100 Essential Movies

100 Movies Everyone Should See At Least Once

This is the list of the 100 American (with a couple of exceptions, notably #32, The Third Man) movies, I think are essential that everyone see before they die. Because this is MY list, some, so called, critically acclaimed movies may not appear here, and that just means I have my own opinion of them. The movies here, are those I believe have had significant impact on the society of their time, propelled someone to stardom, created a fandom beyond the box office, or are just plain good entertainment. They are ones that I like to talk about, ones that I can watch over and over.

BTW: I reserve the exclusive right to add to, delete from, or re-arrange this list at any time, at my sole discretion. And, after about the first fifteen, or so, the order becomes kind of random.

	Rank	Oscar	Title	Year	Genre	Comments
Clear	Sorted By: Rank ascending
	1	Won	Casablanca	1944	Romance	Everything about this movie is perfect. The cast, the direction, the cinematography, the editing -- everything. If you can find a flaw, PLEASE let me know what you think it is. Although released in 1942, I've listed the date here as 1943 because it was released in the US in January 1943 and thus qualified for its Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1944 Oscars.
	2	Won	Gone With The Wind	1940	Romance	Some criticize GWTW for its portrayal of the 'Old South' as chivalrous and the slaves content in their slavery. But maybe those very portrayals highlight the obvious racism in a subtle way that could be done in 1939.
	3	Won	From Here To Eternity	1954	Drama/War	Both Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed won Oscars for their supporting roles.
	4	Won	Ben-Hur	1960	Epic/Drama	Lew Wallace was a lawyer, Illinois state senator, Union Civil War Major General, Governor of New Mexico Territory, Minister to Turkey, but is most famous as the author of "Ben Hur".
	5	Nom	To Kill A Mockingbird	1962	Crime/Drama	Seven Academy Award nominations, three wins.
	6	X	Stalag 17	1953	War	William Holden won Best Actor in a Leading Role. This is my movie to watch at Christmas.
	7	Nom	The Maltese Falcon	1941	Mystery
	8	X	The Searchers	1956	Western	Many rate this movie as the best western of all time. (Including me!) I agree 100%, a great story, great performances by the entire cast, great cinematography. This is director John Ford at his best.
	9	Nom	Lord of the Rings, The	2001	Action/Advent
	10	Nom	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope	1977	Action/Advent	Nominated for 9 Oscars; Won 6 - Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Effect - Visual Effect, Best Music - Original Score.
	11	Nom	Treasure of the Sierra Madre	1948	Drama
	12	Nom	Stagecoach	1939	Western	The movie that made John Wayne a star. 1939, Wayne had six movies out that year.
	13	X	Forbidden Planet	1956	Sci-Fi	Saw this when I was 10 or 11. It was the one movie monster that scared me. I think because it was invisible.
	14	Nom	Dr. Strangelove	1964	Satire
	15	X	Rio Bravo	1959	Western	Howard Hawks disliked "High Noon" and make this to say that professionals, i.e. the 'town marshal' shouldn't be asking amateurs, (shopkeepers, ranch hands, etc) to help them with their jobs. This is the classic Howard Hawks western, and is his response to "High Noon", which he thought portrayed the professional lawman wrongly. Ricky Nelson as Colorado. Walter Brennen as Stumpy, and Dean Martin as 'Borrachón' (the drunk) deputy. Oh, and check out Angie Dickinson as 'Feathers'.
	16	X	Goldfinger	1964	Action/Advent
	17	X	The Day The Earth Stood Still	1951	Sci-Fi	The original, not the 2010 remake.
	18	Nom	Mister Roberts	1955	War	Mervyn LeRoy co-directed
