What makes an incredible film? Any answer to that question is bound to contain a significant element of subjectivity. One person’s masterpiece is another person’s dull.
You can go on at me all you want about the fact that the likes of Casablanca, Citizen Kane or It’s A Wonderful Life are missing from this list despite being widely considered all-time classics. But in reply, I’ll tell you I struggled to get through them without feeling a bit bored and have never felt a burning desire to go back and rewatch them — unlike some films on this list, some of which I could probably recite from start to finish. You can see my pick of the best books I’ve read here.
As those older classics go further and further into the past, there are simply more and more films competing against them for a spot on any list of the best films ever made.
That said, the absence of more modern films on this list can be attributed to the shift in the last 20 years towards creating great television series for streaming platforms instead of great movies for cinema.
But, ultimately, it’s all subjective. While I think it’s unlikely that a better film than the one at the top of this list will ever be made, others will find it so appallingly violent that they’d switch off even before the opening credits have finished rolling.
With this list, I’ve tried to combine the subjective with the objective. For example, I love Pulp Fiction for its relentlessly razor-sharp dialogue, its time-hopping story-telling style and the fact that it’s just a great story. But it also had a massive impact, creating superstars and turning songs few people had ever heard into ones that defined the 1990s.
In a similar vein, special effects like those seen in The Matrix had never been seen before and still appear impressive 26 years later despite all the advances in that area. Lord of The Rings was also unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, and I can still vividly remember sitting in a cinema in Wales as people sat sobbing and glued to their seats as Schindler’s List ended.
So here are my 20 best films ever. They’re my personal picks and I don’t claim to be a scholar of cinema. But like millions of us around the world, I love films. There are of course dozens, if not hundreds, of films for which an excellent case for inclusion could be made. Feel free to make it in the comments!
According to a survey, the average Brit watches more than 4,300 films in a lifetime. Based on my age, and taking into account how much more prominent streaming series is than watching films these days, I’ve conservatively estimated my film consumption at half that number.
