The Panda's Top 250 Movies of All Time Countdown (FINISHED)

[The Panda]

33

The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is an epic, swashbuckling fantasy that pulls its strings in all of the right places.  The action scenes are brilliantly shot and choreographed, the acting is on point in its cheeky hilarity, and the story stands as one of the best of its genre.  The Princess Bride is a genius mixture of many of the classic elements of many different genres.

 

 

[The Panda]

32

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is not only the definitive Christmas movie, but it is also a definitive classic film, period.  It's not anywhere near the most complex of films, or morally shady, or hidden in its message, but it is basic and honest and plays that to a wonderful ability.  By being so simple, It's a Wonderful Life is able to be ultimately utterly fulfilling.

Edited March 28, 2014 by The Panda

[mahnamahna]

[*]The Godfather (1972)

[*]The Searchers (1956)

[*]Goodfellas (1990)

[*]Dr. Strangelove (1964) 

[*]Psycho (1960) 

[*]12 Angry Men (1957)

[*]One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 

[*]The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) 

[*]The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 

[*]It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

[*]The Princess Bride (1987)

[*]Raging Bull (1980)

[*]The Lion King (1994) 

[*]Gladiator (2000) 

[*]Chinatown (1974)

[*]WALL-E (2008)

[*]Jurassic Park (1993)

[*]The Godfather Part II (1974) 

[*]Jaws (1975) 

[*]Children of Men (2006) 

[*]Alien (1979) 

[*]The Truman Show (1998)

[*]Glengarry Grey Ross (1992) 

[*]Gravity (2013)

[*]Star Wars (1977)

[*]Sunset Boulevard (1950) 

[*]Airplane! (1980)

[*]Taxi Driver (1976)

[*]The Great Dictator (1940) 

[*]King Kong (1933)

[*]The Terminator (1984) 

[*]Saving Private Ryan (1998) 

[*]Rear Window (1954) 

[*](500) Days of Summer (2009)

[*]Beauty and the Beast (1991) 

[*]Forrest Gump (1994) 

[*]The Social Network (2010)

[*]Annie Hall (1977) 

[*]Goldfinger (1964) 

[*]The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 

[*]The Shining (1980) 

[*]Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

[*]Life of Pi (2012) 

[*]Star Trek (2009) 

[*]Rosemary's Baby (1968) 

[*]Blade Runner (1982)

[*]The Evil Dead (1981) 

[*]Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) 

[*]Mean Girls (2004) 

[*]The Avengers (2012)

[*]Frankenstein (1931)

[*]Back to the Future (1985)

[*]Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 

[*]A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 

[*]A Fistful of Dollars (1964) 

[*]The Matrix (1999) 

[*]The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 

[*]Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 

[*]South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)

[*]Ghostbusters (1984) 

[*]To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 

[*]The LEGO Movie (2014) 

[*]Spaceballs (1987)

[*]Men in Black (1997) 

[*]The Elephant Man (1980) 

[*]The Hurt Locker (2009) 

[*]Silver Linings Playbook (2012) 

[*]Singin' in the Rain (1952) 

[*]Beetlejuice (1988) 

[*]The Iron Giant (1999) 

[*]Great Expectations (1947) 

[*]Fargo (1996) 

[*]The Birds (1963) 

[*]Mary Poppins (1964)

[*]Wall Street (1987) 

[*]Young Frankenstein (1974) 

[*]The Exorcist (1973)

[*]Apollo 13 (1995) 

[*]A Hard Day's Night (1964) 

[*]Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) 

[*]Poltergeist (1982) 

[*]Groundhog Day (1993) 

[*]Pinocchio (1940) 

[*]True Grit (2010)

[*]The Goonies (1985) 

[*]Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

[*]Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) 

[*]Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

[*]Some Like it Hot (1959)  

[*]Memento (2000) 

[*]Monsters, Inc. (2001) 

[*]Up (2009)

[*]Bambi (1942) 

[*]Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 

[*]Toy Story (1995) 

[*]Steamboat Willie (1928) 

[*]Zero Dark Thirty (2012) 

[*]Tropic Thunder (2008) 

[*]Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

[*]The Fly (1986) 

[*]Shrek (2001) 

[*]O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) 

[*]Requiem for a Dream (2000) 

[*]This is the End (2013) 

[*]The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) 

[*]Rain Man (1988) 

[*]Argo (2012) 

[*]The Incredibles (2004) 

[*]Return of the Jedi (1983) 

[*]Aliens (1986) 

[*]Dumbo (1941)

[*]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 (2011)

[*]Rocky (1976) 

[*]Aladdin (1992) 

[*]Dracula (1931) 

[*]The Jungle Book (1967) 

[*]Reservoir Dogs (1992) 

[*]Braveheart (1995) 

[*]Tarzan (1999) 

[*]Batman Begins (2005) 

[*]Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) 

[*]The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 

[*]On the Waterfront (1954) 

[*]The Prince of Egypt (1998) 

[*]The Dark Knight (2008) 

[*]District 9 (2009) 

[*]All About Eve (1950) 

