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

[pepsa]

Just now, Daxtreme said:

My friends... you bow to no one.

 

Cue the fucking onions

Genious, just genious !

Btw titanic is a good enough movie to be in the top 10. I isn't in my top 10 but I can understand why.

 

[WrathOfHan]

Just now, MrGamer said:

Con Air at #1. 

Should but won’t!  

[TwoMisfits]

6 minutes ago, Auteur Panda said:

 

Number 6

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Warner Brothers, Directed by Peter Jackson (144 Points, 30 Votes)

 

"Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you... but I can carry you!"

 

Top 5 Placements: 4

Top 10 Placements: 9

Top 25 Placements: 16

Previous Rankings: 2016 (8, +2), 2014 (4, -2), 2013 (15, +9), 2012 (9, +3)

Awards Count: Won 11 Oscars, Including Best Picture

Tomatometer: 93% (8.7 Avg Rating)

Box Office: 377m (563.7m Adjusted)

Synopsis: Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

Critic Opinion: "The pleasures of "The Return of the King" are too numerous to recount in brief. Now that the trilogy is complete, we can take the full measure of Peter Jackson's extraordinary accomplishment. "The Lord of the Rings" stands as a model of epic storytelling. The final installment runs well over three hours, but Jackson's modulations of tone, space, scale and intensity are so expertly gauged you never feel pummeled or bored. Just gripped from start to finish.

 

"The Return of the King" interweaves two strands, one vast, one intimate. In the former, all the kingdoms of Middle-earth unite in an attempt to stave off Sauron's armies of darkness, and to restore Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) to the throne. This is the cast-of-thousands part, full of swirling camera work, can-you-top-this stunts and magnificent besieged cities. In the latter is the increasingly tortured, weary figure of Frodo (Elijah Wood) as he enters the terrifying realm of Mordor, where he must return the ring to the fire. On his hobbit's back rests the fate of mankind. We've known that from the beginning. In the third and final film, we feel it.  The second installment was better than the first, and this one is best of all. It has spectacular action scenes and imaginary creatures, and it's by far the most moving chapter. The performances have deepened. These characters don't pop back up like cartoon figures, unscraped by experience. They've been altered by their quest, and the hurt gives flavor to the glory. If there's a flaw in this jewel it's a generous one: Jackson gives us too many endings. Understandably, he wants to be faithful to Tolkien. Or maybe, like us, he just couldn't tear himself away."  - David Ansen

User Opinion: "Oooooh that's good." - @Jack Nevada

 

"One of the greatest movie achievements in modern day history, and one of my top favorites!"  - @Warhorse

 

"The last really epic film Hollywood has made. It's the best and the most powerful emotionally of the trilogy." - @Joel M

Commentary: The Lord of the Rings makes it into the top 10 for a second time, this time with the closing chapter of the trilogy, or better known as "the ending that never ends".  The Return of the King is the movie that matched Titanic in Oscar wins, making Peter Jackson's Kiwi trilogy the movie franchise that has officially won (and been nominated for) the most Oscars in history.  The Middle Earth fantasy epics rejuvenated the genre, even though nothing ever came close to matching it for 10 years, until of course HBO started up their Thrones series.  The Return of the King is an emotion packed finale, with powerful and moving sequences, as well as some of the grandest battle sequences you'll ever see in a movie.  The Return of the King made just under 50% of the lists submitted, and had an average score of 4.8.

Decade Count: 90s (27), 10s (15), '00s (15), 80s (13), 70s (11), 60s (6), 50s (4), 40s (3), 30s (1)

Tomatometer Count: Over 90% (75), 80%-90% (14), 70%-80% (3)

Adjusted Box Office Count: 1b+ (5), 900m (2), 800m (1), 700m (4), 600m (2), 500m (5), 400m (10), 300m (9), 200m (14), 100m (16), Under 100m (25)

Director Count: Steven Spielberg (6), James Cameron (5), Francis Ford Copolla (3), Alfred Hitchcock (3), Ridley Scott (3), Martin Scorsese (3), Damien Chazelle (2), David Fincher (2), Peter Jackson (2), Stanley Kubrick (2), John Lasseter (2), Sergio Leone (2), Richard Linklater (2), John McTiernan (2), Hayao Miyazaki (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Andrew Stanton (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Lee Unkrich (2), Robert Zemeckis (2), J.J. Abrams (1), Roger Allers (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), John Avildsen (1), Brad Bird (1), Ash Brannon (1), Frank Capra (1), Ron Clements (1), Joel and Ethan Coen (1), Alfonso Cuaron (1), Michael Curtiz (1), Jonathan Demme (1), Stanley Donen (1), Frank Darabont (1), Pete Docter (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Victor Fleming (1), Milos Forman (1), Terry Gillam (1), Rian Johnson (1), Terry Jones (1), Gene Kelly (1), Akira Kurosawa (1), David Lean (1), Ang Lee (1), Spike Lee (1), George Lucas (1), Katia Lund (1), James Mangold (1), Michael Mann (1), Richard Marquand (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), George Miller (1), Rob Minkoff (1), John Musker (1), Jordan Peele (1), Roman Polanski (1), Harold Ramis (1), Rob Reiner (1), Russo Brothers (1), Gus van Sant (1), Bryan Singer (1), Isao Takahata (1), Guillermo Del Torro (1), Gary Trousdale (1), King Vidor (1), Orson Welles (1), Peter Weir (1), Robert Wise (1), David Yates (1), Wachowskis (1)

