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

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Ethan Hunt said:

What if we get TFIOS at #1 B

 

That movie is too sophisticated for the cretins here at the site.  Only true gentlemen and film connoisseurs can truly appreciate a film of that magnitude.   

[TwoMisfits]

1 minute ago, Auteur Panda said:

The king is dead!  The Empire has been defeated!  Alabama lost!  American Sniper topped Marvel and Hunger Games at the Box Office!

 

Number 3

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Lucasfilms, Directed by Irvin Kershner (185 Points, 36 Votes)

 

"That is why you fail."

 

Number 1 Placements: 2

Top 5 Placements: 8

Top 10 Placements: 10

Top 25 Placements: 21

Previous Rankings: 2016 (1, -2), 2014 (1, -2), 2013 (1, -2), 2012 (3, No Change)

Awards Count: Won 1 Oscar

Tomatometer: 95% (8.9 Avg Rating)

Box Office: 209.4m (722.3m Adjusted)

Synopsis: After the rebels are brutally overpowered by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader.

Critic Opinion: "Indulge me for a moment as I time travel back to 1980. Historically, it was a signficant year -- the Iran hostage crisis raged, Ronald Reagan won the Presidential election, and the United States boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But, for science fiction movie lovers, there was only one event: the May 21 opening of The Empire Strikes Back. For the first time in three long, merchandise-clogged years, new Star Wars had reached screens. The movie was a guaranteed success before its first public show.

 

Although it lacks the pioneering "newness" of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back is in many ways a superior motion picture. The storyline is more interesting and ambitious, the characters -- little more than appealing types in the original -- are allowed to grow and develop, the special effects are more mature, and the tone is deliciously dark and downbeat. It's the latter quality that has made The Empire Strikes Back the least favorite among young Star Wars fans -- excepting Yoda, there's nothing cute to be found, and the film definitely doesn't leave viewers with a warm, fuzzy feeling. In the first film, good triumphed decisively over evil; here, it's almost the other way around.

 

Seventeen years after its intial release, The Empire Strikes Back is still as thrilling and involving as ever. Because of the high quality of the original product, it doesn't show a hint of dating. Neither the first nor the third chapters (or, properly, the "fourth" and "sixth") of the Star Wars saga were able to match the narrative scope of Empire, which today remains one of the finest and most rousing science fiction tales ever committed to the screen." - James Berardinelli

User Opinions: "It's Empire Strikes Back." - @aabattery

 

"I don’t have a review but this is a good A+ movie I’m just putting this here in case Panda sees it and puts it in his user opinion thingy when it inevitably makes the list" - @That One Guy

 

"This movie is not half bad." - @MrPink

 

"The best of the Star Wars films and the best sequel ever made.  Should have won best picture in 1980." - @baumer

Commentary: Our reigning champion has been defeated, just as Luke was defeated by his father in this shocking and polarizing 80s classic.  This movie wasn't always beloved, in fact, upon release, its reception was fairly polarizing in the same manner as The Last Jedi, I suspect history has repeated itself and time will be kind to Rian Johnson's masterpiece.  Anyways, everyone on this forum has seen this movie, or at least has heard enough from everybody else to have practically seen the movie.  It's a sequel that defined sequels, no sequel can ever be made now without being compared to this one.  It's a remarkable movie and you should probably go watch it again, because it's simply perfect (although not THE perfect movie like the one right before this).

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

Tomatometer Count: Over 90% (79), 80%-90% (15), 70%-80% (3)

Adjusted Box Office Count: 1b+ (5), 900m (2), 800m (1), 700m (6), 600m (2), 500m (5), 400m (10), 300m (9), 200m (14), 100m (16), Under 100m (26)

Director Count: Steven Spielberg (7), 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), Irvin Kershner (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 (5), 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), Indiana Jones (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), 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 (35), VFX Driven (34), Sci-Fi (26), Fantasy (26), Epic (25), Thriller (24), Comedy (21), Action (21), Novel Adaption (20), Period Piece (20), Family/Children (17), Romance (16), Sequel (16), Crime/Noir (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)

 

 

 

 

See, I could start another derailment on how this only got 36 votes...buuuuttt, the movie's probably higher than it should be already, so maybe the other voters were helping to even this out:).  This movie made my Top 50, but I'm actually kinda shocked it had 1st place 3 votes in a row...but that shows you the power and zeitgeist of Star Wars and its OT...