[*]Ratatouille (2007)

[*]Iron Man (2008) 

[*]The Sound of Music (1965) 

[*]Ben-Hur (1959) 

Haven't seen

[*]Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) 

[*]The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 

[*]2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 

[*]Apocalypse Now (1979) 

[*]A Clockwork Orange (1971) 

[*]Spirited Away (2001) 

[*]No Country for Old Men (2007)

[*]Unforgiven (1992) 

[*]The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 

[*]Boogie Nights (1997)

[*]The Last Picture Show (1971) 

[*]M (1931) 

[*]Modern Times (1936)

[*]There Will Be Blood (2007) 

[*]City of God (2002) 

[*]Cabaret (1972) 

[*]Pan's Labyrinth (2006) 

[*]Mean Streets (1973) 

[*]Shanghai Express (1936)

[*]The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 

[*]Repulsion (1965) 

[*]The Great Escape (1963) 

[*]Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 

[*]Gone with the Wind (1939) 

[*]Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

[*]Donnie Darko (2001) 

[*]Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

[*]My Fair Lady (1964) 

[*]L.A. Confidential (1997)

[*]Her (2013)

[*]Dr. No (1962) 

[*]Touch of Evil (1958) 

[*]The King of Comedy (1983) 

[*]Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) 

[*]Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

[*]Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) 

[*]Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 

[*]The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) 

[*]Perserpolis (2007)

[*]The Hunt for Red October (1990) 

[*]The Departed (2006)

[*]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 

[*]Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 

[*]In the Heat of the Night (1967) 

[*]An American in Paris (1951) 

[*]For a Few Dollars More (1965) 

[*]Gojira (1954) 

[*]Stalag 17 (1953) 

[*]Django Unchained (2012) 

[*]Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) 

[*]Amadeus (1984) 

[*]Lifeboat (1944) 

[*]Of Mice and Men (1939) 

[*]Minority Report (2002) 

[*]National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) 

[*]Million Dollar Baby (2004) 

[*]Good Will Hunting (1997) 

[*]The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) 

[*]This is Spinal Tap (1984) 

[*]12 Years a Slave (2013) 

[*]Zodiac (2007) 

[*]Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 

[*]The Ladykillers (1955) 

[*]Seven Samurai (1954) 

[*]The Killing Fields (1984)

[*]A History of Violence (2005) 

[*]The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) 

[*]Adaptation (2002) 

[*]Hot Fuzz (2007) 

[*]All the King's Men (1949) 

[*]Starship Troopers (1997) 

[*]Doctor Zhivago (1965) 

[*]Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 

[*]The Bourne Identity (2002) 

[*]sex, lies, and videotapes (1989) 

[*]Risky Business (1983) 

[*]Gypsy (1993) 

[*]Lost in Translation (2003) 

[*]Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 

[*]Casino Royale (2006) 

[*]Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) 

[*]Cast Away (2000) 

[*]The Last Waltz (1978) 

[*]Stagecoach (1939) 

[*]20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) 

[*]Lethal Weapon (1987)

[*]Three Kings (1999) 

[*]From Here to Eternity (1953) 

[*]The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) 

[*]Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World (2003)

[*]For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

[*]The Mark of Zorro (1940) 

[*]Caddyshack (1980) 

[*]Snakes on a Plane (2006) 

[*]East of Eden (1955) 

[*]Mrs. Miniver (1942) 

[*]Ocean's Eleven (2001) 

[*]Hellboy (2004) 

[*]The French Connection (1971) 

[*]Road to Morocco (1942) 

[*]The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Edited March 30, 2014 by mahnamahna

[The Panda]

31

Apocalypse Now

Undoubtedly one of the greatest war movies ever to be put on screen, and who better than Francis Ford Coppola to do it.  It is able to blend his vision with a film that never ceases to entertain the viewer, while also providing much more depth than they may have initially been looking for.  The themes of madness resonate clearly, and the film remains as an all-time great.

[The Panda]

30

The Empire Strikes Back

The best movie, actually the best story, in the Star Wars franchise, there is a reason when a sequel is great that they compare it to the Empire Strikes Back and that is because this was one of the first sequels to top its predecessor, and that's saying something when the first Star Wars is pretty freaking great.  The Empire Strikes Back is a film that still manages to be epic, and it holds the best cliffhanger in cinematic history.

[The Panda]

29

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

I said the Empire Strikes Back was one of the first sequels to top its predecessor, well The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly was the first (from my memory) sequel to top its predecessors in a whopping final installment to the Man With No Name trilogy.  It is hauntingly epic, and the shots that Leone takes are incredibly impressive, bold, and classic, just like the movie itself.

[The Panda]

28

One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest

What I said earlier about Jack Nicholson's best performance I take back, his best performance is definitely McMurphy (which speaks a lot for him as an actor).  One Flew Over a Cuckoo's nest is an emotionally powerful film that looks in depth at the ideas of insanity and sanity.  It is absolutely genius and one of the best films ever made.

