The Final Countdown: BOT's Top 100 Movies of All-Time - The List is Complete, The Empire is Dead, I Now Go to the Grey Havens

[Tower]

32 minutes ago, Critically Acclaimed Panda said:

Good job team, highest it's ever been.

 

 

Number 57

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Paramount Pictures, Directed by Sergio Leone (59 Points, 12 Votes)

 

Happy to be a part of giving it its highest ranking. I saw it because of 2016's list and it's deserving of its spot.

[Lordmandeep]

Once Upon a Time in The West is a movie that requires a few views to really appreciate.

 

The highlight to me is how each character has their own theme.

 

 

I think The Good, The Bad and The Ugly moves at a much tighter pace making it the better film but it is undoubtedly a classic. 

[DAR]

Okay so 

2001-Technically brilliant but bores the hell out of me.

Whiplash-Love the film, not quite top 100 for me.

Groundhog Day-I am definitely in the minority on this one.  I just don't get the praise.   

OUATIW-Fantastic film very worthy of this list.  

[Brainbug]

Fun Fact: Once Upon a Time in the West is still the 3rd most attended movie in post World War 2-Germany with 13 Million visitors. The German titel is also rather cool:

 

"Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" (in English: Play the song of death for me").

[The Panda]

 

Number 56

Apocalypse Now (1979)

United Artists, Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (59 Points, 14 Votes)

 

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

 

Number 1 Placements: 2

Top 10 Placements: 4

Top 25 Placements: 5

Previous Rankings: 2016 (29, -27), 2014 (Unranked), 2013 (44, -12), 2012 (30, -26)

Awards Count: Won 2 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Tomatometer: 96% (8.9 Avg Rating)

Box Office: 78.8m (287.5m Adjusted)

Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.

Critic Opinion: ""Apocalypse" assaults the senses: the almost palpable odor of sticky-hot Saigon; the creepy little guitar riffs of The Doors' "The End"; Robert Duvall's Kilgore bellowing a greeting to Lance over the noise of helicopters as if meeting him at a cocktail party; Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" booming out from helicopters hanging in the air like the warrior maidens of the opera; the bored-looking Bunnies dancing the Suzy Q for a whooping crowd of doomed servicemen; young Clean's sudden emergence as a killing machine. Everyone shines with a thin slick of sweat; everyone's eyes look haunted" - Moira MacDonald

User Opinions: "I loved it and thought it was better than the Godfather films. The whole films is excellently shot and Martin Sheen makes a very compelling protagonist." - @tribefan695

 

"well i had two discs that divided the film into two bits...i clicked on the original version each time but somehow i managed to end up watching the redux, which would explain the 200 minute thing. on balance it looks as though there were some good additions and some bad ones - all the extra surfing stuff was silly and the plantation scene could have been executed much better, but everything else was good. it seems as though it is deeper and more political in the extended version. so aside from a couple of iffy additions, this was pretty much a masterpiece. way more surreal than i was expecting." - @luna

Commentary: There are countless movies out there dealing with the Vietnam era, from the Rambo styled justifications filled with exciting action, to the Full Metal Jacket styled jabs at the war.  The most quintessential of these Vietnam War era movies is likely Francis Ford Copolla's "Apocalypse Now".  The film is packed the brim with excitement and craziness, displaying this idea that being in war is the same as living in hell.  The depictions of war in Apocalypse Now are surreal, and it's one of the most effective films ever made at displaying the sheer explosiveness of war.  The film ended up on 23% of the lists that were submitted and it had an average score from each of those users of a 4.2, indicating it was within their high twenty to low thirty range on their lists.

