IMDB Top 50 - How many have you seen?

Dickerty

It is obviously heavy on recent movies, since it's based on user scores, but with that being said, how many have you seen?

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Schindler's List (1993)
7. 12 Angry Men (1957)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
10. Fight Club (1999)
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)
12. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back(1980)
13. Forrest Gump (1994)
14. Inception (2010)
15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
16. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
17. Goodfellas (1990)
18. The Matrix (1999)
19. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
20. Seven Samurai (1954)
21. City of God (2002)
22. Interstellar (2014)
23. Se7en (1995)
24. The Usual Suspects (1995)
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
26. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
27. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
28. Léon: The Professional (1994)
29. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
30. Casablanca (1942)
31. American History X (1998)
32. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
33. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
34. Spirited Away (2001)
35. City Lights (1931)
36. Psycho (1960)
37. Rear Window (1954)
38. Whiplash (2014)
39. The Intouchables (2011)
40. Modern Times (1936)
41. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
42. The Green Mile (1999)
43. Memento (2000)
44. The Pianist (2002)
45. The Departed (2006)
46. Gladiator (2000)
47. Apocalypse Now (1979)
48. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
49. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
50. Back to the Future (1985)

I have seen 40 of them...

delbertgrady

I've seen 47, 29 of which I saw in the cinema.

jimmii

40 too but I really only watch films at the cinema.

intellectual dosser

29 - I have work to do!

Duggy747

Seen 46

Watched Rear Window again on Sunday, great film and probably my favourite Hitchcock one.

Deathwish4

Seen 21 of these, most of which wouldn't make my top 500!

Chancer3001

39.

Most of the ones I haven't seen are pre 1980

naughto

About 40 as well only seen a few in the cinema thanks to a fibre internet connection and a big f1uck off TV. Can't hack all the cu1nts eating talking around ya. Never mind the price

Dickerty

Deathwish4 wrote: »

Seen 21 of these, most of which wouldn't make my top 500!

I agree there are some very flaky ones - Interstellar doesn't belong there, for example. But even the less-than-classic ones did something special:

Matrix for special effects.
Goodfellas for nailing the mob genre.
Inception for visual and conceptual brilliance.
American History X for covering a well known story for another angle.

Chancer3001

It's all a matter of taste.

Clearly any film there belongs there. That's what the list is. Films tht belong there.

It's not "what I think" list.

Or "what people who know about film" think

Or "idiots" think

It's what voters from imdb.com think. And this is that exact list

razorblunt

32 - There's a few on there I know I'll probably never get round to (Spirited Away - not a fan of anime at all, Life is Beautiful) but others I've been meaning to get to for ages i.e. have 12 Angry Men, Rear Window bought on iTunes readyt o be watched , Leon is on BluRay but I've yet to get round to it.

I've seen the Guinness version of 7 Samurai - does that count?

Sad Professor

49 - the only one I haven't seen is 12 Angry Men.

According to Letterboxd I've seen 197 of the full top 250.

hidinginthebush

Sad Professor wrote: »

49 - the only one I haven't seen is 12 Angry Men.

According to Letterboxd I've seen 197 of the full top 250.

You need to rectify this immediately!

AlanG

44, including all of top 20. Amazing to see Taxi Driver and Raging Bull absent. 20 years ago nearly every list had Raging Bull in the top 3. Perhaps younger people cant take De Nero seriously any more.

Harry Palmr

Happy to report I've seen just 14 of them - why happy? Cos the list is utterly ludicrous.

e_e

I've seen 44 and the only one I'm in any way interested in still seeing is Casablanca.

It's all subjective I know but this is a really bad list tbh. Goes to show how IMDB's userbase is ruled by franchise fanboys. Even some of the highly rated dramas aren't anything special imo.

Deathwish4 wrote: »

Seen 21 of these, most of which wouldn't make my top 500!

The number 1 (while a film I enjoy) probably wouldn't even make my top 250.

Mickeroo

The answer is 42, but what's the question?

johnny_ultimate

48 - one of which is a grevious oversight (Modern Times is one of the key Chaplin films I haven't gotten around to yet) and the other a conscious oversight (no interest whatsoever in ever watching Life is Beautiful).

But the IMDB list is nothing, a popularity contest that is increasingly given more weight than it deserves. Plenty of good to great films in there for sure, but a public vote is inherently biased towards popular, well-known hits so really can't be considered in any way representative of cinema as a whole.

