I’ve never been a big fan of making “Top 100” film lists. It makes more sense to me to rate all the films I’ve seen and make a list of the top-rated films. Here are the 271 films that I rated 5 out of 5 stars, in chronological order.
- Intolerance (US, 1916) Dir: D.W. Griffith
- The Pawnshop (US, 1916) Dir. Charles Chaplin
- One A.M. (US, 1916) Dir: Charles Chaplin
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1920) Dir: Robert Weine
- Greed (US, 1924) Dir: Erich von Stroheim
- Sherlock Jr. (US, 1924) Dir: Buster Keaton
- The Gold Rush (US, 1925) Dir: Charles Chaplin
- Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein
- The General (US, 1926) Dir: Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman
- Napoleon (France, 1927) Dir: Abel Gance
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (US, 1927) Dir: F.W. Murnau
- The Passion of Joan of Arc (France, 1928) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Man with a Movie Camera (USSR 1929) Dir: Dziga Vertov
- Un Chien Andalou (France, 1929) Dir: Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dali
- L’Âge d’Or (France, 1930) Dir: Luis Buñuel
- City Lights (US, 1931) Dir: Charles Chaplin
- Trouble in Paradise (US, 1932) Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
- King Kong (US, 1933) Dir: Ernest Schoedsack & Merian Cooper
- Zéro de Conduite (France, 1933) Dir: Jean Vigo
- L’Atalante (France, 1934) Dir: Jean Vigo
- Bride of Frankenstein (US, 1935) Dir: James Whale
- Swing Time (US, 1936) Dir: George Stevens
- Modern Times (US, 1936) Dir: Charles Chaplin
- Grand Illusion (France, 1937) Dir: Jean Renoir
- Bringing Up Baby (US, 1938) Dir: Howard Hawks
- Stagecoach (US, 1939) Dir: John Ford
- The Rules of the Game (France, 1939) Dir: Jean Renoir
- The Wizard of Oz (US, 1939) Dir: Victor Fleming
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (US, 1939) Dir: Frank Capra
- Gone With the Wind (US, 1939) Dir: Victor Fleming
- His Girl Friday (US, 1940) Dir: Howard Hawks
- The Philadelphia Story (US, 1940) Dir: George Cukor
- The Lady Eve (US, 1941) Dir: Preston Sturges
- Citizen Kane (US, 1941) Dir: Orson Welles
- The Maltese Falcon (US, 1941) Dir: John Huston
- The Magnificent Ambersons (US, 1942) Dir: Orson Welles
- Casablanca (US, 1942) Dir: Michael Curtiz
- Shadow of a Doubt (US, 1943) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
- Double Indemnity (US, 1944) Dir: Billy Wilder
- Meet Me in St. Louis (US, 1944) Dir: Vincente Minnelli
- Ivan the Terrible, Part I (USSR, 1944) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein
- Children of Paradise (France, 1945) Dir: Marcel Carne
- Mildred Pierce (US, 1945) Dir: Michael Curtiz
- Rome, Open City (Italy, 1945) Dir: Roberto Rossellini
- Brief Encounter (UK, 1945) Dir: David Lean
- Shoe Shine (Italy, 1946) Dir: Vittorio De Sica
- Notorious (US, 1946) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
- The Big Sleep (US, 1946) Dir: Howard Hawks
- Beauty and the Beast (France, 1946) Dir: Jean Cocteau
- The Best Years of Our Lives (US, 1946) Dir: William Wyler
- My Darling Clementine (US, 1946) Dir: John Ford
- It’s a Wonderful Life (US, 1946) Dir: Frank Capra
- Great Expectations (UK, 1946) Dir: David Lean
- A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven) (UK, 1946) Dir: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
- Out of the Past (US, 1947) Dir: Jacques Tourneur
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (US, 1948) Dir: John Huston
- Bicycle Thieves (Italy, 1948) Dir: Vittorio de Sica
- Kind Hearts and Coronets (UK, 1949) Dir: Robert Hamer
- The Third Man (UK, 1949) Dir: Carol Reed
- White Heat (US, 1949) Dir: Raoul Walsh
- Sunset Blvd. (US, 1950) Dir: Billy Wilder
- Rashomon (Japan, 1950) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
- All About Eve (US, 1950) Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Diary of a Country Priest (France, 1951) Dir: Robert Bresson
- A Streetcar Named Desire (US, 1951) Dir: Elia Kazan
- The African Queen (US, 1951) Dir: John Huston
- Singin’ in the Rain (US, 1952) Dir: Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
- Ikiru (Japan, 1952) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
- Forbidden Games (France, 1952) Dir: René Clément
- The Life of Oharu (Japan, 1952) Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi
- The Naked Spur (US, 1953) Dir: Anthony Mann
- Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (France, 1953) Dir: Jacques Tati
- Ugetsu (Japan, 1953) Dir: Kenzo Mizoguchi
- The Band Wagon (US, 1953) Dir: Vincente Minnelli
- The Earrings of Madame de… (France, 1953) Dir: Max Ophüls
- Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953) Dir: Yasujiro Ozu
- Seven Samurai (Japan, 1954) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
- On the Waterfront (US, 1954) Dir: Elia Kazan
- La Strada (Italy, 1954) Dir: Federico Fellini
- A Star Is Born (US, 1954) Dir: George Cukor
- Night and Fog (France, 1955) Dir: Alain Resnais
- Kiss Me Deadly (US, 1955) Dir: Robert Aldrich
- The Night of the Hunter (US, 1955) Dir: Charles Laughton
- Pather Panchali (India, 1955) Dir: Satyajit Ray
- Ordet (Denmark, 1955) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer
- One Froggy Evening (US, 1955) Dir: Chuck Jones
- Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (India, 1956) Dir: Satyajit Ray
- The Searchers (US, 1956) Dir: John Ford
- A Man Escaped (France, 1956) Dir: Robert Bresson
- The Seventh Seal (Sweden, 1957) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- Nights of Cabiria (Italy, 1957) Dir: Federico Fellini
- Sweet Smell of Success (US, 1957) Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (UK, 1957) Dir: David Lean
- Wild Strawberries (Sweden, 1957) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- What’s Opera, Doc? (US, 1957) Dir: Chuck Jones
- Touch of Evil (US, 1958) Dir: Orson Welles
- Vertigo (US, 1958) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
- Ivan the Terrible, Part II (USSR, 1958) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein
- Some Like It Hot (US, 1959) Dir: Billy Wilder
- The World of Apu (India, 1959) Dir: Satyajit Ray
- The 400 Blows (France, 1959) Dir: Francois Truffaut
- Hiroshima Mon Amour (France, 1959) Dir: Alain Resnais
- Anatomy of a Murder (US, 1959) Dir: Otto Preminger
- La Dolce Vita (Italy, 1960) Dir: Federico Fellini
- Breathless (France, 1960) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
- Peeping Tom (UK, 1960) Dir: Michael Powell
- The Virgin Spring (Sweden, 1960) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- L’Avventura (Italy, 1960) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
- The Apartment (US, 1960) Dir: Billy Wilder
- Viridiana (Spain/Mexico, 1961) Dir: Luis Buñuel
- Jules and Jim (France, 1962) Dir: Francois Truffaut
- La Jetée (France, 1962) Dir: Chris Marker
- Cosmic Ray (US, 1962) Dir: Bruce Conner
- Knife in the Water (Poland, 1962) Dir: Roman Polanski
- The Exterminating Angel (Mexico, 1962) Dir: Luis Buñuel
- Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) (France, 1962) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
- The Manchurian Candidate (US, 1962) Dir: John Frankenheimer
- Lawrence of Arabia (UK, 1962) Dir: David Lean
- The Trial (France, 1962) Dir: Orson Welles
- Cléo From 5 to 7 (France, 1962) Dir: Agnès Varda
- 8 ½ (Italy, 1963) Dir: Federico Fellini
- The Servant (UK, 1963) Dir: Joseph Losey
- The Leopard (Italy, 1963) Dir: Luchino Visconti
- Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb (UK, 1964) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
- Band of Outsiders (France, 1964) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italy, 1964) Dir: Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Repulsion (UK, 1965) Dir: Roman Polanski
- Darling (UK, 1965) Dir: John Schlesinger
- Chimes at Midnight (Spain, 1965) Dir: Orson Welles
- Ruka (The Hand) (Czechoslovakia, 1965) Dir: Jiří Trnka
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (US, 1966) Dir: Mike Nichols
- Blow-Up (Italy/UK, 1966) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italy, 1966) Dir: Sergio Leone
- Persona (Sweden, 1966) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- The Battle of Algiers (Italy/Algeria, 1966) Dir: Gillo Pontecorvo
- Belle de Jour (France, 1967) Dir: Luis Buñuel
- Bonnie and Clyde (US, 1967) Dir: Arthur Penn
- Play Time (France, 1967) Dir: Jacques Tati
- The Graduate (US, 1967) Dir: Mike Nichols
- Weekend (France, 1967) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
- De Düva: The Dove (US, 1968) Dir: George Coe & Anthony Lover
- Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (US, 1968) Dir: William Greaves
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (UK/US, 1968) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
- Faces (US, 1968) Dir: John Cassavetes
