AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies

AFI 100 Years... series

1998	100 Movies
1999	100 Stars
2000	100 Laughs
2001	100 Thrills
2002	100 Passions
2003	100 Heroes & Villains
2004	100 Songs
2005	100 Movie Quotes
2005	25 Scores
2006	100 Cheers
2006	25 Musicals
2007	100 Movies (Updated)
2008	AFI's 10 Top 10
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The first of the AFI 100 Years... series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years... 100 American Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies. The 100-best list American films was unveiled in 1998. AFI released an updated list in 2007.

Criteria[]

Films were judged according to the following criteria:

1. Feature length: Narrative format, at least 60 minutes long.
2. American film: English language, with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. (Certain films, notably The Bridge on the River Kwai, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lawrence of Arabia, were British-made but funded and distributed by American studios. The Lord of the Rings was New Zealand-made with American funding.)
3. Critical recognition: Formal commendation in print.
4. Major award winner: Recognition from competitive events including awards from organizations in the film community and major film festivals.
5. Popularity over time: Including figures for box office adjusted for inflation, television broadcasts and syndication, and home video sales and rentals.
6. Historical significance: A film's mark on the history of the moving image through technical innovation, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreaking achievements.
7. Cultural impact: A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.

^[1]

List[]

Film	Release year	Director	Studio	1998 rank	2007 rank	Change
Citizen Kane	1941	Orson Welles	RKO Radio Pictures	1	1	0
Casablanca	1942	Michael Curtiz	Warner Bros. Pictures	2	3	1
The Godfather	1972	Francis Ford Coppola	Paramount Pictures	3	2	1
Gone with the Wind	1939	Victor Fleming	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Selznick International Pictures	4	6	2
Lawrence of Arabia	1962	David Lean	Columbia Pictures	5	7	2
The Wizard of Oz	1939	Victor Fleming	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	6	10	4
The Graduate	1967	Mike Nichols	Embassy Pictures, United Artists	7	17	10
On the Waterfront	1954	Elia Kazan	Columbia Pictures	8	19	11
Schindler's List	1993	Steven Spielberg	Universal Pictures	9	8	1
Singin' in the Rain	1952	Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	10	5	5
It's a Wonderful Life	1946	Frank Capra	RKO Radio Pictures	11	20	9
Sunset Boulevard	1950	Billy Wilder	Paramount Pictures	12	16	4
The Bridge on the River Kwai	1957	David Lean	Columbia Pictures	13	36	23
Some Like It Hot	1959	Billy Wilder	United Artists	14	22	8
Star Wars	1977	George Lucas	20th Century Fox	15	13	2
All About Eve	1950	Joseph L. Mankiewicz	20th Century Fox	16	28	12
The African Queen	1951	John Huston	United Artists, Independent Film Distributors	17	65	48
Psycho	1960	Alfred Hitchcock	Paramount Pictures	18	14	4
The General	1926	Buster Keaton	United Artists	—	18	—
Chinatown	1974	Roman Polanski	Paramount Pictures	19	21	2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	1975	Miloš Forman	United Artists	20	33	13
The Grapes of Wrath	1940	John Ford	20th Century Fox	21	23	2
2001: A Space Odyssey	1968	Stanley Kubrick	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	22	15	7
The Maltese Falcon	1941	John Huston	Warner Bros. Pictures	23	31	8
Raging Bull	1980	Martin Scorsese	United Artists	24	4	20
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	1982	Steven Spielberg	Universal Pictures	25	24	1
Dr. Strangelove	1964	Stanley Kubrick	Columbia Pictures	26	39	13
Bonnie and Clyde	1967	Arthur Penn	Warner Bros-Seven Arts	27	42	15
Apocalypse Now	1979	Francis Ford Coppola	United Artists	28	30	2
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	1939	Frank Capra	Columbia Pictures	29	26	3
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre	1948	John Huston	Warner Bros. Pictures	30	38	8
Annie Hall	1977	Woody Allen	United Artists	31	35	4
The Godfather Part II	1974	Francis Ford Coppola	Paramount Pictures	32	32	0
High Noon	1952	Fred Zinnemann	United Artists	33	27	6
To Kill a Mockingbird	1962	Robert Mulligan	Universal-International	34	25	9
It Happened One Night	1934	Frank Capra	Columbia Pictures	35	46	11
Midnight Cowboy	1969	John Schlesinger	United Artists	36	43	7
The Best Years of Our Lives	1946	William Wyler	Samuel Goldwyn Productions, RKO Radio Pictures	37	37	0
Double Indemnity	1944	Billy Wilder	Paramount Pictures	38	29	9
Doctor Zhivago	1965	David Lean	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	39	—	—
North by Northwest	1959	Alfred Hitchcock	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	40	55	15
West Side Story	1961	Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins	United Artists	41	51	10
Rear Window	1954	Alfred Hitchcock	Paramount Pictures	42	48	6
King Kong	1933	Merian C. Cooper	RKO Radio Pictures	43	41	2
The Birth of a Nation	1915	D. W. Griffith	Enoch Producing Co.	44	—	—
A Streetcar Named Desire	1951	Elia Kazan	Warner Bros. Pictures	45	47	2
A Clockwork Orange	1971	Stanley Kubrick	Warner Bros. Pictures	46	70	24
Taxi Driver	1976	Martin Scorsese	Columbia Pictures	47	52	5
Jaws	1975	Steven Spielberg	Universal Pictures	48	56	8
