Box Office Theory Forum's Top 100 Warner Bros. Movies

[Eric Prime]

#159 - Enter the Dragon (283 points, 6 lists)

 

#158 - Miss Congeniality (287 points, 8 lists)

 

#157 - Doctor Sleep (287 points, 7 lists)

 

#156 - 300 (288 points, 7 lists)

 

#155 - Watchmen (290 points, 9 lists)

 

#154 - American Sniper (296 points, 7 lists)

 

#153 - It (297 points, 10 lists)

 

#152 - The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (301 points, 5 lists)

 

#151 - Ready Player One (306 points, 7 lists)

 

#150 - Insomnia (306 points, 6 lists)

[ListenHunnyUrOver]

So Far…
 

100: East of Eden (1955)

99: White Heat (1949)

98. John Wick (2014)
97. Whatever Happened To Baby Jane (1962)

96. Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

95. The Right Stuff (1983)

94. Joker (2019)

93. The Suicide Squad (2021)

92. Contact (1997)
91. Mad Max 2 (1981) 

90. Judas and the Black Messiah (2020)

89. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

88. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I (2010)
87. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

86. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

85. The Music Man (1962) 

84. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

83. Wonder Woman (2017)

82. Badlands (1973)

81. Mildred Pierce (1945)

80. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)
79. The Green Mile (1999)

78. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)

77. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (2002)

76. The Conjuring (2013)

75. After Hours (1985)

74. John Wick Chapter 2 (2017)

73. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

72. The Nice Guys (2016)

71. Tenet (2020)

70. Lethal Weapon (1987)

69. Training Day (2001)

68. Speed Racer (2008)

67. Life of Brian (1979)

66. Dial M For Murder (1954)

65. A Star is Born (2018)

64. JFK (1991)

63. Empire of the Sun (1987)

62. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

61. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

60. All The President’s Men (1976)

59. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

58. The Matrix Reloaded

57, Strangers on a Train (1951)

56. The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

55. Beetlejuice (1988)

54. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

53. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

52. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

51. A Star Is Born (1954)

50. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

49. The Searchers (1956)

48. LA Confidential (1997)

 

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

7 hours ago, Eric the Turtle said:

 

#150 - Insomnia (306 points, 6 lists)

 

 

Wait. So not only is Nolan going to arbitrarily cram the top of this list, but one of his actual best two films is the only one that doesn't get on it?????

 

Not sure to be pleasantly surprised some of these like Captain Blood made it that high, or disgusted they aren't higher.

 

Tis what it is I suppose. Got to make way for another Harry Potter movie somehow.

[Cap]

1 hour ago, Ipickthiswhiterose said:

 

 

Wait. So not only is Nolan going to arbitrarily cram the top of this list, but one of his actual best two films is the only one that doesn't get on it?????

 

Not sure to be pleasantly surprised some of these like Captain Blood made it that high, or disgusted they aren't higher.

 

Tis what it is I suppose. Got to make way for another Harry Potter movie somehow.

You really need to prepare yourself for the dark knight winning by like 300 points 😂😂

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

10 hours ago, Cap said:

You really need to prepare yourself for the dark knight winning by like 300 points 😂😂

 

Oh absolutely, I've met enough people who sincerely still believe The Dark Knight is The Greatest Movie of All Time to have any doubts on the matter.

 

Sure, the 'gritty and realistic' movie people pretend to be 'Just like Heat' has a villain that adheres to logic about as much as Bugs Bunny. And is just as capable at magically fooling people with an ill-conceived female disguise and pulling a perfectly-functioning explosive device out of his rectum calibrated to a controlled explosion it would have taken months to plan and prepare as is the beloved animated lagomorph.

 

But it doesn't matter.

For it is Çïñæmå

And the soundtrack tells us it is a gritty, bombastic and very serious drama and therefore it MUST perforce be one of those. 

 

 

(Yes, I know people are allowed to like things. Yes, I'm being facetious and mean about people liking things and yes, it's a bit passe to make fun of Nolan. I'll get my coat) 

 

[Eric Prime]

#47

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

801 points, 17 lists

"C'mon, Tom... let's finish this the way we started it. Together!"

Box Office: 1.342B

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Metacritic: 85

Awards: 3 Academy Award nominations, 1 BAFTA Film Award and 3 nominations, 2 Critics Choice Awards and 2 nominations, 2 Empire Awards and 3 nominations, 1 Grammy Award nomination

 

Its Legacy: The highest-grossing Harry Potter movie of all time. WB's first ever billion-dollar movie. WB's highest-grossing movie ever. The biggest opening weekend of all time, domestic and worldwide. Served as the epic finale for a decade of cinema. Popularized the two-part trend of moviemaking. Gave Maggie Smith a paycheck.

