Best movie from the year you were born

- Director: Buster Keaton
- Stacker score: not available
- Metascore: not available
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 45 minutes

"Sherlock Jr." tells the story of a film projectionist, played by Buster Keaton, whose dream of being a private investigator is put to the test after he's framed for stealing a pocket watch. The movie is rife with stunts, gags, and action sequences, one of which resulted in Keaton fracturing his neck.

- Director: Sergei Eisenstein
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 66 minutes

An early master class in filmmaking, this Russian drama recounts both the 1905 uprising aboard the titular Battleship Potemkin and the adjoining street demonstrations. It features the legendary "Odessa Steps" sequence, during which unarmed protestors square off against military officers. Sergei Eisenstein's radical use of montage and quick-cut editing would influence a legion of subsequent directors.

- Director: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
- Stacker score: not available
- Metascore: not available
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 78 minutes

Buster Keaton co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in this Civil War-set adventure story. Inspired by actual events, Keaton portrays an engineer who attempts to recover a stolen locomotive. The action culminates with a now-famous bridge stunt, which was the most expensive scene in silent movie history.

- Director: Fritz Lang
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 153 minutes

Fritz Lang's sci-fi masterpiece takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis. Just below the utopian surface, an exploited underground workforce toils away so that the rich can play. When the son of a wealthy architect falls in love with a working-class leader, it sparks a revolution. "Metropolis" is largely considered the greatest science-fiction movie of the silent era, and it became the first film inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2001.

- Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 114 minutes

Starring Maria Falconetti as the doomed Jeanne d'Arc, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" takes place during the final days of the teenage saint's life before she was burned at the stake for heresy. Sped along by tense close-ups and medium shots, the movie earned an award from the National Board of Review as well as two Photoplay Awards.

- Director: Dziga Vertov
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 68 minutes

Despite its short run time and lack of dialogue, modern cinephiles still hail Dziga Vertov's masterpiece as one of the best documentaries ever made. Vertov took a camera to the streets of several cities in the Soviet Union to film everyday urban life. The result is a joyously dizzying montage of different people, places, and professions.

- Director: Lewis Milestone
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 152 minutes

Based on the gripping anti-war novel of the same name, this World War I drama is easily one of the most violent and uncompromising movies of its time. The audience follows a group of young German soldiers as they encounter terror and disillusionment while fighting for their country. It was the first film from Universal Studios to win the Oscar for Best Picture—then known as "Outstanding Production"—a feat the studio wouldn't repeat for 43 years.

- Director: Charles Chaplin
- Stacker score: 92.0
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 87 minutes

Even as talkies surged in popularity, Charlie Chaplin stuck to his silent-era roots with 1931's "City Lights." The film finds The Tramp (Chaplin) resorting to various extremes as he tries to raise money for a beautiful blind girl. The work was in production for more than three years before reaching completion.

- Director: Yasujirô Ozu
- Stacker score: 85.0
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 90 minutes

Centered on a pair of mischievous brothers in 1930s Tokyo, Yasujirô Ozu's comedic "I Was Born, But…" shows the city in the midst of massive cultural change. Remembered for its nuanced portrayal of contemporary social hierarchies in Japan, the movie won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film in 1933 and remains one of the greatest accomplishments of Japanese silent cinema.

- Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 100 minutes

Nearly 100 years and 12 more movies later, King Kong has solidified his place in popular culture. And when the titular giant ape first burst onto the silver screen back in 1933, audiences were spellbound by the film's revolutionary special effects and daring storyline. Despite the stop-motion animation that appeared somewhat clunky even to those early moviegoers, "King Kong" grossed $90,000 in the first four days after its release.

- Director: Frank Capra
- Stacker score: 84.0
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 105 minutes

Frank Capra's beloved rom-com stars Claudette Colbert as a spoiled heiress who runs away from home only to find herself tethered to an undercover reporter (Clark Gable). Colbert told a friend it was the worst film she'd made to date, only to watch the project become a huge success. Both she and Gable won Oscars for their respective performances.

- Director: James Whale
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 75 minutes

The horror sequel that launched a thousand Halloween costumes, "Bride of Frankenstein" was all but destined for greatness after the 1931 success of James Whale's "Frankenstein." The film reunited Whale with "Frankenstein" stars Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, and Dwight Frye in a scheme to build a partner (Elsa Lanchester) for the misunderstood monster. Though plagued by delayed production starts, casting issues, and budget woes, "Bride of Frankenstein" ultimately enjoyed critical and audience acclaim that endures nearly a century on.

