List of films considered the best

While there is no general agreement upon the greatest film, many publications and organizations have tried to determine the films considered the best. Each film listed here has been mentioned in a notable survey, whether a popular poll, or a poll among film reviewers. Many of these sources focus on American films or were polls of English-speaking film-goers, but those considered the greatest within their respective countries are also included here. Many films are widely considered among the best ever made, whether they appear at #1 on each list or not. For example, many believe that Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made, and it appears as #1 on AFI's Best Movies list, whereas The Empire Strikes Back is #1 on the Empire magazine's Top 301 List.

None of the surveys that produced these citations should be viewed as a scientific measurement of the opinions of film viewers. Each may suffer the effects of vote stacking or skewed demographics. Internet-based surveys have a self-selected audience of unknown participants. The methodology of some surveys may be questionable. Sometimes (as in the case of the American Film Institute) voters were asked to select films from a limited list of entries.

Critics and filmmakers

Sight & Sound poll

Every decade, the British film magazine Sight & Sound asks an international group of film professionals to vote for the greatest film of all time. The Sight & Sound accolade has come to be regarded as one of the most important of the "greatest ever film" lists. The American film critic Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies—the only one most serious movie people take seriously."^[1]

• Citizen Kane (1941) by Orson Welles was voted #1 in the five Sight & Sound critics' polls from 1962 to 2002.^[2] A separate Sight & Sound poll of established film directors, held for the first time in 1992, also placed Citizen Kane at the top in 1992 and 2002.^[2]
• Bicycle Thieves (1948) by Vittorio De Sica topped the first Sight & Sound critics' poll, in 1952. It also came #7 in 1962 and #6 in 2002.^[2] It also came #10 in the 2012 directors' poll.^[3]
• Tokyo Story (1953) by Yasujirō Ozu topped the Sight & Sound directors' poll in 2012, dethroning Citizen Kane.^[3] Tokyo Story also appeared in the Sight & Sound critics' poll at third place in 1992, fifth in 2002, and third in 2012.^[4]
• Vertigo (1958) by Alfred Hitchcock topped the Sight & Sound critics' poll in 2012, dethroning Citizen Kane.^[3] It also came #7 in 1982, #4 in 1992, and #2 in 2002.^[2] In the directors' poll, it came #6 in 1992 and 2002,^[2] and #7 in 2012.^[3]
• La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) (1939) by Jean Renoir is the only movie to have appeared in every one of the Sight & Sound critics' polls; its only appearance in the directors' poll was #9 in 2002.

For the full list published in 2012, see The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time.

Brussels World's Fair's international poll

The Brussels World's Fair, organized in 1958, offered the occasion for the organization by thousands of critics and filmmakers from all over the world, of the first universal film poll in history.^[5] These were the films chosen as most artistically fulfilled:^[6][7][8][9]

Rank	Film	Director	Year
1	Броненосец Потёмкин (Battleship Potemkin)	Sergei Eisenstein	1925
2	The Gold Rush	Charles Chaplin	1925
3	Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves)	Vittorio De Sica	1948
4	La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc)	Carl Theodor Dreyer	1928
5	La Grande Illusion (Grand Illusion)	Jean Renoir	1937
6	Greed	Erich von Stroheim	1924
7	Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages	D. W. Griffith	1916
8	Мать (Mother)	Vsevolod Pudovkin	1926
9	Citizen Kane	Orson Welles	1941
10	Земля (Earth)	Alexander Dovzhenko	1930
11	Der letzte Mann (The Last Laugh)	F.W. Murnau	1924
12	Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)	Robert Wiene	1920

Rotten Tomatoes

In the Rotten Tomatoes ranking, The Wizard of Oz (1939) is in 1st place.^[10] The top 10 movies with the highest score also compiled in the list—they are:

Top 10 positions from Rotten Tomatoes "Top 100 Movies of All Time"

N	Movies	Year	Rating	No. of reviews
1	The Wizard of Oz	1939	99%	108 [11]
2	The Third Man	1949	100%	76[12]
3	Citizen Kane	1941	100%	70[13]
4	All About Eve	1950	100%	63[14]
5	Modern Times	1936	100%	53[15]
6	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari	1920	100%	48[16]
7	The Godfather	1972	99%	84[17]
8	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	1982	98%	112[18]
9	A Hard Day's Night	1964	99%	101[19]
10	Metropolis	1927	99%	115[20]

*Eligible movies must have more than 40 reviews from critics. The rankings based on Adjusted Score.

Metacritic

Metacritic lists almost 9,000 movies ranked by score.^[21] As of December 30, 2015, the top 10 movies are:

Top 10 positions from Metacritic "Best Movies of All Time"

N	Movies	Released date	Score
1	Boyhood	Jul 11, 2014	100/100[22]
2	Pan's Labyrinth	Dec 29, 2006	98/100[23]
3	Hoop Dreams	Oct 14, 1994	98/100[24]
4	4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days	Jan 23, 2008	97/100[25]
5	12 Years A Slave	Oct 18, 2013	97/100[26]
6	Dr. Strangelove	Jan 29, 1964	96/100[27]
7	Ratatouille	Jun 29, 2007	96/100[28]
8	Gravity	Oct 4, 2013	96/100[29]
9	Carol	Nov 20, 2015	95/100[30]
10	The Social Network	Oct 1, 2010	95/100[31]

Audience polls

• Casablanca (1942) was voted the greatest film by readers of the Los Angeles Daily News in 1997.^[32] It is also regarded the "best Hollywood movie of all time" by the influential Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.^[33] On April 7, 2006, the Writers' Guild of America declared Casablanca's screenplay the best ever written.^[34]
• Gone with the Wind (1939) was voted the favorite film of Americans in a poll undertaken by Harris Interactive in 2008, and again in a follow-up poll in 2014. In both instances Star Wars was ranked in second place.^[35][36] Gone with the Wind was also picked as the best film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[37]
• Himala (Miracle) (1982) by Ishmael Bernal won the 2008 CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards Viewers Choice as "Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time" (voted for by thousands of film fans around the world).^{[38][39][40][41]}
• Raise the Red Lantern (1991) was voted the best Asian film in another audience poll conducted by MovieMail in 2000. It was followed by The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) at second place.^[42]
• Schindler's List (1993) was voted the best film ever made by the German film magazine Cinema.^[43]
• Seven Samurai (1954) was voted #1 in an audience poll conducted by MovieMail in 2000. It was followed by The Third Man (1949) in second place.^[42]
• Star Wars (1977) and its sequel The Empire Strikes Back (1980) were chosen as the greatest films by readers of Empire magazine in November 2001 and by voters in a Channel 4 (Film4) poll.^[44] Star Wars is also the highest ranking sci-fi film in both versions of the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time (ranked #15 in the original list, and #13 in the updated list). The Empire Strikes Back was voted #1 in Total Film's Top 100 Movies of All Time,^[45] and #1 in the 2006 Empire "Greatest Movies Ever" special.^[46]
• The Godfather (1972) was voted #1 by Entertainment Weekly's readers^[47] and voted as #1 in a Time Out readers' poll in 1998.^[48] The film was also voted as the "Greatest Movie of All Time" in September 2008 by 10,000 readers of Empire magazine, 150 people from the movie business and 50 film critics.^[49] The Godfather was selected as the best gangster movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50] In 2014, The Hollywood Reporter undertook an industry poll by sending a ballot to every studio, agency, publicity firm and production house in the Hollywood district. The Godfather was voted the top film by 2,120 industry members.^[51] It is the highest rated film on Metacritic with 100, tops the Rotten Tomatoes list of the best drama movies,^[52] and was chosen as the greatest crime film out of 25 movies by the IGN website in 2011.^[53] Its sequel, The Godfather Part II, (1974) was voted best movie ever by TV Guide readers^[54] in 1998.
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) was voted the most popular film of all time by an audience poll for the Australian television special My Favourite Film and by a poll cast by 120,000 German voters for the TV special "Die besten Filme aller Zeiten" (German "The best films of all time").^[55] Its first film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), was the pick of readers in a poll by Empire magazine in November 2004.^[56]
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was voted the best film not to have won an Academy Award in a 2004 Radio Times poll and again in 2008.^[57] The film is ranked #1 on FilmCrave.com's top 100 movies list^[58] It holds a high score on Rotten Tomatoes within the community, at 91%.^[59]

