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Films Reference
Content derived from Wikipedia article on Films
Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The origin of the name comes from the fact that photographic film (also called filmstock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, photoplay, flick, and most commonly, movie. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema, and the movies.
Films are produced by recording actual people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. They comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown rapidly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Flickering between frames is not seen due to an effect known as persistence of vision — whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion; a psychological effect identified as beta movement.
Film is considered by many to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. The visual elements of cinema need no translation, giving the motion picture a universal power of communication. Any film can become a worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them.
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Contents
1 History of film 2 Film theory 3 Film criticism 4 Motion picture industry 5 Stages of filmmaking 6 Film crew 7 Independent filmmaking 8 Animation 9 Film venues 10 Development of film technology 11 Endurance of films 12 See also 12.1 Wikibooks 12.2 Wikiversity 12.3 Basic types of film 12.4 International Film 12.5 Other 12.6 Lists 13 References
History of film
"Film" refers to the celluloid medium on which motion pictures are printed. Shown above is a reel of 8 mm film.Mechanisms for producing artificially created, two-dimensional images in motion were demonstrated as early as the 1860s, with devices such as the zoetrope and the praxinoscope. These machines were outgrowths of simple optical devices (such as magic lanterns), and would display sequences of still pictures at sufficient speed for the images on the pictures to appear to be moving, a phenomenon called persistence of vision. Naturally, the images needed to be carefully designed to achieve the desired effect — and the underlying principle became the basis for the development of film animation.
A frame from Roundhay Garden Scene, the world's first motion picture by Louis Le Prince, 1888With the development of celluloid film for still photography, it became possible to directly capture objects in motion in real time. Early versions of the technology sometimes required the viewer to look into a special device to see the pictures. By the 1880s, the development of the motion picture camera allowed the individual component images to be captured and stored on a single reel, and led quickly to the development of a motion picture projector to shine light through the processed and printed film and magnify these "moving picture shows" onto a screen for an entire audience. These reels, so exhibited, came to be known as "motion pictures." Early motion pictures were static shots that showed an event or action with no editing or other cinematic techniques.
A shot from Georges Méliès' Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) (1902), an early narrative film.Motion pictures were purely visual art up to the late 19th century, but these innovative silent films had gained a hold on the public imagination. Around the turn of the twentieth century, films began developing a narrative structure by stringing scenes together to tell narratives. The scenes were later broken up into multiple shots of varying sizes and angles. Other techniques such as camera movement were realized as effective ways to portray a story on film. Rather than leave the audience in silence, theater owners would hire a pianist or organist or a full orchestra to play music fitting the mood of the film at any given moment. By the early 1920s, most films came with a prepared list of sheet music for this purpose, with complete film scores being composed for major productions.
The rise of European cinema was interrupted by the breakout of World War I while the film industry in United States flourished with the rise of Hollywood. However in the 1920s, European filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein and F. W. Murnau, along with American innovator D. W. Griffith and the contributions of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others, continued to advance the medium. In the 1920s, new technology allowed filmmakers to attach to each film a soundtrack of speech, music and sound effects synchronized with the action on the screen. These sound films were initially distinguished by calling them "talking pictures", or talkies.
The next major step in the development of cinema was the introduction of color. While the addition of sound quickly eclipsed silent film and theater musicians, color was adopted more gradually. The public was relatively indifferent to color photography as opposed to black-and-white. But as color processes improved and became as affordable as black-and-white film, more and more movies were filmed in color after the end of World War II, as the industry in America came to view color an essential to attracting audiences in its competition with television, which remained a black-and-white medium until the mid-1960s. By the end of the 1960s, color had become the norm for film makers.
Since the decline of the studio system in the 1960s, the succeeding decades saw changes in the production and style of film. New Hollywood, French New Wave and the rise of film school educated, independent filmmakers were all part of the changes the medium experienced in the latter half of the 20th Century. Digital technology has been the driving force in change throughout the 1990s and into the 21st Century.
Film theory
Film theory seeks to develop concise, systematic concepts that apply to the study of film/cinema as art. Classical film theory provides a structural framework to address classical issues of techniques, narrativity, diegesis, cinematic codes, "the image", genre, subjectivity, and authorship. More recent analysis has given rise to psychoanalytical film theory, structuralist film theory, feminist film theory and others.
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. In general, these works can be divided into two categories; academic criticism by film scholars, and journalistic film criticism that appears regularly in newspapers and other media.
Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media mainly review new releases. Normally they only see any given film once and have only a day or two to formulate opinions. Despite this, critics have an important impact on films, especially those of certain genres. Mass marketed action, horror, and comedy films tend not to be greatly affected by a critic's overall judgment of a film. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can still have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film. For prestige films such as most dramas, the influence of reviews is extremely important. Poor reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.