- Director: Charles Chaplin
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 87 minutes

Continuing his fight against the talkie tide, Charlie Chaplin released "Modern Times" in 1936 as a silent film with sound effects. The film sees the Tramp struggling to keep pace with modern industrial society. At one point, Chaplin considered making the film a talkie but eventually determined it would only detract from the work.

- Director: Julien Duvivier
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 94 minutes

Based on a novel of the same name, this French romantic drama takes place in the Casbah quarter of Algiers. While hiding from the authorities, crime boss Pépé le Moko (Jean Gabin), falls for a Parisian woman (Mireille Balin). In his review, contemporary writer Graham Greene claimed it "raised the thriller to the level of poetry."

- Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 102 minutes

With a budget of $2 million ($42 million in 2023), "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was most expensive film for Warner Bros. at the time of production. The studio's investment ultimately paid off, with the Technicolor release breaking the opening day record at Radio City Music Hall and the film scoring three Oscars. Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and Olivia de Havilland star in this fondly remembered masterpiece from Hollywood's Golden Age.

- Director: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 238 minutes

In this blockbuster adaptation, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), goes from a pouty girl to a tormented woman during the Civil War and Reconstructionist eras. Making the film was no easy task, with production experiencing all kinds of setbacks, including brutal clashes between various egos and personalities. Nevertheless, when adjusted for inflation, it remains the most profitable film in Hollywood history.

- Director: John Ford
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 129 minutes

Adapting John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, "The Grapes of Wrath" follows an Oklahoma family migrating through the Dust Bowl to California during the Great Depression. Released just as America began to climb out of the socioeconomic ravages of the '30s, "The Grapes of Wrath" strongly resonated with contemporary audiences due to its realistic portrayal of issues like homelessness and poverty. Even now, those themes make John Ford's film a timeless, relevant watch.

- Director: Orson Welles
- Stacker score: 91.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 119 minutes

More than a mere milestone, "Citizen Kane" provides a singular education in atmosphere, editing, cinematography, creativity, and technique. Director and star Orson Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, a fictional character modeled after William Randolph Hearst, whose unquenchable ambitions remain elusive even after his death. It's reported that Welles was injured twice during the shoot and that he drank so much tea it caused his skin color to change.

- Director: Michael Curtiz
- Stacker score: 92.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 102 minutes

"Casablanca" tells the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an expat who runs a nightclub in Morocco that doubles as a haven for World War II refugees. Surrounded by danger on all sides, Blaine enters a world of trouble when he agrees to help an old flame (Ingrid Bergman). While the screenplay might now seem like the stuff of perfection, the script wasn't even complete when filming began.

- Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 163 minutes

A not-so-subtle criticism of the British military's pomp and circumstance, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" recounts the career of a fictional officer, from his heroic feats in the Boer War to his woefully out-of-touch later years. While filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger based the movie's protagonist on a satirical cartoon, the powers-that-be weren't laughing—Winston Churchill himself attempted to halt the film's production. Fortunately for audiences, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" made it to the big screen (in Technicolor, naturally) despite Churchill's best efforts.

- Director: Billy Wilder
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 107 minutes

Adapted from a novel by James M. Cain, "Double Indemnity" follows an insurance agent (Fred MacMurray) who is drawn into a lurid murder scheme by a mysterious femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck). The classic film noir was co-written by famous mystery writer Raymond Chandler, who frequently clashed with director Billy Wilder behind the scenes.

- Director: Marcel Carné
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 189 minutes

Shot in Nazi-occupied France on a then-astronomical budget, this sprawling drama became a critical and commercial smash. Set in 1830s Paris, the film tells the story of a beautiful courtesan (Arletty) and the men who vie for her affection. A 2011 restoration brought the film back to life in all its stunning sound and glory.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 102 minutes

At the behest of government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant), a woman (Ingrid Bergman) infiltrates a secret Nazi group in this classic spy thriller. When romance ensues between the pair, it complicates her mission. The film holds an impressive Metascore of 100, where numerous critics agree that this is Alfred Hitchcock at the top of his game.