	19	X	2001: A Space Odyssey	1968	Sci-Fi/Adven	The HAL9000 computer almost stole the show. (voiced by Douglas Rain)
	20	Won	Schindler's List	1994	War	Ralph Fiennes should have won Best Supporting Actor as Amon Goeth and Honorable mention to Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern.
	21	X	Close Encounters of the Third Kind	1977	Sci-Fi/Adven	Nominated for 9 Oscars, won for Best Cinematography. Not nominated for Best Picture.
	22	X	Rear Window	1954	Mystery
	23	X	Cool Hand Luke	1967	Crime/Drama	Paul Newman sings the song, "Plastic Jesus".
	24	X	The African Queen	1951	Romance	Bogart won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
	25	Nom	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	1969	Crime/Drama
	26	Nom	Giant	1956	Epic/Drama	James Dean's last movie.
	27	Nom	MAS*H	1970	Comedy	Great ensemble cast includes: Roger Bowen, Fred Williamson, John Schuck, Bobby Troupe, Michael Murphy and more.
	28	Won	Bridge on the River Kwai, The	1958	War	Winner of 7 Oscars.
	29	Nom	Shane	1953	Western
	30	X	Gettysburg	1993	War/History
	31	Nom	Twelve O'Clock High	1949	War
	32	X	The Third Man	1949	Film Noir	Orson Wells as Harry Lime, the Third Man.
	33	Nom	Jaws	1975	Action	Note to the Millennial generation: The Shark was NOT cgi.
	34	X	True Grit	1969	Western	His Oscar winning performance in the role of Rooster Cogburn. Indeed a classic western. Don't think Glen Campbell made another movie (he wasn't very good) Should have been a Best Picture nominee in place of 'Z'
	35	Nom	Raiders of the Lost Ark	1981	Action/Advent
	36	Won	Patton	1971	Bio/Drama	Well deserved win for the film and for George C. Scott.
	37	Nom	Music Man, The	1962	Musical
	38	Won	Around The World In 80 Days	1957	Adventure	Many cameos by Hollywood stars.
	39	X	Dirty Harry	1971	Action/Advent
	40	X	Red River	1948	Western	John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff together in this western make it one of the best.
	41	Nom	Gaslight	1944	Drama
	42	X	Top Gun	1986	Action/Advent	Academy Award - Best Music, Original Song, "Take My Breath Away"
	43	X	Little Big Man	1979	Western	Chief Dan George (Old Lodge Skins) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
	44	X	The Princess Bride	1987	Adventure	A Cult Classic. Inspired: "Hello, my name is Idaho Montoya. You peeled my father. Prepare to fry." - Mr. Potato Head
	45	X	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	1954	Musical
	46	X	Some Like It Hot	1959	Comedy
	47	X	Kelly's Heroes	1970	Comedy/War	Song "Burning Bridges"
	48	Nom	Saving Private Ryan	1998	War	Five Oscar wins - Best Director; Best Cinematography; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing.
	49	X	The Outlaw Josie Wales	1976	Western	I can watch this again and again. Chief Dan George should have gotten another Oscar nomination.
	50	X	The Devil and Miss Jones	1941	Comedy
	51	Nom	12 Angry Men	1957	Crime/Drama	Great ensemble cast.
	52	X	Terminator, The	1984	Sci-Fi
	53	X	Full Metal Jacket	1987	War	See the movie "The Boys in Company C" for another performance by Gunny Ermy as the Marine drill sergeant.
	54	X	Inherit the Wind	1960	Bio/Drama	With Fredrick March and Gene Kelly
	55	X	Alien	1979	Sci-Fi Horror	Won the Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects
	56	Nom	Cat On A Hot Tin Roof	1958	Drama
	57	X	The Shop Around The Corner	1940	Classic
	58	X	Strangers on a Train	1951	Drama
	59	Nom	E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial	1982	Action
	60	Nom	How The West Was Won	1963	Western	Release internationally in November 1962 but not in the US until February 20, 1963 and was thus nominated for Best Picture of 1963. Second best of these nominees.
	61	X	More the Merrier, The	1943	Comedy	Charles Coburn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
	62	Nom	Apollo 13	1995	Historical/Drama