Franchise Count: Best Picture Winner (15), Pixar (7), Steven Spielberg (6), James Cameron (5), Star Wars (3), Toy Story (3), Alien and Predator (3), Studio Ghibli (3), WDAS (3), Dead Wife Cinematic Universe/Nolan (2), Marvel (2), Terminator (2), The Godfather (2), 'Before' (1), Blade Runner (1), Monty Python (1), X-Men (1), MCU (1), Captain America (1), Die Hard (1), Harry Potter (1), Rocky (1), Oz (1), Indiana Jones (1), Nemo (1), Dollars (1), Hannibal (1), Mad Max (1), Jurassic Park (1), Jaws (1), Back to the Future (1), Matrix (1), Middle Earth (1)

Genre Count: Drama (38), Adventure (33), VFX Driven (32), Thriller (24), Sci-Fi (25), Fantasy (24), Epic (23), Comedy (21), Action (20), Novel Adaption (20), Period Piece (19), Family/Children (17), Romance (16), Crime/Noir (15), Sequel (15), Animation (13), War (13), Horror (12), Tragedy (12), Indie (11), Musical (7), Foreign Language (6), Cult Classic (5), Western (5), Romantic Comedy (5), Melodrama (5), Spy/Detective (4), Bio-Pic (4), Christmas (3), Sports (3), Superhero (3), Comic Book (2), Satire (2), Remake (2)

 

 

 

This is a series that I myself rank as a single unit (and it was in my Top 10), but if forced to choose, I'm glad BOT is getting these in the right order - FOTR>ROTK>TTT.

 

And on another note...these movies were made to be enjoyed in their theatrical versions.  In those versions, everything had a purpose and everything just worked.  A few years ago, I made the mistake of watching the extended versions with my spouse and oldest kids (b/c my husband cannot have too much Tolkien), and I actually thought these versions, especially ROTK, actually lost some of their greatness as things got dragged out (or things got wildly changed from the book that didn't make sense)...it's pretty rare for me to not enjoy the "extra" material or at least to find it no better/no worse, so I gotta say that Jackson just hit the perfect cut for the theatrical release for those who do have a limit to how much Tolkien they can handle:)...the man probably deserved 3 Oscars, 1 for each movie, for how well he pulled off these movies...

[Fancyarcher]

The LOTR trilogy is amazing, perhaps the greatest film triilogy achievement ever. The climax of ROTK had me in tears. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Fancyarcher

[titanic2187]

Luckily titanic haters are in minority and their power are in diminish, and forever the group will be. While titanic legacy will go on and on

[Jake Gittes]

9 minutes ago, titanic2187 said:

their power are in diminish

for chrissake relax you aren't battling for cinema's eternal soul here. 

[MrGamer]

1 minute ago, Jake Gittes said:

for chrissake relax you aren't battling for cinema's eternal soul here. 

That battle was lost about 100 pages ago. 

[The Panda]

 

Number 5

12 Angry Men (1957)

Criterion Collection, Directed by Sidney Lumet (145 Points, 26 Votes)

 

" "Slip through our fingers"? Are you his executioner?"

 

Number 1 Placements: 2

Top 5 Placements: 6

Top 10 Placements: 9

Top 25 Placements: 17

Previous Rankings: 2016 (7, +2), 2014 (8, +3), 2013 (28, +23), 2012 (35, +30)

Awards Count: Nominated for 3 Oscars, Including Best Picture

Tomatometer: 100% (9.0 Avg Rating)

Box Office: N/A

Synopsis: A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence.