- Director: George Seaton
- Stacker score: 83.5
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 96 minutes

The beloved holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street" follows a single mother (Maureen O'Hara) who hires a Kris Kringle actor (Edmund Gwenn) for the holiday season at Macy's—only to discover she might have found the real deal. Though the movie inspired a 1973 TV movie and a 1994 remake, most agree that the newer versions don't hold a candle to their predecessor. The original "Miracle on 34th Street" bagged three Academy Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Picture.

- Director: John Huston
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 126 minutes

There's no honor among thieves in John Huston's timeless tale of greed and betrayal. The film sees two down-on-their-luck men on a hunt for gold in Mexico, where paranoia gets the better of them. Long-running TV show "The Simpsons" once parodied the film in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book."

- Director: Carol Reed
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 93 minutes

Pulp novelist Holly Martin (Joseph Cotten) heads to postwar Vienna to investigate the death of his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). What he uncovers is a much broader conspiracy with Lime at its very center. Director Carol Reed's use of off-kilter theme music and harsh lighting drives home a lingering sense of unease, positioning Martins as a mere pawn in someone's international game.

- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 88 minutes

Akira Kurosawa's tale of unreliable narration is so influential that there's an official term bearing its name. Naturally, this classic tale of finger-pointing and warped perspectives has had a lasting influence on cinema itself. Witnesses to a brutal crime offer up their four unique perspectives, each of which reveals the storyteller's underlying motives.

- Director: Elia Kazan
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 122 minutes

This adaptation of Tennessee Williams' famous play depicts the hostile relationship between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Their ongoing battle lays bare a number of domestic struggles and hyper-masculine themes. It's one of just three films in history to win three Academy Awards for acting.

- Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
- Stacker score: 91.0
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 103 minutes

The transition from silent films to talkies makes for glorious entertainment in this 1952 musical. Despite the positive vibes, things were less hunky-dory behind the scenes. Not only did Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor suffer dance-related injuries, but Gene Kelly was reportedly very demanding of his peers. In fact, Reynolds once said that completing this film and surviving childbirth were the two hardest experiences of her life.

- Director: Yasujirô Ozu
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 136 minutes

"Tokyo Story" tells of an aging couple who find themselves ignored by their busy adult children, an all-too-familiar scenario for viewers around the world today. A reflection of Yasujirô Ozu's distinct filmmaking style, "Tokyo Story" shows the upending of traditional Japanese family values in the wake of World War II.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 92.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 112 minutes

One of Alfred Hitchcock's best-known works tells the story of a wheelchair-bound photographer, (James Stewart) with a penchant for voyeurism. Upon witnessing a potential murder, he decides to investigate. As Hitchcock would later tell director François Truffaut during a now-famous interview, the film was inspired by two actual murder cases.

- Director: Jules Dassin
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 118 minutes

A precursor to modern heist films, "Rififi" centers on a group of thieves who plan one final robbery in Paris. The real-life events behind the film's production are nearly as dramatic as the plot: filmmaker Jules Dassin moved to the City of Light after being blacklisted in America for his Communist ties. Gritty and daring even by modern standards, "Rififi" is a testament to Dassin's lasting legacy despite the ignominious end to his time in Hollywood.

- Director: John Ford
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 119 minutes

More than just an acclaimed John Wayne Western, "The Searchers" is celebrated as one of Hollywood's greatest achievements. The film tells of Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (Wayne), who embarks on a perilous journey to save his niece from the Comanches. The actor was so enamored with the role and the film that he named one of his own children after the character he portrayed.

- Director: Sidney Lumet
- Stacker score: 93.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Run time: 96 minutes

A lone holdout must convince a jury of his peers to reassess their guilty verdict in this gripping drama. Screenwriter Reginald Rose came up with the story after serving on a jury in a 1954 manslaughter case. Before appearing on the big screen, it debuted as a live TV episode in the CBS "Studio One" anthology series.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 91.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 128 minutes

Gracing this list yet again, Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" follows a private investigator (James Stewart) who falls in love with the woman he's been hired to follow (Kim Novak). A relative disappointment during its initial release, the film went on to earn substantial acclaim. It even took the #2 spot on the British Film Institute's list of the Greatest Films of All Time in 2022, slipping one spot after being named #1 in 2012.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 136 minutes

Alfred Hitchcock kept the iconic movies coming in the late 1950s, as evidenced by this seminal thriller. Due to a case of mistaken identity, a New York ad executive (Cary Grant) is embroiled in an international conspiracy. Grant was reportedly so confused by the script that he didn't know what the movie was about while filming it.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 91.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 109 minutes

Hot on the heels of "North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock released this game-changing, genre-defining slasher flick. Not just famous for its shape-shifting story and brutal shower scene, "Psycho" is also the first film to ever feature a toilet flushing. Paramount executives were initially hesitant to finance the film, prompting Hitchcock to finance the movie out of his own pocket.

- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 110 minutes

Toshiro Mifune stars in "Yojimbo" as a ronin who cleverly pits two feuding gangs against one another—a relatively lighthearted storyline as far as the samurai genre is concerned."Yojimbo" would go on to influence the spaghetti Western genre and inspire two famed Westerns—Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" and Walter Hill's "Last Man Standing."

- Director: David Lean
- Stacker score: 91.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 218 minutes

David Lean's three-plus-hour epic was a massive influence upon a legion of subsequent filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg. Rife with unforgettable scenes, the film chronicles the adventures of World War I British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole). On assignment in Arabia, Lawrence unifies warring Arab tribes in their fight against the Turks.

- Director: Luchino Visconti
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 186 minutes

Like the novel upon which it's based, Luchino Visconti's historical drama depicts the final days of a waning aristocracy. The film takes place in 19th-century Sicily and builds toward a stunning 45-minute ballroom sequence. Multiple versions of the film exist, including one that reportedly runs for 205 minutes.

- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 95 minutes

Dark comedies don't get much darker than this: a series of farcical mishaps resulting in nuclear war. Unbelievably, the film we know and love today toned down Stanley Kubrick's original vision. An early cut of the film included a pie fight in the war room, and an early script had aliens watching the whole ordeal from deep space.

- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 185 minutes

The final collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune ranks as one of the pair's greatest works together. "Red Beard" stars Mifune as a gruff, but charitable, older doctor who clashes with an arrogant young arrival to his rural clinic.

- Director: Sergio Leone
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.8
- Run time: 178 minutes

Starring Clint Eastwood in one of his most iconic roles, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" centers on three wildly different characters on a treasure hunt in the Civil War-era West. Sergio Leone uses the movie's admittedly lengthy run time to explore themes of hypocrisy, greed, and the potential for both good and evil. Eastwood's co-stars, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef, also put in memorable performances—who could forget the trio's epic final showdown?

- Director: Jacques Tati
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 155 minutes

"Playtime" pokes fun at the increasing modernity of Paris—and those who can't keep up with it. Over the course of the movie, Monsieur Hulot (writer-director Jacques Tati) becomes increasingly baffled by futuristic aspects of the city as he attempts to reach a meeting with a business contact. "Playtime" remains a favorite in French cinematic history for its expansive visuals and action-packed sequences, which create a hilarious physical comedy with exceptionally little dialogue.

- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 137 minutes

A haunting musical theme sets the stage for Roman Polanski's nightmarish horror flick. Is the pregnant Rosemary (Mia Farrow) growing something evil inside her, or is it all in her head? This film makes up the second part of the director's informal "Apartment Trilogy."

- Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 145 minutes

Adapted from a novel of the same name, this World War II drama takes viewers deep into the French underground. A former resistance fighter, director Jean-Pierre Melville's lived experience lends the work an atypical sense of intimacy. The film didn't reach the U.S. market until 37 years after its initial release.

- Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 113 minutes

Often regarded as Bernardo Bertolucci's best film, "The Conformist" follows a compliant Italian man turned political assassin. Upon meeting the wife of his target, the man's loyalties are put to the test. Citing an "unsettling blend of images and ideas," critic Andrew O'Hehir attests that "it's the very strangeness of Bertolucci's masterpiece that has made it so influential in cinema history."

- Director: Peter Bogdanovich
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 118 minutes

Welcome to the small and somber town of Anarene, Texas, circa 1951. As a group of teenagers come of age against Anarene's bleak backdrop, they ruminate on what the future has in store. The film employs black-and-white cinematography and haunting imagery to evoke a perennial atmosphere of aimlessness and despair.

- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 96.0
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 9.2
- Run time: 175 minutes

As impactful today as it was the year you were born (if that year was 1972), "The Godfather" is the quintessence of classic cinema. The film centers on the Corleone crime family, whose members struggle to maintain power against a sea of rivals. Who would have guessed that Oscar-winning star Marlon Brando was reading off cue cards the whole time?