Particular genres or media

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Action

• Seven Samurai (1954) is the highest rated (100% positive) movie at Rotten Tomatoes, with the highest number of critics (57) voting as such, that is listed as an action movie on the site as of 2015-09.^[60]
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is the highest rated, based on adjusted average over a large voting base (in this case, 300 critics) movie at Rotten Tomatoes, that is listed as an action movie on the site as of 2015-09.^[60]
• Mad Max 2 (1981), also known as The Road Warrior, was claimed to be the greatest action film of all time in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine in 2015-01.^[61]
• Fist of Fury (1972),^[62] Enter the Dragon (1973),^[63] Five Deadly Venoms (1978),^[64] The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978),^[65] Magnificent Butcher (1979)^[66] and Drunken Master II (1994)^[67][68][69] have often been cited as the best action martial arts films. All of the aforementioned movies were Hong Kong productions.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was chosen as the best action film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[70] Sites such Moviefone^[71] and IGN ^[72] also placed the film as the #1 greatest action movie of all time.
• The Terminator (1984)^[60][73] along with its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991),^[74][75] Aliens (1986),^[60][72][76] and The Matrix (1999) ^[71] are often the highest ranking and most positively reviewed action science fiction films.^[77]
• Die Hard (1988) is often voted the greatest action film of all time. It is also considered to be a landmark in action film history.^[78][79][80]

Animation

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) by Walt Disney was selected as the best American animated movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10 in 2008.^[50]
• Pinocchio (1940) by Walt Disney was ranked as the #1 greatest animated movie by Time magazine in 2011.^[81]
• The Russian animated films Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) and Tale of Tales (1979) by Yuri Norshtein have been voted as the greatest animated films ever in particular festivals.^[82]
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his own 1982 manga of the same name, was the highest-ranked film in an audience poll of best anime movie/series conducted by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2007.^[83]
• My Neighbor Totoro (1988) by Miyazaki was ranked at #1 in Time Out's list of top 50 greatest animated films.^[84] It is also the highest-ranking animated film in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll for the greatest films of all time.^[85]
• Akira (1988) by Katsuhiro Otomo is considered the greatest anime film ever made on the top ten anime lists at MovieCricket^[86] and Screen Junkies.^[87]
• Grave of the Fireflies (1988) by Isao Takahata topped the Rotten Tomatoes list of best anime films,^[88] and is the highest-ranking animation in Time Out magazine's "50 greatest World War II movies" list^[89] and Empire magazine's "Top 10 Depressing Movies" list.^[90]
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) is the highest rated live-action/animated hybrid film on film aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, and has scored an almost perfect rating of 98%.^[91] The film was also ranked as the best animated/live action hybrid film by Entertainment Weekly in 2011.^[92]
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) is #1 on IGN's Top 25 Animated Movies of All Time list in 2010.^[93]
• The Lion King (1994) was chosen as the best animated film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time in 2011.^[94]
• Toy Story (1995) was voted #1 on the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time by the Online Film Critics Society (list published March 2003).^[95] The film was also ranked as the greatest animated movie by Moviefone ^[96] and Total Film.^[97]
• Toy Story 2 (1999) topped a Rotten Tomatoes poll of the 50 best animated movies ever made.^[98] It is also #1 on their list of the best kids movies,^[99] and is #1 on the Movie Review Query Engine's list of the best animated movies.^[100] The original and the sequel hold a perfect 100% score at Rotten Tomatoes.^[101][102]
• Spirited Away (2001) by Miyazaki is the highest-ranking animation in Empire magazine's "100 Best Films of World Cinema" list^[103] and the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' & directors' poll.^[104]
• WALL-E (2008) was ranked as the greatest animated movie ever by Entertainment Weekly.^[105]
• The Wind Rises (2013) was named by Film.com "Perhaps the greatest animated film ever made."^[106]
• Frozen (2013) was called the best animated movie ever by The Celebrity Café.^[107] GeekTyrant stated that Frozen is Disney animation and storytelling at its best.^[108] A review of the film from Forbes stated "I'm not one to explicitly rank each Disney animated feature in order of qualitative superiority. [...] But if I were to rank the films, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck's Frozen would be frighteningly close to the top of the list."^[109] The Weekly Standard stated that "Frozen is—hands down—the best animated film of all time."^[110]
• Inside Out (2015) topped Rotten Tomatoes' Top 100 Animation Movies list with a 98% score based on 301 reviews.^[111] The film also has the highest position of a 21st-century film on the site's Top 100 Movies of All Time list at number 13.^[112]

Christmas

• A Christmas Story (1983) is AOL's #1 Christmas movie of all time^[113] and IGN's top holiday-themed movie of all time.^[114]
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is #1 on the Movie Review Query Engine's list of the best holiday movies,^[115] and also topped AFI's 100 Years…100 Cheers list.^[116] It also tops Rotten Tomatoes' Best Christmas Movies list.^[117]
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) is ranked #7 on Rotten Tomatoes' Best Christmas Movies list.^[117]
• Die Hard (1988) was voted Empire Magazine's "The Greatest Christmas Film of All Time" in 2010,^[118] and the eighth best in Rotten Tomatoes' list.^[117]
• Lethal Weapon (1987) is commonly voted among the best action-Christmas films of all time.^[119]

Comedy

• Airplane! (1980) was chosen as the best comedy for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[120]
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is the highest reviewed comedy movie at Rotten Tomatoes, with an almost perfect score of 99%.^[121] It also has a Metacritic score of 96/100, one of the website's highest rated comedy movies.^[122]
• Ghostbusters (1984) was ranked first by IGN as the best comedy in their list of Top 25 Best Comedies Of All Time.^[123]
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was named the best British comedy picture of all time in a 2004 poll by the UK arm of Amazon.^[124]
• Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) was voted the greatest comedy ever in polls conducted by Total Film magazine in 2000,^[125] the British TV networks Channel 4 in 2006 ^[126] and Five in 2007, and The Guardian newspaper in 2007.^[127]
• National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) was voted #1 on the Bravo list of funniest movies of all time.^[128]
• Some Like It Hot (1959) was listed Best American Film Comedy by the American Film Institute in June 2000.^[129]
• City Lights (1931) was selected as the best romantic comedy ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50]
• Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) is ranked sixth in the BFI Top 100 British films and is the highest ranked comedy.

