Adam's Rib (1949)
![Directed by George Cukor Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy play married lawyers arguing the opposite sides of a case — a perfect metaphor for marriage](https://ew.com/thmb/P8UeyIbRuNS1fajLJJRwE8rE2gM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/adamsrib-tracy-1-fb2a2d4409c9409f834c434b423e3146.jpg)
Directed by George Cukor
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy play married lawyers arguing the opposite sides of a case — a perfect metaphor for marriage itself.
NOT RATED
35. Apocalypse Now (1979)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Coppola's Vietnam saga is a psychedelic meditation on the evil that men do. The ''Ride of the Valkyries'' helicopter attack](https://ew.com/thmb/RHnE37Y3zInyqnKAq3N4KR-nz9o=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/apocalypse-now-2-e8d898984644400089a901fae27062ef.jpg)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola's Vietnam saga is a psychedelic meditation on the evil that men do. The ''Ride of the Valkyries'' helicopter attack may be the single most riveting sequence in any war film.
R
36. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
![Directed by Roman Polanski More artful than The Exorcist (and just as disturbing), Polanski's chiller gives you a magnificent case of the everyday shivers. Mia](https://ew.com/thmb/PcvFcJeuaQFNEM3YSCidCqf4AHE=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rosemarysbaby-1-f7e87619bdc042b9bd210e17c999ecf5.jpg)
Directed by Roman Polanski
More artful than The Exorcist (and just as disturbing), Polanski's chiller gives you a magnificent case of the everyday shivers. Mia Farrow is a pregnant New Yorker who never suspects that the quirky old couple down the hall are Satan worshippers.
R
37. Manhattan (1979)
![Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, ... | Allen's greatest portrait of brainy, artistic, neurotic, and deeply lovestruck New Yorkers. It's an intensely dramatic comedy and, at times, an extraordinarily prophetic one (Michael](https://ew.com/thmb/xNeihcEtrmdOBR5JcgMi15GtQAQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/manhattan-woodyallen-1-d13b8fb7f604416c974b10782f46b47d.jpg)
Directed by Woody Allen
Allen's finest portrait of brainy, artistic, neurotic, and deeply lovestruck New Yorkers. Gordon Willis' black-and-white cinematography and the lush Gershwin score make every moment indelible.
R
38. Vertigo (1958)
![Directed by Alfred Hitchcock In Hitchcock's romantic mystery, James Stewart is a detective whose lover (Kim Novak) dies and then comes back to life. It's](https://ew.com/thmb/ZI0CgTr_4_WHVFXfyJQ9i744QzI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/vertigo-jamesstewart-1-394378677f6c47fdab768a60deb3325a.jpg)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
In Hitchcock's romantic mystery, James Stewart is a detective whose lover (Kim Novak) dies and then comes back to life. It's the master's personal poem of longing.
PG
39. The Rules of the Game (1939)
![Directed by Jean Renoir Renoir's masterpiece of social satire, set among romping aristocrats at a country château, is part comedy, part tragedy, and totally sublime.](https://ew.com/thmb/QMNOgFuC-Or5hdtLt6pQPOnpuN8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rulesofthegame-1-1ef07806a87d47d3876223cd39ab7b5b.jpg)
Directed by Jean Renoir
Renoir's masterpiece of social satire, set among romping aristocrats at a country château, is part comedy, part tragedy, and totally sublime.
NOT RATED
40. Double Indemnity (1944)
![Directed by Billy Wilder A delicious film noir, with Fred MacMurray as the ultimate tough sap and Barbara Stanwyck at the height of her powers.](https://ew.com/thmb/KH0YvFbIHwVGwHln3NPIekRr3ck=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/doubleindemnity-1-ba86aa06cc4f4532a4e17fdd9bda90a5.jpg)
Directed by Billy Wilder
A delicious film noir, with Fred MacMurray as the ultimate tough sap and Barbara Stanwyck at the height of her powers.
NOT RATED
41. The Road Warrior (1981)
![Directed by George Miller Mel Gibson rules as Mad Max in Miller's speed-demon action Western in a postapocalyptic Aussie wasteland. Download it: Amazon iTunes R](https://ew.com/thmb/JrF2bQln3vIhFK6ixDa_en6CdI4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/roadwarriormadmax-melgibson-1-50e6b236e9ed46a2aa25876de17aab24.jpg)
Directed by George Miller
Mel Gibson rules as Mad Max in Miller's speed-demon action Western in a postapocalyptic Aussie wasteland.
R
42. Taxi Driver (1976)
![Directed by Martin Scorsese Yes, he's talkin' to you. As Travis Bickle, Robert De Niro is pent-up and explosive in Scorsese's mesmerizing look at how](https://ew.com/thmb/SLDC3nk8JCHz-YvlXN4KdUAOB3E=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/taxidriver-deniro-foster-1-f7e148b1ab33478e9fa58f2345e5fdff.jpg)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Yes, he's talkin' to you. As Travis Bickle, Robert De Niro is pent-up and explosive in Scorsese's mesmerizing look at how New York City's scuzzy post-Vietnam streets tip a lonely cabbie toward violence.