- Director: George Lucas
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 110 minutes

Before he unleashed "Star Wars" on cinemagoers, George Lucas crafted this loving ode to early 1960s America. Dripping with nostalgia, the film follows a group of teenagers as they cruise around their California town over the course of a single night. Their adventures play out against a never-ending backdrop of hit oldies tunes.

- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Run time: 202 minutes

After helming the first "Godfather" movie, director Francis Ford Coppola was so exhausted that he didn't want to sign on for a sequel. Nevertheless, he and writer Mario Puzo soon found themselves compelled to tell parallel stories about two Corleone men coming into power. And thus, "The Godfather: Part II" was born.

- Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 91 minutes

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" finds the famed British comedy troupe mired in a series of medieval-themed shenanigans, ostensibly under the guise of a quest for the titular biblical artifact. Made on a budget of just $400,000, much of which was provided by musicians like Genesis and Pink Floyd, "Holy Grail" made $5 million at the American box office and became a near-instant comedy classic. Even today, jokes like "just a flesh wound" and "are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" still hold up.

- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 114 minutes

This 1976 masterpiece sees a war veteran-turned-cab driver in New York City slowly lose his mind. During its most iconic moment, star Robert De Niro confronts himself in a mirror: "You talkin' to me?" As it turns out, the actor improvised the line, having heard Bruce Springsteen utter it at a concert just days before.

- Director: George Lucas
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Run time: 121 minutes

Before the sequels, spin-offs, theme park attractions, conventions, video games, and Happy Meal toys, there was an ambitious 1977 movie about a space war between interplanetary rebels and an evil empire. One has to wonder if the film would've had the same impact if it had been released under its early working title: "Adventures of the Starkiller as Taken From the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars." Seriously, that was the name given to the second draft of the screenplay.

- Director: Terrence Malick
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 94 minutes

Director Terrence Malick lets the Oscar-winning cinematography do most of the talking in this mysterious period drama. The film takes place in the early 20th century and follows a poor couple (Richard Gere and Brooke Adams) as they seek their fortune in the Texas Panhandle. While an ethereal quality persists, the film also documents harsh turn-of-the-century labor practices.

- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Run time: 147 minutes

Francis Ford Coppola plunged deep into the heart of darkness with this loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella. Set during the Vietnam War, the film sees a seasoned officer (Martin Sheen) embark on a dangerous mission with life-changing repercussions. The film was re-cut and re-released more than once, most recently as "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut."

- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 129 minutes

Martin Scorsese's portrait of real-life boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro), ranks among the most uncompromising character studies ever committed to celluloid. Presented in black-and-white, the film interweaves LaMotta's professional bouts with his violent outbursts at home. Indisputably gritty, the work also retains a certain poetic sensibility.

- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 85.0
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Run time: 115 minutes

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" stars Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones' first big-screen outing: a search for the long-lost Ark of the Covenant. The movie has grossed $390 million worldwide and made a massive impact on pop culture. But don't just take our word for it—the Library of Congress officially preserved "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1999 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Jones' action-packed adventures continue into the 21st century, most recently in 2023's "Dial of Destiny."

- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 188 minutes

Ingmar Bergman's semi-autobiographical period piece tells the story of its title characters, two privileged siblings growing up in an unconventional household. Their idyllic existence is uprooted by the death of their father, which casts a long and dark shadow over the events that follow. Two distinct versions of the film exist—a theatrical version and a TV version—the latter of which runs for 312 minutes.

- Director: Robert Bresson
- Stacker score: 84.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 85 minutes

Loosely based on a posthumous novella by Leo Tolstoy, this offbeat crime drama follows a counterfeit note as it passes from one person to the next. True to form, director Robert Bresson uses the story as a conduit for themes of sin, redemption, and persecution. It earned him a Best Director prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.

- Director: Jonathan Demme
- Stacker score: 90.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.7
- Run time: 88 minutes

Move over, Taylor Swift—"Stop Making Sense" holds the unofficial title of the best concert movie of all time. A snapshot of music history, "Stop Making Sense" showcases The Talking Heads' December 1983 performances at Hollywood's Pantages Theater. Though the film has since been remastered, "Stop Making Sense" already stood out at the time of its release thanks to its groundbreaking audio and visuals.

