Alice's 500 Greatest Films
The goal in this compilation was to determine film history's definitive creme de la creme. The titles considered to be the greatest of the great from around the world and throughout the history of film.. So, after an in-depth analysis of respected critics and publications from around the globe, cross referenced and tweaked to arrive at the ranking of films representing, we believe, the greatest cinema can offer.
Scroll, contemplate and enjoy.....
Want a printable list of the 500 greatest to check off? Click here
Touch of Evil (1958)
8.1/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Calleia, Marle...
This twisting cinematic masterpiece of style and suspense, based on the Whit Masterson novel, features Orson Welles as a corrupt cane-wielding officia... Read more
The Great Dictator (1940)
8.5/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Jack Oakie, Paulette Goddard
Chaplin's first talkie stands as one of his greatest achievements. In this touching and often hilarious political spoof on the Third Reich, Chaplin pl... Read more
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963)
8.4/10
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: George C Scott, James Earl Jones, Keenan Wynn, Peter Bull, Peter Sellers, Slim P...
A commie-hating, paranoid American general launches a flight of B-52 bombers at the Soviet Union with nuclear annihilation in mind. Since he is the on... Read more
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Director: Terry Jones
Starring: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idl...
Highly original madness from the Monty Python gang, 'Life of Brian' follows the woes of poor Brian born the same night as Jesus, repeatedly mistaken b... Read more
Brazil (1985)
8/10
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hos...
Terry Gilliam's acclaimed, surrealistic nightmare vision of a 'perfect' future where technology reigns supreme. Spectacular set design, this wildly vi... Read more
Taxi Driver (1976)
8.3/10
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Albert Brooks, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle, Robert...
A disturbingly brutal depiction of a lonely, unstable New York City cab driver (Robert De Niro) who stalks a presidential candidate, then turns his vi... Read more
Pulp Fiction (1994)
8.9/10
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Pl...
An audacious crime thriller that won 'Best Picture' at the Cannes Film Festival and is one exhilarating ride from start to finish. John Travolta and S... Read more
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
8.5/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Karen Allen, Harrison Ford, John Rhys-Davies, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, Denhol...
Aka "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark". Harrison Ford is an adventure-seeking archeologist after rare and well-guarded ancient artifacts.... Read more
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
7.1/10
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Raffey Cassidy, Barry Keoghan
Cincinnati cardiologist Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) lived an ordinary existence with his wife (Nicole Kidman) and kids...but on the quiet, he mainta... Read more
Notorious (1946)
8/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Cary Grant
In this brilliant allegory of love and betrayal, Hitchcock fuses two of his favourite elements: suspense and romance. A beautiful woman with a tainted... Read more
Network (1976)
8.1/10
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty
A savage satire written by Paddy Chayefsky, looking at the powers behind television programming. Even more compelling and relevant today than when it... Read more
Apocalypse Now (1979)
8.5/10
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Sam Bottoms, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne, Har...
A flawed masterpiece, intended as the definitive Vietnam film, based on Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. With Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Dennis... Read more
Once Were Warriors (1994)
7.9/10
Director: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis, Julian Arahang...
Director Lee Tamahori's stunning debut film focuses on a violent love story set against a contemporary urban backdrop. This insightful, gutsy drama fe... Read more
Blue Velvet (1986)
7.8/10
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper, Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dean Stockwell
The most talked about film of the '80s, David Lynch's controversial, surreal mystery is set amid the manicured lawns of small town America where a wor... Read more
The Conversation (1974)
7.9/10
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Teri Garr, John Cazale, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Wil...
Gene Hackman is brilliant as Harry Caul, the surveillance man who becomes the object of surveillance himself. Coppola's great achievement is evoking a... Read more
Modern Times (1936)
8.5/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Charlie Chaplin
Chaplin's silent homage to the human spirit in which Charlie Chaplin is the victim of industrial boom. Chaplin plays the factory worker gone looney by... Read more
High Noon (1952)
8/10
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper is the marshall who fights alone for upholding the law when the entire town is paralysed with fear. Famously played out in real-time, star... Read more
Breathless ( A bout de souffle ) (1960)
7.9/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Daniel Boulanger, Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henri-Jacques Huet
A.k.a. "A bout de souffle". There was before "Breathless", and there was after "Breathless". Jean-Luc Godard burst onto the film scene in 1960 with th... Read more
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
8.8/10
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett,...
In the first installment of director Peter Jackson's ambitious and successful film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, Elijah Wood stars a... Read more
Life is Beautiful (1998)
8.6/10
Director: Roberto Benigni
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Receiving Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor, Roberto Benigni's celebrated and popular film boldly blends a sentimental and humourou... Read more