R
43. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
![Directed by Peter Jackson Jackson demonstrates the definitive way to translate a popular literary epic for the screen, with sweep and passion and grandeur. He](https://ew.com/thmb/AODVt32Wjlo2jQqKjnwogUhOGXM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/lordoftherings-elijah-1-5d24062859914269a9cf060a238cfb42.jpg)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Jackson demonstrates the definitive way to translate a popular literary epic for the screen, with sweep and passion and grandeur. He conquers all of Middle-earth!
PG-13
44. On the Waterfront (1954)
![Directed by Elia Kazan Marlon Brando's unforgettable performance as the longshoreman who ''coulda been a contender'' defines Method acting at its most powerful and influential](https://ew.com/thmb/e_NbUllFuOle6vPVhykCBHHEhrc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/onthewaterfront-1-fe5a97ef61894115808ccb167c81b5c0.jpg)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Marlon Brando's unforgettable performance as the longshoreman who ''coulda been a contender'' defines Method acting at its most powerful and influential in this brilliantly tough study of dockside politics.
NOT RATED
45. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
![Directed by Frank Capra Anyone who thinks that Capra was a softy should see this wrenching political fable, in which James Stewart, as a novice](https://ew.com/thmb/MNwMqiO2isTz56dZTY674-pV7P8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/mrsmithgoeswashington-1-5196db669a35443ea045095367bf301e.jpg)
Directed by Frank Capra
Anyone who thinks that Capra was a softy should see this wrenching political fable, in which James Stewart, as a novice legislator, discovers — and filibusters to save — a Washington, D.C., as dysfunctional as our own.
NOT RATED
46. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
![Directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley The perfect old-fashioned lighthearted adventure, with swordplay that still sparkles. As Robin the noble bandit, Errol Flynn seems](https://ew.com/thmb/6JA1NyCYITpuOczju2rlMK8TN_M=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/adventuresofrobinhood-1-fd2f52224ed047239e46dfcf204fd127.jpg)
Directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley
The perfect old-fashioned lighthearted adventure, with swordplay that still sparkles. As Robin the noble bandit, Errol Flynn seems to be having the time of his life, and his spirit is infectious.
PG
47. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
![Directed by Stanley Kubrick Kubrick's cathartically disturbing — and audiovisually addictive — shock classic is a cautionary tale of youthful hooligans that dares to put](https://ew.com/thmb/omKnxYpUe8WAsLo96r0bmZW3VCc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/clockwork-orange_0-f5a9d658f45940c49992374615214052.jpg)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick's cathartically disturbing — and audiovisually addictive — shock classic is a cautionary tale of youthful hooligans that dares to put you in the jackboots of its punk-sociopath antihero.
R
48. It Happened One Night (1934)
![Directed by Frank Capra The original romantic comedy, in which Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert demonstrate for all time why falling in love masquerades as](https://ew.com/thmb/rD9SpXpw3ANCuYJ6RokkRXI4SJE=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/ithappenedonenight-1-4ee627d777744ae0bbf46048f36d54ac.jpg)
Directed by Frank Capra
The original romantic comedy, in which Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert demonstrate for all time why falling in love masquerades as verbal war. Capra keeps the banter bouncing along with a sublime lightness.
NOT RATED
49. Goldfinger (1964)
![Directed by Guy Hamilton The quintessential James Bond movie because it's got everything: cool gizmos and a gold-painted girl, a villain of very grand cunning,](https://ew.com/thmb/Q1QCMHH_6b-qk03UPv5TQ1MXtyI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/goldfinger-seanconnery-1-2acaeb17e54d441187e81d84cd9f45ff.jpg)
Directed by Guy Hamilton
The quintessential James Bond movie because it's got everything: cool gizmos and a gold-painted girl, a villain of very grand cunning, and Sean Connery at the peak of his debonair invincibility.
PG
50. Intolerance (1916)
![Directed by D.W. Griffith The silent master Griffith did more than anyone else to invent the language of movie storytelling, and this four-part parable of](https://ew.com/thmb/2R0CR8kp3xtTfVsLzgDPg4LRrAc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/intolerance-movie-1-55e7326b2fbf4ec3bca8ac48b03db0ad.jpg)
Directed by D.W. Griffith
The silent master Griffith did more than anyone else to invent the language of movie storytelling, and this four-part parable of intolerance through the ages is his loopiest, most colossal, and most inspired achievement. The Babylonian sequence seems to exemplify the infinite possibilities of movies.
Download it:
Amazon
NOT RATED
51. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
![Directed by Richard Lester A jukebox rock fable that's really one of the great screen musicals, with the young Beatles snarking and cavorting like gods](https://ew.com/thmb/cxyjmYxVt3ZJ3ZPhhKAA2b7B4Lo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/beatles-harddaysnight-1-cbdda6d538e043a289c643daf7f45197.jpg)
Directed by Richard Lester
A jukebox rock fable that's really one of the great screen musicals, with the young Beatles snarking and cavorting like gods at play.