 

Commentary: Coming out 10 years after the launch of Philosopher’s Stone, the final Harry Potter adventure truly felt like the epic end of an entire era. This was a franchise that had done just about everything. A series that had kept audiences excited and enraptured over the span of a decade without any sign of creative nor financial slumps. A series that got audiences on the edge of their seat over the big final battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort. A series that grew up with its audience, going progressively darker and more mature as each film went along.

 

Everything could have been for naught if this final entry didn’t stick the landing. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case. This operatic finale, one that featured tons of fanservice and epic wand duels, was the perfect conclusion. A film that set a perfect bout of closure for tons of fan favorite characters, perfectly captured all the iconic moments from the original moment, while also adding in new or changed elements that still largely went over well with fans.

 

It was the best case scenario and WB was rewarded for this consistent quality with record box office, ending things on a triumphant high note. And for a while, it seemed like Harry Potter would end on this high note forever. Of course, WB and Rowling have dipped into Potter a few more times after that to...less desirable results. Still, we have that one iconic and true finale that we will always cherish.

 

Please donate to TransLifeline. Trans rights are human rights. https://translifeline.org/

[Eric Prime]

#46

Before Sunset

801 points, 11 lists

"You can never replace anyone because everyone is made up of such beautiful specific details."

Box Office: 16M

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Metacritic: 90

Awards: 1 Academy Award nomination, 1 Independent Spirit Award nomination, 1 WGA Award nomination

 

Its Legacy: Considered the best of the Before trilogy. Considered the best film of 2004 and one of the best of the decade by many critics. Features music by Julie Delpy. Earned a sequel, Before Midnight, in 2013. Gave Julie Delpy a paycheck.

 

Commentary: Richard Linklater’s always been fascinated with the idea of time. And nowhere is this best seen than with his Before trilogy, a series of romance movies that all take place in one day and are less on plot and more naturalistic dialogue, with casual conversations and monologues to drive the movie forward. And within all three movies, the creative peak was the second installment from 2004, distributed by Warner Independent Pictures.

 

The best aspects, this coming out 9 years after the original, is seeing just how Jesse and Celine have grown and developed since the last movie. They aren’t youthful 20somethings with the whole world ahead of them anymore. They’ve gone through major career breakthroughs, they have started families and relationships, and are now dealing with regrets and uncertainties of who they are as individuals.

 

I’m 25, the age of the characters in Before Sunrise, and I already feel these strong emotions. What would have happened if I said yes to this person? What would have happened if I decided to go down this path in my career? Did I choose the right things? The wrong things? It all sounds tough, but that relatability and nihilistic fears are still clouded by two expert performances, fantastic dialogue, and a beautiful romance between Jesse and Celine that shows the two still have something special, even if they are just friends at the end of the day. It’s the best of the series, one of Linklater’s finest, and we have the beautiful people at WB to thank for that...and also the filmmakers I guess.

[Eric Prime]

#45

Eyes Wide Shut

804 points, 15 lists

"No dream is ever just a dream."

Box Office: 162.1M

Rotten Tomatoes: 76%

Metacritic: 68

Awards: 1 Golden Globe Award nomination, 3 Satellite Award nominations, 1 Cesar Award nomination

 

Its Legacy: Stanley Kubrick's last and highest-grossing film ever. One of the most analyzed films in the Kubrick canon. Called the best film of the year by Cahiers du Cinema. Considered one of the greatest movies of the 1990s. #61 on BBC's Top 100 American movies. Gave Todd Field a paycheck.

 

Commentary: Well, we have another movie about romance. But it’s one that is...a bit weirder to say the least. Yet both are also about the ideas of regrets. Although while Jesse and Celine were a couple that wasn’t to be, Bill and Alice are actually married, even if it doesn’t really seem like it.

 

This final film by the legendary Stanley Kubrick has been dissected, analyzed, and studied for decades. What are the film’s internal meanings, what is its story really about, is it actually an erotica or not? For me at least, I think Kubrick’s film really is about the concept of marriage and how...bizarre it is when you think about it.

 

Matrimony means you are committed to somebody for life. You must give away all sexual temptations from your mind. Even the idea of lust towards somebody who is not your spouse is frowned upon. How dare you even think of such a thing? But as we all know, these impure thoughts don't go away. If anything, they can be heightened even further due to people's personal vices or rocky bumps in a relationship. 

 

It's here we follow the epic and surreal odyssey of Tom Cruise's Bill as he attempts to go through his bouts of sexual repression and temptation after an awful secret shared by his wife Alice, played by Nicole Kidman. It's honestly amazing to have a film about the frustrations that come from marriage from a then-real-life married couple...though I am curious to know if the film's themes got into their minds.