Decade Count: 10s (11), 80s (7), '00s (7), 90s (7), 60s (5), 70s (4), 40s (2), 50s (2)

Director Count: James Cameron (2), Damien Chazelle (2), Alfred Hitchcock (2), Richard Linklater (2), John McTiernan (2), Martin Scorsese (2), J.J. Abrams (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), Frank Capra (1), Joel and Ethan Coen (1), Francis Ford Copolla (1), Alfonso Cuaron (1), Stanley Donen (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Terry Gillam (1), Rian Johnson (1), Terry Jones (1), Gene Kelly (1), Stanley Kubrick (1), David Lean (1), Ang Lee (1), Spike Lee (1), Sergio Leone (1), Katia Lund (1), James Mangold (1), Michael Mann (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Christopher Nolan (1), Jordan Peele (1), Roman Polanski (1), Harold Ramis (1), Rob Reiner (1), Russo Brothers (1), Gus van Sant (1), Ridley Scott (1), Andrew Stanton (1), Isao Takahata (1), Quentin Tarantino (1), Orson Welles (1), Peter Weir (1), Robert Wise (1), David Yates (1)

Franchise Count: Best Picture Winner (4), Star Wars (2), James Cameron (2), Marvel (2), 'Before' (1), Blade Runner (1), Monty Python (1), Studio Ghibli (1), Alien and Predator (1), X-Men (1), MCU (1), Captain America (1), Terminator (1), Die Hard (1), Pixar (1), Harry Potter (1)

Genre Count: Drama (15), Thriller (12), Sci-Fi (12), VFX Driven (10), Adventure (10), Action (9), Fantasy (8), Epic (8), Crime/Noir (7), Comedy (7), Romance (6), Family/Children (5), Period Piece (5), Horror (4), Sequel (4), Musical (4), Western (4), War (4), Tragedy (3), Christmas (3), Indie (3), Superhero (2), Comic Book (2), Bio-Pic (2), Animation (2), Foreign Language (2), Spy/Detective (2), Satire (2), Remake (1), Melodrama (1)

 

 

 

 

[Tower]

Apocalypse Now is far too low, one of the greatest of all time.

[RandomCat]

Apocalypse now. I got nothing. I only saw half the movie.

[baumer]

The first time I saw Apocalypse Now as a teenager I did not get the praise for it. Then I saw it again in my twenties and it all clicked. Apocalypse Now is a crazy Zanies unbelievable yet fairly realistic View of one man going completely insane and bringing others along the ride with him. It's undoubtedly in my opinion one of the best films ever made.

[DAR]

I would also recommend Hearts of Darkness a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now as a supplement to watching the film

[SLAM!]

One of the things that is great about looking at every entry on the list is seeing the posters for each film. I haven't come across a single one that wasn't pleasant to look at or wasn't smartly designed.

[The Panda]

9 minutes ago, Slambros said:

One of the things that is great about looking at every entry on the list is seeing the posters for each film. I haven't come across a single one that wasn't pleasant to look at or wasn't smartly designed.

Just to note, for most of these films I’m not using the official theatrical release poster.

 

Some of them are fan made, some of them are studio made, etc. I’m trying to pick some of the more unconventional posters for each movie that I think gets across a neat idea about the film,

[ThiagoMaia]

Really digging this list. Need to rewatch Once Upon A Time in the West, I had it in my top 50, but I feel I would like it even more now.

[TwoMisfits]

1 hour ago, Critically Acclaimed Panda said:

Good job team, highest it's ever been.

 

 

Number 57

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Paramount Pictures, Directed by Sergio Leone (59 Points, 12 Votes)

 

"How can you trust a man that wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can't even trust his own pants."

 

Top 5 Placements: 3

Top 10 Placements: 4

Top 25 Placements: 5

Previous Rankings: 2016 (74, +17), 2014 (97, +40), 2013 (92, +35), 2012 (Unranked)

Awards Count: Won a Golden Screen Award in Germany?

Tomatometer: 98% (9.0 Avg Rating)

Box Office: N/A

Synopsis: A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

Critic Opinion: "The Western may be the only art form entirely specific to a time and place. Though literature of the Old West was born out of lowly dime novels  and pulp magazines, it was cinema that etched its images in our minds. Ten gallon hats and six shooters. Jeans and boots. Saddled horses in the midst of a cattle drive. Tumbleweed rolling through a barren midwestern landscape with roaming settlers searching for their manifest destiny. All of these evoke a world that was first envisioned by film. Movies immortalised the cowboy.  There have been many great Westerns through the years, most of them focusing on legendary characters or the stories which they inhabit. But for one film, these elements do not serve the traditional purpose of advancing a plot or resolving a conflict. They instead serve as a romantic tribute to the archetype of the Old West. Once Upon a Time in the West is the mythic Western; an ode to the end of its era.