 

Oh, and good job BOT on 12 Angry Men...while not my favorite classic, it is a deserving one...and its ability to speak to modern times and to seem absolutely timeless are why it should always deserve a spot high on our lists.  And for the folks who said 12AM teaches argument...hell, yes, it does.  My spouse and I use this movie for our teen debate team to teach them good and bad logical argument in practice.  Yes, if there's a good movie that sparks debate, we use it (you should hear the debate cases we come up with for ESB - that movie is chock full of moments where it's "why didn't X do Y"...and even though you debate them, you still love where Lucas went with it:)...

[Fancyarcher]

Whatever takes the top spot, whether it's The Fellowship or TDK, I can't complain. Both films were high-up on my list. 

[That One Girl]

I hope Fellowship wins.  We can’t validate the Nolanites.

[Empire]

Out of the remaining 2, I hope TDK is #1. 

[DAR]

I blame Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy for Empire falling to three

[narniadis]

I really am surprised that we didn't have at least 1 film getting close to 100% of lists... You would think something would make it.

[WrathOfHan]

Would prefer Fellowship winning but TDK would cause more meltdowns. Let’s go with that one  

[DAR]

I have TDK ranked higher than FOTR.  But I can buy either as 1

[RandomCat]

I can't accept TDK or FotR as #1, for I have never lived in Gotham or met a Hobbit to truly connect with those films.

[baumer]

3 hours ago, narniadis said:

You are scaring me in some ways LOL

 

I think you will like it....we did it once before...but a looooooong time ago, and we did it by.........never mind, I've said too much already!

[TwoMisfits]

1 minute ago, narniadis said:

I really am surprised that we didn't have at least 1 film getting close to 100% of lists... You would think something would make it.

Darn out of likes...but I agree...I'd actually love to know the movie that made the most lists...the "consensus" favorite movie:)... 

[MrGamer]

I had TDK #4 on my list and FOTR at #23. So that tells me that Speed 2 will end up #1. 

[baumer]

3 hours ago, narniadis said:

I really am surprised that we didn't have at least 1 film getting close to 100% of lists... You would think something would make it.

 

Yes, I concur.  

[That One Girl]

You can’t relate with The Dark Knight until you’ve dressed up as a bat and fought a clown with goofy green hair.  In other words, you can’t relate unless you’ve attended a Halloween party when you were 6 years old.

[RandomCat]

1 minute ago, baumer said:

 

I think you will like it....we did it once before...but a looooooong time ago, and we did it by.........never mind, I've said too much already!

...do I need to fill out some waiver? Will my life or limb be in danger?

[Rorschach]

It'll be so fucking cool to see my all time favorite film get the #1 spot on the list. That'll just make me so damn happy. 

[The Panda]

8 hours ago, RascarCapat said:

@Auteur Panda Sorry maybe I am an idiot but I don't get how Star Wars with these list placements :

 

Number 1 Placements:  1

Top 5 Placements: 4

Top 10 Placements: 7

Top 25 Placements: 14

 

Can top Titanic with these list placements :

 

Number 1 Placements: 4

Top 5 Placements: 8

Top 10 Placements: 12

Top 25 Placements: 15

 

I am of course just interested in the numbers and not discussing wich one should be over wich one as I love them both

Just saw this.

 

Star Wars also got 12 more votes than Titanic, that's a considerable number of votes.  I was trying to balance quantity vs passion, and Titanic was more of a passion entry.

[DAR]

Just now, RandomCat said:

I can't accept TDK or FotR as #1, for I have never lived in Gotham or met a Hobbit to truly connect with those films.

Well I can.  I’ve been to Chicago where TDK was filmed.  And I saw a little person at the store so I encountered a modern day Hobbit 

[RandomCat]

1 minute ago, That One Guy said:

You can’t relate with The Dark Knight until you’ve dressed up as a bat and fought a clown with goofy green hair.  In other words, you can’t relate unless you’ve attended a Halloween party when you were 6 years old.

...what if I dressed up as Catwoman? Is that close enough?