 

In any case, this is a story that tackles sexual repression and the subconscious of a married couple, as well as the half-baked compromises that come with marriage, ending on a conclusion that is, in many ways, the perfect ending to an intentionally confusing ride. And alongside the stunning imagery of cinematographer Larry Smith, this is purely captivating material and a wonderful, if unintentional send-off of a brilliant mind.

 

But hey. That’s how I interpreted things.

[Eric Prime]

#149 - Caddyshack (309 points, 7 lists)

 

#148 - Last of the Mohicans (312 points, 6 lists)

 

#147 - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (314 points, 6 lists)

 

#146 - A Face in the Crowd (314 points, 5 lists)

 

#145 - The Hangover (315 points, 6 lists)

 

#144 - Rio Bravo (316 points, 8 lists)

 

#143 - Deliverance (318 points, 8 lists)

 

#142 - V for Vendetta (318 points, 6 lists)

 

#141 - Bullitt (319 points, 6 lists)

 

#140 - The Last Samurai (320 points, 10 lists)

[Eric Prime]

#139 - Sherlock Holmes (324 points, 7 lists)

 

#138 - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (325 points, 9 lists)

 

#137 - Excalibur (326 points, 7 lists)

 

#136 - Million Dollar Baby (330 points, 12 lists)

 

#135 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (330 points, 9 lists)

 

#134 - Rope (331 points, 7 lists)

 

#133 - The Outlaw Josey Wales (334 points, 7 lists)

 

#132 - The Great Race (334 points, 5 lists)

 

#131 - Twister (339 points, 10 lists)

 

#130 - The Town (340 points, 12 lists)

[Eric Prime]

#129 - Black Christmas (341 points, 5 lists)

 

#128 - The Big Sleep (343 points, 7 lists)

 

#127 - Zack Snyder's Justice League (348 points, 8 lists, avg. ranking #51)

 

#126 - Malignant (348 points, 8 lists, avg. ranking #42)

 

#125 - The Aviator (351 points, 14 lists)

 

#124 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller (351 points, 7 lists)

 

#123 - The Hudsucker Proxy (355 points, 7 lists)

 

#122 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (366 points, 7 lists)

 

#121 - Mean Streets (368 points, 9 lists)

 

#120 - Crazy Rich Asians (371 points, 11 lists)

[ListenHunnyUrOver]

Y’all really let Malignant flop like this?

 

[Cap]

I was gonna save this for the end, but after some of those misses:

 

[4815162342]

Not enough people here have experienced the chaotic plotless bundle of horny that is The Big Sleep

[TalismanRing]

1 hour ago, 4815162342 said:

Not enough people here have experienced the chaotic plotless bundle of horny that is The Big Sleep

 

A movie one can watch multiple times and still not remember how everything goes.    But it's glorious.

[Eric Prime]

#44

Argo

805 points, 17 lists

"It means 'Argo fuck yourself.'"

Box Office: 232.3M

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Metacritic: 86

Awards: 3 Academy Awards and 4 nominations, 3 BAFTA Awards and 3 nominations, 2 Critics Choice Awards and 5 nominations, 2 Golden Globe Awards and 3 nominations, 1 Grammy Award nomination

 

Its Legacy: Brought Tony Mendez's story to the mainstream. Ben Affleck's most acclaimed film as a director. Helped make Affleck a mainstay in the WB family. Highly criticized for its accuracy and depictions of Iranians. Roger Ebert's final favorite film of the year. Alan Arkin's final Oscar. Gave John Goodman a paycheck.

 

Commentary: In many ways, Ben Affleck’s Argo felt like one of the last breaths of the classic midbudget adult movie. They still technically exist here and there, but the rise of the blockbuster and the fall of the home video market has made these types of pieces, ensemble thriller dramas that were made for a cool 35-80M, just don’t really become phenomena anymore and studios don’t care about greenlighting them barring the occasional hope of Oscar glory.

 

It’s a shame indeed, but at least this ended this genre’s popularity on a high note. Detailing the real-life story of CIA agents saving Iranian hostages under the false pretense of making a sci-fi movie, it’s absurd to think such a plot could ever happen in real life. But it did. And what results is an exciting thrill ride with fun insights into Hollywood culture and business, exciting conversations and detailing how this heist will go down, and some of the best final 40 minutes you will ever see. The kind of stuff that gets you on the edge of your seat.

 

This sturdy, commercial thriller became a box office sensation, adored by the Academy, and helped revitalize Ben Affleck’s career for many. It’s already solidified itself as a classic and will continue to be a “they don’t make it like they used to” film for many years ahead.