The impact of a reviewer on a given film's box office performance is a matter of debate. Some claim that movie marketing is now so intense and well financed that reviewers cannot make an impact against it. However, the cataclysmic failure of some heavily-promoted movies which were harshly reviewed, as well as the unexpected success of critically praised independent movies indicates that extreme critical reactions can have considerable influence. Others note that positive film reviews have been shown to spark interest in little-known films. Conversely, there have been several films in which film companies have so little confidence that they refuse to give reviewers an advanced viewing to avoid widespread panning of the film. However, this usually backfires as reviewers are wise to the tactic and warn the public that the film may not be worth seeing and the films often do poorly as a result.
It is argued that journalist film critics should only be known as film reviewers, and true film critics are those who take a more academic approach to films. This line of work is more often known as film theory or film studies. These film critics attempt to come to understand how film and filming techniques work, and what effect they have on people. Rather than having their works published in newspapers or appear on television, their articles are published in scholarly journals, or sometimes in up-market magazines. They also tend to be affiliated with colleges or universities.
Motion picture industry
The making and showing of motion pictures became a source of profit almost as soon as the process was invented. Upon seeing how successful their new invention, and its product, was in their native France, the Lumières quickly set about touring the Continent to exhibit the first films privately to royalty and publicly to the masses. In each country, they would normally add new, local scenes to their catalogue and, quickly enough, found local entrepreneurs in the various countries of Europe to buy their equipment and photograph, export, import and screen additional product commercially. The Oberammergau Passion Play of 1898 was the first commercial motion picture ever produced. Other pictures soon followed, and motion pictures became a separate industry that overshadowed the vaudeville world. Dedicated theaters and companies formed specifically to produce and distribute films, while motion picture actors became major celebrities and commanded huge fees for their performances. Already by 1917, Charlie Chaplin had a contract that called for an annual salary of one million dollars.
In the United States today, much of the film industry is centered around Hollywood. Other regional centers exist in many parts of the world, and the Indian film industry (primarily centered around "Bollywood") annually produces the largest number of films in the world. Whether the ten thousand-plus features a year produced by the Valley porn industry should qualify for this title is the source of some debate. Though the expense involved in making movies has led cinema production to concentrate under the auspices of movie studios, recent advances in affordable film making equipment have allowed independent film productions to flourish.
Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly and risky nature of filmmaking; many films have large cost overruns, a notorious example being Kevin Costner's Waterworld. Yet many filmmakers strive to create works of lasting social significance. The Academy Awards (also known as The Oscars) are the most prominent film awards in the United States, providing recognition each year to films, ostensibly based on their artistic merits. Also, film quickly came to be used in education, in lieu of or in addition to lectures and texts.
Stages of filmmaking
The nature of the film determines the size and type of crew required during filmmaking. Many Hollywood adventure films need computer generated imagery (CGI), created by dozens of 3D modellers, animators, rotoscopers and compositors. However, a low-budget, independent film may be made with a skeleton crew, often paid very little. Filmmaking takes place all over the world using different technologies, styles of acting and genre, and is produced in a variety of economic contexts that range from state-sponsored documentary in China to profit-oriented movie making within the American studio system.
A typical Hollywood-style filmmaking Production cycle comprises five main stages:
Development Pre-production Production Post-production Distribution This production cycle typically takes three years. The first year is taken up with development. The second year comprises preproduction and production. The third year, post-production and distribution.
Film crew
A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film.
Independent filmmaking
Independent filmmaking often takes place outside of Hollywood, or other major studio systems. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century.
Creatively, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get studio backing for experimental films. Experimental elements in theme and style are inhibitors for the big studios.
On the business side, the costs of big-budget studio films also leads to conservative choices in cast and crew. The problem is exacerbated by the trend towards co-financing (over two-thirds of the films put out by Warner Bros. in 2000 were joint ventures, up from 10% in 1987). An unproven director is almost never given the opportunity to get his or her big break with the studios unless he or she has significant industry experience in film or television. They also rarely produce films with unknown actors, particularly in lead roles.
Until the advent of digital alternatives, the cost of professional film equipment and stock was also a hurdle to being able to produce, direct, or star in a traditional studio film. The cost of 35 mm film is outpacing inflation: in 2002 alone, film negative costs were up 23%, according to Variety. Film requires expensive lighting and post-production facilities.
But the advent of consumer camcorders in 1985, and more importantly, the arrival of high-resolution digital video in the early 1990s, have lowered the technology barrier to movie production significantly. Both production and post-production costs have been significantly lowered; today, the hardware and software for post-production can be installed in a commodity-based personal computer. Technologies such as DVDs, FireWire connections and non-linear editing system pro-level software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple's Final Cut Pro, and consumer level software such as Apple's Final Cut Express and iMovie make movie-making relatively inexpensive.
Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become more democratized. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a movie, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. Most independent filmmakers rely on film festivals to get their films noticed and sold for distribution.
Animation
Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result with a special animation camera. When the frames are strung together and the resulting film is viewed at a speed of 16 or more frames per second, there is an illusion of continuous movement (due to the persistence of vision). Generating such a film is very labour intensive and tedious, though the development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process.
