Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

The Best 100 Movies Challenge

by

So. You ready to take the best 100 movie challenge?

This has been a random procrastination activity of mine for quite some time, and now I’m ready to share my list with the world. I have spent way, way too much time thinking about this.

Behold… my 100 favorite movies of all time!

But this isn’t all! It would be great if we could all share our own list for the Top 100, because I love looking at these lists. If you create your 100 and post it in the comments section I’ll add the links to this post.

  1. Casablanca
  2. The Godfather
  3. City of God
  4. The Godfather Part II 
  5. Citizen Kane
  6. The Up Series
  7. The Empire Strikes Back
  8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
  9. Rushmore
  10. Jules and Jim 
  11. Schindler’s List 
  12. The Shawshank Redemption
  13. Star Wars
  14. The Battle of Algiers
  15. Vertigo
  16. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
  17. Trouble in Paradise
  18. The Nightmare Before Christmas
  19. The Warriors
  20. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  21. Rebecca
  22. The Usual Suspects
  23. Children of Men
  24. Sunset Boulevard
  25. Giant
  26. Lawrence of Arabia
  27. The Wizard of Oz
  28. The Best Years of Our Lives
  29. Dog Day Afternoon
  30. Raging Bull 
  31. Clockers
  32. The Manchurian Candidate
  33. Before Sunrise
  34. Goodfellas
  35. Groundhog Day
  36. The 25th Hour
  37. Manhattan
  38. E.T.
  39. Hoop Dreams
  40. Back to the Future
  41. The Bridge on the River Kwai
  42. The Last Picture Show
  43. Before Sunset
  44. Stagecoach
  45. The Big Lebowski
  46. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  47. Gone With the Wind
  48. Office Space
  49. Into the Wild
  50. Ghost Dog
  51. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  52. The Graduate
  53. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  54. Yojimbo
  55. Pulp Fiction
  56. Chinatown
  57. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  58. Edward Scissorhands
  59. North By Northwest
  60. Duck Soup
  61. Saturday Night Fever
  62. The Truman Show
  63. Playtime
  64. Pinocchio
  65. A Hard Day’s Night
  66. Le Samourai
  67. The Double Life of Veronique
  68. The Big Sleep
  69. Stray Dog
  70. The Philadelphia Story
  71. Charade
  72. Midnight Cowboy
  73. The Lives of Others
  74. True Grit
  75. Do the Right Thing
  76. Elf
  77. Rebel Without a Cause
  78. It’s a Wonderful Life
  79. Singin’ in the Rain
  80. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
  81. From Here to Eternity
  82. Apocalypse Now
  83. Coming to America
  84. Breathless
  85. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  86. To Kill a Mockingbird
  87. Funny Face
  88. Serpico
  89. Frankenstein 
  90. Hud
  91. Wings of Desire
  92. Dr. Zhivago
  93. His Girl Friday
  94. Patton
  95. Mildred Pierce
  96. Run Lola Run
  97. Suspicion
  98. Point Blank
  99. This is Spinal Tap
  100. Anchorman

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. SC Author says

    No Titanic? DX And Les Misérables or Harry Potter? To be honest, if I made this list, it would be more of a "Try and remember 100 movies you've watched." That'd be tough enough 😀 I wouldn't be able to remember all those hehe 😀

  6. abc says

    Wow–this list. So these aren't the greatest movies of all time, but your favorite. I love that Rushmore is so high. We definitely have some in common, on the other hand–Achorman! It's super funny, but, I don't know, top 100? Hmmm. Trouble in Paradise–yes! Damnit, I'm going to try it. It will be so hard.

  7. Josin L. McQuein says

    That's one eclectic list of movies – some of them I've never heard of before.

    I don't think I could ever put a list this long together, but my number one movie of all time is The Princess Bride. It has to be one of the most quotable films ever made.

  10. D.G. Hudson says

    Some of your faves I like too, like Edward Scissorhands, but it's missing Dune, and Easy Rider, and some scifi greats.

    Thanks for sharing your choices.

  11. Nathan Bransford says

    D.G.