Comic book/superhero

See Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in the acclaimed animated films section above.

• Akira (1988) is the highest-ranking animated film on lists of best comic book movies published by Movie Review Query Engine,^[130] Film4^[131] and Total Film,^[132] as well as the highest-ranking comic book adaptation on IGN's top 25 animated movies of all time in 2010,^[93] and Complex magazine's Best Animated Movies of All Time list.^[133]
• The Dark Knight Trilogy was collectively ranked as #1 on Newsarama's top ten comic book movies list.^[134] The Dark Knight (2008) was voted the greatest superhero movie in a reader's poll conducted by Rolling Stone magazine,^[135] and #1 on lists published by Rotten Tomatoes,^[136][137] Movie Review Query Engine,^[130] AskMen,^[138] IGN^[139] The Guardian,^[140] Total Film,^[132] and TheStreet.com.^[141] The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment, is considered the best comic book superhero movie in a list published by Forbes in 2012.^[142]
• Death Note (2006) was chosen as the best live-action film based on a manga comic in a Japanese audience poll conducted by the Goo Research online monitor group.^[143]
• Ghost in the Shell (1995) is the highest-ranking film based on a manga comic on Rotten Tomatoes' Comics & Graphic Novels Vs. The Critics list in order of critical approval.^[137]
• Oldboy (2003) is the highest ranking film based on a manga comic on Empire Magazine's lists of the 500 greatest movies of all time,^[144] as well as Empire's The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema list.^[145] It is the only comic book adaptation to be named one of the ten best Asian films ever made in a 2008 poll conducted by CNN.^[146]
• The Avengers (2012) was ranked #1 in the 2012 edition of SFX's Top 50 Superhero Movies Of All Time list,^[147] and the best comic book movie of all time in a list published by Film4 in order of critical approval.^[131]
• The Incredibles (2004) was ranked #1 in Time magazine's list of top ten greatest superhero films in 2011.^[148] It is also the highest ranking animated superhero film in a reader's poll conducted by Rolling Stone magazine,^[135] and on countdown lists published by media outlets such as IGN in 2010,^[93] SFX in 2012,^[147] The Guardian in 2013,^[140] and the Houston Chronicle in 2014.^[149]
• Persepolis (2007) was the highest ranking graphic novel adaptation on a list of best animated movies ever published by Entertainment Weekly.^[150]
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) was #1 on Rotten Tomatoes' Comix Worst to Best list in 2007.^[151]
• X2 (2003) was voted #1 in Empire Magazine's list of the 20 Greatest Comic Book Movies in 2006.^[152]

Courtroom

• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) was selected as the best courtroom drama ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10 list.^[50]
• 12 Angry Men (1957) was selected as the second-best courtroom drama ever by the American Film Institute during their AFI's 10 Top 10 list^[153] and is the highest courtroom drama on Rotten Tomatoes's Top 100 Movies of All Times.^[154]

Crime/gangster

See also The Godfather and The Godfather Part II in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

• Chinatown (1974) was named the best crime film of all time by The Guardian.^[155]
• Pulp Fiction (1994) was ranked the greatest film of the past 25 years (1983-2008) by Entertainment Weekly.^[156]
• Goodfellas (1990) was listed as the greatest film of all time by Total Film.^[157]

Disaster

• The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was voted best disaster movie in a poll commissioned by UCI cinemas in May 2004.^[158]

Documentary

• Man with a Movie Camera (1929) was voted the greatest documentary ever by 200 curators and critics and 100 film makers, many of whom were documentary specialists, in a 2014 poll organised by Sight & Sound.^[159] It is also the highest placed documentary in The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time.
• Bowling for Columbine (2002), Michael Moore's controversial documentary relating to gun control and the culture of fear in the United States, heads the list of 20 all-time favorite non-fiction films selected by members of the International Documentary Association (IDA).^[160][161]
• Grey Gardens (1975), the Maysles Brothers' documentary about former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's eccentric aunt and cousin Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, was ranked as one of the greatest documentaries of all time by the International Documentary Association.^[162] The film holds an 89% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[163]
• The Seven Up! series (1964–) was voted as the greatest ever documentary in a Channel 4 poll of the 50 Greatest Documentaries in 2005.^[164]
• The Last Waltz (1978) is considered one of the greatest concert documentaries ever created, and has been deemed as such by Total Film,^[165] Michael Worthington of the Chicago Tribune,^[166] and by Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a 97% favorable rating.^[167]

Of the first 250 films in the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound poll, some are documentaries. The first five to appear are as follows:

• 8 - Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
• 29 - Shoah (1985)
• 48 - Histoire(s) du cinema (1998)
• 69 - Sans soleil (1983)
• 202 - Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003)^[168]

Epic

• Seven Samurai (1954) was the highest-ranking epic film in the 1982 Sight & Sound critics' poll.^[2]
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was voted best epic by readers of Total Film in May 2004. It was selected as the best epic movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50]

Fantasy

• The Wizard of Oz (1939) was selected as the best American fantasy movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50]
• Spirited Away (2001) is the highest-ranking animated film on "The 25 best sci-fi and fantasy films of all time" list published by The Guardian, and the second highest-ranking fantasy film on the list after The Wizard of Oz.^[169]
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) It is the only film in the genre to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also won 11 Academy Awards, the highest number of any film ever made (tying with Ben-Hur and Titanic). It is also the only film in history having won Best Film awards from the Academy, BAFTA, Empire, Golden Globe, Hugo, MTV, and Saturn Awards.

High school

• The Breakfast Club (1985) ranks at #1 on Entertainment Weekly's list of best high school movies.^[170] Other films written and directed by John Hughes, namely Weird Science, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink, are also often considered epitomal high school, and by extension, teenage coming of age films,^[171] as are the other nicknamed "Brat Pack" '80s films.
• Blackboard Jungle (1955) was listed as #1 best movie about high school on Newsweek/The Daily Beast.^[172]
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) was ranked #1 on Moviefone's list of Best High School Movies of All Time.^[173]

Horror/monster/thriller

• The Thing (1982) ranks #1 on The Boston Globe's list of the 50 scariest movies of all time.^[174]
• The Shining (1980) ranks #1 on The Moving Arts Film Journal's list of the 25 greatest horror films.^[175]
• The Exorcist (1973) was voted scariest movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly and Movies.com, and by viewers of AMC in 2006.^[176] It was also chosen as the best horror film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[177]
• Psycho (1960), the Alfred Hitchcock classic, tops AFI's list of the 100 most thrilling American films.^[178]
• King Kong (1933) ranked #1 in the Rotten Tomatoes list of the 50 best horror movies of all time.^[179]
• Jaws (1975) was #1 in the Bravo network's five-hour miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments in 2004.^[180] It was also ranked second on AFI's list for thrillers, 100 Years... 100 Thrills. It holds a 98% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.^[181]
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) ranks #1 on Total Film's list of the greatest horror films.^[182]
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was chosen as the best suspense/thriller for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[183]