File formats like GIF, QuickTime, Shockwave and Flash allow animation to be viewed on a computer or over the Internet.
Because animation is very time-consuming and often very expensive to produce, the majority of animation for TV and movies comes from professional animation studios. However, the field of independent animation has existed at least since the 1950s, with animation being produced by independent studios (and sometimes by a single person). Several independent animation producers have gone on to enter the professional animation industry.
Limited animation is a way of increasing production and decreasing costs of animation by using "short cuts" in the animation process. This method was pioneered by UPA and popularized (some say exploited) by Hanna-Barbera, and adapted by other studios as cartoons moved from movie theaters to television.
Although most animation studios are now using digital technologies in their productions, there is a specific style of animation that depends on film. Cameraless animation, made famous by moviemakers like Norman McLaren, Len Lye and Stan Brakhage, is painted and drawn directly onto pieces of film, and then run through a projector.
Film venues
When it is initially produced, a film is normally shown to audiences in a movie theater or cinema. The first theater designed exclusively for cinema opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1905. Thousands of such theaters were built or converted from existing facilities within a few years. In the United States, these theaters came to be known as nickelodeons, because admission typically cost a nickel (five cents).
Typically, one film is the featured presentation (or feature film). There were "double features"; typically, a high quality "A picture" rented by an independent theater for a lump sum, and a "B picture" of lower quality rented for a percentage of the gross receipts. Today, the bulk of the material shown before the feature film (those in theaters) consists of previews for upcoming movies and paid advertisements (also known as trailers or "The Twenty").
Originally, all films were made to be shown in movie theaters. The development of television has allowed films to be broadcast to larger audiences, usually after the film is no longer being shown in theaters. Recording technology has also enabled consumers to rent or buy copies of films on VHS or DVD (and the older formats of laserdisc, VCD and SelectaVision — see also videodisc), and Internet downloads may be available and have started to become revenue sources for the film companies. Some films are now made specifically for these other venues, being released as made-for-TV movies or direct-to-video movies. These are often considered to be of inferior quality compared to theatrical releases. And indeed, some films that are rejected by their own studios upon completion are dumped into these markets.
The movie theater pays an average of about 55% of its ticket sales to the movie studio, as film rental fees. The actual percentage starts with a number higher than that, and decreases as the duration of a film's showing continues, as an incentive to theaters to keep movies in the theater longer. However, today's barrage of highly marketed movies ensures that most movies are shown in first-run theaters for less than 8 weeks. There are a few movies every year that defy this rule, often limited-release movies that start in only a few theaters and actually grow their theater count through good word-of-mouth and reviews. According to a 2000 study by ABN AMRO, about 26% of Hollywood movie studios' worldwide income came from box office ticket sales; 46% came from VHS and DVD sales to consumers; and 28% came from television (broadcast, cable, and pay-per-view).
Development of film technology
Film stock consists of transparent celluloid, polyester, or acetate base coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive chemicals. Cellulose nitrate was the first type of film base used to record motion pictures, but due to its flammability was eventually replaced by safer materials. Stock widths and the film format for images on the reel have had a rich history, though most large commercial films are still shot on (and distributed to theaters) as 35 mm prints.
Originally moving picture film was shot and projected at various speeds using hand-cranked cameras and projectors; though 16 frames per second is generally cited as a standard silent speed, research indicates most films were shot between 16-23 fps and projected from 18 fps on up (often reels included instructions on how fast each scene should be shown) [1]. When sound film was introduced in the late 1920s, a constant speed was required for the sound head. 24 frames per second was chosen because it was the slowest (and thus cheapest) speed which allowed for sufficient sound quality. Improvements since the late 19th century include the mechanization of cameras — allowing them to record at a consistent speed, quiet camera design — allowing sound recorded on-set to be usable without requiring large "blimps" to encase the camera, the invention of more sophisticated filmstocks and lenses, allowing directors to film in increasingly dim conditions, and the development of synchronized sound, allowing sound to be recorded at exactly the same speed as its corresponding action. The soundtrack can be recorded separately from shooting the film, but for live-action pictures many parts of the soundtrack are usually recorded simultaneously.
As a medium, film is not limited to motion pictures, since the technology developed as the basis for photography. It can be used to present a progressive sequence of still images in the form of a slideshow. Film has also been incorporated into multimedia presentations, and often has importance as primary historical documentation. However, historic films have problems in terms of preservation and storage, and the motion picture industry is exploring many alternatives. Most movies on cellulose nitrate base have been copied onto modern safety films. Some studios save color films through the use of separation masters — three B&W negatives each exposed through red, green, or blue filters (essentially a reverse of the Technicolor process). Digital methods have also been used to restore films, although their continued obsolescence cycle makes them (as of 2006) a poor choice for long-term preservation. Film preservation of decaying film stock is a matter of concern to both film historians and archivists, and to companies interested in preserving their existing products in order to make them available to future generations (and thereby increase revenue). Preservation is generally a higher-concern for nitrate and single-strip color films, due to their high decay rates; black and white films on safety bases and color films preserved on Technicolor imbibition prints tend to keep up much better, assuming proper handling and storage.
