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Lots of surprises on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All-Time

Posted Monday, October 6, 2008 at 1:51 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Another day, another list of the best movies of all-time. This one comes from British film magazine Empire. The chart includes this lofty introduction:

10,000 Empire readers, 150 of Hollywood's finest and 50 key film critics voted in the most ambitious movie poll ever attempted.

The usual suspects are all there: Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Star Wars. (The Usual Suspects even made the list at #61.) Every genre and every decade seems to be properly represented. And just as you'd expect, there's lots of Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, Hitchcock and Kubrick.

What makes this list different from those that have come before it? There are numerous non-U.S. films; something you won't get on AFI's lists. Empire carefully mixes together popular films with art house classics.

The chart also includes a number of pleasant surprises. Can you believe Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 made it to #49? How about #29 for Die Hard? Fight Club in the top 10? Very nice!

I'm very happy to see my personal favorite movie of all-time pulling down the third spot on the list. (My #2 favorite follows it at #4.)

One thing I'm not sure I like about the list is the inclusion of such a recent film as this summer's The Dark Knight. Sure it's great and has made a ton of money at the box office but I think it needs more time to age before it can be called the fifteenth best of all-time.

Below are just 5% of the movies they selected. For the full list, you'll have to click over. They do have a nice presentation on their web site.

  1. The Godfather
  2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
  3. The Empire Strikes Back
  4. The Shawshank Redemption
  5. Jaws
  6. GoodFellas
  7. Apocalypse Now
  8. Singin' in the Rain
  9. Pulp Fiction
  10. Fight Club
  11. Raging Bull
  12. The Apartment
  13. Chinatown
  14. Once Upon a Time in the West
  15. The Dark Knight
  16. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  17. Taxi Driver
  18. Casablanca
  19. The Godfather Part II
  20. Blade Runner
  21. The Third Man
  22. Star Wars
  23. Back to the Future
  24. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  25. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

What do you think? Were your favorites included on the list? Tell us what you think.

Also, don't forget to send in your choices for the all-time best horror movies. We're taking submissions and tabulating them for a special list of classics in time for Halloween.