The BBC released a new list of 100 Greatest American Films after conducting a poll among 62 international film critics. While many familiar films that land on these lists are here, there are plenty of surprises and modern movies.
The list, which can be seen in full here, is confined to films produced in the U.S. However, it still includes several films by directors born outside the U.S. Alfred Hitchcock, who appears five times on the list, was born in the U.K. Billy Wilder, also with five on the list, was born in Sucha, Austria-Hungary (now part of Poland).
It will also please many of today’s audiences to know that there are several modern films on here, not just classics. And even some of the classics that made the list will shock some. The most recent film on the list is Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave (No. 99), while Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (No. 96), Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (No. 87) and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (No. 79) are the other modern films on the list.
The only Disney movie on the list might surprise many. The Lion King came in at No. 86.
Five Steven Spielberg movies are on the list: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (No. 91); Raiders of the Lost Ark (No. 82); Schindler’s List (1993); Close Encounters of the Third Kind (No. 75); and Jaws (No. 38). The four Martin Scorsese movies on the list are: Mean Streets (No. 93); Raging Bull (No. 29); Goodfellas (No. 20); and Taxi Driver (No. 19).
Amazingly, two of the three films in the original Star Wars trilogy are on the list. Irvin Kershner’s The Empire Strikes Back came in at No. 76 and George Lucas’ Star Wars is at No. 36.
Of course, this is just a list and many will dispute the picks. For example, Hitchcock’s Marnie is on the list for some inexplicable reason and none of Spielberg’s movies are in the Top 10. How is Raging Bull not in the Top 10? Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is here, but not his masterful Paths of Glory? And is Michael Cimino’s bloated, studio-destroying Heaven’s Gate really one of the 100 greatest American films?
At least the picks that did make the Top 10 are hard to argue with:
10. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
9. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
6. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)