Film - AFI Top 100

This is a list of the AFI's top 100 ranked movies of all time (as seen on their web page) and my opinions of those movies. Only American movies from 1896-1996 were included in the AFI's list, so you won't see any new releases or foreign films in the list. I've also included whether or not I think the movie belongs in the top 100 or not, which I'm sure will make a lot of film buffs upset.

#1 CITIZEN KANE

Year: 1941

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#2 CASABLANCA

Year: 1942

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#3 THE GODFATHER

Year: 1972

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#4 GONE WITH THE WIND

Year: 1939

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#5 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Year: 1962

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#6 THE WIZARD OF OZ

Year: 1939

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: When I was a child I loved this movie. I haven't seen it in years, but I probably should. I remember being totally freaked out by the monkeys and the Wicked Witch. Good acting and nice effects for the time. The story has a good message for children, that there is indeed no place like home. The movie has drama, comedy, singing, and munchkins just like -every- movie should.

#7 THE GRADUATE

Year: 1967

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#8 ON THE WATERFRONT

Year: 1954

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#9 SCHINDLER'S LIST

Year: 1993

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: An extremely good movie that follows the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. It is heart breaking and dramatic as it should be. The acting and cinema quality is spectacular. The use of color on black and white was insightful.

#10 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

Year: 1952

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#11 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Year: 1946

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: I'm never majorly impressed by seasonal movies. Although it may not have started out that way, it has certainly become one. The story is warming, only a little too warming. I like the idea of a guardian angel trying to earn his wings, and showing what life would be like if someone were never born, but it's just a little too mushy for my taste.

#12 SUNSET BOULEVARD

Year: 1950

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#13 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

Year: 1957

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#14 SOME LIKE IT HOT

Year: 1959

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#15 STAR WARS

Year: 1977

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: I'm basically setting myself up for an attack by geeks, but for as much as I like Star Wars, I really don't think it belongs on the top 100 movies of all time. Sure it was inventive, and creative, the acting was mostly good, and the effects were mind blowing for the day, but when you get down to it, the story is a tired old cliché that was even tired in 1977. Good guys save princess all the while destroying the evil empire, wow, nobody has ever done that before. Above that, I think that A New Hope was the least exciting of the trilogy.

#16 ALL ABOUT EVE

Year: 1950

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#17 THE AFRICAN QUEEN

Year: 1951

Seen It: Some

Belongs: ?

Opinion:I don't think I've seen all of it, and I don't remember hardly anything about it. I'll update when I see it again.

#18 PSYCHO

Year: 1960

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#19 CHINATOWN

Year: 1974

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#20 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Year: 1975

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#21 THE GRAPES OF WRATH

Year: 1940

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#22 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

Year: 1968

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#23 THE MALTESE FALCON

Year: 1941

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#24 RAGING BULL

Year: 1980

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: Many viewers had a hard time enjoying this film because the main character is very unsympathetic. By that I mean he is a foul-mouthed, adulterous, wife-beating, paranoid jerk. Even still, many critics argue that the powerful acting and amazing cinematic quality make this movie one of the best. While I agree that the acting is superb and the filming and lighting are top-notch (minus some rather poor fighting choreography), I really didn't like the movie. None of the characters are very desirable. Not only did I not care if Jake LaMotta was going to win his fights, but near the end I was hoping that he would lose because he's an annoying selfish bully.

#25 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

Year: 1982

Seen It: Parts

Belongs: ?

Opinion: I haven't seen this movie since I was about 5, and I really don't remember much about it other than the stuff that was in the trailer for the re-release which I never watched.

#26 DR. STRANGELOVE

Year: 1964

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: This movie is a wonderful farcical "what-if" movie about nuclear war. There are several very funny parts, but on the whole, the movie is quite chilling, even this far into the future. I loved Peter Sellers's multiple roles and George C. Scott was spectacular, even if his acting was pushed further than he wanted. Although I thought the movie was really fascinating, and mixed both quality and cleverness, I don't think it ranks up as one of the best movies of all time.