Download it:
Amazon
G
52. Titanic (1997)
![Directed by James Cameron The one disaster movie that's also a work of art, Cameron's magnificent epic moves us with a youthful love story made](https://ew.com/thmb/BzlGtww-cte4FZPRi_6pOW3RbBc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/titanic-dicaprio-winslet-1-1464015a548c448981ee4ccc015b9218.jpg)
Directed by James Cameron
The one disaster movie that's also a work of art, Cameron's magnificent epic moves us with a youthful love story made memorable by tragedy. The sinking of the Titanic unfolds in real time, which only heightens the film's everlasting romantic grandeur.
PG-13
53. Star Wars — Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
![Directed by Irvin Kershner Cloud City! The AT-AT Walkers! The sage of the Dagobah system, Yoda! The deepening relationships among darkening characters! For those reasons](https://ew.com/thmb/QmuxQVaesnesw_9tjyP5J9xOZcg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/starwars-episodev-1-35564e1ffcd6492582f23e94b2cb2765.jpg)
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Cloud City! The AT-AT Walkers! The sage of the Dagobah system, Yoda! The deepening relationships among darkening characters! For those reasons and so many more, this centerpiece in the first Star Wars trilogy remains the jewel in the intergalactic crown.
Download it:
Amazon
PG
54. Breathless (1960)
![Directed by Jean-Luc Godard Cops chase a French punk and his American girl in Godard's seismically influential cornerstone of the French New Wave, based on](https://ew.com/thmb/J6rkFt7-LXyyNyXepuquoXM7w8s=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/breathless-1-21c222e9396246bb9bd4e24fc7daa10b.jpg)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Cops chase a French punk and his American girl in Godard's seismically influential cornerstone of the French New Wave, based on a story by fellow cinema poet-rebel François Truffaut.
NOT RATED
55. Frankenstein (1931)
![Directed by James Whale Whale's enduring tale of the undead is a myth of science gone mad, featuring an unforgettable Boris Karloff as the horror](https://ew.com/thmb/Ap_XqACM7UYgx5DwzVUFf1hjJlc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/frankenstein-1-48ebb573801d4b2fa35ea861886a27fa.jpg)
Directed by James Whale
Whale's enduring tale of the undead is a myth of science gone mad, featuring an unforgettable Boris Karloff as the horror genre's most sympathetic monster.
NOT RATED
56. Schindler's List (1993)
![Directed by Steven Spielberg Spielberg's shattering Holocaust epic, based on the real life of a gentile who saved Jews in World War II, made the](https://ew.com/thmb/NaSmyBpQNFYO3WsbfZ0nBJ14yNc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/schindlerslist-1-311942a7f97f4271824f5fa3f1ca03be.jpg)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Spielberg's shattering Holocaust epic, based on the real life of a gentile who saved Jews in World War II, made the darkest chapter of 20th-century history real in a way that no other dramatic reenactment has.
R
57. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
![Directed by John Schlesinger Jon Voight, as a naive would-be gigolo, and Dustin Hoffman, as a down-and-out disabled con artist, make for filmdom's most moving](https://ew.com/thmb/kujUfapAjq6lLKfOjWXbD279nFU=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/midnightcowboy-hoffman-1-20135f175d2242a78a5a17e83519784d.jpg)
Directed by John Schlesinger
Jon Voight, as a naive would-be gigolo, and Dustin Hoffman, as a down-and-out disabled con artist, make for filmdom's most moving buddies in this epochal portrait of life on the mean streets of late-'60s Manhattan.
R
58. The Seventh Seal (1957)
![Directed by Ingmar Bergman Bergman's tale of a medieval knight's journey is full of legendary symbols (like the chess game with Death), and the film](https://ew.com/thmb/FFahfvF_4a-2l_0f90K1kirRvCA=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/seventhseal-1-b3a480343270448d933b1be3c27ce268.jpg)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Bergman's tale of a medieval knight's journey is full of legendary symbols (like the chess game with Death), and the film itself has come to stand for the heady pleasures of foreign cinema.
NOT RATED
59. All the President's Men (1976)
![Directed by Alan J. Pakula The ultimate newspaper film, this dramatization of how Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal](https://ew.com/thmb/g5p1gx3yMSS-ik1xblsu9DKAbZY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/presidentsmen-redford-1-e11b195297684db691e70951859b0a7f.jpg)
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
The ultimate newspaper film, this dramatization of how Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal is a true-life testament to the fervor — and obsessive, midnight-oil dedication — that fuels the fourth estate.
PG
60. Top Hat (1935)
![Directed by Mark Sandrich Heaven, we're in heaven — and we seem to find the happiness we seek when Fred and Ginger are dancing cheek](https://ew.com/thmb/KOHOLh36RNAZvGInfO49gm9gNE0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/tophat-fredastaire-1-bedd3ab28b0f4b16af70f9d560c2c768.jpg)
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Heaven, we're in heaven — and we seem to find the happiness we seek when Fred and Ginger are dancing cheek to cheek.
