Box Office.com's Top 100 films of All Time (2014 edition)- List Complete! Everyone is Disappointed!

[Tower]

I'm worried that the only 2 Pixar films I thought were good enough to be in the top 100 (Wall-E and ratatouille) won't make it.

[Empire]

Love Die Hard. It was higher on my list, but I think #35 is a fine spot for it on the overall list.

[The Stingray]

Die Hard is overrated. Speed is better.

[The Futurist]

Not really true, stuff like MTV's "The Real World" was around since the beginning of the 90s.

Yeah but reality tv had a big impact after the movie s release even if there was already one or two reality shows already happening.

[Dementeleus]

Yeah but reality tv had a big impact after the movie s release even if there was already one or two reality shows already happening.

 

"The Real World" was huge, influential, and groundbreaking... well before TRUMAN SHOW. For that matter, reality TV was basically predicted in NETWORK.

 

I like TRS a lot, but it's standing on the shoulders of already-established giants.

[DAR]

Die Hard is also the best Christmas movie

[The Panda]

Finding Nemo was #2 on my list. Oops.

[grey ghost]

Die Hard is overrated. Speed is better.

 

[grey ghost]

I don't get the Star Trek 09 love.

 

That movie wouldn't make my top 500.

[The Panda]

Die Hard is overrated. Speed is better.

I agree that Die Hard is overrated, but Speed isn't better.

[Wrath]

Last one for today. Tomorrow, (provided I do the full 5) we've got three films to talk about with the number 2 in! (Technically four if I make a very bad pun). One of which may surprise you with how low it scored. But for now, let's talk about...

 

35. Die Hard (1988) 29 points- 14 votes

"Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."

 

 

New York City Detective John McClane has just arrived in Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife. Unfortunatly, it is not going to be a Merry Christmas for everyone. A group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber is holding everyone in the Nakatomi Plaza building hostage. With no way of anyone getting in or out, it's up to McClane to stop them all. All 12!

 

Trivia: Hart Bochner's line "Hans... Bubby!" was ad-libbed. Alan Rickman's quizzical reaction was genuine.

 

Ruk's Comments

 

"Fuck. Yeah.

 

For me, Die Hard is the quintessential action movie. Great protagonist. Great villain. Great action. It walks the line between seriousness and humour perfectly and the dialogue is snappy and memorable. It's a simple premise, one that a million films have tried to copy with varying success, but this film just makes it work so very well.

 

Honestly, for me, the only straight action film that comes close in recent memory, is the Raid. And plotwise, that was pretty fucking close to this movie."

 

 

"OH MY GOD, THE QUARTERBACK IS *TOAST*!"

 

Edit - I don't think I voted for Die Hard, but it really is a solid film (this is the movie that made Rickman a star) and I don't begrudge it being here.

 

Edit2 - It occurs to me that two of these movies could be very much affected by perspective.  I *love* Finding Nemo.  I think its amazing and Pixar's best film.  After thinking about it, I suspect that its because I'm a parent, and that if I weren't, I would think it was still good, but not necessarily amazing.

 

Similarly, Dr Strangelove, even minus the Cold War, is a great film and a piece of satire well worthy of being on the list.  But if you're in your mid-30s or older and thus actually grew up during the Cold War and remember it, then it vaults to being one of the top 10 of all time.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Wrath

[luna]

i bet the lower-than-expected sequel rukaio mentioned is godfather 2. and it'll be behind X2 or something lol.

 

no, i'm not looking at the excel spreadsheet.

[Jake Gittes]

Strangelove may be the greatest comedy ever. Also my second favorite Kubrick after The Shining.

[Hatebox]

Surprised there are so many Aliens > Alien folks on here. To me, Alien is the franchise, and wins purely by virtue of having an antagonist that's actually scary.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

Not really true, stuff like MTV's "The Real World" was around since the beginning of the 90s.

Perhaps, but I feel like reality TV exploded a little after The Truman Show, so in that sense it was maybe "prophetic." Or prophetic might not be the right word, but it did get the timing of its release down right.

But to me, The Truman Show is much more than just about reality TV. It's about celebrity culture (which is also tied up to reality TV), it's about illusion vs. truth, it's about free will, and I would even argue, it's about the power of storytelling and cinema to help us empathize with others.

