The 100 Greatest Films of All Time
A list worth reading, and films worth watching.
Most of the top 100 film lists you find on the internet are worth what you pay to read them - zero.
Films that someone, somewhere once decided were “artistic” but are truly dull and void of deep meaning. Films that a studio paid to get Academy Awards and critics were thus instructed to think are works of art.
This list are the films with the greatest humanity and the films that are the most enjoyable to watch.
I only ranked the top 10. After that I made subcategories so you can treat this list like Blockbuster video and browse by section for something in a genre that might interest you that day. I didn’t bother to cut my list to exactly 100, so if you count and find 108 on it don’t be surprised. I also intend to add new films if anything worthy of this list is ever made again, or if you tell me I missed a classic and you’re right.
There are so many great films not being given their due and so many new films being overhyped with no value. Providing proper acclaim to the films that give insight into man, that make us laugh, that inspire us to grow, is a crucial way to share the light of the most popular storytelling medium in the world.
The Top 10
Groundhog Day is the best film ever made. It’s hilarious, you can watch it 100 times, and it has deep lessons on the purpose of life.
Lord of the Rings is the best trilogy of all time. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King are the hero’s journey on the grandest scale imaginable. The beauty of these films may be unmatched, and the self-sacrifice of the heroes merits the epic surroundings.
Back to the Future
The Shawshank Redemption
The Matrix
My Fair Lady - Women love this movie. Men, you will too. It’s got great sensibilities about the dynamics of the sexes. Men, watch this with your woman and enjoy.
Star Wars
Happy Gilmore - my favorite film. Funny even after seeing it 20 times.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Long Hot Summer
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart might be the greatest actor of all time. He merits his own category.
Casablanca
Key Largo
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Maltese Falcon
Sean Connery
From Russia With Love
Finding Forrester
The Wind and the Lion
The Man Who Would Be King
Medicine Man
Based On A True Story
Hacksaw Ridge - I love this movie. A testament to the miracles wrought by faith in God.
The Founder
The Big Short
Seabiscuit
Serpico
Get On Up
Action
The Fugitive
Kill Bill
Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade were both outstanding.
Malone
Chain Reaction
The Getaway (1972)
Top Gun: Maverick
Black and White
It Happened One Night - This film was made in 1934 and it’s one of the most lively films I’ve ever seen. It’s astounding.
12 Angry Men
It's a Wonderful Life
High Noon - I could have put this in the Westerns section below, but this is more than a Western. This is a treatise on being a man and doing the right thing in the face of evil and the weakness of others.
Anti-Heroes
Falling Down
Memento
Fight Club
The Family Man - Nicolas Cage is the most underrated actor of all time. Snake Eyes and The Rock are also classics with Cage at his purest cheesy best.
Thank You For Smoking
Catch Me If You Can
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Epics
The Count of Monte Cristo
Barry Lyndon
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Conan the Barbarian
Gladiator
Drama
...And Justice for All
Network
The Sting
Whiplash
Mobster Movies
The Godfather
Casino
Pulp Fiction
Payback - A terrifically underrated Mel Gibson movie.
Kid’s Movies
The Karate Kid - The 80s version, obviously. Karate Kid II was also perfect. The other Karate Kid movies never happened.
Home Alone
Togo - Surprisingly good, especially considering how recently it was made.
Matilda
101 Dalmations - The original cartoon version, of course.
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Super Heroes
Superhero movies get knocked but they are the hero’s journey writ large. These are the best of the best.
Spider-Man
Iron Man
Batman Begins
Genius Sci-Fi
John Carter
They Live
Minority Report
Running Man
Edge of Tomorrow
Source Code
Planet of the Apes
Hunger Games - all 4 parts. These films tell a story of our time that people should understand. The propaganda war is here.
Demolition Man
Men in Black
12 Monkeys
Comedy
Idiocracy - Just a perfect film.
Ghostbusters
Office Space
White Men Can't Jump
School of Rock
Old School
The Big Lebowski - The Coen Brothers at their best. Hail Caesar, True Grit, and O Brother, Where Art Thou are also terrific.
PCU
Coming to America
The Secret of My Success - Michael J Fox in a super fun 80s movie. Pure Americana.
Mallrats
The Producers
Anchorman
The 40 Year Old Virgin
The Life Aquatic
So I Married An Axe Murderer
Blast From the Past
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - John Hughes made so many classics he could have his own section. Uncle Buck was also terrific.
Brewster's Millions
The Chase
Evan Almighty
Sports
This section could have just been named Baseball, if not for Red Pilled America host Patrick Courrielche, who suggested this dedicated sports section and recommended Hoosiers. Even the best kids sports movies, Rookie of the Year and The Sandlot, are about baseball.
Hoosiers
Mr. Baseball
Major League
Moneyball
War
Kingdom of Heaven - A war movie that favors peace. Tremendous.
Braveheart
The Patriot
The Last Samurai
Dunkirk
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Real Political Theatre
Dave
Wag the Dog
Mercury Rising
Enemy of the State
Pelican Brief
Westerns
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Tombstone
Gran Torino
Rio Bravo
Detective Films
LA Confidential
Motherless Brooklyn
Man on Fire
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Absence of Malice
Movies About the Afterlife
What Dreams May Come
Defending Your Life
And that’s the list! If I didn’t list a film’s sequel it probably also belongs here, like Empire Strikes Back or Back to the Future 2. Let me know what I missed!
Addendum: Why Some Of Your Favorite Movies Aren’t Here
I’ve heard about a dozen times that Goodfellas should be on the list. Casino is Goodfellas and Scorsese only gets one spot for making the same movie twice.
Lawrence of Arabia is a great film, but I find the other epics on the list to be a cut above.
Doctor Strangelove is one of the most overrated films of all time. The Peter Sellers comedy Being There is a superior film, and even that got an upgrade with the 90s classic Dave.
Chinatown has a brutal ending that completely sours the experience of watching the film. I can't in good conscience recommend such a downer so highly. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a comedy I thought was hilarious and genius, but I similarly couldn't recommend in good conscience because it portrays a homosexual character positively.
There are a dozen films I wanted to add to the list but I did want to keep it as close to 100 as possible, to make this list strictly the best of the best.
To that end, Sideways, Rounders, Dredd, The Green Book, The Burial (2023), Gone With the Wind, North by Northwest, Boondock Saints, Cinderella Man, The Mask of Zorro, Mission: Impossible, and Captain America all missed the cut.
Pretty good list. Groundhog day pulling in top spot is a bold move. It is such a great movie. Inspiring me to watch it again. Happy Gilmore is one of my favorites. You missed on Goodfellas not being in the mobster movie section.