[Eric Prime]

#43

The Maltese Falcon

831 points, 13 lists

"The uh, stuff that dreams are made of."

Box Office: 1.8M

Rotten Tomatoes: 99%

Metacritic: 97

Awards: 3 Academy Award nominations

 

Its Legacy: The first true and major film noir. John Huston's directorial debut. Sydney Greenstreet's acting debut. Made Humphrey Bogart one of the biggest stars of the 40s. Considered one of the greatest movies ever made. One of the first films submitted into the National Film Registry in 1989. #23 on AFI's Top 100 Movies and #31 for the 2007 revision. Gave Peter Lorre a paycheck.

 

Commentary: Not just one of the best noirs ever made, but the very film that birthed the modern film noir as we know it. It’s an utterly gorgeous-looking film from John Huston, his debut feature in fact, anchored by so many incredible actors playing great, iconic characters. Humphrey Bogart, the legend himself, as the hard-boiled detective Sam Spade. Mary Astor as Ruth Wonderley, the femme fatale client with her own hidden agenda. Or is it Brigid O’Shaughnessy? There’s even more criminals in this story. The flamboyant Joel Cairo, courtesy of the legend Peter Lorre. The “Fat Man”, played by Sydney Greenstreet. All of these people Spade is facing are obsessed with this one statue of a bird.

 

Even Spade, our hero, isn’t some clean-cut protagonist. He’s great at his job, detecting phonies right away, but he’s also fairly heartless, cold, distant, afraid of sentimentality. It’s a figure that can be hard to empathize, as somebody so hardened from his own past. Yet it gives us somebody who can cut through the garbage, somebody we have to follow to really get why all these characters want this bird. This bird that, apparently, is the stuff where dreams are made of.

 

It’s the perfect antihero, the perfect cast, the perfect script, and the perfect noir. The film that gave us one of WB’s most iconic slogans and one of their all-time classics that is, frankly, required viewing if you want to call yourself a fan of this studio.

[Eric Prime]

#42

Paddington 2

875 points, 17 lists

"If we're kind and polite, the world will be right."

Box Office: 228M

Rotten Tomatoes: 99%

Metacritic: 88

Awards: 2 London Film Critics Circle Awards and 3 nominations, 3 BAFTA Award nominations, 1 Empire Award nomination, 1 Saturn Award nomination, 1 Annie Award nomination

 

Its Legacy: Took Paddington away from the evils of Harvey's clutches. Was the highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes until 2021. Considered one of the best films of the 2010s and one of the best family films ever made. Spawned an animated series spin-off and an upcoming sequel set for release next year. Gave Sally Hawkins a paycheck.

 

Commentary: A character this pure and wonderful doesn’t deserve to have his name associated with a scumbag like Harvey. And while his first movie sadly has that Weinstein touch, the second installment would become a Warner Bros. joint. And we are all better for it.

 

It’s an utterly delightful family classic. One that captures Paddington’s kindness and sweetness, a boy who just wants to give his dear Aunt Lucy a present, only to end up in a wacky adventure full of laughs and heart. So many fun characters, wacky locations, gorgeous visuals, and a wonderful protagonist who just wants to enjoy his marmalade and be a good person.

 

The kind of film that every family film should strive to be. Something with charm and spades and important, wonderful life lessons for youngsters. It soon became the most acclaimed movie on Rotten Tomatoes until it wasn’t, became every terminally online Film Twitter user’s entire personality for a few months, and introduced an iconic piece of British children’s literature to many generations. And hopefully for these youngsters, they learn that when we are kind and polite, the world will be right.

[Eric Prime]

#119 - Game Night (371 points, 9 lists)

 

#118 - Godzilla (373 points, 9 lists)

 

#117 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (376 points, 8 lists)

 

#116 - My Fair Lady (377 points, 8 lists)

 

#115 - Michael Clayton (383 points, 8 lists)

 

#114 - The Bridges of Madison County (385 points, 7 lists)

 

#113 - Ocean's Twelve (386 points, 10 lists)

 

#112 - Pacific Rim (391 points, 11 lists)

 

#111 - Cloud Atlas (392 points, 8 lists)

 

#110 - Dirty Harry (395 points, 9 lists)

[Eric Prime]

#109 - The Neverending Story (408 points, 8 lists)

 

#108 - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (414 points, 10 lists)

 

#107 - The Color Purple (418 points, 12 lists)

 

#106 - Little Shop of Horrors (419 points, 10 lists)

 

#105 - What's Up, Doc? (433 points, 9 lists)

 

#104 - The Goonies (437 points, 12 lists)

 

#103 - Prisoners (440 points, 9 lists)

 

#102 - The Wild Bunch (440 points, 7 lists)

 

#101 - Batman (445 points, 10 lists)