Yes, The Truman Show critiques those people who obsessively watch Truman's everyday life on TV. But in its final minutes, when it starts to cut between Truman's heroic escape and the audience's response, you get this feeling of how storytelling can make us empathize with others. The audience has grown up with Truman; they know his story, and they find in his escape, their own dreams, desires, and fears being played out. That mimics how we watch our films and TV shows. In Cinema, the director/creator (represented by Christof in the film) create the world around their characters. The characters, however, don't know that the world around them is created, they react to it naturally*. We, the audience, know that the world is fake, but because the characters treat it as though it's real, we treat it as though it's real. Then, when the characters begin to either break out of the limitations placed on them by the world/creator or succumb to those limitations, we get caught up in that journey and feel genuine emotion for people who we don't know and aren't real, much like how the people watching Truman felt inspiration/hope/fear/and dread as he was making his escape.

* I admit that the one issue with my theory is that the characters are created by the same creator who creates the world around the characters. In The Truman Show, however, Christof does not create Truman. Truman is his own being reacting to the created world. But the two ways around this issue are A) to argue that Truman is still created by Christof because Christof creates everything around Truman, so even if he can't control Truman, he creates Truman by forcing him to interact with a world that only gives him limited options and arguing that no creator has full control over his characters to make them do what he wants, instead, he must make them react to the world he's already created.

Now that theory might be me just grasping for straws or me making an obvious point. If it's the former, oh well. If it's the latter, then that's cool too because for whatever reason that point is always lost in discussions about The Truman Show.

 

[The Panda]

Surprised there are so many Aliens > Alien folks on here. To me, Alien is the franchise, and wins purely by virtue of having an antagonist that's actually scary.

 

A lot of mainstream blockbuster fans are on this website.  Aliens is more friendly to those who like action and big explosions, Alien is the much better movie though.

[Jake Gittes]

Aliens is just the richer movie. Alien is pure suspense/horror that's chilling and tense as all hell, but Aliens finds enough time for horror, action, drama *and* comedy without ever breaking a sweat, its cast of characters is a lot more engaging, and the whole motherhood motif seals the deal for me. Being a guy who'll probably only be a parent himself in another decade or so (if ever), I wouldn't necessarily think I'd find that theme of the film so damn touching, but I do, and that means Cameron and Weaver did their job incredibly well. 

[The Futurist]

Aliens is just the richer movie. Alien is pure suspense/horror that's chilling and tense as all hell, but Aliens finds enough time for horror, action, drama *and* comedy without ever breaking a sweat, its cast of characters is a lot more engaging, and the whole motherhood motif seals the deal for me. Being a guy who'll probably only be a parent himself in another decade or so (if ever), I wouldn't necessarily think I'd find that theme of the film so damn touching, but I do, and that means Cameron and Weaver did their job incredibly well.

Aliens is not just more action, the world building done by Cameron is amazing, the weapons, the first persons cameras, the tension, the sensors, the first mecha in cinema, the alien queen, the mother daughter motif with ripley and the queen, every character is interesting ( vasquez forever !), the sets, the action was amazing sure. The get away from her you bitch iconic line. Aliens made Ripley the ultimate female sci fi icon.

People forget that the movie also almost created the FPS genre in gaming, talk about being culturally influential the gaming genre that is the most played throughout the world. All those game designers took something from Aliens.

Alien is equally amazing and a perfect film but as A Cameron fan, I choose Aliens.

How many actresses have been nominated for a sci fi horror'action flick ?

Edited October 25, 2014 by The Futurist

[The Stingray]

I wish all sequels were as original and different as Aliens, but to me Alien is still what defines the franchise. I do also love Aliens tho.

[rukaio101]

Just a quick note, I'm going to be out all day tomorrow at a convention (London's MCM if anyone's interested) so there won't be any new entries until the day after.

 

34. The Godfather II (1974) 30 points- 12 votes

"If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone."

 

 

The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

 

Trivia: Francis Ford Coppola had a horrible time directing The Godfather (1972) and asked to pick a different director for the sequel, while taking the title of producer for himself. He chose Martin Scorsese, whom the film executives rejected. Thus, Coppola agreed to direct the film, with a few conditions.

 

Ruk's Comments

 

"Godfather 2 only in 34th? Waht a tweest! (But probably not the biggest one. Just wait until you see which film only made 25th.)

 

Anyway, I'll admit it's been a bit too long since I last saw this for me to properly comment on it. I remember only liking it a little, but it's hard to tell whether or not that was just because I was too young to fully appreciate it. But I think you could count on one hand the number of sequels as well regarded and beloved as this film. A classic sequel to a classic movie."