Some films in recent decades have been recorded using analog video technology similar to that used in television production. Modern digital video cameras and digital projectors are gaining ground as well. These approaches are extremely beneficial to moviemakers, especially because footage can be evaluated and edited without waiting for the film stock to be processed. Yet the migration is gradual, and as of 2005 most major motion pictures are still recorded on film.
Endurance of films
Films have been around for more than a century; however this is not long when one considers it in relation to other arts like painting and sculpture. There was a perceived "threat" by television during the early 1950's, especially when the FCC expanded television during its 1952 TV license expansion. Trade magazines were publishing articles on the "death' of local theatres. Nonetheless, many at present believe that film will be a long enduring art form because motion pictures appeal to diverse human emotions.
Apart from societal norms and cultural changes, there are still close resemblances between theatrical plays throughout the ages and films of today. Romantic motion pictures about a girl loving a guy but not being able to be together for some reason, movies about a hero who fights against all odds a more powerful fiendish enemy, comedies about everyday life, etc. all involve plots with common threads that existed in books, plays and other venues.
See also @ Wikipedia
Wikibooks Movie making manual Movie making directory Wikiversity Film and television Basic types of film Narrative film Cinematic genre Documentary film Experimental film Animation Web film International Film World cinema Foreign film Cinema of Europe Asian cinema East Asian cinema Southeast Asian cinema South Asian cinema Middle Eastern cinema African cinema North American cinema South American cinema Australasian cinema Other Digital film Filmmaking Film criticism Film journals and magazines Film festival Film manifesto Film theory History of film The Internet Movie Database Lost film Movie star Sound stage Lists Lists of films Films considered the greatest ever Films considered the worst ever List of highest-grossing films List of US box office bombs List of film series List of character-based film series List of film formats List of film techniques List of film festivals List of films with single syllable titles List of films by gory death scene List of longest films by running time List of songs based on a film or book List of film topics Lists of film source material Cinematic genres Cult films
References
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (ed.). The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-874242-8 Hagener, Malte, and Töteberg, Michael. Film: An International Bibliography. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2002. ISBN 3-476-01523-8 Vogel, Amos. Film As a Subversive Art. Weidenfeld & Nichols, 1974. The Oxford History of World Cinema, Oxford University Press, 1999; Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, ed. Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow, Fred E. Basten. AS Barnes & Company, 1980 Reel Women. Pioneers of the Cinema. 1896 to the Present by Ally Acker, London: B.T.Batsford 1991 Reel Racism. Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture, Vincent F. Rocchio, Westview Press 2000 New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction, Geoff King . Columbia University Press, 2002. Notes on Film Noir Paul Schrader. Film Comment. '84? Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film by Greg Merritt; Thunder's Mouth Press 2001 Africa shoots back. Alternative perspectives in sub-saharan francophone african film by Melissa Thackway, Indiana University Press 2003 Glorious Technicolor; directed by Peter Jones. Based on the book (above); written by Basten & Jones. Documentary, (1998). Francesco Casetti, Theories of Cinema, 1945-1990, Paperback Edition, University of Texas Press 1999 The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, Oxford University Press 1998 Walters Faber, Helen Walters, Algrant (Ed.), Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940, HarperCollins Publishers 2004 Trish Ledoux, Doug Ranney, Fred Patten (Ed.), Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory and Resource Guide, Tiger Mountain Press 1997 Steven Spielberg in The making of Jurassic Park
End of Wikipedia content, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film
Content derived from Wikipedia article on Films Considered the Greatest Ever
While it is impossible to objectively determine the greatest film of all time, it is possible to discuss the films considered the greatest ever. The important criterion for inclusion in this article is that the film is the "greatest" by some specific criterion or indicator — be it a critics' poll, popular poll, or awards. Many of these measures focus on American films, but those considered the greatest within their respective countries are included at the end.
