The best, most fantastic, greatest movies to see before you die
- Stephanie Mahoney
- Sep 20, 2021
- 11 min read
Updated: Apr 26
Toto, I have a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore
The Wizard of Oz has been my favorite movie consistently for much of my life. Magic, adventure, music, good overcoming evil...all the makings of a classic.
Encountering stories in a really great movie has been a past-time that I always have enjoyed. So, naturally, a 'must-have' on my bucket list is to watch every movie on the IMDB top 250 list and AFI's top movies of all time. Of course, I've also made sure to add some favorites from AFI's Most Inspirational Films, 10 Top 10 lists and the memorable quotes that you could probably recite yourself.
This list has also been updated to reflect this fantastic list from the National Catholic Register of the Top 100 Pro-Catholic movies.
3 Godfathers (1948)
12 Angry Men (1957)*
✔️ 12 Years a Slave (2013)
1917 (2019)*
✔️ 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
The 400 Blows (1959)
42nd Street (1933)*
Sawyer, you're going out a youngster,
but you've got to come back a star!
✔️ A Beautiful Mind (2001)
✔️ A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Few Good Men (1992)*
You can't handle the truth!
A League of Their Own (1992)*
There's no crying in baseball!
Elementary, my dear Watson.
✔️ A Man for All Seasons (1966)
✔️ A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)*
A Separation (2011)*
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)*
I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)*
Abraham (1994)
Adam's Rib (1949)
A.D. (1985)
✔️ The Adventures of Robin Hood (1937)
The African Queen (1951)
✔️ Airplane! (1980)
Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious...and don't call me Shirley.
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)*
All About Eve (1950)*
Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.
All the President's Men (1976)*
✔️ Amadeus (1984)
Amélie (2001)
✔️ American Beauty (1999)
✔️ American History X (1998)
American Graffiti (1973)*
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)*
Andhadhun (2018)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Angels in the Outfield (1951)*
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)*
✔️ Animal Crackers (1930)
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas.
How he got in my pajamas, I don't know.
✔️ Animal House (1978)
Toga! Toga!
✔️ Annie Hall (1977)
La-dee-da, la-dee-da.
Apocalypse Now (1979)*
I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
✔️ Apollo 13 (1995)
Houston, we have a problem.
The Assisi Underground (1985)
Auntie Mame (1958)
Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!
Au Revoir Les Infants (1987)
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)*
Avengers: Endgame (2019)*
✔️ Babe (1995)
✔️ Babette's Feast (1987)
✔️ Back to the Future (1985)
✔️ Bambi (1942)
Barabbas (1962)*
Barry Lyndon (1975)*
Batman Begins (2005)*
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
✔️ Beauty and the Beast (1991)
✔️ Becket (1964)
Before Sunrise (1995)*
Before Sunset (2004)*
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Ben-Hur (1959)*
The Best Years of our Lives (1946)*
Beyond the Forest (1949)
What a dump.
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
✔️ The Big Lebowski (1998)
The rug really tied the room together.
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)*
The Black Stallion (1979)*
✔️ Blade Runner (1982)
✔️ Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
We rob banks.
Boys Town (1938)
✔️ Braveheart (1995)
Breaking Away (1979)*
Brideshead Revisited (1981)
✔️ The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)*
Brother Orchid (1940)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
Bull Durham (1988)*
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)*
✔️ Cabaret (1972)
✔️ Caddyshack (1980)
Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac...It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!
Capernaum (2018)
Captains Courageous (1937)
✔️ Casablanca (1942)
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Casino (1995)*
✔️ Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Chariots of Fire (1981)*
Children of Heaven (1997)
Chinatown (1974)*
Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.
✔️ Cinderella (1950)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
✔️ Citizen Kane (1941)
Rosebud.
City Lights (1931)*
City of God (2002)*
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)*
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)*
✔️ Coco (2017)
✔️ The Color Purple (1985)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)*
What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Come and See (1985)
Come to the Stable (1949)
✔️ Dances With Wolves (1990)
Dark Victory (1939)
✔️ The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Das Boot (1981)*
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)*
✔️ Dead Man Walking (1995)
✔️ Dead Poets Society (1989)
Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
The Decalogue (1987)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Demetrius and the Gladiators
✔️ The Detective (1954)
✔️ The Departed (2006)
Dial M for Murder (1954)*
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
✔️ Die Hard (1988)
Dirty Harry (1971)*
You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?
✔️ Dirty Dancing (1987)
Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
✔️ Django Unchained (2012)
Do the Right Thing (1989)*
Don Bosco (1988)
Double Indemnity (1944)*
Downfall (2004)
Dracula (1931)*
Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.
✔️ Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!