- Director: Claude Lanzmann
- Stacker score: 93.0
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.7
- Run time: 566 minutes

For his Holocaust documentary "Shoah," Claude Lanzmann eschewed archival footage of concentration camps and World War II. Instead, Lanzmann relies solely on interviews conducted with survivors and perpetrators of the genocide. Audiences generally regard the nine-and-a-half-hour-long "Shoah" as a difficult watch, while critics describe the film as a "monument against forgetting."

- Director: Oliver Stone
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 120 minutes

Vietnam War veteran turned Hollywood icon Oliver Stone drew upon personal experience while crafting this acclaimed war drama. The film tells the story of a young army volunteer, played by Charlie Sheen, who is swept up in a conflict between two of his superiors. The film won four Academy Awards, including best picture and best director.

- Director: Louis Malle
- Stacker score: 84.0
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 104 minutes

French director Louis Malle drew from elements of his own childhood in this semi-autobiographical drama. The film takes place during World War II in a Catholic boarding school, where two best friends hide a deadly secret. Critic Peter Bradshaw wrote that "every scene is masterful" in his review of the re-release for The Guardian.

- Director: Isao Takahata
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 88 minutes

Produced by Studio Ghibli, this animated World War II drama presents a gripping story of survival. Isao Takahata's film follows two siblings as they try to find their parents in the wake of an American firebombing. Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka wrote the novel upon which the film is based, having experienced fire-bombings firsthand.

- Director: Jim Sheridan
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 103 minutes

Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an Oscar-winning turn as Irish artist Christy Brown in this biographical drama. Suffering from cerebral palsy, Brown learns to paint and write using only his left foot. The film is one out of three major collaborations between Day-Lewis and director Jim Sheridan.

- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 8.7
- Run time: 145 minutes

Depicting three decades in the life of an American gangster, Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" reinvented style and substance to massively influential effect. The film is based on the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, who thought it was a prank when Scorsese first expressed interest in filming an adaptation. The two eventually connected and even worked together again on 1995's "Casino."

- Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 84 minutes

Walt Disney Animation Studios was in the midst of a latter-day renaissance when it released this box-office blockbuster. Cursed by an evil spell, a beast must convince his captive to find the prince hiding within him. Primarily hand-drawn, the film made additional use of newly developed computer animation for its now-famous ballroom sequence.

- Director: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
- Stacker score: 84.0
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 104 minutes

"Brother's Keeper" recounts the events surrounding William Ward's alleged "mercy killing" at the hands of his brother Delbert. A far cry from a salacious true crime documentary, this film is known for its sensitivity and nuance; exploring the long-lasting ramifications of a murder trial in the Wards' small, rural town. The movie picked up several awards on the festival circuit, including the Audience Award for its Sundance premiere.

- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 92.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Run time: 195 minutes

Turning away from kid-friendly fare, Steven Spielberg debuted this award-winning World War II drama in 1993. Liam Neeson portrays Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Spielberg refused to accept a salary for directing the film or take in any of the profits, saying to do so would be akin to taking "blood money."

- Director: Quentin Tarantino
- Stacker score: 92.0
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.9
- Run time: 154 minutes

Two years after "Reservoir Dogs," director Quentin Tarantino cemented his legacy with this quintessential crime drama. Telling three interconnected stories of pulpy violence, the film had a substantial impact on the movies released in its wake. Uma Thurman only agreed to play gangster's wife Mia Wallace—one of her most iconic roles—after Tarantino read her the entire script over the phone.

- Director: John Lasseter
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 81 minutes

An overnight game-changer, Pixar's feature film debut was the first fully computer-animated film in history. "Toy Story" depicts a group of toys that spring to life and compete for their owner's attention. The film's box office success helped pave the way for both Pixar's legacy and computer animation at large.

- Director: Mike Leigh
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 136 minutes

In this British drama, an adopted Black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) tracks down her biological mother (Brenda Blethyn). Their subsequent relationship doubles as a poignant character study with an emotional core. Much of the dialogue was improvised, with director Mike Leigh encouraging the actors to develop their own characters.

- Director: Curtis Hanson
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 138 minutes

Based on a novel by James Ellroy, this period crime drama goes straight to the heart of 1950s police corruption and racial tension. In the wake of a brutal killing, three policemen with three different moral codes must work together to solve the crime. Brilliant performances, solid writing, and Curtis Hanson's deft direction effectively transport viewers to a bygone era.

- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Run time: 169 minutes

Steven Spielberg wasn't finished detailing the horrors of World War II, as evidenced by this Oscar-winning masterpiece. Following an explosive invasion sequence, a group of soldiers advance behind enemy lines in search of a paratrooper, played by Matt Damon. To help ensure accuracy, the main actors went through tactical training and a 10-day boot camp before shooting began.

- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 246 minutes

In "My Voyage to Italy," legendary Italian American director Martin Scorsese takes audiences on a deeply personal trip to the land of his heritage. The four-hour-long film chronicles a journey more emotional than physical, as Scorsese walks viewers through his favorite Italian filmmakers to share how each has influenced his storied career. Creative and insightful, "My Voyage to Italy" provides a fascinating look into the mind of one of the medium's great masters.

- Director: Edward Yang
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 173 minutes

Clocking in at just under three hours, Edward Yang's sweeping drama follows members of a middle-class Taipei family. Technical brilliance and emotional intimacy strike a perfect balance, turning every moment into a miniature work of art. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where Yang took home the prize for best director.

- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Stacker score: 91.0
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Run time: 125 minutes

Animation wizard Hayao Miyazaki remains best known for this wondrous fantasy film, in which a young girl enters a parallel world in the Japanese countryside. Oozing with imagination, the story draws upon Shinto-Buddhist folklore. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

- Director: Peter Jackson
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 8.8
- Run time: 179 minutes

This blockbuster sequel continued the adventures of Frodo and Sam in their attempt to destroy an all-powerful ring. The film also introduced audiences to a shifty creature named Gollum, who was brought to life using groundbreaking computer-generated imagery. Speaking of Gollum, The Beatles once expressed interest in creating their own adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy in the 1960s, with John Lennon matched to play the devious creature.

- Director: Peter Jackson
- Stacker score: 92.0
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Run time: 201 minutes

Peter Jackson capped off his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in spectacular style with this epic fantasy film. Frodo and Sam reach the last leg of their journey while the forces of good and evil engage in one final battle. In addition to sweeping at the Oscars and earning more than a billion dollars at the box office, the film reportedly holds the record for the highest body count in a single movie.

- Director: Richard Linklater
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 80 minutes

Set nine years after Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset" stands on its own amid the many romance movies of the early aughts. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine, whose feelings for one another rekindle as they wander the streets of Paris. Shot in just 15 days, "Before Sunset" takes place in real-time and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

- Director: Werner Herzog
- Stacker score: 82.5
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 103 minutes

Known for its attention-grabbing subject matter as much as its style, "Grizzly Man" shares the story of activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who made an ultimately fatal decision to live with grizzly bears in the Alaskan bush. Werner Herzog pieced together Treadwell's own footage from his life among the grizzlies to present a more comprehensive, somewhat humanizing image of the two conservationists. Released two years after the pair's deaths, "Grizzly Man" won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the time of its Sundance premiere and remains a thought-provoking exploration of America's wild spaces.

- Director: Guillermo del Toro
- Stacker score: 90.0
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Run time: 118 minutes

Guillermo del Toro mixes history and fantasy as only he can in this gripping Oscar-winner. Set in Spain during the early Francoist era, the film follows a young girl (Ivana Baquero) into a mythical universe. "Bewitchingly bonkers," is how critic Nigel Andrews described the film in his review for Financial Times.

- Director: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 111 minutes

As computer-generated animation progressed in quality, moviegoers were treated to "Ratatouille," a Disney-Pixar release about a Parisian rat who dreams of becoming a chef. Besides introducing French cooking to an entire generation of American kids, "Ratatouille" earned widespread critical acclaim for its storytelling and went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Run time: 98 minutes

Disney-Pixar presents viewers with a futuristic wasteland, where human consumption has rendered the planet uninhabitable. A garbage-collecting robot wades through literal mountains of trash before hopping aboard a space-bound flight. Whereas most Disney-Pixar films use anywhere from 50,000 to 75,000 storyboards, this "WALL·E" reportedly involved as many as 125,000.

- Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 96 minutes

One of the most famous opening sequences in animation history gives way to the story of an old man and his flying house. With help from a young boy and thousands of balloons, the man takes off for Paradise Falls. Some viewers might wonder: How many balloons would it actually take to lift a house in real life? Anywhere from 100,000 to 23.5 million, according to different calculations.