    Wasn't a fan of Dune, Easy Rider a liked a lot but I think just outside of my Top 100. Definitely some sci fis that I considered like the Day the Earth Stood Still, The Incredible Shrinking Man and Blade Runner, but just not quite top 100.

  15. Kim Giffin says

    My list would include Vicky Christina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris, Snatch, Gangs of New York, Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn version) and Amelie. Very interesting list of yours, are they in a specific order?

  17. Crystal says

    I got to #1 and stopped reading. Casablanca is absolutely my favoritest movie of all time. (I know "favoritest" is not a word.) The rest of the list is silence.

  18. Sean says

    The Third Man and Casablanca top my list, as well as Wings of Desire, N by NW, and Captains Courageous

  20. Darth Lolita says

    I'm always really tempted to make these, but I fear I haven't seen enough classical movies to really know where my tastes are.

    (Besides if I did, they'd probably list more than half of Quentin Tarantino's career)

  22. Mr. D says

    One of my many favorites that begs mentioning:

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

    "Gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the War Room."

  25. Naja Tau says

    Les Mis rocks! You get about an inch away from Anne Hathaway's makeupless face while she's singing- channeling the spirit of Judy Garland, and there's all these raw waves of emotion radiating from the screen…! *sob!* It's really something worth watching! I can't imagine what experiences Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman had to draw from in order to express such transparent emotional power in those performances- totally earned those Oscar nominations!

    Since I'm already juiced up about film, here's my list in no particular order!

    Sunset Boulevard
    The Asphalt Jungle
    Casablanca
    Alien
    The Dark Knight
    The Matrix
    The Last Unicorn
    A Streetcar Named Desire
    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
    Breakfast at Tiffany's
    Ong Bak the Thai Warrior
    Fist of Fury
    Don't Bother to Knock
    The Apartment
    The Heiress
    A Star is Born (Barbra Streisand)
    White Heat
    The Aviator
    Scarface (1932)
    Citizen Kane
    Pan's Labarynth
    Inception
    Pulp Fiction
    12 Angry Men
    All About Eve
    Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
    Psycho (original)
    Black Swan
    Ip Man
    Jurassic Park
    Arsenic and Old Lace
    Bringing Up Baby
    Yellow Submarine
    Rocky
    Predator
    The Legend of Drunken Master
    Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
    The Maltese Falcon
    Boys Don't Cry
    Monster
    Milk
    Gia
    Gone With the Wind
    Misery
    Fatal Attraction
    The Big Street
    What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
    What's Eating Gilbert Grape
    The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
    Some Like It Hot
    Edward Scissorhands
    The Simpsons Movie
    Top Hat
    The Gay Divorcee

    Those are only about fifty. *shrug* (By the way, Elf was pretty dang awesome!)

  26. Elisabeth Grace Foley says

    Hmmm…give me some time, and I might manage it. Whenever I try to make lists, my memory flies right out the window and I can't remember all the movies I've seen, let alone the ones I liked best!

    Since everybody must have one "You forgot this one!" moment…The Treasure of the Sierra Madre! Some of the finest foreshadowing I've ever seen in book or film.

  27. birdinabowler says

    I'm actually impressed that I've seen 16 of those movies. I'm usually not that familiar with movies I "should have" seen and get looks from my friends that say "What's wrong with you?! Why haven't you seen this?!" when we talk about movies.
    Thanks for making me feel a little more relevant, Nate.
    🙂

  29. Lori says

    What a fun post! Here are mine in no particular order:

    1. Boondock Saints
    2. Dead Man
    3. Benny and Joon
    4. Rear Window
    5. Phoebe in Wonderland
    6. Edward Scissorhands
    7. Groundhog Day
    8. Lars and the Real Girl
    9. La fée (The Fairy)
    10. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
    11. Monsieur Lazhar
    12. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    13. To Kill a Mockingbird
    14. Brigadoon
    15. The Wizard of Oz
    16. Star Wars: A New Hope
    17. Fargo
    18. Airplane!
    19. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    20. Garden State
    21. Chicago
    22. Gone With the Wind
    23. The Cider House Rules
    24. The Sting
    25. Deliverance
    26. The Dirty Dozen
    27. My Cousin Vinny
    28. Steel Magnolias
    29. Duel (the original with Dennis Weaver)
    30. Moonstruck
    31. My Left Foot
    32. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
    33. The Fast Runner
    34. You Kill Me
    35. The Sound of Music
    36. The Grapes of Wrath
    37. The Philadelphia Story
    38. It's a Wonderful Life
    39. Jaws
    40. Jean de Florette
    41. The Fastest Indian
    42. Ransom
    43. Braveheart
    44. Dance With Me (Japanese version)
    45. Tootsie
    46. Forrest Gump
    47. The Miracle Worker
    48. Mister Smith Goes to Washington
    49. Oklahoma!
    50. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    51. Il Postino
    52. Rabbit Proof Fence
    53. Saving Private Ryan
    54. The Quiet Man
    55. Rain Man
    56. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
    57. Office Space
    58. The Seven Year Itch
    59. Big
    60. Elf
    61. On the Town
    62. Shrek
    63. Austin Powers
    64. South Pacific
    65. Thelma & Louise
    66. Toy Story
    67. When Harry Met Sally
    68. The Princess Bride
    69. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    70. Field of Dreams
    71. The Natural
    72. Some Like It Hot
    73. As Good As It Gets
    74. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    75. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
    76. Harvey
    77. Last of the Mohicans
    78. Catch Me if You Can
    79. Jurassic Park
    80. Breakfast at Tiffany's
    81. The Lion King
    82. Back to the Future
    83. Dead Poets Society
    84. Apollo 13
    85. Rocky
    86. Kill Bill
    87. Sleepless in Seattle
    88. The Lord of the Rings
    89. The Godfather
    90. Dirty Dancing
    91. The Longest Day
    92. Pirates of the Caribbean
    93. Ed Wood
    94. Cinderella Man
    95. Boys Don't Cry
    96. Million Dollar Baby
    97. The Sixth Sense
    98. Gladiator
    99. The Gold Rush
    100. Wild Strawberries

  35. Dawn says

    Ok Nathan, these are not in perfect order. The first ones are at the top, but then it becomes less specific. There a quite a few that would then make my 150 favorite… Thanks for the challenge!
    Dawn at Tales From the Motherland- https://talesfromthemotherland.me/

    1. Dances With Wolves
    2. Stand By Me
    3. Princess Bride
    4. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
    5. Gladiator
    6. The Wizard of Oz
    7. Singing in the Rain
    8. It’s A Wonderful Life
    9. Star Wars
    10. The Empire Strikes Back
    11. Return of the Jedi
    12. Lawrence of Arabia
    13. The Godfather
    14. Sophie’s Choice
    15. Intouchables
    16. Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close
    17. The Artist
    18. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    19. Pulp Fiction
    20. Hook
    21. Schinderler’s List
    22. The Piano
    23. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    24. Titanic
    25. The Way We Were
    26. True Grit (the original)
    27. To Kill a Mockingbird
    28. Philadelphia Story
    29. Dr. Zhivago
    30. Last of the Mohicans
    31. 500 Days of Summer
    32. The Christmas Story
    33. Fellowship of the Ring
    34. The Two Towers
    35. Return of the King
    36. The Shawshank Redemption
    37. ET
    38. The Bridge on the River Kwai
    39. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
    40. The Sound of Music
    41. Mary Poppins
    42. Little Mermaid
    43. Forest Gump
    44. The Deer Hunter
    45. Platoon
    46. 12 Angry Men
    47. Breakfast at Tiffanys
    48. Simon Birch
    49. Big Fish
    50. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
    51. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragons
    52. American Beauty
    53. The Snowman
    54. Jurassic Park
    55. Rear Window
    56. Life is Beautiful
    57. Toy Story
    58. Amadeus
    59. Cinema Paradiso
    60. Braveheart
    61. The Apartment
    62. Midnight Express
    63. Cool Hand Luke
    64. Lion King
    65. Full Metal Jacket
    66. The King’s Speech
    67. The Departed
    68. Fargo
    69. Good Will Hunting
    70. Into the Wild
    71. Life of Pi
    72. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf
    73. The Ten Commandments
    74. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original)
    75. In the Name of the Father
    76. The Harry Potter series, for sentimental reasons
    77. Harold and Maude
    78. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
    79. Gone with the Wind
    80. The Usual Suspects
    81. The Pianist
    82. Au Revoir Les Enfants
    83. Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
    84. Gallipoli
    85. Dead Man Walking
    86. Deliverance
    87. The English Patient
    88. Fanny and Alexander
    89. Monty Python
    90. Gandhi
    91. In The Bedroom
    92. Jean De Florette
    93. The Killing Fields
    94. Argo
    95. Little Big Man
    96. Midnight Cowboy
    97. Like Water for Chocolate
    98. The Assassination of Jesse James (by the Coward Robert Ford)
    99. Taxi Driver
    100. Lincoln

