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List of films voted the best

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While there is no agreement upon the greatest film, many publications and organizations have tried to determine the films considered the greatest ever. The films mentioned in this article have all been mentioned in a notable survey — be it a critics' poll or popular poll. Many of these sources focus on American films or were polls of English-speaking film goers, but those considered the greatest within their respective countries are also included here.

None of these citations should be viewed as scientific measures of the film-watching world. All the surveys are flawed in one way or another. They are often influenced by vote stacking or they survey a population with skewed demographics. Internet-based surveys have a self-selecting audience of unknown participants. The methodology of some surveys may be questionable. Sometimes (as in the case of the American Film Institute) voters were asked to select films from a limited list of entries.

Polls of critics and filmmakers

  • Every decade, the British film monthly Sight & Sound asks an international group of film professionals to vote for their greatest film of all time. The Sight & Sound accolade has come to be regarded as one of the most important of the "greatest ever film" lists. Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies--the only one most serious movie people take seriously."[1] The first poll, in 1952, was topped by The Bicycle Thief.[2]
  • Orson Welles' Citizen Kane has been consistently voted number one in each of the last five Sight & Sound polls. A separate poll of established film directors, held for the first time in 1992, has also placed Citizen Kane at the top.[2] The film was selected as number one in a Village Voice and in a Time Out critics' poll and was listed as the greatest American film twice by the American Film Institute in 1998 and 2007.[citation needed]
  • La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) by director Jean Renoir was named the greatest film by the French film magazine Positif in 1991. It also holds the second slot in the Village Voice poll and is one of only two movies to have appeared in every one of the Sight & Sound polls.[citation needed]
  • The Searchers is the film most often mentioned in a poll of the favorite films of directors by German language Steadycam magazine.[3]
  • The Brussels World’s Fair, organized in 1958, offered the occasion for the organization by thousands of critics and filmmakers from all over the world, of the first universal film poll in history.[4] These were the films chosen as most artistically fulfilled:
Rank Film Director Year
1 Броненосец Потёмкин (The Battleship Potemkin) Sergei Eisenstein 1925
2 The Gold Rush Charles Chaplin 1925
3 Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) Vittorio De Sica 1948
4 La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) Carl Theodor Dreyer 1928
5 La Grande Illusion (Grand Illusion) Jean Renoir 1937
6 Greed Erich von Stroheim 1924
7 Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages D. W. Griffith 1916
8 Мать (Mother) Vsevolod Pudovkin 1926
9 Citizen Kane Orson Welles 1941
10 Земля (Earth) Alexander Dovzhenko 1930

Audience polls

Particular genres or media

Action

Animation

Comedy

Comic book adaptation


Crime/Gangster

Disaster

Documentary

Epic

  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was voted best epic by readers of Total Film in May 2004. It was selected as the number one epic movie during the American Film Institute during their Ten Top Ten.[24]

Fantasy

  • The Wizard of Oz (1939) was selected as the best fantasy movie by the American Film Institute during their Ten Top Ten.[24]

Holiday

Horror

Musical

Mystery

  • Vertigo was selected as the best mystery by the American Film Institute during their Ten Top Ten.[24]

Propaganda

Romance

Science fiction

Sport

War

Western

Countries

Australia

Belgium

Brazil

  • City of God (2002) is the highest rated Brazilian film according to IMDb users. Brazilian critics, however, have selected Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (1964) as the best film of all several times, such as the 27th edition of Brazilian film magazine Contracampo.[43]

Canada

China

Denmark

  • Day of Wrath (Vredens dag) Carl Th. Dreyer's harrowing tale of adultery and repression is often cited in Denmark as the greatest Danish film.[47]
  • Flickering Lights (Blinkende lygter) the 2000 comedy about small-time gangsters was voted the Best Danish Film in a 2007 poll by Ekstra Bladet newspaper. Thomas Vinterberg's The Celebration (Festen) was the runner-up.[48]