#27 BONNIE AND CLYDE

Year: 1967

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#28 APOCALYPSE NOW

Year: 1979

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#29 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

Year: 1939

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#30 THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE

Year: 1948

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#31 ANNIE HALL

Year: 1977

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#32 THE GODFATHER PART II

Year: 1974

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#33 HIGH NOON

Year: 1952

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#33 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Year: 1962

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#35 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

Year: 1934

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#36 MIDNIGHT COWBOY

Year: 1969

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#37 THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

Year: 1946

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#38 DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Year: 1944

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#39 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

Year: 1965

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: I kept expecting to hear Alec Guinness say "The Force will be with you," but he never did. The movie was really good. It nicely portrays the different political sides of the Bolshevik Revolution. The main character is really an anti-hero that I didn't really like very much, but I still hoped that his life would work out successfully. Overall it was captivating and informative.

#40 NORTH BY NORTHWEST

Year: 1959

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#41 WEST SIDE STORY

Year: 1961

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#42 REAR WINDOW

Year: 1954

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#43 KING KONG

Year: 1933

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#44 THE BIRTH OF A NATION

Year: 1915

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#45 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Year: 1951

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#46 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Year: 1971

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: What can I say other than, this movie didn't do much for me. It seemed quite hokey. There was plenty of wonton violence and nudity, which you would think as an American I would like automatically, but I really didn't get much out of it. Sure, it goes over the damaging effects of psychological reinforcement, yes it shows how corrupt the system can be, but it was done in such a bizarre mangled way I was more confused than impressed.

#47 TAXI DRIVER

Year: 1976

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#48 JAWS

Year: 1975

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: ?

Opinion: I have seen it, but not in a long time. I'll have to watch it again to make a judgment.

#49 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

Year: 1937

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: You have got to be kidding me! This was the highest ranked Disney movie? They could have picked The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, or The Lion King... and they choose Snow White? Don't get me wrong, it's a time honored classic and a decent movie in its own right, but does it really compare to the aforementioned films?

#50 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID

Year: 1969

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#51 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Year: 1940

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#52 FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

Year: 1953

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#53 AMADEUS

Year: 1984

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#54 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Year: 1930

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#55 THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Year: 1965

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: A family of eight, all with singing talent? Not bloodly likely. Even still, this movie has amazing music, good acting from Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and Peggy Wood, great scenery, and an important message. I can see past kids wearing drapes, nuns breaking into song in the abbey, and that innate ability to make up lyrics on the spot. It is a musical after all, and a fine good one.

#56 M*A*S*H

Year: 1970

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: Plot, schmlot! M*A*S*H does just fine without one. This is a very clever comedy that takes place at a mobile hospital during the Korean War and spawned the highly successful TV series. There isn't much of the way of a story, but there are several story arcs that let you follow along on the bizarre and misogynistic antics of the 4077. From brain surgery to adultery to football; this movie is certainly a man's comedy.

#57 THE THIRD MAN

Year: 1949

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#58 FANTASIA

Year: 1940

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#59 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Year: 1955

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: ?

Opinion: I saw it in my English class in high school several years ago. I don't remember it being that great, but I don't remember much of it at all. Another time through and I'll make up my mind.

#60 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Year: 1981

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: This was an amazing movie. Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies... all great actors who did a fine job in this movie. The scenery was amazing, the effects were great, the story was beautiful, the action, dialogue, everything about the movie was nicely executed. Above all, it's still fun to watch.

#61 VERTIGO

Year: 1958

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#62 TOOTSIE

Year: 1982

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#63 STAGECOACH

Year: 1939

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#64 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

Year: 1977

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: ?

Opinion: Although I remember it being very good, it has been several years since I last watched it, and I can't make up my mind about it.

#65 THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

Year: 1991

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: It is very rare to see a suspense/horror film have any credibility at all, but Silence of the lambs was very good. Usually, in a horror movie, the villain is an alien, demon, or beast of myth, but it is much worse when the monster is human, and Anthony Hopkins made an excellent monster in this movie. Jodie Foster also gave a strong performance as the hero trying to stop a serial killer. The movie does a good job of keeping mystery and suspense, and it was indeed great.

