Top Ten Movies of All Time

10) Saving Private Ryan: One of the most gut- wrenching, adrenaline pumping war movies ever made, Saving Private Ryan is able to accomplish something truly great, it stands out amongst the plethora of superfluous World War II movies. And it isn't just a hodgepodge of action, there is a really deep story behind this movie. Winning five Oscars, this movie was a hit when it came out, and it still remains one of the most classic movies in United States history. With all of the action, blood, chaos and violence going around, Steven Spielberg still manages to do what he does best, mixing in emotions and the character's feelings and making you think a little bit, which most movies don't require nowadays.


9) Raging Bull: The best sports movie of all time, and that's saying something. There are a lot of really nice sports movies out there, Remember the Titans, Rocky, and Hoosiers, but this one takes the cake. Starring Robert DeNiro, this movie talks about the life of a wild, short- fused, socially inapt boxer and his struggles inside and outside the ring. The best man for the job, DeNiro is able to capture this personality so well, this was the first movie I'd ever seen of him, and I thought that's how he was all the time. Directed by Martin Scorsese, who isn't known for anything other than making outstanding movies, regardless of the genre. A definite top ten choice, even if you aren't a fan of sports movies.


8) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: One of the most epic war movies of all time. Possibly the best movie ever based on a book. Never had a book been made into a movie that is arguably better than the book itself, until this piece of art was dropped in 2003. One of the few movies over three hours that I can sit through, and thoroughly enjoy as well. This movie also happened to win eleven Oscars. ELEVEN OSCARS. Everything that this movie did, it perfected. A classic book, the last installment in one of the most renowned fantasy series of all time, could anyone have settled for anything less? Unless you're a four year old girl who has the attention span of a rat, then this is a movie that you need to watch and enlighten yourself on what a great movie looks like.


7) The Dark Knight: The best new movie I've seen in a long, LOOOOOOONG, time. Finally, a movie with an actual story, something that keeps me at the edge of my seat the whole way through. 2008 seemed like a very crappy year for movies with a few notable exceptions, this one in particular. Hardcore Batman fans, just casual admirers of the superhero, and people who are completely unaware of who this guy is all enjoy this movie. There's no doubt then, that it reached the record for the shortest amount of time to reach the $500 million mark. Shoving aside the Titanic. Heath Ledger killed everyone else, his role as the Joker was almost too good to believe. Soon enough, this movie will be considered a classic, and I will move this up the list quite a bit.

Top Ten Movies of All Time

6) Star Wars Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back: The best of an already awesome series of movies. This is the second installment of the series, released in 1980. People were stunned by the release of "Episode IV," and they didn't know what to expect, whether this one could live up to its name or if it would be sup bar, there is no question about it. With the best technological achievements for any movie at the time, it was a HIT in the box office and instantly critics were adding this movie to their list of classics. For those who get confused on the Star Wars episodes, this is the one where Darth Vader says his famous, pivotal quote, "No, I am your father." Often misquoted, but nevertheless this movie is a gripping tale filled with lots of emotions, heroes, villains, everything you could ask for.


5) Fight Club: If "cool" could manifest itself in the form of a movie, this is what it would look like. This movie tells the tale of an exasperated desk jockey insomniac who can't figure out what's wrong with his life and a mysterious soap salesman whom he meets on a plane's adventures in using different types of male "therapy." They start underground fight clubs where people get together and just beat the hell out of each other in order to ease some of the tension in their lives. This movie really messes with your mind. I highly recommend seeing this movie twice, because the second time, you will notice things a lot differently. This movie really messes with your mind, the first half of the movie and the second half are so totally different, you start wondering if you accidentally switched to a different movie, but all in a really cool way. Easily in my top five collection.


4) Goodfellas: There are a lot of gangster movies. Quite possibly one of the most overdone genres of all time, its really hard to make a gangster movie that doesn't feel like an EXACT COPY of another, previously released movie. With quite possibly the best actor selection any movie has ever seen, its hard to believe that this movie was based on a true story, and not the other way around. Maybe I'm just a gangster movie fanatic, but even those who aren't serious fans of the genre can tell you that this movie is a definite keeper. It stays with you for a while, as any good movie should. You find yourself enjoying really good, genuine laughs at some of the dialogue and events that take place, than you find yourself really tense and full of adrenaline, just as the characters in the movie seemed to feel.

Top Ten Movies of All Time

3) The Godfather Part II: As we enter the "top 3" category, it becomes extremely crucial that I choose movies that stand out, movies that are better than good, or great, but movies that are never forgotten. This movie happens to be the greatest sequel of all time to the greatest movie of all time, why not? "The Saga Continues." Seriously, another flawless work by Francis Ford Coppola that tops the charts for the best sequels ever. Using the superb acting skills of DeNiro to portray Vito Corleone in his younger years was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in American cinema. Michael Corleone, taking the throne after his father's death, is faced with many hardships including, a rebellious sister, a brother who maybe the downfall of his family, and the crude realization that he has become a ruthless mob boss, something that he had hoped and tried so long to stay far away from. There has never, EVER been a story as good as this one in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others. Another classic soundtrack, more flawless editing and screenplay, and a continuation of a story that was left at one of the strongest cliff- hanger endings of all time. Its no wonder that "The Internet Movie Database" (IMDb) agrees with me that this is the third best movie of all time.


2) The Shawshank Redemption: Possibly one of the most underrated, under appreciated movies of all time. A thrilling story which only someone like Stephen King can make, it explains the tale of two inmates in an imaginary high security prison somewhere in Maine, the Shawshank penitentiary. A different style of movie than most, it leaves you thinking about many, many things after its over. Sometimes I find myself going back and watching it and feeling the same way I did the first time I saw it. An original story, if you haven't seen it than you're really missing out, very few movies are able to make a prison drama stand out so well.


1) The Godfather Part I: Absolutely. No debate here, none whatsoever. Has there ever been a movie so finely crafted, with so much attention to detail and story, that for a little over three hours you are hooked, and find the ending to be a big slap in the face just because you didn't want to movie to finish so soon? Never has a movie suffused the viewers in its events better than this one, the hardest decision ever made with regards to this movie is figuring which quote is the best. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse," versus, "Take the Cannoli." An epic tale set in the late 1940s of the Italian crime families of the United States, Francis Ford Coppola dropped this atom bomb on the United States cinema in 1972 and to this day, its radiation plagues the movie industry.