 

With this triumvirate of Jill McBain (Cardinale), Frank (Fonda), and Harmonica (Bronson), Once Upon a Time in the West becomes a model of cinematic iconography; a soulful death knell mourning the end of an era and of a way of life long gone." - Michael Mirasol

User Opinions: "One of the three or four greatest films I've ever seen. First time I watched it, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (out of eone's films I'd only seen A Fistful of Dollars prior to it) and had a somewhat mixed reaction - the cinematography, the music, _that_ flashback scene, Bronson's coolness, Fonda's evilness, Robards' likability and Cardinale's beauty all instantly knocked me off my seat, but the very deliberate pacing and storytelling had me scratching my head. Still, there was a certain magnetic quality to the film that left me convinced I was going to return to it before long, and sure enough, by the third viewing I admired every single thing in there and wished I could spend as much time as possible in the film's world. A magnificent epic on the passing of the mythic Old West and the archetypes that inhabited it, with some of the finest cinematography and original music of all time." - @Jake Gittes

 

"An undisputed masterpiece. An elegiac, mythic, operatic ode to the death of the Wild West. Also, the opening scene has got to be one of the greatest movie scenes of all time.
 
Imo, the finest Western of all time (Once Upon a Time... > The Good, The Bad...), and one of the top 10 films ever made." - @The Stingray

Commentary: Placing at the highest it's ever been, and still far too low, is my third favorite movie of all time and what I'd regard as the greatest Western of all-time, created by the greatest Western filmmaker of all-time.  Sergio Leone both loves the Western genre and understands the flaws of it, and you see it in the way he crafts his films, from an outsider's perspective looking in.  Once Upon a Time in the West is a grand, epic Western that manages to encapsulate everything there is to love about the genre, while also being crafted in a slow, sprawling and delirious fashion.  It's a movie that wasn't received with a bang but has slowly garnered acclaim over time as more and more people get a chance to discover its greatness.  The film may have only appeared on 20% of our members lists, but on average they placed it within their top 25, indicating lots of passion for the movie.

Decade Count: 10s (11), 80s (7), '00s (7), 90s (7), 60s (5), 70s (3), 40s (2), 50s (2)

Director Count: James Cameron (2), Damien Chazelle (2), Alfred Hitchcock (2), Richard Linklater (2), John McTiernan (2), Martin Scorsese (2), J.J. Abrams (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), Frank Capra (1), Joel and Ethan Coen (1), Alfonso Cuaron (1), Stanley Donen (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Terry Gillam (1), Rian Johnson (1), Terry Jones (1), Gene Kelly (1), Stanley Kubrick (1), David Lean (1), Ang Lee (1), Spike Lee (1), Sergio Leone (1), Katia Lund (1), James Mangold (1), Michael Mann (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Christopher Nolan (1), Jordan Peele (1), Roman Polanski (1), Harold Ramis (1), Rob Reiner (1), Russo Brothers (1), Gus van Sant (1), Ridley Scott (1), Andrew Stanton (1), Isao Takahata (1), Quentin Tarantino (1), Orson Welles (1), Peter Weir (1), Robert Wise (1), David Yates (1)

Franchise Count: Best Picture Winner (4), Star Wars (2), James Cameron (2), Marvel (2), 'Before' (1), Blade Runner (1), Monty Python (1), Studio Ghibli (1), Alien and Predator (1), X-Men (1), MCU (1), Captain America (1), Terminator (1), Die Hard (1), Pixar (1), Harry Potter (1)

Genre Count: Drama (14), Thriller (12), Sci-Fi (12), VFX Driven (10), Adventure (10), Action (8), Fantasy (8), Epic (8), Crime/Noir (7), Comedy (7), Romance (6), Family/Children (5), Period Piece (5), Horror (4), Sequel (4), Musical (4), Western (4), Tragedy (3), War (3), Christmas (3), Indie (3), Superhero (2), Comic Book (2), Bio-Pic (2), Animation (2), Foreign Language (2), Spy/Detective (2), Satire (2), Remake (1), Melodrama (1)

 

 

 

Finally an old movie I have NOT seen...time to add this to my summer viewing list:)...