- Night of the Living Dead (1968) Dir: George Romero
- Midnight Cowboy (US, 1969) Dir: John Schlesinger
- Women in Love (UK, 1969) Dir: Ken Russell
- Kes (UK, 1969) Dir: Ken Loach
- My Night at Maud’s (France, 1969) Dir: Eric Rohmer
- M*A*S*H (US, 1970) Dir: Robert Altman
- Five Easy Pieces (US, 1970) Dir: Bob Rafelson
- The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Italy, 1970) Dir: Vittorio de Sica
- The Conformist (Italy/France, 1970) Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci
- The Last Picture Show (US, 1971) Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
- A Clockwork Orange (UK, 1971) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
- Harold and Maude (US, 1971) Dir: Hal Ashby
- The Godfather (US, 1972) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France, 1972) Dir: Luis Buñuel
- Last Tango in Paris (France/Italy, 1972) Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci
- Cries and Whispers (Sweden, 1972) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- Aguirre, the Wrath of God (West Germany, 1972) Dir: Werner Herzog
- Badlands (US, 1973) Dir: Terence Malick
- The Conversation (US, 1974) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
- Chinatown (US, 1974) Dir: Roman Polanski
- The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (West Germany, 1974) Dir: Werner Herzog
- A Woman Under the Influence (US, 1974) Dir: John Cassavetes
- Swept Away… (Italy, 1974) Dir: Lina Wertmüller
- The Godfather: Part II (US, 1974) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
- Mirror (USSR, 1975) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
- Nashville (US, 1975) Dir: Robert Altman
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (US, 1975) Dir: Milos Forman
- Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Belgium/France, 1975) Dir: Chantal Akerman
- Taxi Driver (US, 1976) Dir: Martin Scorsese
- Eraserhead (US, 1977) Dir: David Lynch
- 3 Women (US, 1977) Dir: Robert Altman
- Annie Hall (US, 1977) Dir: Woody Allen
- The Marriage of Maria Braun (West Germany, 1979) Dir: Rainer Maria Fassbinder
- Apocalypse Now (US, 1979) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
- Being There (US, 1979) Dir: Hal Ashby
- Return of the Secaucus Seven (US, 1980) Dir: John Sayles
- Atlantic City (US/Canada 1980) Dir: Louis Malle
- Stardust Memories (US, 1980) Dir: Woody Allen
- Raging Bull (US, 1980) Dir: Martin Scorsese
- My Dinner with Andre (US, 1981) Dir: Louis Malle
- Fanny and Alexander (Sweden, 1982) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
- Local Hero (UK, 1983) Dir: Bill Forsyth
- The King of Comedy (US, 1983) Dir: Martin Scorsese
- Baby It’s You (US, 1983) Dir: John Sayles
- This Is Spinal Tap (US, 1984) Dir: Rob Reiner
- Jumping (Japan, 1984) Dir: Osamu Tezuka
- Brazil (US, 1985) Dir: Terry Gilliam
- Hannah and Her Sisters (US, 1986) Dir: Woody Allen
- The Sacrifice (USSR/(Sweden, 1986) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
- Blue Velvet (US, 1986) Dir: David Lynch
- The Singing Detective (UK, 1986) Dir: John Amiel (TV)
- Raising Arizona (US, 1987) Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
- Wings of Desire (West Germany, 1987) Dir: Wim Wenders
- The Thin Blue Line (US, 1988) Dir: Errol Morris
- The Vanishing (The Netherlands, 1988) Dir: George Sluizer
- sex, lies, and videotape (US, 1989) Dir: Steve Soderbergh
- Say Anything… (US, 1989) Dir: Cameron Crowe
- Do the Right Thing (US, 1989) Dir: Spike Lee
- Crimes and Misdemeanors (US, 1989) Dir: Woody Allen
- The Decalogue (Poland, 1989) Dir: Krzysztof Kieślowski (TV)
- Unforgiven (US, 1992) Dir: Clint Eastwood
- Groundhog Day (US, 1993) Dir: Harold Ramis
- Naked (UK, 1993) Dir: Mike Leigh
- Short Cuts (US, 1993) Dir: Robert Altman
- The Wrong Trousers (UK, 1993) Dir: Nick Park
- Schindler’s List (US, 1993) Dir: Steven Spielberg
- Pulp Fiction (US, 1994) Dir: Quentin Tarantino
- Ed Wood (US, 1994) Dir: Tim Burton
- Before Sunrise (US, 1995) Dir: Richard Linklater
- Pride and Prejudice (UK, 1995) Dir: Simon Langton (TV)
- Fargo (US, 1996) Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
- Secrets & Lies (UK, 1996) Dir: Mike Leigh
- Lone Star (US, 1996) Dir: John Sayles
- Microcosmos (France, 1996) Dir: Claude Nuridsany & Marie Pérennou
- The Sweet Hereafter (Canada, 1997) Dir: Atom Egoyan
- Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (US, 1997) Dir: Errol Morris