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	1937	David Hand, et al.	Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio Pictures	49	34	15
Intolerance	1916	D. W. Griffith	Triangle Film Corporation	—	49	—
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	1969	George Roy Hill	20th Century Fox	50	73	23
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	2001	Peter Jackson	New Line Cinema	—	50	—
The Philadelphia Story	1940	George Cukor	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	51	44	7
From Here to Eternity	1953	Fred Zinnemann	Columbia Pictures	52	—	—
Amadeus	1984	Miloš Forman	Orion Pictures	53	—	—
All Quiet on the Western Front	1930	Lewis Milestone	Universal Pictures	54	—	—
The Sound of Music	1965	Robert Wise	20th Century Fox	55	40	15
M*A*S*H	1970	Robert Altman	20th Century Fox	56	54	2
The Third Man	1949	Carol Reed	British Lion Films, Selznick Releasing Corporation	57	—	—
Fantasia	1940	Walt Disney	Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio Pictures	58	—	—
Rebel Without a Cause	1955	Nicholas Ray	Warner Bros. Pictures	59	—	—
Nashville	1975	Robert Altman	Paramount Pictures	—	59	—
Raiders of the Lost Ark	1981	Steven Spielberg	Paramount Pictures	60	66	6
Vertigo	1958	Alfred Hitchcock	Paramount Pictures	61	9	52
Sullivan's Travels	1941	Preston Sturges	Paramount Pictures	—	61	—
Tootsie	1982	Sydney Pollack	Columbia Pictures	62	69	7
Stagecoach	1939	John Ford	United Artists	63	—	—
Cabaret	1972	Bob Fosse	Allied Artists	—	63	—
Close Encounters of the Third Kind	1977	Steven Spielberg	Columbia Pictures	64	—	—
The Silence of the Lambs	1991	Jonathan Demme	Orion Pictures	65	74	9
Network	1976	Sidney Lumet	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists	66	64	2
The Manchurian Candidate	1962	John Frankenheimer	United Artists	67	—	—
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	1966	Mike Nichols	Warner Bros. Pictures	—	67	—
An American in Paris	1951	Vincente Minnelli	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	68	—	—
Shane	1953	George Stevens	Paramount Pictures	69	45	24
The French Connection	1971	William Friedkin	20th Century Fox	70	93	23
Forrest Gump	1994	Robert Zemeckis	Paramount Pictures	71	76	5
Saving Private Ryan	1998	Steven Spielberg	DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures	—	71	—
Ben-Hur	1959	William Wyler	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	72	100	28
The Shawshank Redemption	1994	Frank Darabont	Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures	—	72	—
Wuthering Heights	1939	William Wyler	Samuel Goldwyn Productions, United Artists	73	—	—
The Gold Rush	1925	Charlie Chaplin	United Artists	74	58	16
Dances with Wolves	1990	Kevin Costner	Orion Pictures	75	—	—
In the Heat of the Night	1967	Norman Jewison	United Artists	—	75	—
City Lights	1931	Charlie Chaplin	United Artists	76	11	65
American Graffiti	1973	George Lucas	Universal Pictures	77	62	15
All the President's Men	1976	Alan J. Pakula	Warner Bros. Pictures	—	77	—
Rocky	1976	John G. Avildsen	United Artists	78	57	21
The Deer Hunter	1978	Michael Cimino	EMI Films, Universal Pictures	79	53	26
The Wild Bunch	1969	Sam Peckinpah	Warner Bros-Seven Arts	80	79	1
Modern Times	1936	Charlie Chaplin	United Artists	81	78	3
Spartacus	1960	Stanley Kubrick	Universal-International	—	81	—
Giant	1956	George Stevens	Warner Bros. Pictures	82	—	—
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans	1927	F. W. Murnau	Fox Film Corporation	—	82	—
Platoon	1986	Oliver Stone	Orion Pictures	83	86	3
Titanic	1997	James Cameron	Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox	—	83	—
Fargo	1996	Coen brothers	PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Gramercy Pictures	84	—	—
Duck Soup	1933	Leo McCarey	Paramount Pictures	85	60	25
A Night at the Opera	1935	Sam Wood	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	—	85	—
Mutiny on the Bounty	1935	Frank Lloyd	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	86	—	—
Frankenstein	1931	James Whale	Universal Pictures	87	—	—
12 Angry Men	1957	Sidney Lumet	United Artists	—	87	—
Easy Rider	1969	Dennis Hopper	Columbia Pictures	88	84	4
Patton	1970	Franklin J. Schaffner	20th Century Fox	89	—	—
The Sixth Sense	1999	M. Night Shyamalan	Hollywood Pictures	—	89	—
The Jazz Singer	1927	Alan Crosland	Warner Bros. Pictures	90	—	—
Swing Time	1936	George Stevens	RKO Radio Pictures	—	90	—
My Fair Lady	1964	George Cukor	Warner Bros. Pictures	91	—	—
Sophie's Choice	1982	Alan J. Pakula	Universal Pictures, Associated Film Distribution	—	91	—
A Place in the Sun	1951	George Stevens	Paramount Pictures	92	—	—
The Apartment	1960	Billy Wilder	United Artists	93	80	13
Goodfellas	1990	Martin Scorsese	Warner Bros. Pictures	94	92	2
Pulp Fiction	1994	Quentin Tarantino	Miramax Films	95	94	1
The Last Picture Show	1971	Peter Bogdanovich	Columbia Pictures	—	95	—
The Searchers	1956	John Ford	Warner Bros. Pictures	96	12	84
Do the Right Thing	1989	Spike Lee	Universal Pictures	—	96	—
Bringing Up Baby	1938	Howard Hawks	RKO Radio Pictures	97	88	9
Blade Runner	1982	Ridley Scott	Warner Bros. Pictures	—	97	—
Unforgiven	1992	Clint Eastwood	Warner Bros. Pictures	98	68	30
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	1967	Stanley Kramer	Columbia Pictures	99	—	—
Toy Story	1995	John Lasseter	Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios	—	99	—
Yankee Doodle Dandy	1942	Michael Curtiz	Warner Bros. Pictures	100	98	2

