Empire magazine has posted the list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. The Godfather, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back took the first three spots, while the usual number one, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, ended up in the 28th place.
Empire polled 150 film directors, 50 critics and more than 10,000 members of the public for the top 500 list and the list is definitely a colourful one to behold, with recent hits such as The Dark Knight (#15) side by side with old favourites like Singin’ in the Rain (#8) and Casablanca (#18). On the whole, the 500 Greatest Movies list definitely leans on the pop culture side of things more than anything else, with all the current superheroes represented and some of the most interesting recent discoveries in foreign cinema notably absent. But then, there is always something to criticize on these lists.
While there are some major absences (Wong Kar-Wai and Jim Jarmusch come to mind) and some reshuffling might be in order in more than a few places, Empire’s 500 list is still a pretty good source of recommendations and for discovering the classics as well as some really good recent films made outside the U.S.
Here are the top 20 films:
1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
3. Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
4. Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
6. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
7. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
8. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952)
9. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
10. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
11. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
12. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
13. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
14. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
15. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
16. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
17. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
18. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
19. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
20. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
For the full list, go to the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time page.
Related articles:
American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies of All Times
BAFTA Award for Best Film 1948 –
British Film Institute – Top 100 British Films of the 20th Century
Cahiers du Cinema – Best Movies 1951 – 2006
Cahiers du Cinema: 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World
FIPRESCI Grand Prix for Best Film of the Year