Contents
1 Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers 2 Films acclaimed in audience polls 3 Films that have received the most Academy Awards 4 Films that are considered the greatest in their particular genre 4.1 Animation 4.2 Comedy 4.3 Concert 4.4 Crime 4.5 Disaster 4.6 Documentary 4.7 Epic 4.8 Fantasy 4.9 Film noir 4.10 Horror/thriller 4.11 Musical 4.12 Propaganda 4.13 Romance 4.14 Science fiction 4.15 Silent 4.16 War 4.17 Western 5 In particular countries 5.1 Australia 5.2 Bosnia 5.3 Brazil 5.4 Canada 5.5 China 5.6 Finland 5.7 France 5.8 Germany 5.9 India 5.10 Ireland 5.11 Italy 5.12 Japan 5.13 Russia 5.14 Sweden 5.15 United Kingdom 5.16 United States 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Notes
Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers
Orson Welles' Citizen Kane has been voted number one in the Sight and Sound poll of film critics in each of the last five polls starting with the 1962 poll (the survey is carried out once every ten years). A separate poll of established film directors in the same magazine, held for the first time in 1992, also has placed Citizen Kane at the top. Influential critic Roger Ebert says that "The Sight and Sound poll is generally considered the most authoritative of all 'best film' lists". Perhaps not coincidentally, he considers Citizen Kane the best film ever. The film was also selected as number one in a Village Voice critics' poll, number one in a Time Out critics' poll in 1995 and listed as the greatest American film ever by the American Film Institute in 1998. Citizen Kane, however, did not win the Academy Award for Best Picture, possibly because of extensive pressure exerted by William Randolph Hearst and his associates.
La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) by director Jean Renoir was named best film by the French film magazine Positif in 1991. It also holds the number two spot in the Village Voice poll. Along with Battleship Potemkin, it is one of only two films to have appeared in every one of Sight and Sound's six decennial polls.
The Searchers is the film most often mentioned in a poll of the favorite films of directors by German language Steadycam magazine.
The Battleship Potemkin was voted best film ever by a panel of experts at the 1958 World's Fair.
Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) was voted top film in a Sight & Sound magazine poll in 1952. Other than Citizen Kane, The Bicycle Thief is the only film to ever top the Sight and Sound poll.
In the book Halliwell's Top 1000 (ISBN 0-00-774511-7), the #1 film is Tokyo Story. The rest of the top five are La Règle du Jeu (#2), Lawrence of Arabia (#3), The Godfather Trilogy (#4) and The Seven Samurai (#5). Citizen Kane comes in at #6.
Films acclaimed in audience polls
The Godfather has long stood atop IMDb's list of the top 250 films. It was also voted number one by Entertainment Weekly readers and number one in a Time Out Readers' poll in 1995.
The Godfather Part II, sometimes considered better than the original film, was voted best ever by TV Guide readers in 1998. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was voted the most popular film of all time by an audience poll for the Australian television special My Favourite Film. Its first film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), was the pick of readers in a poll by Empire magazine in November 2004. It is the only trilogy to have all 3 pictures in the Top 20 of the IMDb's top 250 films.
Casablanca (1942) is widely cited as the greatest film of all time and was voted as such by readers of the Los Angeles Daily News in 1997. It is also regarded the "best Hollywood movie of all time" by the influential Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. On April 7, 2006, the Writer's Guild of America declared Casablanca's screenplay the best ever written.
Star Wars (1977) was chosen by readers of Empire magazine in November 2001 and by voters in a Channel 4/FilmFour poll The Shawshank Redemption is listed as the #2 entry on the IMDb list. This film's popularity among fans is also evidenced by the fact that it is the highest rated film on Yahoo! Movies by Yahoo! users, and furthermore was voted the best film never to have won "Best Picture" in a 2005 BBC poll. In January 2006 Empire magazine readers named it the best film ever.
Goodfellas was voted the greatest film of all time in 2005 by Total Film.
According to the IMDB Top 250, as of November 17, 2006, the top 25 movies are:
Rank Movie Year Rating 1 The Godfather 1972 9.1 2 The Shawshank Redemption 1994 9.1 3 The Godfather: Part II 1974 8.9 4 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 8.8 5 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 8.8 6 Casablanca 1942 8.8 7 Schindler's List 1993 8.8 8 Pulp Fiction 1994 8.7 9 The Seven Samurai 1954 8.7 10 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 1980 8.7 11 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 1977 8.7 12 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 8.7 13 Rear Window 1954 8.7 14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 8.7 15 12 Angry Men 1957 8.6 16 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 8.6 17 The Usual Suspects 1995 8.6 18 City of God 2002 8.6 19 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964 8.6 20 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 8.6 21 Goodfellas 1990 8.6 22 Psycho 1960 8.6 23 Citizen Kane 1941 8.6 24 Once Upon a Time in the West 1968 8.6 25 North by Northwest 1959 8.6
Films that have received the most Academy Awards
Ever since their inception in 1928, the Academy Awards (the "Oscars") have been seen as the most significant of the film award ceremonies. The first film to dominate an Oscars ceremony was Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1935. It was the first film to win five awards. Moreover it won the "Oscar grand slam" by winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay—a feat that has been repeated only twice more, by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976 and by Silence of the Lambs in 1992.
In 1939, Gone with the Wind was nominated for 13 awards and two special citations. It won eight of the Awards to beat It Happened One Night's record. All About Eve (1950) broke the nominations record with 14, and won in six categories.
Gigi was the film to break Gone with the Wind's record, winning in all nine of its nominated categories at the ceremony for films made in 1958. However, its moment at the top was short-lived, as the epic Ben-Hur went on to win 11 Oscars from 12 nominations the following year.