Finland

  • The Unknown Soldier (1955) was voted the best Finnish movie in an Internet poll by Helsingin Sanomat in 2007.[49]
  • Talvisota (The Winter War, 1989): is the highest user rated Finnish film on the IMDb having received more than 1000 votes (8.2/10 (2,654 votes) on August 3, 2008.[50]

France

Germany

M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder by Fritz Lang is the highest rated German film in the IMDb

India

Tamil Cinema

Iran

Ireland

Israel

  • Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona (1976) was voted "Favorite Israeli Film of all time" in a 2004 poll by Ynet, the web site of a popular Israeli newspaper. The film got 25,000 votes.[55]

Italy

Japan

  • Rashomon (羅生門): This 1950 film by Akira Kurosawa was the first Japanese film to gain worldwide acclaim. The highest-ranked Japanese film (#10) on the Village Voice list of 100 Best Films of the 20th Century. It was also the highest-ranked Japanese film on the Sight and Sound 2002 Directors' Top Ten Poll.
  • Seven Samurai (七人の侍 Shichinin no samurai), 1954: Also by Kurosawa, this period adventure film is frequently cited as the greatest Japanese film ever; at #12, it is the highest ranked Japanese film in the IMDb Top 250 (as of January 2009). It ranked, for the first time, at number 3 in the 1982 Sight & Sound poll.
  • Tokyo Story (東京物語 Tokyo Monogatari), 1953 was declared the greatest film ever by Halliwell's Film Guide in 2005.[57] It was also the highest-ranked Japanese film on the Sight and Sound 2002 Critics' Top Ten Poll.

South Korea

  • Obaltan (오발탄): Released in 1960. This film is widely regarded as the best South Korean film.[citation needed]
  • Oldboy (올드보이): This 2003 South Korean film is the highest rated Korean language film on the IMDb top 250 list. It also won the Grand Prix of the jury at Cannes.

Mexico

  • El callejón de los milagros (Miracle Alley) is the most awarded film in Mexican history with 49 international awards.[3][citation needed]
  • Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) is the highest rated film in Spanish on IMDb. While this film is set in Spain and primarily features Spanish actors, it was written and produced in Mexico and is considered a Mexican film.[citation needed]

The Netherlands

New Zealand

See : Lord of the Rings in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

Norway

  • Flåklypa Grand Prix (Pinchcliffe Grand Prix - 1975 - Ivo Caprino): The people's choice for "Best Norwegian Film of the Century" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.[59]
  • Ni Liv (Nine Lives - 1957 - Arne Skouen): The critics' choice for "Best Norwegian Film of the Century" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.[59]

