Best Movies Of All Time

Voted by movie experts and fans

A notable lists of the best movies, are ranked by film critics and film fans alike. Taken into account was also popular suggestions from Ranker users.

The list span many genres and included movies that were recognized in their own time – including a number of Academy Award recipients and even Best Picture selections.

Many of the notable lists that rank the greatest movies of all time have enlisted thousands of movie-industry names to come up with a consensus of the best films. But when film critics are the only factor taken into account for such a list, the results may not reflect the most popular.

Check the 12 best movies ever made, according to popular ranking.

12. Citizen Kane


The 1941, American mystery drama film 'Citizen Kane' by Orson Welles as its producer, co-screenwriter, director and star. The picture was Welles's first feature film, nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.

Considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film of all time., the movie was “rediscovered” by American audiences and eventually achieving the legendary status it enjoys today at the top of many best movies lists.


11. Fight Club


'Fight Club' is one of the most controversial and talked about films of the 1990s. It had an incredible impact on popular culture and almost overnight Tyler Durden’s line, 'The first rule of Fight Club is, 'you do not talk about Fight Club,' became a popular quote of the decade.

Fight Club is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter.


10. Pulp Fiction


The 1994 American black comedy crime film 'Pulp Fiction' was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, from a story by Tarantino and Roger Avary. In this multi-strand crime movie, the story-line is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) and his wife, Mia (Uma Thurman).

Known for its eclectic dialogue, non-linear story line, and pop culture references, 'Pulp Fiction' was nominated for seven Oscars. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film festival in France.


9. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly


'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is the 1966 epic Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in their respective title roles. The Italian spaghetti western is well known for its cinematography and film score. The third film in the famous Dollars Trilogy,'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is often considered the most popular western of all time and the best movie in its genre.


8. The Dark Knight


One of the best movies of the 2000s, Dark Knight was the eleventh highest-grossing film of all time and received critical acclaim for both its powerful acting and haunting story-line. 'The Dark Knight' is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan.

Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's 'Batman Begins.'


7. Forrest Gump


The 1994, American comedy-drama film,'Forrest Gump' is a film adaptation of the book "Forrest Gump" by Winston Groom. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field.

The story depicts several decades of Forrest Gump's life, a slow-witted, kind-hearted, and athletically prodigious man from Alabama, who witnesses, and in some cases influences, some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States.


6. Schindler’s List


Based on the novel 'Schindler’s Ark' by Thomas Keneally, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, is a 1993, American epic historical period drama, which not only won seven Academy Awards, but also one of the greatest films of the century.

Spielberg chronicles the life of Oskar Schindler, a businessman living in World War II Germany who saved the lives of thousands of Jews by offering them employment.


5. Raiders of the Lost Ark


The Indiana Jones film franchise, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan, and produced by Frank Marshall for Lucasfilm Ltd.

Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.


4. Star Wars


Star Wars is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. The first release in the Star Wars franchise,starring, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness.

After struggling through the production phase and being released to mixed reviews, 'The Empire Strikes Back' eventually became not only the most popular film in the Star Wars Saga but also one of the top grossing movies of all time.


3. The Lord of the Rings trilogy


The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, is based on the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003).

The Return of the King won a groundbreaking 11 Academy Awards tying Titanic and Ben-Hur for the title of most awards won. It’s also the first and only fantasy film to have ever won the award for Best Picture. It established 'Lord of the Rings' as the highest grossing motion picture trilogy of all time.


2. The Shawshank Redemption


The 1994 American drama film,The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence.

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.


1. The Godfather


The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy. Winning six Academy Awards, The Godfather: Part II has been selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry and is widely considered one of the few examples in cinematic history where the sequel was on par with the original.

The film has one of the greatest casts, screenplays, and directors of all time and it had a significant impact on western culture known as the 'Godfather Effect.'

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