NOT RATED
61. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
![Directed by Jonathan Demme To find a serial killer, an FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) consults a genius of a psychopath (Anthony Hopkins, the chillingly urbane](https://ew.com/thmb/3cY3uDIUleQiJqeRvzDYeHdBoRs=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/silenceofthelambs-1-dfd17266ee014150a65c5060dc6fbe4d.jpg)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
To find a serial killer, an FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) consults a genius of a psychopath (Anthony Hopkins, the chillingly urbane face of evil as Hannibal Lecter) in a horror-thriller classic that's at once disquieting, moving, and mesmerizing.
R
62. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
![Directed by Steven Spielberg Its special effects no longer look as dazzling, but that only underscores the storytelling incandescence of Spielberg's suburban fairy tale about](https://ew.com/thmb/wTAuJYCaJZ67lSaPWgbNpa8MngA=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/et-extraterrestial-1-2dec7bc94efd467f9be24827398f638c.jpg)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Its special effects no longer look as dazzling, but that only underscores the storytelling incandescence of Spielberg's suburban fairy tale about a family's close encounter with a scrunchy-faced munchkin from outer space.
PG
63. Network (1976)
![Directed by Sidney Lumet In the '70s, Paddy Chayefsky's biting vision of where TV and celebrity were headed seemed like an over-the-top satire. It now](https://ew.com/thmb/M55uEIsT-nvkLKGBajVbnW2ytE0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/networkpeterfinch_0-e83f93987b194dd1916344f514711454.jpg)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
In the '70s, Paddy Chayefsky's biting vision of where TV and celebrity were headed seemed like an over-the-top satire. It now looks like one of the most prophetic movies ever, as Peter Finch's mad truth-teller single-handedly invents reality TV. The movie foresaw how even authentic populist anger could turn itself into entertainment.
R
64. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
![Directed by William Wyler Three World War II veterans return home in one of the least sentimental war pictures of all time, a soldiers' story](https://ew.com/thmb/-1BzdohpR7QhiRxt9fxdYsv9-yM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bestyearsourlives-1-4217c3356fee4ee4a248dd82cae6f33a.jpg)
Directed by William Wyler
Three World War II veterans return home in one of the least sentimental war pictures of all time, a soldiers' story as vital and relevant today as it was then.
NOT RATED
65. Last Tango in Paris (1973)
![Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci Bertolucci's landmark of screen eroticism has become famous for its emotionally naked sex scenes, but Marlon Brando, in one of his](https://ew.com/thmb/jzMp30CrysZlkMnOOgTFGpEYqJ4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/lasttangoinparis-1-a4f073899a954e2e8dfc58a662f6e615.jpg)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Bertolucci's landmark of screen eroticism has become famous for its emotionally naked sex scenes, but Marlon Brando, in one of his greatest performances, also makes the film into a searing tragedy of midlife despair.
Download it:
Amazon
NC-17
66. The Shining (1980)
![Director: Stanley Kubrick Forget all the conspiracy theories swirling around what The Shining 's really about. Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel about the Torrance](https://ew.com/thmb/m0RcA-kRCvV15H3tMGUnqYZ8RFg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/shining-nicholson_0-1-641bf01c476e4bc59f1abef24c5cc3e9.jpg)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick turns Stephen King's domestic ghost story about a kid who sees visions of his father's hidden malevolence into a gothic horror movie as dislocatingly odd as it is scary. Just because Jack Nicholson's marvelously controlled nutjob performance (''Heeeere's Johnny!'') is drop-dead funny doesn't mean it's not also seriously terrifying.
R
67. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
![Directed by Nicholas Ray James Dean's smashing star turn as an alienated young guy set the standard for the movie representation of alienated young guys](https://ew.com/thmb/Nk1gqwD_WVVdhGXbQ7plDbpL5XA=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rebelwithoutcause-1-8e2152834b7345988bacf6446209a176.jpg)
Directed by Nicholas Ray
James Dean's smashing star turn as an alienated young guy set the standard for the movie representation of alienated young guys (and their like-minded gals).
PG-13
68. GoodFellas (1990)
![Directed by Martin Scorsese Scorsese's crackerjack gangster drama, starring Ray Liotta as an up-and-coming mobster, is a showcase for the filmmaker's famous virtuosity, from his](https://ew.com/thmb/49OMSoP9n6I1JSpGtvtbP5CTRqs=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/goodfellas-1-b85be5c3f4834b268aee6c0bbf4d9dbd.jpg)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Scorsese's crackerjack gangster drama, starring Ray Liotta as an up-and-coming mobster, is a showcase for the filmmaker's famous virtuosity, from his perfectionist craftsmanship (check out that restaurant tracking shot!) to his kid-from-city-streets feel for Italian-American blood bonds. The film's highlight performance is the one by Joe (''I amuse you?'') Pesci.
R
69. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
![Directed by Stanley Kubrick A pitch-black comedy about the threat of nuclear annihilation that only gets funnier — and blacker — as the decades go](https://ew.com/thmb/zFdsPcTxdBEVaO86Puj_qfk6oGk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/drstrangelove-1-208dde3571cb4246bcfedb35a9c12e82.jpg)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
A pitch-black comedy about the threat of nuclear annihilation that only gets funnier — and blacker — as the decades go by, Kubrick's satire is shot like a documentary and laced with an almost psychotic sense of danger. Peter Sellers plays three different roles, all brilliantly.