Musical

• Singin' in the Rain (1952) tops the American Film Institute's list of the 25 best American musicals.^[184]
• West Side Story (1961) was chosen as the best screen musical by readers of The Observer in a 2007 poll.^[185]
• The Sound of Music (1965) was chosen as the best musical for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[186]
• Cabaret (1972) topped The Guardian and The Observer's 2013 critic poll.^[187]

Mystery

• Rear Window (1954) is #1 on the Rotten Tomatoes list of the best mystery/suspense films.^[188]
• Vertigo (1958) was selected as the best mystery movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50]

Political/historical

• Seven Samurai (1954) was the highest-ranking historical period film in the 1982 Sight & Sound critics' poll.^[2]
• Schindler's List (1993) was chosen as the best political/historical film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[189]

Propaganda

• The Battleship Potemkin (1925) has been called one of the most influential propaganda films of all time,^[190] and was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958.^{[191][192][193]}
• Triumph of the Will (1935), Leni Riefenstahl's documentary film glorifying Adolf Hitler and the 1934 Nazi Party Convention, in Nuremberg is widely perceived, renowned and acknowledged as the best propaganda film ever,^[194] although Riefenstahl asserted she intended it only as a documentary.

Religious

• In 1996, the Holy See released three lists of recommended films. The three different lists considered films of religious value, virtue (or moral value) and artistic merit. Among the list of 15 religious films considered by the Vatican to be the best ever were, in no particular order, William Wyler's Ben-Hur, The Mission, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Fred Zinnemann's 1966 version of A Man for All Seasons.^[195]

Romance

• Brokeback Mountain (2005) was voted the top film revolving around homosexual relationships by Thebacklot.com.^[196]
• Casablanca (1942) was voted the top romantic American film on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions list.^[197]
• Titanic (1997) is tied with both the most Academy Award wins (11) and nominations (14)—the only film to do so.

Science fiction

See Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) tops the Online Film Critics Society list of greatest science fiction films of all time,^[198] and was also named the best science fiction film of all time by The Guardian.^[199] It is also the only science fiction film to make the Sight and Sound poll for ten best movies, and was selected as the best science fiction movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50]
• Blade Runner (1982) was voted the best science fiction film by a panel of scientists assembled by the British newspaper The Guardian in 2004.^[200] In New Scientist, Blade Runner was voted "all-time favourite science fiction film" in both the staff,^[201] and reader's 2008 polls.^[202]
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) topped a Rotten Tomatoes poll of the 100 best Science Fiction movies ever made.^[203]
• Akira (1988) is considered by some to be the best animated science fiction film.^{[204][205][206][207]}
• Metropolis (1927) took the 12th place in Empire's 100 Greatest Films of World Cinema poll.^[208]

Sports

• Rocky (1976) topped Digital Spy's "greatest ever sports movie" audience poll in 2012.^[209]
• Raging Bull (1980) was selected as the best sports movie by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10,^[50]
• Murderball (2005) is #1 on the Rotten Tomatoes countdown of the top sports movies.^[210]
• Senna (2010) is on the list of best sports movies of all time on the site Rotten Tomatoes.^[211] Voted the 4th best sports movies of all time by the Empire Magazine.^[212] Voted the 9th best sports movies of all time by the Rolling Stone.^[213]

War

See Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Schindler's List in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

• Paths of Glory (1957) is #1 on the Movie Review Query Engine's list of the best military movies.^[214]
• The Longest Day (1962) topped the list of the Moviefone 25 Best War Movies.^[215]
• Apocalypse Now (1979) was ranked as the #1 greatest war movie by The Guardian in a 2013 critics poll with The Observer.^[216] The film also topped on Channel 4's 50 Films To See Before You Die.^[217] It is the second rated war movie of all time based on the Movifone list (after The Longest Day).^[215]
• Come and See (1985) was listed as the #1 greatest World War II film by Time Out.^[218]
• Saving Private Ryan (1998) was voted as the greatest war film in a 2008 Channel 4 poll of the 100 greatest war films.^[219]

Western

Classic Western

• The Searchers (1956) was selected as the best western movie ever by the American Film Institute during their 10 Top 10.^[50] (See also: Polls of critics and filmmakers above).
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was chosen as the best western film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.^[220]

Spaghetti Western

• Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Empire magazine ranks the film on its poll of "500 Greatest Movies of All Time" at #14, the highest ranking Western.
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) was ranked as #1 on WatchMojo.com's Top 10 Western Movies list.^[221]
• Django (1966), The Big Gundown (1966), A Bullet for the General (1966), Requiescant (1967), Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), Death Rides a Horse (1967), Day of Anger (1967), Face to Face (1967), The Mercenary (1968), The Great Silence (1968), Compañeros (1970) and My Name Is Nobody (1973), among others, are frequently cited as among the best films of the genre that were not directed by Sergio Leone.^{[222][223][224][225][226][227]}

Countries

Afghanistan

The highest ranked Afghan film is Osama. The 2003 drama was critically and commercially successful; it gathered a rating of 96% based on 100 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes,^[228] and grossed $3,888,902 worldwide from a small budget of $46,000.^[229] The film won several awards including the Golden Globe Award For Best Foreign Language Film in 2003.

Antigua and Barbuda

• Redemption of Paradise (2011) directed by Noel Howell won three awards at Jamaica Reggae Film Festival.^[230]

Argentina

Two Argentine films have received Academy Awards for best foreign language film: Puenzo's The Official Story in 1985, and Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes in 2009, both around the topic of the 1976 to 1983 military government in Argentina.

Fabián Bielinsky's Nine Queens earned 92% of positive reviews, based on 93 reviews, with a rating average of 7.5 out of 10 on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.^[231] Ricardo Darín stars in both Nine Queens and The Secret in Their Eyes.

Aruba

• Musical film Abo So (2013) directed by Aruban filmmaker Juan Francisco Pardo is one of the best films in Papiamento language. It won the Best Feature Film award at 9th Belize International Film Festival.^[232]

Australia

• Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) was voted #1 of the Top 10 best-ever Australian films in a 1995 poll.^[233]

The Australian Film Institute, in collaboration with Australia Post, conducted an initiative in 2008 asking the Australian public to vote for their all-time favourite Australian film. Results from the poll indicate the top five Australian films of all time are:^[234]

• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• The Castle – #1 according to the 2008 poll results.
• Gallipoli
• Lantana – rated the greatest Australian film in lists published by the Herald Sun^[235] and The Australian.^[236]
• Muriel's Wedding

Bangladesh

See also Cinema of Bangladesh

• Matir Moina (2002): Winner of the International Critics Prize at Cannes in 2002, internationally acclaimed (and distributed) production that was well received overseas, it was the first Bangladeshi movie nominated for an Oscar.^[237]
• Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1973): In 2007, A River Called Titas topped the list of 10 best Bangladeshi films, as chosen in the audience and critics' polls conducted by the British Film Institute.^[238]

Belgium

• Loft: voted the best Belgian film on Moviemeter.nl, followed by Man Bites Dog, The Memory of a Killer, Toto the Hero and Ben X.
• Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles: voted the best Belgian film on the "They Shoot Pictures" site (#142 in the Top 250).
• Académie André Delvaux, Belgian Film Critics Association and Ostend Film Festival awarded Mr. Nobody best Belgian film.^{[239][240][241]}

