Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Retrospective: The Best 25 Movies Ever?
When I decided to watch (or in some instances rewatch) and review 25 of the best movies ever made, I didn’t know quite what to expect. In the end, I found working on this series to be a very fulfilling undertaking. Did I enjoy all of the movies on the list? Definitely not. But at least I now have an opinion on these 25 films that are, for one reason or another, considered to be valuable pieces of cinema.
The first step in this project, coming up with a list of films often considered the best of the best to review, wasn’t as easy as I initially thought it would be. I detailed the process in my initial post, and it ultimately involved taking films ranked in the top 10 from three sources: the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list, Sight and Sound’s 2022 critics poll, and IMDb’s Top 250 Movies. After some overlap with movies on the lists, I wound up with 25 films.
I tried to keep several things in mind when watching these movies. When I come up with an overall grade on this website for any film, I consider both the movie’s artistic merits – its quality, as well as how much I personally enjoy it. For this particular series, I also asked myself why anyone would count these films among the best ever. Additionally, I questioned how well (or not well) the films in the series aged. Basically, how much or little would a present-day moviegoer enjoy or appreciate the film?
So, How Did the Movies Deemed the Best Ever Stack Up?
I was surprised by how many of the movies on the list are really undeserving of being considered amongst the best ever. In several of my film reviews, I found myself bringing up variations of the same point time and time again: Just because a movie is significant for one reason or another, and it can be appreciated for certain specific reasons, that does not, in fact, automatically make the movie great.
It's fine to recognize such movies for their accomplishments, while also acknowledging that they’re lacking in other areas. For example, Citizen Kane was an extremely innovative film, with clear strengths in its cinematography, music, and direction. To watch it today though, the story is a slog to get through. It is an extremely boring film.
I can recognize and appreciate how a movie like this helped changed the future of cinema, while at the same time believing that it’s not a great movie. To me, a great movie needs to both hold up and do all aspects of what goes into moviemaking at least extremely well, if not excellently.
The Undeserving Nine
I can be a harsh critic when it comes to analyzing films, but I believe that if I scored a movie lower than a five (out of a possible 10), it absolutely does not deserve to be on a list of the best movies ever. If I, a (self-proclaimed) diehard film fan, can’t find it in my heart to score a film better than average, I just don’t think it has enough merit to be considered a top film.
Nine of the 25 movies I watched for this series graded less than a five, and I’d argue strongly against their inclusion on any best movies lists. Those nine movies are:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): 4.5/10 (S&S No. 6)
Citizen Kane (1941): 4/10 (AFI No. 1, S&S No. 3)
Raging Bull (1980): 4/10 (AFI No. 4)
Tokyo Story (1953): 3/10 (S&S No. 4)
Gone with the Wind (1939): 2.5/10 (AFI No. 6)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962): 2.5/10 (AFI No. 7)
Mulholland Drive (2001): 2.5/10 (S&S No. 8)
Beau Travail (1999): 1.5/10 (S&S No. 7)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975): 1/10 (S&S No. 1)
I can appreciate several aspects of (some) of these nine films, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend them. These are all extremely overrated movies that the majority of people today also wouldn’t enjoy.
Pretty Okay, I Guess
Five movies scored either a six or a seven. That’s a better than average movie, sure, but I believe a movie being called one of the best ever needs to score higher than this.
However, while I don’t believe they’re deserving of a place on The Best Movies Ever Made list, I don’t feel as passionately against them being included as I do the nine films mentioned previously. The films receiving these grades are:
The Dark Knight (2009): 7/10 (IMDb No. 3)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966): 7/10 (IMDb No. 10)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): 7/10 (IMDb No. 7)
Pulp Fiction (1994): 7/10 (IMDb No. 8)
Vertigo (1958): 6/10 (AFI No. 9, S&S No. 2)
These are all films I’d recommend. I enjoyed all these movies overall and believe that most 2024 filmgoers would feel similarly. Despite this, these movies are still definitely overrated.
Deserving of Being on the Best Movies Ever Made List
It might seem odd that I think movies that I scored an eight or higher (and not a perfect 10), are worthy of a spot on a best movies list. The reason for this is that just because I didn’t find some of these films to be perfect, I can understand how they can be considered top movies by others.