PG
70. L'Avventura (1960)
![Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni Antonioni's immortal tale of aristocratic ennui is a kind of anti-thriller about the search for a woman who vanishes mysteriously during](https://ew.com/thmb/I_DJTJvvsyZf54FymnILez0X9Ak=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/lavventura-1-7d2af8bf084d406f936a63974d6d8093.jpg)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Antonioni's immortal tale of aristocratic ennui is a kind of anti-thriller about the search for a woman who vanishes mysteriously during a day trip...and never returns.
Download it:
Amazon
NOT RATED
71. American Graffiti (1973)
![Directed by George Lucas Before he took us to a galaxy far, far away, Lucas more or less invented nostalgia culture with this loving tribute](https://ew.com/thmb/RmfoL7uhYC8UHOxzJsqAiXnvET4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/americangrafitti-1-1-de3de5481a984321a797a7cc41606e06.jpg)
Directed by George Lucas
Before he took us to a galaxy far, far away, Lucas more or less invented nostalgia culture with this loving tribute to the last days of greasers, drive-in diners, and cruising up and down Main Street in classic American cars. For a movie full of iconic moments, it's a breathtakingly fluid and spontaneous rock & roll comedy (with a who's who of future big stars). It's set just as the '50s youthquake was winding down, but the key to its wistful melancholy is that it's really about the changes coming around the corner that no one could see.
PG
72. The 400 Blows (1959)
![Directed by François Truffaut Truffaut's first film was also his first collaboration with his onscreen alter ego, Jean-Pierre Léaud. A piercing study of a Parisian](https://ew.com/thmb/ONeM_llDJKQVK5TU0J7k96zp5H8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/400-blows-1-ec4ba2403b0c47ea8582f14269cd5dc7.jpg)
Directed by François Truffaut
Truffaut's first film was also his first collaboration with his onscreen alter ego, Jean-Pierre Léaud. A piercing study of a Parisian kid, adrift and on the road to nothing good.
NOT RATED
73. Cabaret (1972)
![Directed by Bob Fosse Liza Minnelli's Sally Bowles, a ''divinely decadent'' American in pre-WWII Berlin, belts out ''Life is a cabaret,'' and we believe every](https://ew.com/thmb/ybsU7Ej4ChJ7zokpowLgWkCHEzk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/cabaret-lizaminnelli-1-853da014498b4e6698dcb4024c640f64.jpg)
Directed by Bob Fosse
Liza Minnelli's Sally Bowles, a ''divinely decadent'' American in pre-WWII Berlin, belts out ''Life is a cabaret,'' and we believe every word, even when the meaning turns ominously ironic. No one does Bowles like Liza.
PG
74. The Hurt Locker (2009)
![Directed by Kathryn Bigelow Bigelow's powerful portrait of bomb defusers during the Iraq war uses the hair-trigger suspense of men who could die at any](https://ew.com/thmb/7i6O6FylTNzY4LOB9a8WToOuQO8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/hurtlocker-1-f8693e7ad81f4f769f6cafff760dbac3.jpg)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Bigelow's powerful portrait of bomb defusers during the Iraq war uses the hair-trigger suspense of men who could die at any moment to express the mad reality of combat in the age of modern guerrilla war.
R
75. Touch of Evil (1958)
![Directed by Orson Welles Set in a squalid Mexican border town, Welles' most fully realized film after Citizen Kane is a yarn of kidnapping and](https://ew.com/thmb/uoqr8WnGNc6j6OsDzwOvIC3x3MI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/touchofevil-orson-1-643e949b318b454a86de3eb5b05b63da.jpg)
Directed by Orson Welles
Set in a squalid Mexican border town, Welles' most fully realized film after Citizen Kane is a yarn of kidnapping and murder that was so shockingly dark for its time (and we don't just mean the gorgeous chiaroscuro photography) that its studio cut it to ribbons. Completely restored, it now looks like the missing link between film noir and David Lynch.
PG-13
76. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
![Directed by David Lean The grandeur of Lean's wide-screen filmmaking is its own reward in this beloved epic about the life of eccentric adventurer T.E.](https://ew.com/thmb/vnujsVnMxa-29_k0nwJkIxcDGAY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/lawrence-arabia-1-afb5916a93384bdab86c0fca58664be7.jpg)
Directed by David Lean
The grandeur of Lean's wide-screen filmmaking is its own reward in this beloved epic about the life of eccentric adventurer T.E. Lawrence, played by Peter O'Toole as a golden-haired sand god.
PG
77. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
![Directed by Sidney Lumet Lumet, that prince of New York City-steeped moviemaking, turns this stranger-than-fiction story of a bank robbery gone crazy wrong into a](https://ew.com/thmb/a1R-paf7xU3j0Aa8JobngMCjbTg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/dogdayafternoon-pacino-1-d32affdceeff4189ae77c1b2e50b46c0.jpg)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Lumet, that prince of New York City-steeped moviemaking, turns this stranger-than-fiction story of a bank robbery gone crazy wrong into a marvel of urban tension and zigzaggy action. He has immeasurable help from the combustible combination of Al Pacino as a desperate man with big demands and the late, great John Cazale as his gentler sidekick. Superb work from two acting titans.