- Boogie Nights (US, 1997) Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Happiness (US, 1998) Dir: Todd Solondz
- The Celebration (Denmark, 1998) Dir: Thomas Vinterberg
- Rushmore (US, 1998) Dir: Wes Anderson
- All About My Mother (Spain, 1999) Dir: Pedro Almodóvar
- Being John Malkovich (US, 1999) Dir: Spike Jonze
- Magnolia (US, 1999) Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Taiwan, 2000) Dir: Edward Yang
- In the Mood for Love (China, 2000) Dir: Wong Kar-Wai
- Requiem for a Dream (US, 2000) Dir: Darren Aronofsky
- Songs from the Second Floor (Sweden, 2000) Dir: Roy Andersson
- Traffic (US, 2000) Dir: Steven Soderbergh
- Waking Life (US, 2001) Dir: Richard Linklater
- Fat Girl (France, 2001) Dir: Catherine Breillat
- Mulholland Dr. (US, 2001) Dir: David Lynch
- Moulin Rouge! (US, 2001) Dir: Baz Luhrmann
- The Royal Tenenbaums (US, 2001) Dir: Wes Anderson
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (US/NZ 2001) Dir: Peter Jackson
- Talk to Her (Spain, 2002) Dir: Pedro Almodóvar
- Dogville (Denmark, 2003) Dir: Lars von Trier
- Capturing the Friedmans (US, 2003) Dir: Andrew Jarecki
- American Splendor (US, 2003) Dir: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (US/NZ 2003) Dir: Peter Jackson
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (US, 2004) Dir: Michel Gondry
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (US, 2004) Dir: Michael Moore
- Downfall (Germany, 2004) Dir: Oliver Hirschbiegel
- Tarnation (US, 2004) Dir: Jonathan Caouette
- Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (US/India) Dir: Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman
- Grizzly Man (US, 2005) Dir: Werner Herzog
- The Lives of Others (Germany, 2006) Dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmark
- Once (Ireland, 2006) Dir: John Carney
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania, 2007) Dir: Cristian Mungiu
- Encounters at the End of the World (US, 2007) Dir: Werner Herzog
- Juno (US, 2007) Dir: Jason Reitman
- No Country for Old Men (US, 2007) Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
- Slumdog Millionaire (UK, 2008) Dir: Danny Boyle
- Food, Inc. (US, 2008) Dir: Robert Kenner
- The White Ribbon (Germany/Austria 2009) Dir: Michael Haneke
- Cave of Forgotten Dreams (US, 2010) Dir: Werner Herzog
- The Tree of Life (US, 2011) Dir: Terence Malick
- Moonrise Kingdom (US, 2012) Dir: Wes Anderson
- The Act of Killing (Denmark, 2012) Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer
- Boyhood (US, 2014) Dir: Richard Linklater
- Anomalisa (US, 2015) Dir: Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
- Moonlight (US, 2016) Dir: Barry Jenkins
- The Florida Project (US, 2017) Dir: Sean Baker
- The Favourite (Ireland/UK/US, 2018) Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
- The Souvenir (UK, 2019) Dir: Joanna Hogg
- The Irishman (US, 2019) Dir: Martin Scorsese
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things (US, 2020) Dir: Charlie Kaufman
- Aftersun (US/UK, 2022) Dir: Charlotte Wells
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Not sure if you have seen these or they just didn’t make your ‘5 star’ list
Cool Hand Luke
Good Fellas
Miller’s Crossing
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Once Upon a time in the West
The Usual Suspects
Thanks for the list, Arch. Some great films there. The only one I haven’t seen yet is Miller’s Crossing, but I have it in my queue.
The other films I’ve rated as follows:
Cool Hand Luke: 4.0
Good Fellas: 4.5
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: 4.0
Once Upon a time in the West: 4.0
The Usual Suspects: 4.0
Also,
Chariots of Fire [1981]
Amadeus [1984]
and my favorite ‘whodunit’ of all-time … little known movie ‘The last of Sheila’ [1973]
I love your list of your own favorite films, not least because it’s not afflicted with a bias for recent movies. My own list (out of date because I haven’t kept it up the last 20 or 30 years) included only movies at least five years into original release. Mine is also much less generous than yours. Only about 30 movies get the top ranking. Possibly it’s evidence I’m more snobbish than you, possibly that I’m hard-hearted. But it pleased me to see so many of my favorite films on your list.
If you’re curious, I’d be glad to send along my outdated list, but it wouldn’t have many surprises, I think, and mostly surprises of omission. . .
I’d love to see the list, Sam!