[Fancyarcher]

Apocalypse Now is brilliant. I only really appreciated it as I got older. The river was used as a brilliant metaphor, and the film's themes of madness was crazy, chilling, and is still relevant. Just an all-around excellent film. 

 

And the documentary Hearts of Darkness is indeed hella fascinating. The making of the movie is just as an interesting as the movie itself. 

Edited May 16, 2018 by Fancyarcher

[Cap]

25 minutes ago, DAR said:

I would also recommend Hearts of Darkness a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now as a supplement to watching the film

I was LEGIT about to say this!!!  The making of this movie is just as crazy as the movie itself.

[Jake Gittes]

1 hour ago, Lordmandeep said:

Once Upon a Time in The West is a movie that requires a few views to really appreciate.

Speak for yourself. Didn't take me more than one viewing to pretty much feel like I just saw God himself when I got to the movie's climax.

 

Apocalypse Now gets more on-the-nose for me as a war critique with each viewing but on the whole it's still a formidable experience. Slipped from my top 10 (back in '12 and '14) closer to #30-40 though. 

[Wrath]

46 minutes ago, DAR said:

I would also recommend Hearts of Darkness a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now as a supplement to watching the film

I actually like Hearts of Darkness better than Apocalypse Now. That is an amazingly interesting and entertaining documentary.

[rukaio101]

2 hours ago, Water Bottle said:

 

I don't think we can agree on this issue at all. You seem think film is entirely subjective with no room for objectivity. I don't agree with that assertion at all. 

On the contrary, I think there is plenty of room for objectivity when it comes to film criticism and the like. There are tons of moments in movies that I love where I can actively explain why I feel the scene works, via analysing the story, directing, cinematography and so and so forth. Hell, I wrote what was practically a 5-part essay on why I didn't think BvS worked at all as a story. And there was plenty of objective reasoning in there.

 

However, what I'm trying to argue isn't that objectivity has no place when looking at films, but that subjectivity comes first. Because the objective elements of a movie you keep bringing up are all designed to serve the subjective goal of the movie which is to engage the audience. A moment can in theory be perfectly well structured or shot or set-up or whatever, but if it doesn't resonate with the person watching it, then it has failed at its purpose. Simple as. And, on the reverse side, if there's a moment that's the exact opposite, that should in theory never work yet somehow manages to seriously resonate and engage with the person watching, then that moment has succeeded, regardless of its perceived flaws. 

 

That's why I don't buy into this idea that X movies somehow 'deserve' to be on a list over other popular movies that have obviously resonated with the people watching them. Because, like I said, when it comes to film, the objective is designed to serve the subjective and ultimately the final measure of a film is how much you personally enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Side Note: And yes I'm aware that sometimes people liking/disliking a film is just down to a matter of appealing/incompatible tastes. But there's also not really much you can do to help that, so... *shrugs*

Edited May 16, 2018 by rukaio101

[FantasticBeasts]

@Critically Acclaimed Panda

I hope you didn't count my troll list. I did it for fun but I started feeling guilty suddenly If I got ya extra work cause all of this seems too much already!

[The Panda]

 

Number 55

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

United Artists, Directed by Milos Forman (59 Points, 15 Votes)

 

"Get out of my way son, you're usin' my oxygen."