R
78. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
![Directed by Steven Spielberg The era's defining blockbuster confectioners, Spielberg and George Lucas, teamed up for a throwback to the action-adventure serials they grew up](https://ew.com/thmb/uYV7Wdnx4GJYjgtw2s9CzDXgGO0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/raidersoflostark-indiana-1-43b9faaca95541d88909e9792943397c.jpg)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The era's defining blockbuster confectioners, Spielberg and George Lucas, teamed up for a throwback to the action-adventure serials they grew up on. Harrison Ford's whip-cracking archaeologist dodges Rube Goldberg booby traps and squares off against Nazis while hunting for biblical booty. Celluloid escapism doesn't come more rollicking than this.
PG
79. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
![Directed by George A. Romero The ghouls run wild in Romero's low-budget landmark of zombie terror, as pure a nightmare as any put on film.](https://ew.com/thmb/8ol1IDr9vIGzQE2PbavJdkMkPm4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/nightoflivingdead-1-b0c1fa95f283426988f98b5b3f57fb49.jpg)
Directed by George A. Romero
The ghouls run wild in Romero's low-budget landmark of zombie terror, as pure a nightmare as any put on film. The grisly scenes of flesh-eating serve as bracing metaphors for Vietnam and an America coming apart.
NOT RATED
80. Dazed and Confused (1993)
![No other movie not made in the '70s has captured the loose, stoned, wistful slow-ride groove of that era better than Richard Linklater's portrait of](https://ew.com/thmb/FgKXdhyuOy2m9MPLq1cvK2h-6Jk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/dazedconfused_0-ac351d09fb4044679d6f10e2b014e3f7.jpg)
Directed by Richard Linklater
No other movie not made in the '70s has captured the loose, stoned, wistful slow-ride groove of that decade better than Linklater's snapshot of the last day of high school in 1976. The film is fun enough to qualify as a classic teen flick, yet its artful, this-is-how-it-was flow evokes the storytelling poetry of Robert Altman.
R
81. Blade Runner (1982)
![Directed by Ridley Scott Harrison Ford plays a 21st-century cop tracking replicants (including Rutger Hauer) in Scott's spellbinding futuristic thriller based on the cult novel](https://ew.com/thmb/2Q9fU0nfXcSGi3JxIa1xBeBom34=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bladerunner-ford-1-d57f9d9ea8244e089e347d21d119ecd8.jpg)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Harrison Ford plays a 21st-century cop tracking replicants (including Rutger Hauer) in Scott's spellbinding futuristic thriller based on the cult novel by Philip K. Dick. It's the ultimate Do machines have souls? movie.
R
82. Scenes From a Marriage (1973)
![Directed by Ingmar Bergman One of Bergman's finest achievements hinged on just two superb actors, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, enacting the drama of a](https://ew.com/thmb/HH0wIhkI1muvKYsDQ64DfImvlcQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/scenesfrommarriage-1-3d9162b3783d433ab374369a840ed75b.jpg)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
One of Bergman's finest achievements hinged on just two superb actors, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, enacting the drama of a bourgeois marriage in all its complexities.
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Amazon
PG
83. The Wild Bunch (1969)
![Directed by Sam Peckinpah In Peckinpah's unflinching blood ballet, the director explodes the myth of the Old West as he tells a tale of gruffly](https://ew.com/thmb/pWqKUAqUHHEW2zh1Xstjx9eYWBY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/wildbunch-1-32919f1a42354f6aa512ee4242dd1c3e.jpg)
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
In Peckinpah's unflinching blood ballet, the director explodes the myth of the Old West as he tells a tale of gruffly sympathetic outlaws. The virtuosity of the violence has never been surpassed.
R
84. Olympia (1938)
![Directed by Leni Riefenstahl Riefenstahl's two-part chronicle of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin is a visually transporting documentary: a poetic pageant of flying, writhing,](https://ew.com/thmb/X-ROJ2p4lLFn4BCIrC6FTHsav08=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/olympia-1-9345af25aab44aefaca6e997e1ef3b83.jpg)
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
Riefenstahl's two-part chronicle of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin is a visually transporting documentary: a poetic pageant of flying, writhing, diving, and twisting bodies that connects us to the primal seed of athletic passion. The smash cuts, tracking shots, silhouettes, and slow motion make this an encyclopedia of all the modern film techniques that Riefenstahl helped invent.
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Amazon
NOT RATED
85. Dirty Harry (1971)
![Directed by Don Siegel Clint Eastwood gives a mythic performance as a lean, mean police enforcer out to wipe the streets of San Francisco clean](https://ew.com/thmb/OLxeTr0LBH0KePb6QHUmQZwwiMg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/dirtyharry-eastwood-1-eb78e79dea4f47e886dd42ce40afba66.jpg)
Directed by Don Siegel
Clint Eastwood gives a mythic performance as a lean, mean police enforcer out to wipe the streets of San Francisco clean of ''scum'' in this furious, drum-tight urban Western. It's the single greatest expression of Eastwood's populist fury.