- Director: Lee Unkrich
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 103 minutes

The first animated movie to gross more than $1 billion at the box office, "Toy Story 3" caters directly to the audiences who spent their childhoods watching "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2." Viewers quickly fell in love with the movie's nuanced representation of growing up, and so did the Academy, with "Toy Story 3" winning Oscars for both Best Original Song and Best Animated Film.

- Director: Asghar Farhadi
- Stacker score: 89.0
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 123 minutes

Director Asghar Farhadi offers a glimpse of modern Iranian culture through the disintegration of a marriage. Determined to leave the country for better opportunities, a woman files for divorce. The powerful drama was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning for best foreign language film.

- Director: Michael Haneke
- Stacker score: 87.0
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 127 minutes

A couple's enduring love is put to the test in this award-winning drama from director Michael Haneke. When the wife (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers a massive stroke, her husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) must confront some heartbreaking realities. As with much of Haneke's work, the story marches at a gradual pace toward an unforgettable finale.

- Director: Steve McQueen
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 134 minutes

Based on the real-life memoir of Solomon Northup, this historical drama explores America's cruel past. Living the life of a free man up North, Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is abducted by kidnappers and sold into slavery down South. This was the first film produced and directed by an African American to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

- Director: Richard Linklater
- Stacker score: 89.5
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 165 minutes

Shot over the course of 12 years, Richard Linklater's experimental drama brings a whole new meaning to the coming-of-age genre. Not so much a story as a collection of evocative scenes, the film follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from childhood to college-age adolescence. Patricia Arquette won an Academy Award for her supporting role as Mason's mother.

- Director: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 95 minutes

Leave it to Disney-Pixar to turn the inner machinations of the human mind into a computer-animated adventure. As a young girl named Riley grapples with a major life change, so too do her personified emotions. The filmmakers consulted with both a psychology professor and an emotions expert when bringing Riley's interior world to life.

- Director: Kenneth Lonergan
- Stacker score: 87.0
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 137 minutes

Kenneth Lonergan's somber drama tells the story of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a young man who's been hollowed out by a personal tragedy. Suddenly tasked with guardianship over his nephew, Chandler struggles to leave the past behind. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, respectively.

- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Stacker score: 86.0
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 106 minutes

While World War II allied soldiers attempt to flee Germany, the enemy is closing in. Christopher Nolan's war film moves at a breakneck pace and often to the beat of a ticking clock. As it turns out, that very tick-tock effect was sourced from Nolan's own stopwatch.

- Director: Alfonso Cuarón
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 135 minutes

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón revisits his early childhood in this semi-autobiographical drama. Presented in black-and-white, the film follows an upper middle class family and their maid (Yalitza Aparicio) in 1970s Mexico City. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director.

- Director: Bong Joon-ho
- Stacker score: 91.0
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 132 minutes

Audiences are still waxing rhapsodic about this Best Picture winner from South Korea's Bong Joon-ho. When members of a poor family con their way into an upper-class household, their scheme leads to devastating consequences. Socioeconomic themes make for a consistent foundation atop which one unpredictable plot point gives way to another.

- Director: Jasmila Zbanic
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 101 minutes

Set during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" paints a singular, heart-wrenching portrait of an often-overlooked atrocity. Though banned in Serbia, the nation that perpetrated the ethnic cleansing, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" screened around the world to critical acclaim and garnered an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film.

- Director: Questlove
- Stacker score: 88.0
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 118 minutes

Directed by The Roots drummer Questlove, "Summer of Soul" documents the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-concert series that celebrated Black pride and unity at a major turning point in American history. The creative team behind the movie restored footage to bring performances from Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, B.B. King, and more back to life. The documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature as well as a Grammy for Best Music Film.

- Director: Charlotte Wells
- Stacker score: 85.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Run time: 102 minutes

Starring "Normal People" breakout Paul Mescal, "Aftersun" is a bittersweet, coming-of-age drama following 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father (Mescal) on a holiday trip to a Turkish resort. Haunting and heartfelt, this semi-autobiographical film from Charlotte Wells has been praised for its moving depictions of parenthood and intergenerational mental health struggles.

- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 180 minutes

Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" takes viewers back to the days of World War II, when physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and a team of scientists developed the groundwork for the first atomic bomb. Though this sprawling film isn't without its critics, "Oppenheimer" co-dominated the summer box office in 2023 and won seven Oscars, including the coveted Best Picture Award.

Data reporting by Rob Powell. Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Copy editing by Meg Shields.