  36. wendy says

    It IS a fun post as another poster commented. Thanks, Nathan! But this lists confirms we have nothing in common what-so-ever. Just as well we're not planning to date. *g* I can still admire from afar. 😉

  38. Matthew MacNish says

    Awesome list, Nathan! I'll try to get around to this. My mother was an actress and my father a stage manager, so film is a big love for me.

    Cool to see Clockers on your list, too. Have you read much Richard Price? I really truly enjoyed Lush Life, and if you haven't read it, I think you'd enjoy it's portrayal of New York.

  39. Matthew MacNish says

    And I could do a list, but I could never put it in order. How can I compare my love for The Empire Strikes Back with my love for The Fellowship of the Ring? Apples and Oranges viewed through rose tinted glasses.

    • Mary says

      Exactly! And what's considered the best? One that makes you feel sad, happy,disgusted or angry? Or something that you'd watch over and over?

  40. Mary says

    Really hard on a hardcore movie fan like myself! So many films, so many genres:

    1. The Big Lebowski
    2. Fargo
    3. No country for old men
    4.When Harry Met Sally
    5. Casino
    6.Saving Private Ryan
    7. Sixteen Candles
    8.500 Days of Summer
    9. Sense and Sensibility
    10.Platoon
    11. Raising Arizona
    12. The Thing(Kurt Russell)
    13.Jaws
    14. The Godfather
    15. Inglorious Basterds
    16. The Color Purple
    17. Django Unchained
    18. The Departed
    19. City of God
    20. Pan's Labyrinth
    21. The Wizard of Oz
    22. Lord of the Rings
    23. The Shawshank Redemption
    24. Schindlers List
    25. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    26.The Terminator
    27. Memento
    28.American Beauty
    29.The Shining
    30. Alien
    31. Aliens
    32. Up
    33. Braveheart
    34. Gran Torino
    35. Snatch
    36. Sin City
    37.Good Will Hunting
    38. Vacation
    39. Pulp Fiction
    40. Psycho
    41. Gone Baby Gone
    42.As Good As It Gets
    43. The Help
    44. Se7en
    45. Shaun of the Dead
    46. Reservoir Dogs
    47. Boys Don't Cry
    48. Star Wars
    49. Heathers
    50.Better Off Dead
    51. Carrie
    52. Gone With the Wind
    53. Empire Strikes Back
    54. Return of the Jedi
    55. Kill Bill : Vol. 1
    56. Kill Bill: Vol. 11
    57. Terms of Endearment
    58. Jurassic Park
    59. Moonrise Kingdom
    60. The Royal Tenenbaums
    61. Zombieland
    62. 28 Days Later
    63. Fatal Attraction
    64. Jagged Edge
    65. Dances With Wolves
    66. Thelma and Louise
    67. Boogie Nights
    68. The Hunger Games
    69. Juno
    70. The Bourne Identity
    71. American History X
    72. Gremlins
    73. The Descent
    74. Rushmore
    75. True Romance
    76. Wall-e
    77. True Grit
    78. Unforgiven
    79. There's Something About Mary
    80. Dumb and Dumber
    81. Ghostbusters
    82. Groundhog Day
    83. What About Bob?
    84. Stand By Me
    85. Mrs. Doubtfire
    86. Dawn of the Dead
    87. Home Alone
    88. Uncle Buck
    89. Last of the Mohicans
    90. City Slickers
    91. Meet the Parents
    92. The Accused
    93. Silence of the Lambs
    94. Weird Science
    95. A Time To Kill
    96. Rosemary's Baby
    97. Dangerous Liaisons
    98. Tootsie
    99. Office Space
    100. A Fish Called Wanda

