What is the best movie? This question has baffled film fans and critics alike. With so many factors to consider, such as acting, directing, and cinematography, it’s no wonder this question is still hotly debated. Personal taste is another reason people never seem to agree on the best movie.
Despite these difficulties, many publications and organizations have tried to find a way to prove objectively what the ‘greatest of all time’ is when it comes to the moviemaking industry. These attempts have created many lists that put the best of the best in order. Unsurprisingly, these lists differ greatly, so we’ve compiled the chart toppers from some of the most recognizable and reputable polls. Do you agree with them? What do you think should be at the top?
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles’ 1941 classic mystery is a popular choice for many film fans. Praised for its innovative camerawork and intriguing plot, this movie has impacted many filmmakers and inspired some great modern films. It’s no surprise that this film was voted number one on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest American Films of All Time. It also topped Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time list from 1962 to 2002 and the Chicago Tribune’s 1995 list, the 100 Best Films.
Gone with the Wind
One of the greatest romances of all time, Gone with the Wind (1939) is an audience favorite. In both 2008 and 2014, it topped an audience poll by Harris Interactive of over two thousand US adults. The Victor Fleming epic beat Star Wars and Titanic to keep its top spot on the podium.
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
In 2022, Sight and Sound magazine held its prestigious poll to find The Greatest Films of All Time, which runs every ten years. Ten votes each are given to the 1,639 participating critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics. Jeanne Dielman shocked many by jumping from number 35 in 2012 to the top in 2022. This was the first time a female-directed film topped the list, causing celebration and controversy. Chantal Akerman’s 1975 drama is a slow-burn movie known for its long takes, muted cinematography, and subtle performances.
Vertigo
Before Jeanne Dielman took the top spot in 2022, Sight and Sound’s poll in 2012 was topped by the Alfred Hitchcock 1958 thriller Vertigo. This movie invented the dolly zoom, a cinematography technique where the camera moves backward while zooming in. This technique was used in some of the movie’s sequences to create a sense of acrophobia—fear of heights.
Leave No Trace
Film review site Rotten Tomatoes compiled a list of movies that critics only rated “100%”. To be sure their method was fair, they ordered the film by the amount of ratings. At the top of the list was 2018’s Leave No Trace, with over 250 100% reviews. That means over 250 top cinephiles thought this movie was flawless.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Alongside their famous Greatest Films of All Time list, Sight and Sound magazine also compile another list of the best movies, voted on by many of today’s greatest living filmmakers. Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey. This movie is known for its iconic opening scenes and special effects, this film has been cited as the best piece of science fiction, if not the greatest movie, numerous times.
Yi Yi
In 2023, six critics from The Hollywood Reporter came up with a list they thought was the definitive order of the best movies of the 21st century. The 2000 Taiwanese drama film Yi Yi came up on top. It won Best Director and the coveted Palme d’Or award at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Godfather
The Hollywood Reporter also put together a similar list back in 2014, voted on by a total of 2,120 industry members, including Fox chief Jim Gianopulos, Disney’s Alan F. Horn, director Gary Ross, producer Frank Marshall, Warner’s Sue Kroll, agent Robert Newman, attorney John Burke, filmmaker John Singleton and many more. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, The Godfather, came first. Featuring incredible performances from Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino, this mafia movie won the 1973 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
In 2014, Empire’s audience poll came back with a surprising result. The 1980 sci-fi sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was voted their favorite film. Despite many audience members and critics disliking sci-fi, this classic has been a favorite for decades. It’s often remembered for its famous quote, “No, I am your father.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Empire reran their audience poll this year, and Star Wars: Episode V was overthrown. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring took its place at the top. This 2001 fantasy epic by Peter Jackson was the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and has since spawned the Hobbit adaptation, TV prequels, games, and more.
Mulholland Drive
In 2016, the BBC asked 177 film critics what their favorite film of the 21st Century was. Mulholland Drive, a surreal 2001 mystery by David Lynch, took the top spot. This movie beat Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood in second and third place, respectively.
Avatar
What can be a more objective way of searching for the perfect film than looking at its box office success? Currently at the top of Box Office Mojo’s list of movies that have made the most money at the international box office is James Cameron’s 2009 science fiction epic, Avatar. Two of Cameron’s other film, Avatar: The Way of Water and Titanic, are the third and fourth highest-grossing films ever. Titanic also won the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar.
The Piano
Female directors often get overlooked in these polls and lists, so in 2019 the BBC compiled a list of the best female-directed films of all time. The winner was Jane Campion’s 1993 romantic drama, The Piano, starring Anna Paquin.
The Shawshank Redemption
In 2020, Rolling Stone Australia released the list from an audience poll of 35,000 participants of their favorite movies. Prison drama The Shawshank Redemption won the vote. Interestingly, this movie also came at the top of Ranker’s list this year.
Psycho
Another movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho (1960), was voted in a critics’ poll by Variety to be the best of all time. This psychological thriller is notable for its famous shower scene, showing a key character getting murdered, and its gripping score, which composer Bernard Herrmann created. This movie explored themes of sexual violence and psychological disturbance, which many critics believed was too controversial for public audiences.
Harakiri
In a bid to find the best movie of all time, one Letterbox user compiled a list of the highest-rated film on the platform with more than 5000 reviews (to avoid obscure movies rising to the top). This took the average ratings from all audience members, critics, and filmmakers. The movie that won the top spot with this method was Masaki Kobayashi’s 1962 samurai film Harakiri.
Famed critic Roger Ebert added it to his Great Movies list and wrote of the film in 2012, “‘Harakiri,’ one of the best of them [Samurai movies], is about an older wandering samurai who takes his time to create an unanswerable dilemma for the elder of a powerful clan.”
What Do You Think?
Some of these polls were based on audience responses, others on critics’ opinions, and some on industry statistics, such as box office profits. As a result, it’s very difficult to decide which is the fairest way of choosing the best movies of all time. What do you think would be the best way of finding the best of the best? Do you think there were any movies that should have been at the top but were not chosen?
Perhaps for future polls, we can expect more films from recent years to be added to the list, such as last year’s Academy Award Best Picture Winner, Oppenheimer, or the highest-grossing movie from last year, Barbie.