#66 NETWORK

Year: 1976

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#67 THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

Year: 1962

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#68 AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

Year: 1951

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#69 SHANE

Year: 1953

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#70 THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Year: 1971

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#71 FORREST GUMP

Year: 1994

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: A comedic drama such as this deserves recognition. It's a love story, a tale of triumph, and just an all around feel good tale. Tom Hanks plays an amazing role, as does an angry Gary Sinise. I love the time periods, the fads, but most importantly, I love watching the struggle as the underdog becomes the giant.

#72 BEN-HUR

Year: 1959

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#73 WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Year: 1939

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#74 THE GOLD RUSH

Year: 1925

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#75 DANCES WITH WOLVES

Year: 1990

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: It has been brought to my attention that there are in fact people who don't like this movie. All I can say to them is... your opinion is wrong. This movie is amazing. Kevin Costner delivers a powerful role as an American frontier's man wanting to get past the conflict of the Civil War. At his outpost he faces the difficulties and dangers of the natives, as well as a strange wolf. The movie has beautiful scenery, a captivating story, and is just plain worth it.

#76 CITY LIGHTS

Year: 1931

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#77 AMERICAN GRAFFITI

Year: 1973

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#78 ROCKY

Year: 1976

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: I'm certainly not going to say the sequels have any right being here, but the first Rocky was a great movie. Sure, it follows the typical underdog formula, but that's what I like about it. Stallone did an excellent job act as a dim-witted boxer (how did he pull that off?), and the other actors all were believable. I like to watch the struggle, not just in the boxing side, but also for a woman. Some of the boxing scenes were a little lame (obvious missed hits, yet the person falls back anyway), but overall it was a great movie.

#79 THE DEER HUNTER

Year: 1978

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#80 THE WILD BUNCH

Year: 1969

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#81 MODERN TIMES

Year: 1936

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#82 GIANT

Year: 1956

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#83 PLATOON

Year: 1986

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: Yes

Opinion: One of my favorite war movies. It may not have accurately depicted the Vietnam War, but it was a very nice story with superb acting. Willam Dafoe never ceases to amaze me. I like how the movie shows that the enemy during war isn't always the opposing side. Gratuitous swearing and blood always work wonders in a war flick as well.

#84 FARGO

Year: 1996

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#85 DUCK SOUP

Year: 1933

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#86 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

Year: 1935

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#87 FRANKENSTEIN

Year: 1931

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#88 EASY RIDER

Year: 1969

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#89 PATTON

Year: 1970

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: ?

Opinion: It's been awhile since I watched this movie, and I don't think I've seen all of it.

#90 THE JAZZ SINGER

Year: 1927

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#91 MY FAIR LADY

Year: 1964

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#92 A PLACE IN THE SUN

Year: 1951

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#93 THE APARTMENT

Year: 1960

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#94 GOODFELLAS

Year: 1990

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: Although I did find the movie interesting, I didn't really like it. It wasn't due to shock or disgust, I just didn't walk away feeling better about anything, just the opposite in fact. The acting was great, the characters were full and believable, but in the end it was a story about bad people doing bad things. Their end punishment doesn't add up to the damage they did, it was rather depressing really. I know there are people who find mob movies exciting and provocative, but that doesn't work for me.

#95 PULP FICTION

Year: 1994

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: This is one of those movies that people seem to love or hate, and I'm on the hate side. I like the idea of filming everything out of order (a common occurrence in Tarantino films), but even if it were placed in order I still don't think it would make very much sense. This was more like a comic book world than a real world. I found it difficult to actually care about any of the characters because they were all criminals. If they died it didn't bother me that much, so I had nobody to root for. Most of the conversation was simple and pointless, having nothing to do with the plot. Basically, it was a waste of time, and I found very few redeeming qualities in the movie.

#96 THE SEARCHERS

Year: 1956

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#97 BRINGING UP BABY

Year: 1938

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#98 UNFORGIVEN

Year: 1992

Seen It: Yes

Belongs: No

Opinion: I like a lot of Westerns. This one in particular I liked. It had a lot of great acting, a compelling story, deep characters with important lives and backgrounds. Eastwood, Hackman, and Freeman all played excellent roles. However, when I ask myself if it belongs on a list of the top 100 best movies ever, I have to say no. There are better movies, and better Westerns that should have usurped it.

#99 GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

Year: 1967

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion:

#100 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

Year: 1942

Seen It: No

Belongs: ?

Opinion: