When it comes to dubbing a film a masterpiece, what makes a movie qualify for the title? Is it a gripping storyline, a stellar line-up of actors, or simply the production value? Although this is a subjective matter, certain films stick out among the rest thanks to their casting, plot and photography.
IMDb has listed its top 10 masterpiece films, which include absolute classics like Psycho, the heartbreaking Life is Beautiful and a Dustin Hoffman drama. Out of 10 films, however, four are part of two franchises – possibly further confirming their quality.
10. Rain Man
In at number 10 is 1988’s Rain Man. Its synopsis reads: “After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn’t know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.” The film was directed by Barry Levinson and stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.
9. Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles. The film follows a “secretary on the run for embezzlement who takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother”.
8. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
This 1977 epic from George Lucas follows “Luke Skywalker joining forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire’s world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.” The Star Wars film starred Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
7. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Another mention for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back starred Hamill, Ford and Fisher in recurring roles but this time, “after the Empire overpowers the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker begins training with Jedi Master Yoda, while Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett pursue his friends across the galaxy”.
6. The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece 1972 gangster flick is about “the aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son”. The film’s starry cast includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan.
5. Life Is Beautiful
Roberto Benigni starred in and directed 1997’s Life Is Beautiful. The film’s synopsis reads: “When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.”
4. Schindler’s List
Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley starred in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece. It’s synopsis reads: “In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.”
3. City of God
“In the slums of Rio, two kids’ paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin,” reads the film’s IMDb synopsis. City of God was directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund and stars Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino and Matheus Nachtergaele.
2. Saving Private Ryan
In at number two is another of Spielberg’s movies. Saving Private Ryan was released in 1998 and starred Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Tom Sizemore. The war film’s synopsis reads: “Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose comrades have been killed in action.”
1. The Godfather Part II
And another movie from the Godfather franchise hits the top spot. This time Coppola’s film starred Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall. It followed “the early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate”.