Movies by Decade: Best of the Best

I originally was going to have a “Best of the 2020s” list, but it has been such a terrible decade of movies so far that I can’t justify even a Top 10.  Yes, there’s still 4 years to go, but I don’t have much hope for it to get better.  So instead, this is my comprehensive list, combining the decade lists that I had made, adding a couple of movies from the 2020s and one from the 1920s, and seeing how they all stack up.  I can’t say this is a perfect list, and even while making it there were a few times I wanted to make some changes within the decades, but I stuck to the lists as they were and went by that.  That’s also, perhaps, why you might see a run on movies from a certain decade.  I tacked on a few from the current decade at the end just to make it an even 100.

So, without added comments, my list of the Best of the Best, in order:

 

1.               Ben-Hur (1959)

2.               Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

3.               The Searchers (1956)

4.               Casablanca (1942)

5.               It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

6.               Schindler’s List (1993)

7.               The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

8.               King Kong (1933)

9.               Rocky (1976)

10.           Jaws (1975)

11.           Star Wars (1977)

12.           Superman (1978)

13.           Apollo 13 (1995)

14.           Jurassic Park (1993)

15.           Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

16.           Saving Private Ryan (1998)

17.           The Passion of the Christ (2004)

18.           Alien (1979)

19.           Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

20.           Sense and Sensibility (1995)

21.           My Fair Lady (1964)

22.           Going My Way (1944)/The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)

23.           Black Hawk Down (2001)

24.           Rear Window (1954)

25.           Roman Holiday (1954)

26.           Spartacus (1960)

27.           E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

28.           The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

29.           Bringing Up Baby (1938)

30.           The Mission (1986)

31.           Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

32.           Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

33.           Back to the Future (1985)

34.           Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

35.           Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

36.           The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

37.           North by Northwest (1959)

38.           The Philadelphia Story (1940)

39.           The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

40.           The Wizard of Oz (1939)

41.           1917 (2019)

42.           The Field of Dreams (1989)

43.           The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

44.           The Fugitive (1993)

45.           West Side Story (1961)

46.           The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

47.           Fort Apache (1948)/She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

48.           The Quiet Man (1952)

49.           Sergeant York (1941)

50.           The Song of Bernadette (1943)

51.           Die Hard (1988)

52.           The Hunt for Red October (1990)

53.           The Great Escape (1963)

54.           The Sound of Music (1965)

55.           Toy Story 3 (2010)

56.           White Christmas (1954)

57.           The Thin Man (1934)

58.           Planet of the Apes (1968)

59.           Road to Perdition (2002)

60.           It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

61.           Gladiator (2000)

62.           To Catch a Thief (1955)

63.           A Day at the Races (1937)

64.           Stagecoach (1939)

65.           Red River (1948)

66.           Road to Morocco (1942)

67.           Alexander Nevsky (1938)

68.           Thirteen Lives (2022)

69.           The Natural (1984)

70.           Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

71.           12 Angry Men (1957)

72.           Patton (1970)

73.           Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

74.           Of Gods and Men (2010)

75.           La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1929)

76.           The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

77.           The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

78.           The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

79.           The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

80.           Finding Neverland (2004)

81.           13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)

82.           Wind River (2017)

83.           Ford v. Ferrari (2019)

84.           Devotion (2022)

85.           Unbreakable (2000)

86.           True Grit (2010)

87.           The King’s Speech (2010)

88.           Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

89.           Paddington (2014)

90.           A Quiet Place (2018)

91.           Sound of Freedom (2023)

92.           Godzilla Minus One (2023)

93.           Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

94.           Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

95.           Cabrini (2024)

96.           The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

97.           A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

98.           Fatima (2020)

99.           Dune: Part One (2021)

100.       F1 (2025)

 

Movies by Decade: 60s

Here come the 60s.