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Remake (2003) was voted the best Bosnian all time movie by the audience and critics. Remake was extremely popular and had a huge success at the box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and worldwide. The film won numerous awards at prestigious international film festivals, including the prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was screened at over forty most prestigious international film festivals around the world including International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and many others. In 2003 it was the most-watched motion picture from their home country and is one of the most-popular, most-watched, most-expensive, most-profitable and most-awarded Bosnian films ever.^{[242][243][244]}

Brazil

• Ônibus 174 (Bus 174), Directed by José Padilha & Felipe Lacerda (2002), a documentary about a bus hijacking, is the highest rated foreign film at Rotten Tomatoes.^[245]
• Cidade de Deus (City of God), directed by Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund (2002) is the highest-ranked Brazilian film on Empire magazine's "100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.^[246]
• Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Black God, White Devil), Directed by Glauber Rocha (1964) has been selected by Brazilian critics as the best film of all time several times, such as the 27th edition of Brazilian film magazine Contracampo.^[247]

Bulgaria

• The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner is the only Bulgarian film that was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Canada

• Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner was named first in the Toronto International Film Festival's 2015 Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.^[248]
• Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) (1989): Ranked second on the All Time TIFF, and in a reader's poll conducted by Playback's list since its release. Winner of 12 Genie Awards at the 11th Genie Awards.
• Mon oncle Antoine (1971): A poll of critics at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and again at the 1993 and 2004 festivals named the greatest Canadian film of all time.^[249] 8th in Playback's reader's poll.
• The Sweet Hereafter (1997): Voted the best Canadian film ever by readers of Playback,^[250] and a poll done by Canadian film insiders named it the best Canadian film of the last 15 years.^[251]
• Wavelength (1967): the only Canadian film on the Village Voice's "100 Best Films of the 20th Century" ranking at #85.^[252]

Czech Republic

• Marketa Lazarova was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a prestigious 1998 poll of Czech film critics and publicists.^[253]
• Cosy Dens is the best Czech Film of last 20 Years according 2011 Poll by Hospodářské noviny.^[254]
• Walking Too Fast was released in 2010 and has received universal acclaim from Critics who named it as the Best Czech film since Velvet Revolution.^[255]
• Erotikon is the best Czech silent film according to 2010 Poll by Tyden.cz.^[256]

Chile

• Julio comienza en julio (1979): Chosen in 1999 as the "Best Chilean Film of the Century" in a vote organized by the Municipality of Santiago.^[257]

China

See Raise the Red Lantern (traditional Chinese: 大紅燈籠高高掛) in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

• Spring in a Small Town (小城之春) (1948) was voted the best Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association in 2005.
• Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬) (1993), directed by Chen Kaige, is the highest-ranking Asian film on Time Magazine's "Readers Top Rated" list.^[67] #1 Film Beijing TimeOut Magazine.^[258]
• In the Heat of the Sun Dir Jiang Wen (1994) 阳光灿烂的日子 ^[259]
• Devils on the Doorstep Dir Jiang Wen (2000) 鬼子来了 ^[258][259]
• To Live Dir Zhang Yimou (1994) 活着 ^[258][259]

Colombia

• Embrace of the Serpent (2015): First Colombian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Has won the best film awards at the International Film Festival of India, Mar del Plata International Film Festival, and the Yerevan International Film Festival for 2015, and is one of the few films that has achieved a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[260]

Croatia

• Tko pjeva zlo ne misli (One Who Sings Means No Harm, 1970) was voted the best Croatian all time movie by the Croatian Society of Film Critics.

Denmark

• Day of Wrath (Vredens dag) Carl Th. Dreyer's harrowing tale of adultery and repression is often cited in Denmark as the greatest Danish film.^[261]
• Flickering Lights (Blinkende lygter) the 2000 comedy about small-time gangsters was voted the Best Danish Film in a 2007 poll by the Ekstra Bladet tabloid newspaper. Thomas Vinterberg's The Celebration (Festen) was the runner-up.^[262]

Egypt

To mark the centennial of Egyptian cinema, Al Ahram daily newspaper asked the country's top 20 critics to choose the best 15 best Egyptian films of all time. This is the result of the poll (first published July 12, 2007):

• The Mummy (Al-Mummia) Directed by Chadi Abdel Salam (1969)
• The Sin ("El-Haram") Directed by Henry Barakat (1965)
• The Land ("Al-Ard") Directed by Youssef Chahine (1970)
• A Beginning and an End ("Bidaya wa Nihaya) Directed by Salah Abouseif (1960)
• The Bus Driver ("Sawaq El-Autobis") Directed by Atef E-Taieb (1983)
• The Collar and the Bracelet ("El Tooq wal Eswera") Directed by Khairy Beshara (1986)
• The Will (Al-Azima) Directed by Kamal Selim (1939)
• Cairo Station ("Bab El-Hadid") Directed by Youssef Chahine (1958)
• The Wife of an Important Man ("Zawgat Ragol Mohim") Directed by Mohamed Khan (1988)
• The Flirtation of Girls ("Ghazal Al-Banat") Directed by Anwar Wagdi (1949)
• Life or Death ("Haya aw Maut") Directed by Kamal El Sheikh (1954)
• The Nightingale's Prayer ("Doaa Al-Karawan") Directed by Henry Barakat (1959)
• The Innocent ("El-Baree'") Directed by Atef E-Taieb
• El-Kit Kat Directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed (1991)
• Terrorism and Kebab ("Al-Irhab wal kabab") Directed by Sherif Arafa (1992)

Estonia

• Kevade (Spring, 1969) received the first place in the Estonian feature films Top Ten Poll in 2002 held by Estonian film critics and journalists.^[263]

Finland

• The Unknown Soldier (1955) was voted the best Finnish movie in an Internet poll by Helsingin Sanomat in 2007.^[264]

France

• La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) (1939/1950). See polls of critics and filmmakers.
• Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945/1946): Voted "Best French Film of the Century" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in the late 1990s.^[265]

Germany

• Der letzte Mann (The Last Laugh): See Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above.
• Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari): See Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above.
• Metropolis by Fritz Lang
• Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen
• The Tin Drum by Volker Schlöndorff

Greece

• The Travelling Players was declared one of the greatest films of all time.

Hong Kong

• A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色) (1986), filmed and produced in Hong Kong, was voted the second best Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association in 2005.^[266]
• Drunken Master II (醉拳二) (1994), directed by Jackie Chan and Lau Kar-Leung, is the highest-ranking entirely Hong Kong production and third highest-ranking Asian film on Time Magazine's "Readers Top Rated" list.^[67] See the acclaimed action films section above for other martial arts films made in Hong Kong.
• In the Mood for Love (花樣年華) (2000), directed by Wong Kar-wai, was chosen as the greatest Hong Kong film out of 100 choices by the Hong Kong edition of Time Out.^[267] It came #24 on the most recent Sights and Sound poll, and is the only Hong Kong production to make the top 50. Wong Kar-wai's earlier work, Days of Being Wild (阿飛正傳) (1990), ranks #3 on the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures list and is considered the first part of an informal trilogy with In the Mood for Love forming the second part.