[The Panda]

27

12 Angry Men

A movie that is literally just a long conversation by 12 men in a single room, yet it somehow manages to resonate as one of the best, and be cinematographically impressive at the same time.  12 Angry Men is a socially important acting piece that manages to let you listen in to the jury and keep you interested at the same time.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

Interestingly enough, I've read the last two in class (I think 12 Angry Men was a play, and not a book). But anyways, I read them in class, and loved both, but haven't gotten to the movies yet.I'm afraid of watching Cuckoo's Nest. The book changed my life. Nearly every action I do is somehow related to McMurphy and how he inspires me. I'm afraid the movie can't live up to that. 

[The Panda]

26

Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock delivers one of the shocking thrillers of the time with Psycho that absolutely defined the genre in every respect.  It was utterly and profoundly influential and still holds a great deal of weight even to this day.  The acting is right on key, like all of Hitchcock's films, and the entire movie is a form of modern art.

 

[The Panda]

25

2001: A Space Odyssey

It is probably the definitive science fiction film, and for a very good reason, it is the best film of Stanley Kubrick's thick stack of cinematic masterpieces.  You can argue it is slow, you can argue that it makes absolutely no sense, but it doesn't take away the poetic genius from this science fiction art work.

[The Panda]

I have now reached the top 25 of my top 250 list.  I have decided to do something somewhat interesting where before I list my personal top 10 people can post their predictions of the 10 movies they'll think they are.  For the person who gets the most right in the closest order I will like 10 random posts of theirs.

 

I thought up the idea, and it sounded like something that could be amusing, especially since I've been at that list for a while and a good number of people have been kind enough to follow it.

[Fancyarcher]

This list is so good.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

What I enjoy about Panda's list is if you ever read his reviews in RTM, they sometimes SEEM (I capitalized this word for a reason) pretentious (they're good, but often his taste disagrees with the general public and it looks like he's trying to be a cinema snob). But with this list, he ends up showing that he's just like one of you or me. Psycho, Star Wars, Gravity, 12 Angry Men, Cuckoo's Nest are all films that'll appear on most people's lists. And he has a lot of films that most cinema snobs would probably dislike (Mean Girls). You see him as an average guy, and realize that your original view of him as pretentious was completely wrong! Cheers to an awesome and enlightening list!

[The Panda]

What I enjoy about Panda's list is if you ever read his reviews in RTM, they sometimes SEEM (I capitalized this word for a reason) pretentious (they're good, but often his taste disagrees with the general public and it looks like he's trying to be a cinema snob). But with this list, he ends up showing that he's just like one of you or me. Psycho, Star Wars, Gravity, 12 Angry Men, Cuckoo's Nest are all films that'll appear on most people's lists. And he has a lot of films that most cinema snobs would probably dislike (Mean Girls). You see him as an average guy, and realize that your original view of him as pretentious was completely wrong! Cheers to an awesome and enlightening list!

 

Thank you!

 

I think I often seem pretentious because a lot of the modern blockbusters annoy me, especially with how there is a trend for movies to just trying be epic and nothing else, as well as every single movie trying to start a franchise.  (Don't get me wrong, I don't hate franchises in general, but there are so many unnecessary sequels nowadays it's hindering the development of original films)

[The Panda]

24

Grapes of Wrath

Another one of the masterpieces by John Ford, albeit this movie version isn't quite as eye opening as the book it still manages to be bold in its stance and creating a fantastic film adaption of Steinbeck's classic book (who is my favorite author).  The fact that many of the scenes were shot in real migration camps, and it exposed real problems going on at the time helps further its message, not to mention the script and performances are top-notch.

 

[The Panda]

23

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

Wait, did I say 2001: A Space Odyssey was Kubrick's best film?  Well crap, I'll have to take that back because I have this ranked two spots higher because of the absolute satirical hilarity that exists behind it.  But honestly that just speaks of how fantastic Kubrick is as a director and it absolutely hits all of the right notes.  

 

[The Panda]

22

Goodfellas

In my opinion this is Scorsese's strongest movie, it is stylistically, and sinisterly humorous as well as compelling when looked at in depth. The performances are strong, compelling, and honest, and the brutality is gut-wrenchingly strong.  The movie imprints itself on your memory, and becomes utterly unforgettable in it's incredible quality.

Edited March 30, 2014 by The Panda

[The Panda]

21

The Searchers

The classic John Ford film and one of the most pivotal westerns in film history that completely defines what made the genre so great back in the time.  The Searchers is not only entertaining, it doesn't just have some great shoot out scenes, but it manages to explore complex social issues of the time (That John Ford does in nearly all of his films) and become a quintessential movie in cinematic history.

[The Panda]

20

The Godfather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y1LhPO-xMI

I may get hate for not putting this in my top 5 or even top 10, but I'd like to point out that my entire top 25 I had swapped around quite a bit before I could finally be satisfied with what I picked, and so I put The Godfather at 20 because there were simply 19 movies that I liked better. But don't think that means anything bad against this movie because I put it at number 20 which means it's a masterpiece of cinema and the best gangster film out there.