✔️ Dr. No
Bond. James Bond.
✔️ Duck Soup (1941)
Easy Rider (1969)*
The Elephant Man (1980)*
Entertaining Angels: the Dorothy Day Story (1996)
✔️ Erin Brockovich (2000)
✔️ E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
E.T. phone home.
✔️ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
✔️ The Exorcist (1973)
Fame (1980)*
✔️ Fantasia (1942)
Fargo (1996)*
The Father (2020)*
Faustyna (1995)
✔️ Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Field of Dreams (1989)*
If you build it, he will come.
✔️ Fight Club (1999)
The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
✔️ Finding Nemo (2003)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)*
Ford v Ferrari (2019)*
✔️ Forrest Gump (1994)
Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
Fourth Wiseman (1985)
Francis of Assisi (1961)
Francesco (1989)
Frankenstein (1931) *
It's alive! It's alive!
The French Connection (1971)*
The Fugitive (1947)*
✔️ Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Funny Girl (1968)*
Hello, gorgeous.
Gandhi (1982)*
The General (1926)*
✔️ Gladiator (2000)
✔️ Glory (1989)
✔️ The Godfather (1972)
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.
✔️ The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
The Gold Rush (1925)*
Going My Way (1944)
✔️ Gone Girl (2014)*
✔️ Gone with the Wind (1939)
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
✔️ Goodfellas (1990)
✔️ Good Will Hunting (1997)
✔️ Goldfinger (1964)
A martini. Shaken, not stirred.
The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (1966)
The Gospel of John (2003)
✔️ The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
The Graduate (1967)*
Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?
Gran Torino (2008)*
Grand Hotel (1932)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)*
The Great Dictator (1940)*
The Great Escape (1963)*
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
✔️ Green Book (2018)
✔️ The Green Mile (1999)
✔️ Groundhog Day (1993)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
✔️ Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)*
Hamilton (2020)
Harold and Maude (1972)*
✔️ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
✔️ Harvey (1950)
Thank you Harvey, I prefer you too.
Heat (1995)*
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
The Heiress (1949) *
Henry V (1989)*
High Noon (1952)*
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
✔️ Hoosiers (1986)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)*
✔️ How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
The Hunt (2012)*
The Hustler (1961)*
I Confess (1953)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
They call me Mister Tibbs!
Incendies (2010)
Inception (2010)
In This House of Brede (1975)
✔️ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
We named the dog, Indiana.
✔️ Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
✔️ Inglourious Basterds (2009)
✔️ Inside Out (2015)
Interstellar(2014)
Into the Wild (2007)*
The Intouchables (2011)
✔️ It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Every time you hear a bell ring, an angel gets his wings.
It Happened One Night (1934)*
The Jazz Singer (1927)*
Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!
✔️ Jaws (1975)
You're gonna need a bigger boat.
✔️ Jerry Maguire (1996)
Show me the money!
✔️ Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)*
The Jeweller's Shop (1988)
Joan of Arc (1948)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)*
The Juggler of Notre Dame (1970)
✔️ Jurassic Park (1993)
Life always finds a way.
✔️ The Karate Kid (1984)
Wax on, wax off.
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
The Kid (1921)*
✔️ Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
The Killing Fields (1984)*
King of Kings (1961)
King Kong (1933)*
Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.
Knute Rockne All American (1940)
Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.
Kramer vs Kramer*
L.A. Confidential (1997)*
The Last Picture Show (1971)*
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)*
Léon: The Professional (1994)
Les Miserables (1998)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Like Stars on Earth (2007)
Lilies of the Field (1963)*
✔️ The Lion King (1994)
Logan (2017)
✔️ The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
✔️ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
My precious.
✔️ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Longest Day (1962)*
Lost Horizon (1937)
M (1931)
Madame Curie (1943)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)*
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)*
✔️ The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The stuff that dreams are made of.
Marathon Man (1976)*
Mary and Max (2009)
Marty (1955)*
M*A*S*H (1970)
✔️ The Matrix (1999)
You have a problem with authority, Mr. Anderson. You believe you are special, that somehow the rules do not apply to you. Obviously, you are mistaken.
Meet John Doe (1941)
Memento (2000)*
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
I'm walking here! I'm walking here!
✔️ Million Dollar Baby (2004)
✔️ Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
✔️ The Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
The Miracle Worker (1962)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
✔️ The Mission (1986)
Modern Times (1936)*
Molokai: the Story of Father Damien (1999)
Monsieur Vincent (1948)
Moonstruck (1987)*
Snap out of it!
✔️ Monsters, Inc. (2001)
✔️ Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Always look on the bright side of life.
✔️ Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)*
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
✔️ My Cousin Vinny
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Nashville (1975)*
National Velvet (1944)*
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
Who's on first.