Hungary

In 2000, Hungarian film critics chose the so-called "Budapest 12",^[268] the twelve best films of Hungary:

• Szegénylegények (The Round-Up, 1965) – Miklós Jancsó
• Szerelem (Love, 1971) – Károly Makk
• Szindbád (Sinbad, 1971) – Zoltán Huszárik
• Emberek a havason (Men on the Mountain, 1942) – István Szőts
• Valahol Európában (Somewhere in Europe, 1948) – Géza von Radványi
• Megáll az idő (Time Stands Still, 1982) – Péter Gothár
• Hyppolit, a lakáj (Hyppolit, 1931) – István Székely
• Körhinta (Merry-Go-Round, 1956) – Zoltán Fábri
• A kis Valentino (Little Valentino, 1979) – András Jeles
• Az én XX. Századom (My 20th Century, 1989) – Ildikó Enyedi
• Apa (Father, 1966) – István Szabó
• Hannibál tanár úr (Professor Hannibal, 1956) – Zoltán Fábri

Of all Hungarian filmmakers, Béla Tarr has arguably the most recognition among English-language critics; his films Satan's Tango (1994) and Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) both ranked in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' poll—at #36 and #171 respectively.^[269][270]

India

• The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), a Bengali film trilogy directed by Satyajit Ray, appeared on the 1992 edition of the Sight & Sound Critics' Poll (ranked #88)^[271] and on The Village Voice's top 250 "Best Films of the Century" critics' poll (ranked #54).^[272][273] It is the highest-ranking trilogy in both polls.
  • Pather Panchali (1955), the first part of The Apu Trilogy and Satyajit Ray's debut film, appeared on the Sight & Sound Critics' Poll several times, in 1962 (ranked #11),^[271] 1992 (ranked #6)^[274][275] and 2002 (ranked #22).^[276][277] It also appeared on The Village Voice top 250 "Best Films of the Century" critics' poll (tied at #12 with The Godfather).^[272][273]
  • Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959), the final part of Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy, was the highest-ranking Indian film in the 1982 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll (ranked #42), followed by two other Ray films The Music Room (1958) and Charulata (1964) tied at #56.^[278]
• Kannada film Bangaarada Manushya (The Golden Man) ran for 2 years in Bengaluru.^[279] Dr.Rajkumar's portrayal of Rajiv was included in the top-25 performances in Indian cinema by Forbes ^[280]
• Kannada film Om is considered a landmark in Indian cinema, being one of the first crime-dramas'. This movie has seen over 550 re-releases ^[281][282] which is a record. The film was remade in Telugu as Omkaram. After 20 years, the TV rights was sold recently.
• Mayabazar (1957), directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy and produced by B. Nagi Reddy, Aluri Chakrapani is a Telugu mythological film. The critically acclaimed Mayabazar is considered one of the enduring classics of Indian Cinema. IBN Live listed it as the greatest Indian film of all time.^{[283][284][285]} The film was touted as a landmark achievement in Indian film's cinematography, art direction and visual effects with the technology available at the time.
• Manichitrathazhu (1993)directed by Fazil (director), is considered as one of the best thrillers ever made in India as well as one of the best Malayalam films ever made.^[286] Manichitrathazhu was remade after nearly 10 years in various languages, including Kannada (Apthamitra), Tamil and Telugu (dubbed) (Chandramukhi), Bengali (Rajmohol), and Hindi (Bhool Bhulaiyaa), all being commercially successful.
• The Hindi film Pyaasa (1957) was listed on Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list.^[67]
• The Tamil film Nayagan (1987) is listed on Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list.^[67]
• Sholay (1975), a "Curry Western" Hindi film directed by Ramesh Sippy, topped the British Film Institute's poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time.^[287]
• Gandhi (1982), an Indian English biographical film about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough, won 8 Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
• Lagaan (2001), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Aamir Khan, is a Hindi historical sports film that became the third Hindi film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after Mother India (1957) and Salaam Bombay! (1988). In 2010, Lagaan was ranked #55 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema,"^[288] and in 2011, it was listed in Time magazine's "The All-TIME 25 Best Sports Movies" list.^[289]
• Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and starring Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan, it celebrates Indian wedding traditions by relating to the story of a married couple and the relationship between their families. It contributed to a change in the Indian film industry, with new methods of distribution and a turn towards less violent stories. Box Office India described it as "the biggest blockbuster of the modern era".It made a lasting impact on wedding celebrations in India, which often include songs and games from the film.^[290][291]
• Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), directed by Aditya Chopra features in most lists of must see Hindi movies of all times,^[292][293]
• Mughal-e-Azam (1960), later re-released in colour, is considered a classic in terms of grandeur, script, music and acting ^[294]

Iran

• Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986) was voted "Best Iranian Film of all time" in November 1999 by a Persian movie magazine "Picture world" poll of 150 Iranian critics and professionals.^[295]
• A Separation (2011) was the first Iranian movie to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category

Ireland

• The Commitments (1991) was voted the best Irish film of all time in a 2004 Jameson Whiskey poll of 10,000 Irish people, with My Left Foot coming second.^[296]

Israel

• The Policeman (1971) was voted "Best Israeli Film of All Time" in 2008 poll by Cafe The Marker, affiliated with the prestigious Israeli newspaper Haaretz. More than 100 internet users and 7 film experts chose The Policeman. The movie finished ahead of Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona and Blaumilch Canal, which shared second place.^[297]
• Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona (1976) was voted "Favorite Israeli Film of All Time" in a 2004 poll by Ynet, the website of a popular Israeli newspaper. The film got votes from 25,000 web users.^[298]

Italy

• Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1948). See Polls of critics and filmmakers section above. Also listed at #22 on Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.^[299]
• 8½ (1963). Director Federico Fellini's film about filmmaking was the highest rated Italian film in the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of the best films of all time.^[300]

Japan

• Rashomon (羅生門), 1950: This film by Akira Kurosawa was the first Japanese film to gain worldwide acclaim. It is the highest-ranked Japanese and Asian film in the Village Voice poll of "Best Films of the Century" (ranked #10).^[272] It also tied for the highest-ranked Japanese and Asian film on the Sight and Sound 2002 Directors' Top Ten Poll (ranked #9).^[301]
• Seven Samurai (七人の侍 Shichinin no Samurai), 1954: Also by Kurosawa, this period adventure film is frequently cited as the greatest Japanese film. It ranked #3 in the 1982 Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll,^[302] appeared on the Sight & Sound Directors' Top Ten Poll in 1992 (ranked #10),^[303] tied for the highest-ranked Japanese and Asian film in 2002 (ranked #9),^[301] and ranked #17 on the 2012 critics' poll.^[304] It is ranked #2 on Rotten Tomatoes' top 100 foreign films,^[245] and #1 on their top 100 action/adventure films.^[60] It was also voted the "Best Japanese Film ever" in a 1979 Kinema Junpo critics' poll.^[305] It also topped Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" list.^[306]
• Tokyo Story (東京物語 Tokyo Monogatari), 1953: Directed by Yasujirō Ozu, is the highest-ranked Japanese and Asian film on the 2002 Sight and Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll (ranked #5).^[307] It was also declared the greatest film ever by Halliwell's Film Guide in 2005.^[308] In 2012, Tokyo Story topped the Sight & Sound directors' poll, dethroning Citizen Kane for the first time since the directors' poll began in 1992, and has also come third place in the 2012 critics' poll.^[3]
• Ugetsu (雨月物語 Ugetsu Monogatari), 1953: Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, it was the highest-ranking Asian film in the Sight & Sound critics' polls in 1962 (ranked #4)^[309] and 1972 (ranked #10).^[310]