R
86. All About Eve (1950)
![Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Fasten your seat belts. You will never find a wittier, more sophisticated, more biting studio comedy than this wry look](https://ew.com/thmb/PrzhQf_5OZOAMawOAvkmj-FrQUM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/allabouteve_bette-davis-1-a911e9e6fbec49de91867af46cde4356.jpg)
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Fasten your seat belts. You will never find a wittier, more sophisticated, more biting studio comedy than this wry look at how to make it in show business. The theater-world satire about a scheming ingenue casts its shadow over the age of corporate climbers.
NOT RATED
87. La Dolce Vita (1960)
![Directed by Federico Fellini It's here, in the fragmented story of a playboy gossip journalist (played to the marrow by Marcello Mastroianni) ambling around Rome,](https://ew.com/thmb/n9aFnbU00nK3KrowjrNFZABOrJk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/ladolcevita-1-ab8fd2ac3f8549219ab06a46fbc5155a.jpg)
Directed by Federico Fellini
It's here, in the fragmented story of a playboy gossip journalist (played to the marrow by Marcello Mastroianni) ambling around Rome, that Fellini broke away from neorealism and perfected the ''Felliniesque.'' Watching Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg frolic in the Trevi Fountain makes for a sweet life indeed.
NOT RATED
88. The Dark Knight (2008)
![Directed by Christopher Nolan With Christian Bale as an ambivalent Batman and Heath Ledger as a psychotically scarred jack-in-the-box Joker, good and evil are sometimes](https://ew.com/thmb/QGpdip17CohE9oJqaVNNiLuEJ_g=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/darkknight-ledger-bale-1-0291ec4d822e49da94410c63abc416e9.jpg)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
With Christian Bale as an ambivalent Batman and Heath Ledger as a psychotically scarred jack-in-the-box Joker, good and evil are sometimes just a whisper away from each other in Nolan's smashingly sophisticated comic-book movie.
PG-13
89. Woodstock (1970)
![Directed by Michael Wadleigh The single greatest film ever made about the 1960s, Wadleigh's account of the legendary three-day rock festival uses long, wandering takes](https://ew.com/thmb/slHhhO3ykF_ytGqygdtnehPrSIU=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/woodstock-1-c1b05bae829840f98491a82116bd19e1.jpg)
Directed by Michael Wadleigh
The single greatest film ever made about the 1960s, Wadleigh's account of the legendary three-day rock festival uses long, wandering takes and split screen to capture the idealism, naïveté, and musical soul of the peace-mud-and-flower-power generation.
R
90. The French Connection (1971)
![Directed by William Friedkin A nail-biter about international heroin smuggling, with a remarkable performance by Gene Hackman as sleazo-heroic New York cop Popeye Doyle and](https://ew.com/thmb/37eiz6Mj7CncFIgUz8MHANLNwMg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/frenchconnection-1-6549098fd918465e8a05fa2ec4a25193.jpg)
Directed by William Friedkin
A nail-biter about international heroin smuggling, with a remarkable performance by Gene Hackman as sleazo-heroic New York cop Popeye Doyle and one of the most exciting car chases ever put on film. No other '70s movie so brilliantly used New York as a natural-born film set.
R
91. Do the Right Thing (1989)
![Directed by Spike Lee Lee's ferocious and supremely tasty slice of neighborhood life is set on the hottest day of the summer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,](https://ew.com/thmb/k2w9tG5a5sJLZkoFmSWOd7cLZtQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/dotherightthing-spikelee-1-4a2dd679751a46f788ca23f9e52adb1b.jpg)
Directed by Spike Lee
Lee's ferocious and supremely tasty slice of neighborhood life is set on the hottest day of the summer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in the late '80s. In its feel for how racial tensions can simmer just beneath the surface of encounters, turning a melting pot into a pressure cooker, it remains a timelessly complex portrait of race in America.
R
92. The Piano (1993)
![Directed by Jane Campion Campion's affecting drama is a haunting vision of 19th-century New Zealand as a place of external wildness that reflects the internal](https://ew.com/thmb/Z06xg0YnMnoLPYJcu8qhwxuRQtk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/piano-hunter-paquin-1-b793ececdc724f13a34c57e2a4c2aacc.jpg)
Directed by Jane Campion
Campion's affecting drama is a haunting vision of 19th-century New Zealand as a place of external wildness that reflects the internal wildness of female will. Holly Hunter's mesmerizing depiction of a mute pianist is matched by the astonishing work of a 10-year-old Anna Paquin.
R
93. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
![Directed by Elia Kazan In a shockingly prophetic media-age drama, Andy Griffith is electrifying as Larry ''Lonesome'' Rhodes, a hayseed who becomes a folksy TV](https://ew.com/thmb/TvqPyAUFoVTRWsAT1ux3Z1AbrRI=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/a-face-in-the-crowd2-ef4338e7028d4ee9a39656831d3dd986.jpg)
Directed by Elia Kazan
In a shockingly prophetic media-age drama, Andy Griffith is electrifying as Larry ''Lonesome'' Rhodes, a hayseed who becomes a folksy TV demagogue. He's Will Rogers, Elvis, and Rush Limbaugh rolled into one.