Nazarin (1958)
✔️ Network (1976)*
I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
✔️ No Country for Old Men (2007)
✔️ North by Northwest (1959)
Norma Rae (1979)*
Not of This World (1999)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.
On Golden Pond (1981)
Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!
On the Waterfront (1954)*
You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.
One Man's Hero (1999)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)*
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Open City (1945)
Padre on Horseback (1977)
✔️ Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Paper Chase (1973)
✔️ The Passion of the Christ (2004)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Paths of Glory (1957)*
Paul the Apostle *
Philadelphia (1993)*
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
✔️ The Pianist (2002)
✔️ Pinocchio (1940)
✔️ Planet of the Apes (1968)
Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape.
Platoon (1986)*
Poltergeist (1982)*
They're here!
Pope John Paul II (1984)
✔️ The Prestige (2006)*
Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
✔️ The Princess Bride (1987)
As you wish.
Prisoners (2013)*
✔️ Psycho (1960)
A boy's best friend is his mother.
✔️ Pulp Fiction (1994)
Now I wanna dance, I wanna win, I want that trophy — so dance good.
The Quiet Man (1952)*
Quo Vadis (1951)*
Raging Bull (1980)*
Rain Man (1988)*
Rear Window (1954)*
Rebecca (1940)*
The Reluctant Saint (1962)
✔️ Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Return to Me (2000)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)*
The Right Stuff (1983)*
The Robe (1953)
✔️ Rocky (1976)
Yo, Adrian!
The Rookie (2002)*
Room (2015)*
Roman Holiday (1953)*
Romero (1989)
✔️ Rudy (1993)
Sometimes, a winner is a dreamer who just won't quit.
Rush (2013)*
Saving Grace (1986)
✔️ Saving Private Ryan(1998)
Scarface (1983)*
Say "hello" to my little friend!
✔️ Schindler's List (1993)
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
✔️ Se7en (1995)
The Searchers (1956)*
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)*
Sergeant York (1941)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Shane (1953)*
Shane. Shane. Come back!
Shadowlands*
✔️ The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Get busy living or get busy dying.
Sherlock Jr. (1924)*
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Why don't you come up sometime and see me?
The Shining (1980)*
Here's Johnny!
The Singing Nun (1966)
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
Shoes of the Fisherman (1986)
✔️ Shrek (2001)
✔️ Shutter Island (2010)
✔️ The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
✔️ Singin' in the Rain (1952)
✔️ Sister Act (1992)
✔️ The Sixth Sense (1999)
I see dead people.
The Silver Chalice (1954)
✔️ Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Snatch (2000)*
✔️ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The Son (2002)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Some Like It Hot (1959)*
Well, nobody's perfect.
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!
✔️ Sophie's Choice (1982)
✔️ The Sound of Music (1965)
Maria, these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.
Sounder (1972)
Soylent Green (1973)
Soylent Green is people!
Spartacus (1960)*
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
✔️ Spotlight (2015)
Stalker (1979)
Stand by Me (1986)*
Stand and Deliver (1988)*
✔️ Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
May the Force be with you.
✔️ Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
✔️ Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Sting (1973)*
Go ahead, make my day.
Sullivan's Travels (1941)*
Sunset Blvd. (1950)*
All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.
Swing Time (1936)
✔️ Taxi Driver (1976)
You talking to me?
✔️ The Ten Commandments (1956)
Let my people go!
The Terminator (1984)
I'll be back.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Hasta la vista, baby.
✔️ Thelma & Louise (1991)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Therese (2004)
The Thing (1982)
The Third Man (1949)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)*
✔️ Titanic (1997)
I'm king of the world!
To Be or Not to Be (1942)*
To Have and Have Not (1944) *
You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)*
Tootsie (1982)*
✔️ Top Gun (1986)
I feel the need — the need for speed!
✔️ Toy Story (1995)
To infinity and beyond!
✔️ Toy Story 3 (2010)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)*
Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!
The Trouble With Angels (1956)
✔️ The Truman Show (1998)
Unforgiven (1992)*
✔️ Up (2009)
The Usual Suspects (1995)*
✔️ Vertigo (1958)
✔️ V for Vendetta (2005)
Behind this mask is an idea...and ideas are bulletproof.
The Verdict (1982)*
✔️ Veggie Tales
✔️ WALL·E (2008)
Wall Street (1987)*
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
Warrior (2011)*
We Were Soldiers (2002)*
✔️ West Side Story (1961)
✔️ When Harry Met Sally (1989)
When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
When In Rome (1952)
The Wild Bunch (1969)*
✔️ The Wizard of Oz (1939)
There's no place like home.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)*
✔️ The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
✔️ Working Girl (1988)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Commentaires