Latvia

• A Limousine The Colour Of Midsummer's Eve (1981) by Jānis Streičs, voted all-time best Latvian film in the popular vote.^[311]

Macedonia

• Before the Rain (1994) is a Milčo Mančevski film, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Mali

• Yeelen is the best African film according to a Mubi poll.^[312]

Malta

• Simshar is the first Maltese film to be submitted for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Mexico

• Pan's Labyrinth, a 2006 Mexican co-production, is the highest ranked Mexican or Latin American film on Empire magazine's "100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.^[313]

Netherlands

• Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange – 1977 – Paul Verhoeven): Voted best Dutch film ever made in a 2006 Internet poll by online film magazine Filmwereld.nl.
• Zwartboek (Black Book – 2006 – Paul Verhoeven): Voted best Dutch film ever at the 2008 Netherlands Film Festival.^[314]

New Zealand

See Lord of the Rings in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

Norway

• Flåklypa Grand Prix (Pinchcliffe Grand Prix – 1975 – Ivo Caprino): The people's choice for "Best Norwegian Film of the Century" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.^[315]
• Ni Liv (Nine Lives – 1957 – Arne Skouen): The critics' choice for "Best Norwegian Film of the Century" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.^[315]

Pakistan

• Baji (1963), directed by S. Suleman, topped the British Film Institute's critics poll of "Top 10 Pakistani Films" of all time.^[316]
• Aina (1977), directed by Nazr-ul-Islam, topped the British Film Institute's user poll of "Top 10 Pakistani Films" of all time.^[317]

Philippines

See Himala in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.

• Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Light; 1975) by Lino Brocka was cited in numerous film anthologies and critical polls as the greatest Filipino film ever.^[318][319]
• City After Dark (originally entitled Manila by Night; 1980) by Ishmael Bernal was cited in a poll conducted in 1989 by film scholar Joel David and his UP criticism class as the best Filipino film of all time.^[320]

Poland

• Sexmission (1984) is the best Polish film of the last 30 years according to a 2005 poll by readers of three popular film magazines.^[321]
• The Promised Land (1975) was considered as the best Polish movie by the critics of "Esensja" magazine in 2011 ranking.^[322] Top 5 include also Bad Luck, Knife in the Water, Sewer, and The Saragossa Manuscript.
• Cult comedy Teddy Bear (1980) was voted by the public of 2013 Filmfest PL as the best movie of all time.^[323]
• Sexmission is also in a prominent position in the ranking of Polish movies on portal Filmweb.pl in 2011.^[324] Other positions from the first ten places are: Polish-French cooproduction The Pianist (2002), comedies: Day of the wacko (2002), Our Folks (1967), How I Unleashed World War II (1969), Teddy Bear (1980), Boys Don't Cry (2000), and dramas showing important social or political problems after 1989: The Debt (1999), Symmetry (2003), and Pigs (1992).
• In the same 2014 Filmweb poll, Sexmission dropped to #9. First place was taken by The Pianist. Only these two movies maintained positions in the top ten. The new ranking was dominated by Krzysztof Kieślowski's movies. Talking Heads (1980), Blind Chance (1981), A Short Film About Killing (1987), Camera Buff (1979) placed respectively on third, fourth, sixth and tenth position. Interrogation (1982) was ranked #2. Other films charted were: Night Train (1959), The Cathedral (2002), The Saragossa Manuscript (1964).^[325]
• Filmweb's 2015 ranking gives another changes. 2014 film about Mr. Religa - Gods - appeared at 2nd position. Marcel Łoziński's short Anything Can Happen held 3rd place. Best film still The Pianist. Other places: Interrogation (4), Talking Heads (5), Night Train (6), Blind Chance (7), Camera Buff (8), The Saragossa Manuscript (9), A Short Film About Killing (10).^[326]
• 2014 Onet.pl readers voting 25 Years of Freedom for best post-communist productions include: The Hitman (10.3%), The Pianist (9.2%), Pigs (8.2%), Day of the wacko (8.1%), Boys Don't Cry (8.1%), The Debt (4.2%), The Wedding (4.1%), Destined for Blues (3.8%), Daddy (3.6%), Aftermath (3.1%)^[327]
• Best-awarded Polish productions include: A Short Film About Killing (European Film Award for Best Film in 1988), Man of Iron (Palme d'Or of 1981 Cannes Film Festival), The Pianist (Palme d'Or of 2002 Cannes Film Festival and Academy Award for Best Director in 2003), and Ida (European Film Award for Best Film, Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language in 2015).
• See also: List of Polish European Film Award winners and nominees, List of Polish Academy Award winners and nominees, List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Polish Academy Award for Best Film

Romania

Best 10 Romanian films as considered by the Union of Romanian Cineastes and the Film Critics Association^[328] (Uniunea Cineaştilor din România şi Asociaţia Criticilor de Film):

• Reconstituirea (The Reenactment – Lucian Pintilie, 1968)
• Pădurea spânzuraţilor (The Forest of the Hanged – Liviu Ciulei, 1965)
• Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu) – Cristi Puiu, 2005
• 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
• Secvenţe (Sequences) – Alexandru Tatos, 1982
• Nunta de piatră (The Stone Wedding) – Mircea Veroiu, Dan Piţa. 1973
• La moara cu noroc (Victor Iliu. 1956)
• A fost sau n-a fost? (12:08 East of Bucharest – Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006)
• Probă de microfon (Microphone Test) (Mircea Daneliuc, 1979)
• Croaziera (The Cruise) (Mircea Daneliuc, 1981)

Russia

• Броненосец Потёмкин (Battleship Potemkin): see Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above.

Serbia

• Who's That Singing Over There (Ko to tamo peva, 1980) was in 1996 voted the best Serbian movie made in the 1947-1995 period by the members of the Yugoslavian Board of the Academy of Film Art and Science (AFUN).^[329]
• Underground by Emir Kusturica won the Palme d'Or in the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.^[330]

Singapore

• Ilo Ilo (爸妈不在家, 2013) won 21 international awards, which include four at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards as well as the Camera d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.^[331]

Slovakia

• Pictures of the Old World was voted in 2000 by Slovak critics as the best Slovak film of all time.^[332]
• In a poll of filmmakers, critics, and theorists The Shop on Main Street was named second best film in the 100 years of Czechoslovak cinema. It was the best placed Slovak film in this poll. It is also the only Slovak Film that has won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It should be noted tha there is a controversy whether the Film is Slovak or Czech.^{[333][334][335]}

Slovenia

• See You in the Next War (Nasvidenje v naslednji vojni, 1980), voted the best Slovenian film of all times in the poll among contemporary film critics, conducted in 2012 by Dnevnik newspaper.^[336]

South Africa

• Tsotsi In 2006 the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, becoming the first South African Film to win an Oscar.
• Invictus South African, American film about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in that country following the dismantling of apartheid. Received two acting Academy Award Nominations.
• District 9 An independent science fiction action/thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Sharlto Copley and Simon Hansen, depicts humanity, xenophobia, and social segregation. Nominated for four Academy Awards in 2010: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing.