  41. Mary says

    Sling Blade! How could I forget Sling Blade? Talk about great story and characters. I can't eat fries without busting out with my pitiful Carl imitation.

  42. Lexa Cain says

    I agree with most people's lists, and I'm happy to see ET and Jaws in there, but sorry not to see The Green Mile, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

  44. Gretchen says

    Wonderful topic to post about, Nathan! I wrote one about my top ten songs, and I can think about my top ten movies, but top 100 … ?? Wow, that's hard. But you've got me thinking. Which I like.

  45. Stela Pasic says

    1. 2012
    2. A Time To Kill
    3. A Walk in The Clouds
    4. Air Force One
    5. American Beauty
    6. Analyze This
    7. Armaggedon
    8. As Good As It Gets
    9. Avatar
    10. Cast Away
    11. Close encounters of the Third Kind
    12. Cocktail
    13. Coming to America
    14. Contact
    15. Dances With Wolves
    16. Day After Tomorrow
    17. Daylight
    18. Deep Impact
    19. Demolition Man
    20. Devil's Advocate
    21. Die Hard With A Vengeance
    22. Dirty Dancing
    23. Don't Mess with the Zohan
    24. Elizabeth
    25. Erin Brokovich
    26. Face Off
    27. Fallen
    28. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    29. Forrest Gump
    30. French Kiss
    31. Gattaca
    32. Ghost
    33. Gladiator
    34. Good Will Hunting
    35. Goonies
    36. Hotel Rwanda
    37. I am Legend
    38. I, Robot
    39. Independence Day
    40. Interview With the Vampire
    41. Jerry Maquire
    42. Kill Bill Vol. 1
    43. Kill Bill Vol. 2
    44. Kramer vs. Kramer
    45. Leon, The Professional
    46. Little Man Tate
    47. Love Actually
    48. Men in Black I
    49. Men in Black II
    50. Mickey Blue Eyes
    51. Minority Report
    52. Mission to Mars
    53. Mr.Holland's Opus
    54. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    55. My Stepmother is an Alien
    56. Nell
    57. Nick of Time
    58. Notting Hill
    59. Overboard
    60. Panic Room
    61. Phone Booth
    62. Poseidon
    63. Pretty Woman
    64. Prince Coming to America
    65. Pulp Fiction
    66. Scent of A Woman
    67. Schidler's List
    68. Seven
    69. Shrek
    70. Something's Gotta Give
    71. Speed
    72. Stargate
    73. Taken
    74. The Accused
    75. The American President
    76. The Birdcage
    77. The Bodyguard
    78. The Edge
    79. The Exorcist
    80. The Fifth Element
    81. The Game
    82. The Green Mile
    83. The Long Kiss Goodnight
    84. The Mirror Has Two Faces
    85. The Scorpion King
    86. The Shawshank Redemption
    87. The Silence of the Lambs
    88. The Sixth Sense
    89. The Terminator II, Judgment Day
    90. The Truth About Cats and Dogs
    91. The Usual Suspects
    92. District 9
    93. Titanic
    94. Total Recall
    95. True Lies
    96. Walk the Line
    97. War of the Worlds
    98. What Women Want
    99. Working Gril
    100. True Romance

  46. elizabethmarianaranjo.com says

    I love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! And Willy Wonka! Okay, I agree that despite popular opinion, The Godfather is better than part 2, but I also feel (despite popular opinion), Star Wars deserves to come before Empire on your list. Sorry.