I might only put the two movies that I did award a perfect 10 on a personal list of what I believe to be the best movies ever made, but I have no problem with these 11 films being included on any sort of top movies list:
Schindler's List (1993): 10/10 (AFI No. 8, IMDb No. 6)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994): 10/10 (IMDb No. 1)
In the Mood for Love (2000): 9.5/10 (S&S No. 5)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): 9.5/10 (IMDb No. 9)
The Wizard of Oz (1939): 9.5/10 (AFI No. 10)
Casablanca (1942): 9/10 (AFI No. 3)
The Godfather (1972): 9/10 (AFI No. 2, IMDb No. 2)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929): 9/10 (S&S No. 9)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952): 8.5/10 (AFI No. 5, S&S No. 10)
12 Angry Men (1957): 8/10 (IMDb No. 5)
The Godfather Part II (1974): 8/10 (IMDb No. 4)
Go watch these 11 films now if you haven’t seen them before!
How Did our Source Lists Fare?
As I stated earlier, these 25 movies came from the top 10s of three separate rankings, the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list, Sight and Sound’s 2022 critics poll, and IMDb’s Top 250 Movies.
Of these three lists, the IMDb top 10 received the best grades, with an average grade of 8.25. The movies that the American Film Institute believes are the best averaged a respectable, though not super impressive, 6.5.
Meanwhile, the Sight & Sound 2022 critics poll did quite poorly. I came to realize that this list included the most pretentious films of the bunch, including my three least favorite movies in this series. The average score from this list was a 4.95.
Despite disliking the Sight & Sound list overall, I would have missed out on two really worthwhile films, In the Mood for Love and Man with a Movie Camera, had I not decided to include it. I’m actually glad I watched (almost) all of these films to have at least broadened my movie-watching horizons.
Awards
I thought it’d be fun to award some accolades to the 25 films in this series. Without further ado:
Best Overall Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
The most well-rounded, and complete movie on the list — a true example of a perfect film.
Worst Overall Movie: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Possibly the most boring movie ever created. I doubt any human has ever sat through this 3 hour+ mess without taking a break.
Most Disappointing Movie (considering my expectations going in): Raging Bull
One of many movies I watched that doesn’t deserve the hype it gets, but considering my personal love of sports movies, I found this one to be the most disappointing. I wouldn’t even put this on a Top 10 Sports Movies Ever list.
Most Pleasantly Surprising Movie: Man with a Movie Camera
Who would’ve thought an experimental Soviet silent film from 1929 could be so interesting? The films gives a complete look at what life was like at a specific place and time.
Three 60+ Year Old Movies that Really Hold Up Well: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Casablanca (1942), 12 Angry Men (1957)
All three of these films were great when they came out, and still are great in 2024.
Three 60+ Year Old Movies that Really DO NOT Hold Up Well: Gone with the Wind (1939), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Citizen Kane (1941)
I don’t think modern audiences will enjoy any of these three films. While all three are frequently ranked on top 10 movies lists, none of them are deserving of the reputation they have.
Most Blatantly Racist Movie: Gond with the Wind
It’s not just racist, though, it’s also just a bad movie in general.
Most Depressing Movie (though it’s also a great movie): Schindler’s List
Difficult to get through, but supremely worthwhile.
Most Fun Movie: (Tie) The Wizard of Oz & The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Many of the movies on The Best Movies Ever Made list weren’t exactly what you’d consider enjoyable. These two certainly were.
Best Movie that I Hadn’t Seen Before Starting this Series: In the Mood for Love
A beautiful film story-wise and visually. Even if it is told at a more deliberate pace.
Where do we Go from Here?
I really enjoyed this project as a whole, and I’ll definitely be coming up with series similar to this one where I watch older films in the future. I find watching classic films and seeing how they hold up to be a really worthwhile and interesting experience.
As for my very own personal list of the Best Movies Ever Made, I think I need to watch quite a few more movies before I’m ready to come up with that!
To check out any of the past entries in this series, click the links below:
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 1
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 2: Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Schindler’s List
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 3: Casablanca, Beau Travail, The Godfather Part II
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 4: Raging Bull, Man with a Movie Camera, The Wizard of Oz
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 7: Pulp Fiction, Gone with the Wind, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made Part 9: 12 Angry Men, Vertigo, Jeanne Dielman, Tokyo Story