	63	X	The Great Escape	1963	War	A better movie than the Oscar winner.
	64	Won	Forrest Gump	1995	Drama	Honorable mention to Gary Sinise as Lt Dan.
	65	Nom	Bonnie and Clyde	1967	Action/Advent
	66	X	North By Northwest	1959	Mystery
	67	Won	Rocky	1977	Drama	Honorable mention to Burgess Meredith as Mickey.
	68	X	In Cold Blood	1967	Crime/Drama	4 Nominations - No wins.
	69	X	Notorious	1946	Action
	70	Nom	Graduate, The	1967	Drama
	71	X	Poltergeist	1982	Sci-Fi Horror	Heather O'Roarke is great as Carol Ann
	72	Nom	Sunset Blvd.	1950	Film Noir
	73	Won	Sting, The	1974	Comedy	Oscar for Best Music for Marvin Hamilisch plus six other Oscars.
	74	X	Blue Max, The	1966	Drama/War	Flying sequences are cool.
	75	X	Three Days of the Condor	1975	Mystery
	76	X	Rope	1948	Drama	Co-stars: John Dall, James Stewart
	77	X	Soylent Green	1973	Sci-Fi	Believe this was Edward G. Robinson's (Sol) last movie. Also, watch for Chuck Conners (Tab Fielding) and Dick Van Paton (Usher #1)
	78	Won	Lawrence of Arabia	1963	Bio/Drama
	79	Nom	Apocalypse Now	1979	War
	80	X	Bringing Up Baby	1938	Comedy
	81	X	Harvey	1950	Comedy
	82	Nom	The Caine Mutiny	1954	Drama	The actress May Winn took that name from the character in this play/movie. (real name Donna Lee Hickey
	83	Nom	High Noon	1952	Western	Howard Hawks disliked the idea that a professional man (the Sheriff) would solicit help from amateurs. It was one reason he made "Rio Bravo".
	84	Won	Grand Hotel	1933	Drama	Has the distinction of being the only film to win the Oscar for Best Picture without being nominated in any other category.
	85	X	Dirty Dancing	1987	Romance
	86	X	Spartacus	1960	Epic/Drama	Kudos to Charles Laughton (Gracchus) and Tony Curtis (Antoninus
	87	X	Blade Runner	1982	Sci-Fi
	88	Won	The Godfather	1973	Crime/Drama
	89	X	Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The	1962	Western	Probably should have had an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor!
	90	X	Planet of the Apes	1968	Sci-Fi/Adven
	91	Nom	Sixth Sense, The	1999	Thriller
	92	X	War of the Worlds	1953	Sci-Fi Horror
	93	X	Gran Torino	2008	Drama
	94	X	Ghostbusters	1984	Comedy	My favorite part is at the end when Winston (Ernie Hudson) is covered in marshmallow, says, "I love this town," claps his hands and marshmallow spatter goes flying. I laugh every time.
	95	X	Signs	2002	Sci-Fi	Honorable mention - Rory Culkin and Joaquin Phoenix.
	96	X	Dr. No	1962	Action	The first of the James Bond films (20 so far, I think)
	97	Nom	The Longest Day	1962	War/History
	98	X	Back to the Future	1985	Sci-Fi/Adven	Props to Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown
	99	X	Miracle on 34th Street	1934	Family
	100	X	The China Syndrome	1970	Drama	NO nuclear reactor power plants have been licensed in the US since the release of this movie.

I'm sure many will notice films like Citizen Kane, ,The Wizard of Oz, and On the Waterfront are not included here. And, while I agree these are films that most would say are among the great movies, they are not ones that I can include in my list. To explain, if two movies are airing at the same time, the one I chose to watch goes on this list The other movie might be on the list but closer to the bottom or not at all.

Oh, if you're wondering, I just can't make myself watch those Woody Allen movies that all the critics think are so great, Sleeper, Annie Hall, etal. Although I did think his re-dubbing of that Japanese spy movie, What's Up, Tiger Lily? was unique and funny.

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100 Movies Everyone Should See At Least Once

BTW: I reserve the exclusive right to add to, delete from, or re-arrange this list at any time, at my sole discretion. And, after about the first fifteen, or so, the order becomes kind of random.