The Philippines

Russia

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

Since 1998, the American Film Institute has assembled juries of film community leaders and polled them for a series of top 100 lists. Two of the lists from the series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies from 1998 and AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) from 2007, identified Citizen Kane as the best American film ever. In other years, AFI's jury members selected Some Like It Hot the greatest American comedy, Psycho as the most thrilling American movie, Casablanca as the greatest American love story, Singin' in the Rain as the greatest American film musical, and It's a Wonderful Life as the most inspiring American film.[65]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "'Citizen Kane' fave film of movie elite". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ a b "Sight & Sound - Top ten". Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  3. ^ Lieblings Filme
  4. ^ Władysław Jewsiewicki: "Kronika kinematografii światowej 1895-1964", Warsaw 1967, no ISBN, page 129 (in Polish)
  5. ^ a b c IMDb Top 250
  6. ^ Best Films
  7. ^ "Yahoo! Movies - Top 10". Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  8. ^ "Official Top Movie List". filmcrave.com. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  9. ^ Filmsite.org posting about Entertainment Weekly's book
  10. ^ Filmsite.org posting about Time out reader's poll
  11. ^ Empire Online
  12. ^ 50 Greatest Movies from TV Guide
  13. ^ Magische Filmmomente Top 100 Filme anno 2000 News & Specials.Alle Specials
  14. ^ presseportal.de (german)
  15. ^ boxofficemojo user grades
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ Greatest.Empireonline.com
  18. ^ Total Film Presents the Top 100 Movies of All Time
  19. ^ [2]
  20. ^ Top 100 Animated Features of All Time at the Online Film Critics Society website.
  21. ^ A. S. Byatt (2005-04-16). "Sweet little mystery". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2008-02-06. Tale of Tales has been called the greatest animated film ever. But what does it mean?
  22. ^ Malpas, Anna (2005-04-08). "Teller of Tales". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2008-02-06. Some people consider Yury Norshtein the greatest animator in history
  23. ^ Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i "AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  25. ^ "Life of Brian tops comedy poll". BBC News. September 29, 2000. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  26. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Life of Brian named best comedy
  27. ^ "Channel Five "Greatest Ever Movies - Comedy"". Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  28. ^ The last laugh: your favourite 50 | Features | guardian.co.uk Film
  29. ^ Poseidon Adventure tops film poll
  30. ^ Documentary.com
  31. ^ "The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Rank 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  32. ^ 25 Best Musicals
  33. ^ West Side Story Tops Best Movie Musical
  34. ^ Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's favourite film propagandist, dies at 101 | World news | The Guardian
  35. ^ ""2001: A Space Odyssey Named the Greatest Sci-Fi Film of All Time By the Online Film Critics Society"". Online Film Critics Society. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  36. ^ Scientists vote Blade Runner best sci-fi film of all time
  37. ^ Alison George (1 October 2008). "New Scientist's favourite sci-fi film". New Scientist. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  38. ^ Alison George (12 November 2008). "Sci-fi special: Your all-time favourite science fiction". New Scientist. No. 2682. Reed Business Information.
  39. ^ ET named top Sci-Fi Movie
  40. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes Best Sports Films". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  41. ^ "100 Greatest War Films". Channel4.com. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  42. ^ Hanging Rock
  43. ^ Tose, Juliano. "contracampo - revista de cinema" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2008-02-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  44. ^ Playback :: Egoyan tops Canada's all-time best movies list
  45. ^ http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6696/Lists/01play15.htm
  46. ^ http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html
  47. ^ Jensen, Bo Green, De 25 bedste danske film, Rosinante, 2002
  48. ^ Sørensen, Sola Kruchov, [Det er en syg høne, der har lagt det æg], Ekstra Bladet, August 3 2007
  49. ^ http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Tuntematon+sotilas+on+lukijoiden+mielest%C3%A4+yh%C3%A4+paras/1135227575816
  50. ^ http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/
  51. ^ http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0110413
  52. ^ "Film buffs reveal 'must see' list". BBC News. 2006-07-23. Retrieved 17 December 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  53. ^ All Time Hundered Best Films http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html\title= All Time Hundered Best Films. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  54. ^ All Time Hundered Best Films http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html\title= All Time Hundered Best Films. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  55. ^ poll
  56. ^ http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0060196
  57. ^ Peter Bradshaw pays tribute to Tokyo Story | Features | guardian.co.uk Film
  58. ^ http://www.cinema.nl/nff-2008/media/4085225/nff-2008-beste-nederlandse-film-aller-tijden
  59. ^ a b "Norsk film i 100". 2005-10-23.
  60. ^ http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0050976
  61. ^ BFI | Features | The BFI 100 | 1-10
  62. ^ Stars vote Lawrence of Arabia the best British film of all time - Telegraph
  63. ^ Python's Grail 'best Brit film'. BBC News (2004-2-12)
  64. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Film | Get Carter tops British film poll
  65. ^ AFI told their jury to consider "Movies that inspire with characters of vision and conviction who face adversity and often make a personal sacrifice for the greater good. Whether these movies end happily or not, they are ultimately triumphant—both filling audiences with hope and empowering them with the spirit of human potential.