This is a list of the top 250 films as voted for by visitors to the IMDB, which is ever-changing as new films come and go, making the challenge even more difficult. My film-watching time is now pretty much non-existent since becoming a father, but one day I hope to be able to continue ticking off films on this list.
I have found this challenge very worthwhile, as without the list it’s very unlikely I would have watched such brilliant films as 12 Angry Men or Casabalanca. Of course, as with any list where the public is involved, there is never going to be total agreement (The Dark Knight shouldn’t be anywhere near the top 10, and Pirates of the Caribbean shouldn’t be anywhere the near list at all!)
So far I have seen 121 of the top 250 films, which is 48.4%.
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Godfather
- The Godfather: Part II
- Pulp Fiction
- Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il
- 12 Angry Men
- Schindler's List
- The Dark Knight
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
- Fight Club
- Inception
- Shichinin no samurai
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- Goodfellas
- Star Wars
- Cidade de Deus
- Casablanca
- The Matrix
- C'era una volta il West
- Rear Window
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- The Usual Suspects
- The Silence of the Lambs
- Se7en
- Psycho
- Forrest Gump
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Léon
- Memento
- Sunset Blvd.
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Apocalypse Now
- American History X
- North by Northwest
- Citizen Kane
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- American Beauty
- Saving Private Ryan
- Toy Story 3
- Taxi Driver
- Alien
- City Lights
- Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
- Vertigo
- The Shining
- Paths of Glory
- M
- Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le
- The Pianist
- The Departed
- Double Indemnity
- WALL·E
- Leben der Anderen, Das
- Modern Times
- A Clockwork Orange
- Aliens
- Lawrence of Arabia
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Vita è bella, La
- Back to the Future
- Requiem for a Dream
- Boot, Das
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Third Man
- The Prestige
- A Separation
- L.A. Confidential
- Chinatown
- The Green Mile
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- Nuovo cinema Paradiso
- The Great Dictator
- Gladiator
- Once Upon a Time in America
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Rashômon
- Full Metal Jacket
- Amadeus
- Some Like It Hot
- Ladri di biciclette
- Raging Bull
- Singin' in the Rain
- All About Eve
- Braveheart
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
- Metropolis
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Laberinto del Fauno, El
- Oldboy
- The Apartment
- Unforgiven
- Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
- The Sting
- Untergang, Der
- Mononoke-hime
- Inglourious Basterds
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- The Elephant Man
- On the Waterfront
- Up
- Die Hard
- The Lion King
- Sjunde inseglet, Det
- The Maltese Falcon
- Hotaru no haka
- Gran Torino
- The Great Escape
- Rebecca
- Yojimbo
- Batman Begins
- Per qualche dollaro in più
- Witness for the Prosecution
- The General
- Heat
- Snatch.
- Fargo
- Sin City
- Blade Runner
- Ran
- Smultronstället
- Touch of Evil
- The Artist
- Black Swan
- Toy Story
- Jaws
- Hotel Rwanda
- No Country for Old Men
- The King's Speech
- The Big Lebowski
- The Deer Hunter
- The Wizard of Oz
- Cool Hand Luke
- The Sixth Sense
- It Happened One Night
- Strangers on a Train
- Ikiru
- Scarface
- Annie Hall
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1
- Warrior
- High Noon
- Platoon
- The Kid
- Salaire de la peur, Le
- The Gold Rush
- Trainspotting
- Into the Wild
- Donnie Darko
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Notorious
- El secreto de sus ojos
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
- Gone with the Wind
- Million Dollar Baby
- The Thing
- There Will Be Blood
- Casino
- Amores perros
- Life of Brian
- Groundhog Day
- Ben-Hur
- Diaboliques, Les
- Finding Nemo
- Tonari no Totoro
- The Big Sleep
- The Best Years of Our Lives
- The Terminator
- How to Train Your Dragon
- The Graduate
- V for Vendetta
- Stand by Me
- Twelve Monkeys
- Dog Day Afternoon
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Good Will Hunting
- The Manchurian Candidate
- District 9
- Judgment at Nuremberg
- Network
- Gandhi
- Quatre cents coups, Les
- Mary and Max
- The Night of the Hunter
- Battaglia di Algeri, La
- 8½
- Persona
- Dial M for Murder
- The Princess Bride
- The Killing
- Hugo
- The Wrestler
- Ratatouille
- The Hustler
- Strada, La
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- The Passion of Joan of Arc
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Fanny och Alexander
- The Exorcist
- Hauru no ugoku shiro
- Scaphandre et le papillon, Le
- Stalag 17
- The Wild Bunch
- Sherlock Jr.
- Seppuku
- Star Trek
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Barry Lyndon
- Rocky
- Kind Hearts and Coronets
- Avatar
- Drive
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Notti di Cabiria, Le
- The Truman Show
- Mou gaan dou
- Festen
- A Beautiful Mind
- Rosemary's Baby
- Roman Holiday
- Låt den rätte komma in
- Mystic River
- Rope
- Ip Man
- Elite Squad 2
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
- Tokyo Story
- Magnolia
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Manhattan
- Big Fish
- In Bruges
- The Incredibles
- Stalker
- Beauty and the Beast
- Trois couleurs: Rouge
- Ed Wood
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- Monsters, Inc.
- Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
- Shutter Island