While this list obviously also has its limitations (S&S-polled film critics have their own unique biases!) the much more interesting question I find is how many of the Sight & Sound Top 50 have you seen I've seen 47, and feel it gives a much broader, challenging overview of what cinema is capable of than the IMDB one - although again with plenty of blindspots given both the voter base and the impossibility of capturing everything in 50 films.

Vertigo (1958)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Tokyo Story (1953)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Searchers (1956)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
8½ (1963)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
L'Atalante (1934)
Breathless (1960)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Late Spring (1949)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Persona (1966)
Mirror (1975)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
L'Avventura (1960)
Contempt (1963)
The Godfather (1972)
Ordet (1955)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Rashomon (1950)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Stalker (1979)
Shoah (1985)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
The General (1926)
Metropolis (1927)
Psycho (1960)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Sátántangó (1994)
The 400 Blows (1959)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Journey to Italy (1954)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Gertrud (1964)
Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Playtime (1967)
Close-Up (1990)
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1998)
City Lights (1931)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
La Jetée (1962)

Mickeroo

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

48 - one of which is a grevious oversight (Modern Times is one of the key Chaplin films I haven't gotten around to yet) and the other a conscious oversight (no interest whatsoever in ever watching Life is Beautiful).

But the IMDB list is nothing, a popularity contest that is increasingly given more weight than it deserves. Plenty of good to great films in there for sure, but a public vote is inherently biased towards popular, well-known hits so really can't be considered in any way representative of cinema as a whole.

While this list obviously also has its limitations (film critics have their own unique biases!) the much more interesting question I find is how many of the Sight & Sound Top 50 have you seen

Vertigo (1958)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Tokyo Story (1953)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Searchers (1956)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
8½ (1963)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
L'Atalante (1934)
Breathless (1960)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Late Spring (1949)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Persona (1966)
Mirror (1975)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
L'Avventura (1960)
Contempt (1963)
The Godfather (1972)
Ordet (1955)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Rashomon (1950)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Stalker (1979)
Shoah (1985)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
The General (1926)
Metropolis (1927)
Psycho (1960)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Sátántangó (1994)
The 400 Blows (1959)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Journey to Italy (1954)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Gertrud (1964)
Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Playtime (1967)
Close-Up (1990)
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1998)
City Lights (1931)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
La Jetée (1962)

Only ten from that one for me.

GBXI

e_e wrote: »

I've seen 44 and the only one I'm in any way interested in still seeing is Casablanca.

It's all subjective I know but this is a really bad list tbh. Goes to show how IMDB's userbase is ruled by franchise fanboys. Even some of the highly rated dramas aren't anything special imo.


The number 1 (while a film I enjoy) probably wouldn't even make my top 250.

Give us your Top 10 out of interest! I think Shawshank is one of the best.

Sad Professor

I’ve seen about 37 from the S&S list. Really 36 since I never finished Andrei Rublev.

It’s a great list, though the order is fairly arbitrary and just a reflection of (mainly European) critical taste at the time the list was made.

delbertgrady

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

While this list obviously also has its limitations (film critics have their own unique biases!) the much more interesting question I find is how many of the Sight & Sound Top 50 have you seen

39

Harry Palmr

10 from the sight and Sound list, but I've seen 50 of my own Top 50 list. And that's the one that matters! :pac:

thickhead

Dickerty wrote:

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 2. The Godfather (1972) 3. The Godfather: Part II (1974) 4. The Dark Knight (2008) 5. Pulp Fiction (1994) 6. Schindler's List (1993) 7. 12 Angry Men (1957) 8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 10. Fight Club (1999) 11. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001) 12. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back(1980) 13. Forrest Gump (1994) 14. Inception (2010) 15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 16. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 17. Goodfellas (1990) 18. The Matrix (1999) 19. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) 20. Seven Samurai (1954) 21. City of God (2002) 22. Interstellar (2014) 23. Se7en (1995) 24. The Usual Suspects (1995) 25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 26. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 27. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 28. Léon: The Professional (1994) 29. Life Is Beautiful (1997) 30. Casablanca (1942) 31. American History X (1998) 32. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 33. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 34. Spirited Away (2001) 35. City Lights (1931) 36. Psycho (1960) 37. Rear Window (1954) 38. Whiplash (2014) 39. The Intouchables (2011) 40. Modern Times (1936) 41. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 42. The Green Mile (1999) 43. Memento (2000) 44. The Pianist (2002) 45. The Departed (2006) 46. Gladiator (2000) 47. Apocalypse Now (1979) 48. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 49. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 50. Back to the Future (1985)

Seen them all.

saintsaltynuts

34 not bad.I'l have to sit down and 12 Angry Men soon.Going to watch Whiplash next.

Thargor

Ive seen 41.

Anything made before 1960 is usually cack anyway ¬_¬

blue note

I've seen 41. A few of those I haven't seen have been on my must watch list for ages - The G,B&U, Wonderful Life, Casablanca, Sunset Blvd, Once upon a Time in the West.

Some of those films are odd to find in a top 50 to be honest - Inception, 1 Star Wars and LOTR would be more fair, Leon, Momento, Back to the future.

From the S&S top 50 I've seen 9 and heard of a further 8!

Telecaster58

49. I have not seen Spirited Away and probably won't. On a controversial note, there really is some dross on that list. It's incredible what some people think constitutes a great film.

Burgo

Seen them all, but it really isn't a great list in my opinion.

34 from the S&S list.

shazzerman

Seen 49 from the IMDB list (haven't seen The Intouchables), and 48 from the S&S list (Jeanne Dielman and Histoires still elude me). How about the They Shoot Pictures list?
http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

I have about 300 left to see on that one...

Agent Coulson

Telecaster58 wrote: »

49. I have not seen Spirited Away and probably won't. On a controversial note, there really is some dross on that list. It's incredible what some people think constitutes a great film.

Nothing controversial about that really as you are right.

Mickeroo

The imdb list isn't surprising though, it's a very popular website and I think that's reflected in the list. Most of the films in it are what the regular Joe on the street would consider the best ever rather than what you would expect folks with a more in depth interest in cinema to choose.

delbertgrady

shazzerman wrote: »

How about the They Shoot Pictures list?
http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

At a cursory glance, it's obvious that the batting average here won't be great for me. Two-thirds, at best.
I love the fact that the magnificent Bad Timing is the main image on their home page.

[Edited, after going through the list]

652 out of 1000.
Of each set of 100: 88, 85, 72, 69, 60, 74, 59, 46, 53, 46

At least my strongest set is the top hundred.

Evac101

Hrm - about 42 of the IMDB list I think...

Cinema/movies/flicks
Different things to different people and it bothers me when the 'cultural high ground' vibe starts coming off people about popcorn versus art house cinema. Each is intended for a different audience and can excel within it's own field. It really just reminds of all the boring conversations I've had over the years where people inform me that my taste in reading is inherently 'less worthy' than theirs. Well, sorry, but telling me that Leon (The Professional) isn't an amazing experience and that I should indulge myself in some Bergman or Fellini just seems like a form of cultural elitism and annoys me.

I like x genres and look for the best examples of those for my viewing pleasure. You might have different interests, a different head space and don't enjoy my choices but find yours really very interesting. Do I have a right to tell you that your choices are wrong or in some way culturally bankrupt? Pretty sure I can't and the best of the reviewers seem to agree that each should be evaluated on their own merits, apples versus oranges, etc. Indeed, many reviewers will recuse themselves from certain types of films based on personal taste and that they don't feel able to provide a balanced opinion.

Dirty Dingus McGee

I've seen 37 on the IMDB list and 13 on the Sight and Sound List.

I haven't seen the Matrix ,Back to the Future or the last 2 Lord of The Rings films on the IMDB.

I definetly won't be watching Life is Beautiful as I watched the first 10 minutes of it and wanted to beat the main character to death after it.

I'll work my way through the Sight and Sound list over time as there are some films on it I have been meaning to watch.

johnny_ultimate

Evac101 wrote: »

I like x genres and look for the best examples of those for my viewing pleasure. You might have different interests, a different head space and don't enjoy my choices but find yours really very interesting. Do I have a right to tell you that your choices are wrong or in some way culturally bankrupt? Pretty sure I can't and the best of the reviewers seem to agree that each should be evaluated on their own merits, apples versus oranges, etc. Indeed, many reviewers will recuse themselves from certain types of films based on personal taste and that they don't feel able to provide a balanced opinion.

You're right of course, but I do also think it's very clear that a majority of IMDB users haven't sampled a broad range of cinema and hence that IMO negates the value and weight of the 'list' quite significantly for me anyway - like the way the pop charts are no way to find out what's happening in music at the moment! I do find it unusual that anybody interested in cinema would totally ignore either the popular favourites or critical darlings - life is short, there's a ****load of cinema to watch! It's unrealistic for everybody to be interested in everything, but IMO its broad spectrum is exactly what makes me so interested in cinema.

I would stress that I feel that to dismiss arthouse / classic / world cinema on the basis of a perceived elitism ignores that many of those 'canonical' films are actually extremely accessible and enjoyable without being all highfalutin. The S&S list has plenty of representation from Hitchcock, Chaplin, Tati, Coppola, Ford, Kurosawa, Lang, Keaton, De Sica, Ozu - those directors were as much popular entertainers as they were boundary-breaking auteurs. While definitely the likes of Godard, Tarkovsky and Akerman are more 'difficult' filmmakers (although not without their pleasures more casual viewers could enjoy), I'd also put forward that many 'arthouse' films go ignored by wider audiences who would almost definitely find much to appreciate. A considerable majority of the S&S list, for example, are significantly less intimidating than one would assume (although Jeanne Dielman probably isn't the best place to start ). Seven Samurai is a great example of a crossover hit - a brilliant director making what is, at heart, a thrilling action film.

To counter that: Some of the more 'high-minded' Sight & Sound critics probably, nay definitely, are overly hostile to more mainstream works. That said, it's nice to see the odd one make it through the cracks - if I recall correctly Toy Story and Wall-E were there somewhere on their 'top 500' list, as they damn well deserve to be Which goes back to the point that I don't think 50 films, arbitrarily ranked, is ever enough to reflect the broad range of cinema out there.

Harry Palmr

shazzerman wrote: »

Seen 49 from the IMDB list (haven't seen The Intouchables), and 48 from the S&S list (Jeanne Dielman and Histoires still elude me). How about the They Shoot Pictures list?
http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

I have about 300 left to see on that one...

Now that's a list of proper films - some odd inclusions/exclusions (Welles The Trail in but no Chimes at Midnight for example) but full of interesting viewing 179 that I know I've seen but at my age, I've possibly forgotten a few.

Evac101

I apologise if I came off as overly critical - I enjoy the occasional Ghibli, Kurosawa and some (shockingly) European productions like Run Lola run, Man bites Dog, Delicatessen etc. But for me it really is picking out the ones which I find entertaining (the main purpose which I view films for) rather then intense pieces which are examining the human condition in it's more distressed arcs. I get that others enjoy that, more power to them, that's what they find enjoyable about the cinema experience. Also, I get allegory, I get simile and I get cinematic parables. I just don't, personally, want to work at enjoying something I enjoy for relaxation - I have pastimes I pursue which involve me working to improve my ability or working to improve my understanding, cinema isn't one of those for me.

MarkY91

ive seen 30 of them. the 20 i havent seen are either ancient movies from the 50s or so or LOTR...i just cannot get into them even on various efforts..including the hobbit.

Bluftoni

Seen them all, and 236 of the top 250.

If you take out the Bollywood films, it's 236 out of 241.

don ramo

33, ok i suppose, ive seen what ive seen, like most say ive seen great films that have never made the top 250, so i wont be rushing out to see the other 17, maybe see them at some point, but if i havent seen them by now there is probably a reason for that,

cloud493

All of them.

NachoBusiness

Seen all apart from Spirited Away and Sunset Blvrd.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

All of them...Did the IMDB top 100 last year. Was surprised how many movies I've never seen out of it.

darced

This post has been deleted.

GAAman

48 for me, and as it happens I have the other two just haven't gotten round to watching them (Seven Samurai and Modern Times)

Sad Professor wrote: »

49 - the only one I haven't seen is 12 Angry Men.

According to Letterboxd I've seen 197 of the full top 250.

I watched it for the first time about a month ago, was on a list of films I wanted to watch and was not disappointed swear I could taste sweat towards the end of it!

errlloyd

hidinginthebush wrote: »

You need to rectify this immediately!

Also haven't seen it, but I saw the play in the Bord Gais last week, I think it's just about word for word the same!

jimmii

Sad Professor wrote: »

49 - the only one I haven't seen is 12 Angry Men.

According to Letterboxd I've seen 197 of the full top 250.

That's one of the best there IMO! Superb film! Even the '97 version was pretty good.

jimmii

errlloyd wrote: »

Also haven't seen it, but I saw the play in the Bord Gais last week, I think it's just about word for word the same!

Yeah it wouldn't be massively different as its in the same location as on the play so you can probably picture it quite well after seeing the play. Plan on going to see that was it good?

Manach

20 or so. While there are great films in the list, a lot are there due to subjective taste.

e_e

Seen 38 in the S&S list.

GBXI wrote: »

Give us your Top 10 out of interest! I think Shawshank is one of the best.

Well fwiw here are my ratings on Letterboxd from high to low: http://letterboxd.com/she_esh/films/ratings/by/rating/

I'm not really saying anything against the people who rate these films highly though, just more irritated that even for 50 movies the IMDB top list is a poor representation of film for me. I just think the system is flawed.