South Korea

• Obaltan (오발탄): Released in 1960. This film is widely regarded as the best South Korean film.^[337]
• Oldboy (올드보이): This 2003 South Korean film is the highest ranked Korean film on Empire magazine's "100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.^[338] It also won the Grand Prix of the Jury at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.^[339]

Spain

Several lists consider different films as the best made in Spain. The listed ones more often are: Viridiana (1961), Plácido (1961) and El verdugo (1963).^[340] Other films listed in the most of these lists are: El Cochecito (1960), Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953), Calle Mayor (1956), Chimes at Midnight (1965), The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), Surcos (1951) and La Caza (The Hunt, 1966)

Sri Lanka

• Pura Handa Kaluwara (1997), also known as Death on a Full Moon Day, directed by P. Vithanage and starring Joe Abeywickrama, topped the British Film Institute's poll of "Top 10 Sri Lankan Films" of all time.^[341]
• Ananta Rathiriya (1995), directed by P. Vithanage, topped the user poll of "Top 10 Sri Lankan Films" of all time.^[342]

Sweden

• Persona (1966): Acclaimed director Ingmar Bergman's movie reached the highest position (#5 in 1972) of any Swedish film on any of Sight & Sound's lists of greatest films of all time.
• The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen, 1921), directed by Victor Sjöström, was selected as the best Swedish film of all time by the film magazine FLM in 2012.^[343]
• Raven's End (Kvarteret Korpen, 1963), directed by Bo Widerberg, was chosen by Nöjesguiden as the best Swedish film ever in 1995.^[344]

Taiwan

• A City of Sadness (traditional Chinese: 悲情城市) came in at #5, the highest ranking Taiwanese film, on a list of Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures unveiled by the Hong Kong Film Awards .
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (traditional Chinese: 臥虎藏龍) is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and co-produced by Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States and China. The highest grossing foreign-language film in American history, it won over 40 awards, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (for Taiwan) and 3 other Academy Awards.

Turkey

In 2003 Ankara Sinema Derneği (Ankara Association for Cinema Culture) chose the "Best 10 Turkish films ever" by a poll among people who are interested in cinema professionally:^[345]

• Yol (1982), Şerif Gören
• Umut (1970), Yılmaz Güney
• Sürü (1978), Zeki Ökten
• Muhsin Bey (1987), Yavuz Turgul
• Masumiyet (1997), Zeki Demirkubuz
• Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım (1978), Atıf Yılmaz
• Anayurt Oteli (1986), Ömer Kavur
• Susuz Yaz (1964), Metin Erksan
• Gelin (1973), Ömer Lütfi Akad
• Uzak (2002), Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Ukraine

• Земля (Earth), one of the World's twelve greatest films of all time (Brussels World's Fair, 1958).^[9][346]
• Пропала грамота (The Lost Letter), was banned in Soviet Union. 20 years later was awarded with Golden Pagoda during the Bangkok International Film Festival, 1991.
• Тіні забутих предків (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) received the British Academy Award and Grand Prix at Mar del Plata International Film Festival (1965)

United Kingdom

• The Third Man (1949): Voted best British film ever by members of the British Film Institute in 1999.^[347] #3 on the Rotten Tomatoes list of the best mystery/suspense movies.^[188]
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962): voted "best British film of all time" in August 2004 by a London Sunday Telegraph poll of Britain's leading filmmakers.^[348] (See also: Epic above).
• Get Carter (1971): Named best British film in a poll of 25 film critics by Total Film magazine in 2004.^[349]
• Don't Look Now (1973): Named best British film in a poll of 150 film industry experts conducted by Time Out London in 2011.^[350]
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was voted the best British picture of all time by a 2004 poll by the UK arm of Amazon and Internet Movie Database.^[124]
• Trainspotting (1996): Named best British film between 1984–2009 by a poll of critics and film professionals in The Observer.^[351]

United States

Since 1998, the American Film Institute has assembled juries of film community leaders and polled them for a series of top 100 lists. Two of the lists from the series, 100 Years... 100 Movies from 1998 and 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) from 2007, identified Citizen Kane as the best American film ever. In other years, AFI's jury members selected Some Like It Hot the greatest American comedy, Psycho as the most thrilling American movie, Casablanca as the greatest American love story, Singin' in the Rain as the greatest American film musical, and It's a Wonderful Life as the most inspiring American film.^[352]

• Vertigo (1958) by Alfred Hitchcock topped the Sight & Sound critics' poll in 2012, dethroning Citizen Kane at the top of the critics' poll for the first time in 50 years since 1962. It has also been voted #8 in the directors' poll.^[3]

See also

References

External links

• American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies
• BFI List of top 100 British movies
• Sight and Sound magazine best films of all time polls
• Village Voice 250 Best films of the 20th century list (from Archive.org)
• 1000 films
• Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Movies

Lists of works considered the best Films Television series Video games (soundtracks) See also: List of works considered the worst

Major film awards by countries Africa Ghana Movie Awards (Ghana) Africa Movie Academy Awards (Nigeria) South African Film and Television Awards (South Africa) Americas Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Awards (Argentina) Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro (Brazil) Canadian Screen Awards (Canada) Golden Precolumbian Circle (Colombia) Ariel Award (Mexico) Academy Awards (United States) Asia National Film Awards (Bangladesh) Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards (Burma) Golden Rooster Awards, Hundred Flowers Awards and Huabiao Awards (China) Hong Kong Film Award (Hong Kong) Fajr International Film Festival (Iran) National Film Awards (India) Indonesian Film Festival, Indonesian Movie Awards (Indonesia) Ophir Award (Israel) Japan Academy Prize (Japan) Malaysia Film Festival (Malaysia) Lux Style Awards, ARY Film Awards and Nigar Awards (Pakistan) FAMAS Award, Gawad Urian and Luna Awards (Philippines) Grand Bell Awards (South Korea) Thailand National Film Association Awards (Thailand) Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Taiwan) Didor International Film Festival (Tajikistan) Golden Lotus Awards and Golden Kite Prize (Vietnam) Europe Magritte Award (Belgium) Golden Arena Awards (Croatia) Czech Lion Awards (Czech Republic) Robert Awards and Bodil Awards (Denmark) Jussi Award (Finland) César Award and Lumières Award (France) Deutscher Filmpreis (Germany) Hellenic Film Academy Awards (Greece) Irish Film & Television Awards (Ireland) David di Donatello and Nastro d'Argento (Italy) Golden Camera 300 (Macedonia) Golden Calf (The Netherlands) Amanda Award (Norway) Polish Film Awards (Poland) Sophia Awards (Portugal) Nika Award (Russia) Goya Awards (Spain) Guldbagge Awards (Sweden) Swiss Film Award (Switzerland) Golden Orange (Turkey) British Academy Film Awards (United Kingdom) Oceania AACTA Awards (Australia) New Zealand film and television awards (New Zealand)