NOT RATED
94. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
![Directed by Ang Lee In Lee's beautifully delicate romance, a couple of seasonal cowboys fall in love in Wyoming in 1963, then suffer in secret](https://ew.com/thmb/7vt3Ie2XtFSPZZUE5-qOPo0j-Xg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/brokebackmountain-1-d5ebaf5630cc452ba728523df9b7d9a3.jpg)
Directed by Ang Lee
In Lee's beautifully delicate romance, a couple of seasonal cowboys fall in love in Wyoming in 1963, then suffer in secret over what they can't express in public. More than just moving, it's a memorable look at how having to hide passion shifts your identity. Heath Ledger's moving turn serves as the film's emblem of gruff eloquence.
R
95. Rushmore (1998)
![Directed by Wes Anderson Anderson's second feature is the quintessence of his precise personal aesthetic and his infectious delight in creating biospheres that are populated](https://ew.com/thmb/2XLtCotOE0jWvhPTkfzoHjLmRB4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rushmore_murray-1-9f051ea557104b7a9f01142ffce491af.jpg)
Directed by Wes Anderson
Anderson's second feature is the quintessence of his precise personal aesthetic and his infectious delight in creating biospheres that are populated by singularly eccentric characters. There's no mistaking the Andersonian universe for any other place on earth. The unexpected pleasure here is that the one and only Bill Murray feels so at home in Mr. Anderson's neighborhood.
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Amazon
R
96. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
![Directed by Preston Sturges The finest comedy from Hollywood's finest madcap writer-director, this is the tale of a famous filmmaker who goes AWOL by pretending](https://ew.com/thmb/_sF7EwVEUCX53vgHqNn1Hs6KIEY=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/sullivanstravels-1-ba667fe419af4976a2fea9a275bfd76f.jpg)
Directed by Preston Sturges
The finest comedy from Hollywood's finest madcap writer-director, this is the tale of a famous filmmaker who goes AWOL by pretending to be an ordinary schmo. It's a grand salute to the glory of movies (and, of course, to Veronica Lake's platinum-hooded sultriness).
NOT RATED
97. Diner (1982)
![Directed by Barry Levinson Levinson's directorial debut brims with warmth, humor, hometown love for Baltimore, and a perceptive affection for the eternal struggles of young](https://ew.com/thmb/rTuWO7XZv686lrylDukCFAWCWC4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/diner-rourke-bacon-1-ab108b019d6142c594b9b534793e00ad.jpg)
Directed by Barry Levinson
Levinson's directorial debut brims with warmth, humor, hometown love for Baltimore, and a perceptive affection for the eternal struggles of young men who, while figuring out how to be adults, do a lot of sitting around diner tables, talking about nothing. There'd be no Seinfeld without Diner. There'd also be no stardom for Kevin Bacon, Mickey Rourke, Paul Reiser, or Ellen Barkin.
R
98. All About My Mother (1999)
![Directed by Pedro Almodóvar The great Spanish director Almodóvar is in full flower in this elaborate and sincere melodrama. It's a riot of color and](https://ew.com/thmb/OevLs0r_o8crtTxwhRCDN_cQDVM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/allaboutmymother-1-ef7a1d7c05af4ccc9e74ed8f87839ec4.jpg)
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
The great Spanish director Almodóvar is in full flower in this elaborate and sincere melodrama. It's a riot of color and design that deepens — in a profound leap from his earlier, chaotic films — into a moving meditation on motherhood, womanhood, AIDS, and the high calling of actresses acting.
R
99. There Will Be Blood (2007)
![Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Anderson's towering American epic about ambition, commerce, self-invention, and self-destruction — all embodied in an especially fierce performance by Daniel](https://ew.com/thmb/32GxY0ZoBt6r3TKnqeO0aliYNTQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/therewillbeblood-1-e8a449547c4a4afba7c1a190ceae5e93.jpg)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Anderson's towering American epic about ambition, commerce, self-invention, and self-destruction — all embodied in an especially fierce performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as oil tycoon Daniel Plainview, whose insatiable hunger for money and power consumes absolutely everything before him. For a huge picture, it's also keenly intimate, and Jonny Greenwood's musical score is revolutionary.
R
100. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
![Directed by Alexander Mackendrick In this blistering story of sucking-up and self-loathing in show business, Tony Curtis plays an oily press agent and Burt Lancaster](https://ew.com/thmb/SXhDvLEaVNFwCWUdj0qZN5PHtsQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/sweetsmellsuccess-1-d66637a501a341e6b596d53059d420b8.jpg)
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
In this blistering story of sucking-up and self-loathing in show business, Tony Curtis plays an oily press agent and Burt Lancaster is a gossip columnist modeled on the infamous Walter Winchell. The script, appropriately enough, is as black as poison ink.
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Amazon
NOT RATED