The 10 best movies of all time

Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, easily one of the best movies of all time

Everyone has their own opinion about what the greatest movies of all time are, and people have their own personal favorites.

But below are the ten best movies of all time voted for by the millions of users of the super-popular Internet Movie Database (IMDB) website.

While many lists like this may feature different movies, this one was voted for by those people that know best — the fans.

10 Fight Club (1999)

Brad Pitt in Fight Club
Brad Pitt in Fight Club, which became a cult classic after its release

Fight Club is based on a novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter.

It tells the story of an unnamed character simply called Everyman played by Norton who is a white collar worker disillusioned with his life.

He forms a Fight Club with soap maker Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and other men who want to fight for recreation.

Everyman becomes involved with Durden as well as a woman called Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) — and depicts one man’s struggle with himself in one of the most exquisite examples of film-making to date.

Fight Club was one of the most controversial films of its time but has since become a cult hit.

9 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

This epic fantasy, based on the second and third volumes of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, is the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It is the most popular because everyone wants to find out if Frodo and Sam, led by Gollum, succeed in reaching the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the One Ring.

It is breathtakingly beautiful and powerful in depicting this final battle for Middle Earth.

8 12 Angry Men (1957)

12 Angry Men still
12 Angry Men — the oldest film to make this list, but still an absolute classic

This film is so popular because it gives a fascinating insight into the American judicial service where juries have to reach a unanimous verdict.

It follows the jurors’ deliberations as they struggles to agree if a 19-year-old Hispanic boy is guilty of stabbing his father to death.

With a great cast including Henry Fonda, Jack Klugman, Edward G.Marshall and Lee J.Cobb, it is riveting to watch.

7 Schindler’s List (1993)

Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List
Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List, which tells the harrowing tale of Jews in WWII

Steven Spielberg’s epic drama is based on Thomas Keneally’s novel and it tells the true story of German businessman Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, who drew up a list during the holocaust and saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews.

It is all the more harrowing because it is shot in black and white. The only exception is the film’s catalyst, a little girl in a red coat. Schindler sees her running through the crowd then later he spots her coat on a cart carrying dead bodies.

It horrifies him so much he decides to draw up a list of Jews destined for concentration camps so he can save them.

The film won seven Oscars while Oliwia Dabrowska, who was three years old when she played the girl, was traumatized for years after being involved in such a traumatic story.

6 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a Clint Eastwood classic
The iconic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a Clint Eastwood classic

Sergio Leone’s blockbuster has terrific scenes filmed at eighteen different locations in Spain, Mexico and Italy.

The plot concerns three men all desperate to discover the location of a treasure trove of valuable coins.

The great cast is headed by Clint Eastwood playing Blondie (The Good), Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes (The Bad) and Eli Wallach playing Tuco Benedicto Juan Mario Ramirez (The Ugly).

The fast-moving action is thrilling to watch.

5 Pulp Fiction (1994)

Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction
Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace in the poster for Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 crime drama became after its release, like Fight Club, a cult movie. It is violent but apart from one particularly nasty male rape scene the violence is tempered with humor.

Nominated for seven Oscars it deals with controversial subjects like drugs and involves storylines about mobsters and small-time criminals.

It features one of the best movie soundtracks ever, and the cast list is second to none, starring among others Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis and Harvey Keitel.

The Pulp in the title refers to the pulp magazines and novels in the 20th century which featured graphic violence.

4 The Dark Knight(2008)

The Dark Knight picture
The Dark Knight is without doubt the most superbly crafted Batman film of all time

The question nobody can answer is would this film have been so successful if Heath Ledger had not died before it came out?

So many people wanted to see his final movie appearance and they were not disappointed because his stellar performance as The Joker is one of the creepiest, disturbing characters ever seen on the big screen.

The Dark Knight is produced, directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan, and is a sequel to his earlier film Batman Begins. It is regularly voted the best superhero movie of all time.

3 The Godfather Part II (1974)

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in the mob epic The Godfather Part II
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in the mob epic The Godfather Part II

This is the obvious number 3 (after you see number two below) as fans of the original film wanted to know what happens to the powerful Corleone family.

In this ambitious sequel Michael, played by Al Pacino, has succeeded in becoming the “Don” and gives a brilliant performance as his character becomes increasingly more paranoid and malevolent.

In tandem with this story is the tale of how his father escaped from Sicily as a young boy and rose to power in the Lower East Side of New York.

2 The Godfather (1972)

Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, the title role in The Godfather
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, the title role in The Godfather

Widely regarded as one of the greatest world cinema films of all time this film is the epic story of the Corleone Mafia family headed by Vito (a brilliant performance by Marlon Brando).

Vito is grooming his hot-headed oldest son Sonny (James Caan) to take over as boss but when he gets murdered his youngest son Michael (another great performance by Al Pacino), has to take his place as rivalling Italian families vie for control of the underworld.

1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption, consistently voted the best movie of all time
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption, consistently voted the best movie of all time

The Shawshank Redemption is consistently voted the best film of all time, thanks to its incredible storyline and because of the stellar performances of the two main characters, Tim Robbins and Martin Freeman.

Based on a story by Stephen King, it is about a banker named Andy Dufresne (Robbins) who is sentenced to life for a double murder he swears he never committed.

In Shawshank State Prison he meets fellow lifer Eddie “Red” Redding (Freeman) who thinks Andy will crack up.

The film gives an insight into prison life and shows how Andy gives the inmates back their dignity and self-respect.

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