Ben-Hur's eleven Oscars remains the record. This achievement in turn has been equalled twice—by Titanic in 1997 with 11 awards from 14 nominations, and by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won in all 11 of its nominated categories in 2003 in the greatest 'sweep' in the history of the Academy Awards (however it did not win any of the four acting Oscars).
Films that are considered the greatest in their particular genre
Animation
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) appeared at #49 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American movies (compiled in 1998), higher than any other animated film. Tale of Tales (Сказка сказок) (1979) - Yuriy Norshteyn's short film was voted by a large international jury to be the greatest animated film of all time at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympiad of Animation and the 2002 Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films. Akira (1988) was chosen as the top anime ever by Anime Insider in fall 2001. Beauty and the Beast (1991), is the only fully-animated movie (computerized or not) to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It has also been nominated for a total of six Oscars, more than any other animated film. It was also the first animated movie to win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical. Toy Story (1995) was voted #1 on the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time by the Online Film Critics Society (list published March 2003). Toy Story was also the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the Oscars. Toy Story 2 (1999) is the top rated movie of all time at Rotten Tomatoes.com with 100% approval by 106 critics. Spirited Away (2002) was voted best animated movie by IMDb users. It was the first anime film to win an Academy Award. The Incredibles (2004), was nominated for 16 Annie Awards (the top award ceremony honoring animation), more than any other film. It also has won 10 of its nominations, another record. It also won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, and became one of only four animated movies ever to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar.
Comedy
It Happened One Night (1934) is the only comedy (and one of only three movies) to win Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards. Some Like It Hot (1959) was listed Best Comedy by the American Film Institute in June 2000. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is listed as the highest rated "Comedy" title by the IMDb and was #3 on AFI's "100 Years...100 Laughs". It was also the highest-rated comedy on the 2002 Sight and Sound Director's Poll. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) was voted the greatest comedy ever by viewers of Channel 4 in 2005.[6] National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) was voted #1 on the Bravo list of funniest movies of all time, and was #36 on AFI's "100 Years...100 Laughs".
Concert
The Last Waltz (1978), Martin Scorsese's chronicling of The Band's farewell concert on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune calls it "The greatest rock concert movie ever made -- and maybe the best rock movie, period." Terry Lawson of the Detroit Free Press comments that "This is one of the great movie experiences." The review at Total Film comments "In what is rightly considered the greatest concert film ever shot . . ."
Stop Making Sense (1984) Film critic James Berardinelli wrote that Jonathan Demme's capturing of the Talking Heads in concert was "the best concert film to date when it first came out, and nothing in the past decade-and-a-half has come close to toppling it from that position." Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle had similar praise: "Has there ever been a live concert film as vibrant or as brilliantly realized? I don't think so."
Crime
The Godfather is the #1 ranked film in IMDB's top 250, let alone crime films. It was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 3.The Godfather Part 2 is ranked #3.
On The Waterfront won 8 Oscars and nominated for 4 others, the most wins by any film in the genre.
Disaster
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was voted best disaster movie in a consumer poll commissioned by UCI cinemas in May 2004.
Titanic (1997) (See Academy Award sections above).
Documentary
Man with the Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov's classic experimental silent, was the highest rated documentary on the 2002 Sight and Sound critic's poll, and made Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list.
Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore's controversial documentary relating gun control and the culture of fear in the United States, heads the list of 20 all-time favorite non-fiction films selected by members of the International Documentary Association (IDA).
The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris' 1988 film, has long been considered one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It is actually credited not only with solving a murder case, but also as the major factor in freeing an innocent man from prison in Texas. It was voted number two by the IDA.
The Sorrow and the Pity is the highest rated documentary at the IMDb.
Seven Up! was voted as the greatest ever documentary in a Channel 4 poll of the 50 Greatest Documentaries in 2005.
Epic
Lawrence of Arabia Voted best epic by readers of Total Film in May 2004. In addition it won 7 academy awards including best picture.
Ben-Hur (1959)- Collected 11 academy awards, matched by Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (See Academy Award sections above).
Fantasy
Victor Fleming's acclaimed 1939 film The Wizard of Oz appears on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies at position number six, the highest of spot for a fantasy film. Peter Jackson's highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy earned 17 Oscars with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King becoming the first fantasy film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. (See audience polls and Academy Awards sections above)
Film noir
Sunset Boulevard: Voted the best film noir of all-time by IMDb users. It was also ranked the highest on American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American movies at #12
Horror/thriller
Psycho: the Alfred Hitchcock classic was voted the best horror film by IMDb users. Tops AFI’s list of the 100 most thrilling American films. Jaws, is second on the AFI thrills list.
The Silence of the Lambs: the only movie classified as "horror" to ever win the "Best Picture" Oscar. One of only 3 movies to win the top 5 Oscars. Is at #2 in the list of best horror films, as voted by IMDb voters, and at #5 in the AFI’s list of the 100 most thrilling American films. Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter tops the AFI's list of the greatest villains of all time.
Halloween: Voted best horror film of all time by readers of SFX magazine in June 2004.
The Exorcist: Voted scariest movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974 version) was second on the list.
The Shining: Stanley Kubrick's haunting The Shining was calculated to be the perfect scary movie.
Musical
Singin' in the Rain is the highest rated movie musical at the IMDb. It is also the highest ranked musical at the 2002 Sight and Sound poll.
The Wizard of Oz is the highest ranked musical on AFI's list of the 100 best American films.
Grease was voted the greatest musical by viewers of Channel 4 in 2003.
West Side Story is the winner of the most Academy Awards of any movie musical (10). Mary Poppins and Chicago share the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a musical (13).
Propaganda
Triumph of the Will, Leni Riefenstahl's documentary film glorifying Hitler and the 1934 Nazi Party Convention, in Nuremberg is widely renowned and reviled as the best propaganda film ever, although Riefenstahl claimed she intended it only as a documentary.
Battleship Potemkin (see Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above.)
Romance
Casablanca is the highest ranked romance film at the IMDB. It is also the top film on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions list, which ranks films in which there is "a romantic bond between two or more characters, whose actions and/or intentions provide the heart of the film’s narrative". Gone with the Wind is second on the AFI list.
Science fiction
2001: A Space Odyssey, a popular and influential film directed by Stanley Kubrick. The highest ranked science fiction film (#11) on the Village Voice 100 Best films of the 20th century list. Also the only Science Fiction film to make the Sight and Sound Top Ten Poll.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) is the highest-rated sci-fi film on the IMDb.
Blade Runner - Voted the best science fiction film by a panel of scientists assembled by the British newspaper The Guardian in 2004.
Silent
Battleship Potemkin (see Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above.)
Greed, Erich von Stroheim's 1924 film has been included in numerous Sight and Sound Top Ten polls. It was the highest rated silent film (number four overall) in the 1962 poll.
Modern Times, the last major American film to make use of silent film conventions such as title cards for dialogue, is the highest-rated silent film on the IMDb. There is a recorded soundtrack; one scene has dialogue spoken over an intercom, and Charlie Chaplin sings nonsense lyrics to a song at the end. City Lights, another of Chaplin's films, is the highest-rated movie without any dialogue, spoken or sung. It too has a recorded soundtrack. Metropolis is the highest-rated movie that was totally silent when released.
The Birth of a Nation (1915) - In the 1920s the New York Mail described the movie as "the supreme picture of all time". Sunrise by F.W. Murnau is the highest ranked silent film on Sight and Sound's 2002 poll.
War
Schindler's List is the number one film on IMDb's list of top rated war titles. The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na korze) is number two.
The English Patient won nine Academy Awards from 12 nominations, the most wins of any war film. From Here to Eternity and Gone with the Wind each won eight Academy Awards from 13 nominations, and tie for the most nominations of any war film.
In 2005 Saving Private Ryan was voted as the greatest ever war film in a Channel 4 poll of the 100 Greatest ever war films.
Western
The Searchers was voted the greatest Western of all time by Entertainment Weekly. (See also: films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers above).
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is listed as Best Western by the IMDb's list of Top Rated "Western" Titles. Once Upon a Time in the West is listed second. Both films appear on the Time magazine poll. Also both were directed by Sergio Leone.
Dances with Wolves was nominated for 11 Oscars and won seven, a record for westerns. It is one of the three westerns that have ever won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Unforgiven, and Cimarron are the the other two.
In particular countries
Australia
Mad Max: voted the best Australian film ever by the Australian Film Institute. Nominated for four Australian Film Institute Awards.
Picnic at Hanging Rock: voted No. 1 of the Top 10 best-ever Australian films at 1995 centenary of Australian cinema[14] Gallipoli: voted No. 1 on 20 to 1: Great Aussie Films
Bosnia
No Man's Land: is the only Bosnian film to win an oscar for best foreign movie.
Brazil
City of God (Cidade de Deus in Portuguese), is the highest ranking Brazilian film featured in TIME magazine's 100 best movies of all-time list. It is also the highest ranked (#18) in IMDb's top 250 list.
Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (English: God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun, also known as Black God, White Devil) an example of Brazilian cinema movement known as Cinema Novo ("New Cinema"), is considered by many critics to be the best Brazilian movie of all time; was named as such from a poll conducted by the Brazilian cinema magazine Contracampo (no. 27) Click on "articles".
Canada
Mon oncle Antoine: A poll of critics at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and again at the 1993 and 2004 festivals named this the greatest Canadian film of all time.
Un Zoo la Nuit: Winner of the most Genie Awards with 13.
China
Spring in a Small Town (小城之春): This 1948 film was voted the best Chinese film ever made by Hong Kong Film Awards Association in 2005.
Finland
The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon Sotilas in Finnish), received seven "Jussi" (Finnish Oscar) statuettes [17].
France
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise): Voted "Best French Film of the Century" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in the late 1990s.
La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game): see films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers
Germany
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's famed silent film Nosferatu is regarded by critics and acclaimed German director Werner Herzog as the greatest German movie of all time.
Der Untergang (Downfall): This German World War II epic depicts the final days of the Third Reich in Adolf Hitler's bunker. It is currently the highest-ranked German film in the IMDb (as of June 2006). Das Boot is the second highest.
India
Pather Panchali (1955) is the only Indian film to have ever appeared on Sight and Sound Critics's Top Ten Poll (ranked #9 in 1992). It was ranked the top Indian film in a 2002 popularity poll by the British Film Institute (BFI) conducted on the web, and number two in the BFI critics' poll in which critics were asked to compile a list of 50 best Indian as well as South Asian films. Pather Panchali is the first film of director Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy (1955-1959, which are listed in the "all-time 100 best films", as rated by TIME magazine.
Nayakan (The Hero, 1987) is in the list of "all-time 100 best films", as rated by Time magazine.
Pushpak (The Love Chariot), from 1988, is the highest rated Indian film on IMDb.com. The specialty of this movie is that it does not contain any dialogue.
Gandhi (1982), an Anglo-Indian production, received eight awards and eleven nominations at the Academy Awards.
Sholay was the top film selected in the 2002 BFI critics' poll.
Ireland
The Commitments (1991) was voted the best Irish film of all time in a 2005 Jameson Whiskey poll of 10,000 Irish people, with My Left Foot coming second. 24
Italy
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) (1966) is the highest-ranked foreign-made (outside of the United States) film on the IMDB Top 250, where it is considered the 5th best film ever.
Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) (See: Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers section above.)
8½ – Director Federico Fellini's 1963 film about filmmaking was the highest rated Italian film in the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of the best films of all time.
Japan
Rashōmon (羅生門): This 1950 film by Akira Kurosawa was the first Japanese film to gain world-wide acclaim. The highest-ranked Japanese film (#10) on the Village Voice list of 100 Best Films of the 20th Century. It was also the highest-ranked Japanese film on the Sight and Sound 2002 Directors' Top Ten Poll.
Tokyo Story (東京物語 Tokyo Monogatari), 1953. This film by Yasujiro Ozu about an aging couple as they journey from their rural village to visit their two married children in postwar Tokyo was declared the greatest film ever by Halliwell's Film Guide in 2005 25. It was also the highest-ranked Japanese film on the Sight and Sound 2002 Critics' Top Ten Poll. (As well as the only non-Kurosawa Japanese film in any of its polls.)
The Seven Samurai (七人の侍 Shichinin no samurai), 1954: Also by Kurosawa, this period adventure film is frequently cited as the greatest Japanese film ever; it is ranked #9 in the IMDB Top 250 (as of November 2006).
Russia
Броненосец Потёмкин (Battleship Potemkin) see: Films acclaimed by critics and filmakers above.
Sweden
The Emigrants (Utvandrarna): Jan Troell's naturalist masterwork was the first Scandinavian film to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, and it is often cited in Sweden as the greatest Swedish film of all-time.
Persona: voted "Best Picture" by US National Society of Film Critics. This film by acclaimed director Ingmar Bergman also reached the highest position (#5) of any Swedish film on Sight & Sound's 1972 list of greatest films of all time. The Seventh Seal: also directed by Ingmar Bergman, is the highest rated Swedish film on the IMDB.
United Kingdom
Lawrence of Arabia: voted "best British film of all time" in August of 2004 by a London Sunday Telegraph poll of Britain's leading filmmakers. (See also: Epic above).
The Third Man: Voted best British film ever by members of the British Film Institute in 1999.
United States
Citizen Kane: voted the best American film ever by the American Film Institute. (See also: Films acclaimed by critics and filmmakers section above).
2001: A Space Odyssey is considered by some critics, including Gene Siskel, to be the greatest film ever made, American or otherwise. Roger Ebert has also cited it in his top ten.
See also: Casablanca, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Star Wars, and The Shawshank Redemption in the Films acclaimed in audience polls section above.
See also: Ben-Hur, Titanic, in the Films that have received the most Academy Awards section above.
See also @ Wikipedia
List of highest-grossing films List of highest-grossing films throughout history List of film-related topics Films considered the worst ever List of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry AFI List of top 100 American movies Computer and video games that have been considered the greatest ever Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies
References American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies BFI List of top 100 British movies IMDb Top 250 Channel 4 poll: 100 Greatest Films Sight and Sound magazine best films of all time polls Village Voice 100 Best films of the 20th century list Links to more lists from: filmsite.org bestonly.com listsofbests.com films101.com The Top 200 at everyonesacritic.net Meta-list compiling over a thousand critic's lists together from theyshootpictures.com
Notes ^ Top 100 Animated Features of All Time at the Online Film Critics Society website.
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