2007 update notes[]

Twenty-three films from the original top 100 films list were removed in 2007:

Four films released between 1996 and 2006 were added:

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• Titanic (1997)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)

Nineteen films made before 1996 were also added:

Broadcast history[]

Presentation broadcast on CBS[]

A 145-minute presentation of the 100 films aired on CBS on June 16, 1998.

Presentation broadcast on TNT[]

A 460-minute version aired as a 10-part series on TNT, narrated by James Woods and hosted by American talents as follows:

• Richard Gere hosted the episode "Against the Grain".
• Richard Gere hosted the episode "Against the Law".
• Sally Field hosted the episode "Family Portraits".
• Jodie Foster hosted the episode "In Search of...".
• Sally Field hosted the episode "Love Crazy".
• Richard Gere hosted the episode "War & Peace".
• Sally Field hosted the episode "The Wilder Shores of Love".
• Jodie Foster hosted the episode "The Antiheroes".
• Richard Gere hosted the episode "Out of Control".
• Jodie Foster hosted the episode "Fantastic Flights".

Presentation broadcast on TNT UK[]

Another version of the same 460-minute program was produced by Monique De Villiers and John Heyman from A World Production company to British television and market featuring different interviews and each segment being hosted by British talents in the following order:

• Michael Caine hosted and narrated episode "Against the Grain"
• Ray Winstone hosted and narrated "Beyond the Law"
• Emily Watson hosted and narrated "Family Portraits"
• Richard Harris hosted and narrated "In Search of..."
• Joely Richardson hosted and narrated episode "Love Crazy"
• Jeremy Irons hosted and narrated episode "War and Peace"
• Liam Neeson hosted and narrated episode "The Wilder Shores of Love"
• Judi Dench hosted and narrated episode "The Anti-Heroes"
• Jude Law hosted and narrated episode "Out of Control"
• Helena Bonham Carter hosted and narrated "Fantastic Flights"

10th anniversary broadcast[]

An updated version of the list, billed as a 10th Anniversary edition, aired on CBS on June 20, 2007, and was hosted by Morgan Freeman.

Criticisms[]

As with awards, the list of those who vote and the final vote tally are not released to the public, nor the criteria for how the 400 nominated films have been selected.

On June 26, 1998, the Chicago Reader published an article by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum which offers a detailed response to the movies in the AFI list, as well as criticism of the AFI's appropriation of British films, such as Lawrence of Arabia (albeit with aforementioned American funding) and The Third Man. Rosenbaum also produced an alternative list of 100 American movies that he felt had been overlooked by the AFI.^[2] Rosenbaum chose to present this alternative list alphabetically since to rank them according to merit would be "tantamount to ranking oranges over apples or declaring cherries superior to grapes."

The AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list includes five titles from Rosenbaum's list (including Do the Right Thing),^[3] and the accompanying promotional poster lists the titles in alphabetical order.

See also[]

• BFI Top 100 British films
• Films considered the greatest ever

References[]

External links[]

• AFI 100 Years...100 Movies (1998 edition)
• AFI 100 Years...100 Movies (2007 edition)
• List of the 400 nominated movies (1998 edition)
• List of the 400 nominated movies (2007 edition)
• Montreal Mirror editorial
• SFM Entertainment page on the special; includes video clip