My biggest problem with the 60s is that there are so many epics, it becomes a bit tiresome to try to get through them.  A good chunk of them could lose 30+ minutes and be just as good if not better.  The catalog for the decade is quite diverse, though Westerns are still all over.  Spy movies are definitely on the rise, thanks in large part to James Bond (and the Cold War in general).  There’s plenty of sandal epics, war movies, some musicals, some solid comedies, and some science fiction, particularly towards the latter half.  I would also say fewer Disney animated movies, but plenty of Disney live action movies (not in the way we think of today, of course). One last weird note, an odd number of movie titles included exclamation points!

Before my list (remember this is “best,” not necessarily “favorite”), a few notable movies not mentioned, because I have not seen them: The Apartment, Tom Jones, Becket, Doctor Zhivago, A Man for All Seasons, In the Heat of the Night, Bonnie and Clyde, Oliver!, Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Hustler. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is terrible.  2001: A Space Odyssey is bad and boring.

Honorable Mentions: Hatari!, Lilies of the Field, McLintock!, Those Calloways, The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Jungle Book, The Odd Couple, The Shoes of the Fisherman, True Grit, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Hello, Dolly!, The Alamo, Psycho, The Magnificent Seven, The Longest Day, Charade

Top 10 Countdown:

10. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

            Until I just rewatched it, I would have had this higher, as most people do.  Unfortunately, I think it’s a perfect example of this decade having movies that are much longer than they need to be.  Yes, the end showdown is classic, but it gets to be a chore getting there. 

9. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

            Quite possibly the funniest movie ever made, which is why it has to be in this top 10.  It does get a bit long, especially for a comedy, but the craziness of all the different story lines keeps it going.  It’s impossible to pick out a best scene or actor.  “Except you lady, may you just…DROP DEAD!”

8. Planet of the Apes (1968)

            It’s not perfect, there are a few plot holes, but it remains an incredibly important movie, especially for its commentary on race relations during that time.  As usual, Charlton Heston is great.

7. The Sound of Music (1965)

            I might get in trouble with someone for having this so low, but the competition is fierce.  Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are great.  A few points docked for the music used during the wedding.

 6. The Great Escape (1963)

            Another movie with a great ensemble cast.  It’s thrilling, especially starting with the escape.  Steve McQueen really shines, even with so many other great actors.

5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

            Jimmy Stewart might be a touch old for the part, but that doesn’t really take away from this unconventional Western.  John Wayne, Vera Miles, and Lee Marvin are great as usual.

4. West Side Story (1961)

            It’s certainly in the running for best musical ever made, something I never thought I would have said even 10 years ago.  The dancing is particularly remarkable (the gym dance is probably second only to the barn razing in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers).

3. Spartacus (1960)

            Apparently it was a difficult shoot, to say the least, but the end product is great.  Once again, the casts for some of these movies are unbelievable: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov winning an Oscar, Charles Laughton, and, oh yeah, Laurence Olivier.

2. My Fair Lady (1964)

            Audrey Hepburn is wonderful (though I wish they let her sing).  Rex Harrison is amazing.  The music is top-notch.  Everything about it is great.

1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

            The most beautiful cinematography of all time, and it’s not a competition.  The desert truly is a character in this movie.  Peter O’Toole is Lawrence.  Omar Sharif and Anthony Quinn are awesome.  You can’t really find anything negative to say about this epic.  This movie is why theaters were made.

Extra fun: the best movie scores of the decade

The Alamo (Dimitri Tiomkin)

El Cid (Miklós Rózsa)

Goldfinger (John Barry)

The Great Escape/The Magnificent Seven (Elmer Bernstein)

Jason and the Argonauts (Bernard Herrmann)

Spartacus (Alex North)

 

Other music from the decade: It’s a very interesting decade for music, dominated by rock and roll.  Elvis, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, folk bands like The Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix… There’s also a good dash of R&B with Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Righteous Brothers, etc.  And, of course, some of the best music is war protest songs.  For some reason, “Summer in the City” has always been my favorite song of the decade.