Critic Opinion: "Pound for pound, Sidney Lumet still has the finest filmography of all the New York giants (sorry, Marty), and to think he began his features career with this brilliant character study is to blanch at the man’s gifts. Set in a single jurors’ room over the course of a long summer’s day and evening, Reginald Rose’s scenario started off as a teleplay—just as Lumet himself came from the quick-fire world of live broadcast drama. But the director seized on the technical freedoms allowed him by an ace cameraman (On the Waterfront’s Boris Kaufman), ratcheting up the claustrophobia with every close-up. Often, these dozen jurors seem on the verge of blows; the movie, dealing with a murder trial, is about persuasion, but it also showcases New Yorkers’ distinct talent for coexisting in tight quarters.

 

Yet who would mind such company? Justly, 12 Angry Men is celebrated for its uniformly terrific cast, chiefly Henry Fonda’s soft-spoken advocate and Lee J. Cobb’s resistant blowhard, racked with daddy issues and not about to let an ungrateful teen go free. A closer look at the performances reveals a minimum of Method fussiness, the grace notes of Jack Warden’s jokey baseball fan and Robert Webber’s Mad Men–esque smoothy landing in quiet harmony. Meanwhile, too few films take on the art of arguing as a subject; we could certainly use more of them, but until then, Lumet’s window into strained civic duty will continue to serve mightily." - Joshua Rothkopf

User Opinions: "I love this movie so much. Simply brilliant is the best description for it. It's also one of the few old movies I can watch over and over with ease. Seen it at least a dozen times cause it's so easy to sit through. Moves at an alarmingly blazing pace every time, which I always find nice." - @MovieMan89

 

"Watched this yesterday. Have been watching bits and pieces again and again since then. Great, great film. The direction, the acting, the characters, the writing - all are top class. A classic in all respects. Its so simple. And so unique! A courtroom drama with no lawyers, a case with no trial. With nothing but a single shot of the convict's face. It feels to me like it was not really about the case, about proving or not proving something, about the convict, about the whodunit or even about guilty or innocent. It was about the men - 12 strangers, who don't even know each other's name, come together to decide the death of another stranger. Its about being able to look past the surface. No, its about willing to look past the surface. Its about the will to look past your prejudices and your emotions, about opening your mind. The story's got its holes, even though its written very well and great part of it is covered by the superb acting. Too much is assumed. The lawyers are apparently high school drop-outs. In other word's it isn't really realistic. But it doesn't matter, not completely. For as i said, its not about the case, its about the Men. 12 Angry Men." - @Infernus

 

"🐐" - @aabattery

Commentary: 12 Angry Men is definitely the misfit movie in our top 10, not because it isn't good enough to be in the top 10, but because where everything else has spectacle, thrills and grand storytelling, 12 Angry Men is up-close and personable.  The film could practically be a play, as the entire film is twelve men arguing in a room, and yet it couldn't be more intense or cinematic.  I liked Rothkopf's statement that this movie really manages to capture the art of arguing, maybe that's why it's so popular on these forums and the internet, where other classics of that time don't seem to resonate as much?  I mean just look at one of our DC threads, you'd think people would be fighting over somebody's life or death given the intensity in some of those.  Anyways, 12 Angry Men is a brilliantly made movie 43% of the lists that were submitted with an average score of 5.6.

Decade Count: 90s (27), 10s (15), '00s (15), 80s (13), 70s (11), 60s (6), 50s (5), 40s (3), 30s (1)

Tomatometer Count: Over 90% (77), 80%-90% (15), 70%-80% (3)

Adjusted Box Office Count: 1b+ (5), 900m (2), 800m (1), 700m (4), 600m (2), 500m (5), 400m (10), 300m (9), 200m (14), 100m (16), Under 100m (26)

Director Count: Steven Spielberg (6), James Cameron (5), Francis Ford Copolla (3), Alfred Hitchcock (3), Ridley Scott (3), Martin Scorsese (3), Damien Chazelle (2), David Fincher (2), Peter Jackson (2), Stanley Kubrick (2), John Lasseter (2), Sergio Leone (2), Richard Linklater (2), John McTiernan (2), Hayao Miyazaki (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Andrew Stanton (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Lee Unkrich (2), Robert Zemeckis (2), J.J. Abrams (1), Roger Allers (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), John Avildsen (1), Brad Bird (1), Ash Brannon (1), Frank Capra (1), Ron Clements (1), Joel and Ethan Coen (1), Alfonso Cuaron (1), Michael Curtiz (1), Jonathan Demme (1), Stanley Donen (1), Frank Darabont (1), Pete Docter (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Victor Fleming (1), Milos Forman (1), Terry Gillam (1), Rian Johnson (1), Terry Jones (1), Gene Kelly (1), Akira Kurosawa (1), David Lean (1), Ang Lee (1), Spike Lee (1), George Lucas (1), Sidney Lumet (1), Katia Lund (1), James Mangold (1), Michael Mann (1), Richard Marquand (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), George Miller (1), Rob Minkoff (1), John Musker (1), Jordan Peele (1), Roman Polanski (1), Harold Ramis (1), Rob Reiner (1), Russo Brothers (1), Gus van Sant (1), Bryan Singer (1), Isao Takahata (1), Guillermo Del Torro (1), Gary Trousdale (1), King Vidor (1), Orson Welles (1), Peter Weir (1), Robert Wise (1), David Yates (1), Wachowskis (1)

Franchise Count: Best Picture Winner (16), Pixar (7), Steven Spielberg (6), James Cameron (5), Star Wars (3), Toy Story (3), Alien and Predator (3), Studio Ghibli (3), WDAS (3), Dead Wife Cinematic Universe/Nolan (2), Marvel (2), Terminator (2), The Godfather (2), Middle Earth (2) 'Before' (1), Blade Runner (1), Monty Python (1), X-Men (1), MCU (1), Captain America (1), Die Hard (1), Harry Potter (1), Rocky (1), Oz (1), Indiana Jones (1), Nemo (1), Dollars (1), Hannibal (1), Mad Max (1), Jurassic Park (1), Jaws (1), Back to the Future (1), Matrix (1)

Genre Count: Drama (39), Adventure (33), VFX Driven (32), Thriller (24), Sci-Fi (25), Fantasy (24), Epic (23), Comedy (21), Action (20), Novel Adaption (20), Period Piece (19), Family/Children (17), Romance (16), Crime/Noir (15), Sequel (15), Animation (13), War (13), Horror (12), Tragedy (12), Indie (11), Musical (7), Foreign Language (6), Cult Classic (6), Western (5), Romantic Comedy (5), Melodrama (5), Spy/Detective (4), Bio-Pic (4), Christmas (3), Sports (3), Superhero (3), Comic Book (2), Satire (2), Remake (2)

 

 

[That One Girl]

Just now, Auteur Panda said:

"🐐" - @aabattery

 

 

Succinct.

[Daxtreme]

Ha! Exact same position as on the IMDb top 250

[The Panda]

27 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

This is a series that I myself rank as a single unit (and it was in my Top 10), but if forced to choose, I'm glad BOT is getting these in the right order - FOTR>ROTK>TTT.

 

And on another note...these movies were made to be enjoyed in their theatrical versions.  In those versions, everything had a purpose and everything just worked.  A few years ago, I made the mistake of watching the extended versions with my spouse and oldest kids (b/c my husband cannot have too much Tolkien), and I actually thought these versions, especially ROTK, actually lost some of their greatness as things got dragged out (or things got wildly changed from the book that didn't make sense)...it's pretty rare for me to not enjoy the "extra" material or at least to find it no better/no worse, so I gotta say that Jackson just hit the perfect cut for the theatrical release for those who do have a limit to how much Tolkien they can handle:)...the man probably deserved 3 Oscars, 1 for each movie, for how well he pulled off these movies...

I have to disagree with the extended additions parts.

 

Usually I'm all for a cleaner movie, but based off the grandeur and scale of the LOTR stories, I think those additional scenes really improve the films, it'd drag if you watched all three in one day, but give them the proper space and it leads to a truly absorbing experience.

 

Then again, I have the patience to binge the entirety of Thrones every time a new series comes out, so maybe it's just me.  I like my epics to take their time and not rush things.

[Fancyarcher]

12 Angry Men is a perfect film. I can't think of a single thing I don't like about it. It's as good as movies get. 

[aabattery]

12AM is the one people should spend 12 pages whining about how it's not high enough despite making the top 10.

[DAR]

12 Angry Men being this high is good guys.  It’s really really really good

[The Panda]

1 minute ago, aabattery said:

12AM is the one people should spend 12 pages whining about how it's not high enough despite making the top 10.

The movie's been slowly creeping up on the list every year.  Give it another 12 angry years or so and it'll be number 1

[baumer]

12AM is a terrific film. 

[DAR]

I was looking for something to watch tonight.  The current selection just made that confirmation 

[Cap]

I watched a documentary about Blazing Saddles a couple days ago.  Gene Wilder said something that shook me.  He said, "the movie is a classic, because it always feels modern, and that's what makes it classic."  I'd never thought of it like that, but I really like that description.

 

As you watch that clip of 12 Angry Men it feels as modern, and as damning, as it's initial release.   

[aabattery]

Since the list has just peaked and it is only downhill from here, it seems like a good time to thank @Auteur Panda for putting this list together. It seems like it's a hell of a lot of work but you've done another great job on it. Good stuff.

 

Sorry for ruining your cliffhanger with Coens discussion ♥️

[MrGamer]

*Sneaks off to watch 12 Angry Men*