 

Top 10 Placements: 1

Top 25 Placements: 5

Previous Rankings: 2016 (82, +27), 2014 (56, +1), 2013 (49, -6), 2012 (48, -7)

Awards Count: Won 5 Oscars, Including Best Picture

Tomatometer: 94% (9.0 Avg Rating)

Box Office: 109m (491.8m Adjusted)

Synopsis: A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

Critic Opinion: "And so we have waited more than 10 years for the film version of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and all doubts that a film could be made of Kesey’s novel vanish the minute Nicholson explodes on the screen in a performance so flawless in timing and character perception that it should send half the stars in Hollywood back to acting school.  Nicholson could always be relied on to supply a certain rakish charm. Here he actually becomes the brash, outspoken McMurphy, delighting us with his impudence and defiance. He also manages to expose yet another, less noticeable layer of McMurphy - his deep compassion for his fellow human beings, which acts as a balance for his otherwise violent nature. It is a performance of dazzling complexity and energy, the kind of perfect triumph that happens in those rare times when the right actor meets the challenge of the right role.

 

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is the best film therapy one can recommend." - Kathleen Carroll

User Opinions: "Great film and great concept..

 

I think this is the film that made people rethink mental institutions..." - @Lordmandeep

 

"fantastic movie but the ending just breaks my heart - McMurphy was just so full of life & to see it taken away from him is just heartbreaking!!  I do believe this is Jack's best performance along with Louise Fletcher though I despise her character with every fiber of my being!!  I do get a kick out of all the patients & their interactions with each other & especially with McMurphy.  Just an awesome film!" - @Catty

Commentary: For some reason I always get confused and think this movie is Kubrick, but I then go to check and it's Forman, maybe it's just because I associate Nicholson with The Shining so much.  Oh well, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest is a brilliant and sentimental film that raises awareness and thought toward mental institutions and the humanity within people that a portion of people like to try and ignore and forget about.  Forman's direction is superb, as is Nicholson's performance, but you really have to give credit to Kesey's novel, as it's really the story being adapted here that shines so brilliantly.  This film showed up on around 25% of the lists submitted with an average score of 3.9, indicating the average ranking of the film was just below the 35 mark.

Decade Count: 10s (11), 80s (7), '00s (7), 90s (7), 60s (5), 70s (5), 40s (2), 50s (2)

Tomatometer Count: Over 90% (39), 80%-90% (6)

Adjusted Box Office Count: 1b+ (1), 900m (1), 800m (1), 600m (1), 400m (3), 300m (3), 200m (7), 100m (12), Under 100m (16)

Director Count: James Cameron (2), Damien Chazelle (2), Alfred Hitchcock (2), Richard Linklater (2), John McTiernan (2), Martin Scorsese (2), J.J. Abrams (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), Frank Capra (1), Joel and Ethan Coen (1), Francis Ford Copolla (1), Alfonso Cuaron (1), Stanley Donen (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Milos Forman (1), Terry Gillam (1), Rian Johnson (1), Terry Jones (1), Gene Kelly (1), Stanley Kubrick (1), David Lean (1), Ang Lee (1), Spike Lee (1), Sergio Leone (1), Katia Lund (1), James Mangold (1), Michael Mann (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Christopher Nolan (1), Jordan Peele (1), Roman Polanski (1), Harold Ramis (1), Rob Reiner (1), Russo Brothers (1), Gus van Sant (1), Ridley Scott (1), Andrew Stanton (1), Isao Takahata (1), Quentin Tarantino (1), Orson Welles (1), Peter Weir (1), Robert Wise (1), David Yates (1)

Franchise Count: Best Picture Winner (5), Star Wars (2), James Cameron (2), Marvel (2), 'Before' (1), Blade Runner (1), Monty Python (1), Studio Ghibli (1), Alien and Predator (1), X-Men (1), MCU (1), Captain America (1), Terminator (1), Die Hard (1), Pixar (1), Harry Potter (1)

Genre Count: Drama (16), Thriller (12), Sci-Fi (12), VFX Driven (10), Adventure (10), Action (9), Fantasy (8), Epic (8), Crime/Noir (7), Comedy (7), Romance (6), Novel Adaption (6), Family/Children (5), Period Piece (5), Horror (4), Sequel (4), Musical (4), Western (4), War (4), Tragedy (4), Christmas (3), Indie (3), Superhero (2), Comic Book (2), Bio-Pic (2), Animation (2), Foreign Language (2), Spy/Detective (2), Satire (2), Remake (1), Melodrama (1)